by Judy Cox
The day of the talent show, Hayley’s stomach fluttered like a flock of baby birds. Was this how Ruby felt before a performance with her Ragtime Rascals?
Mom had helped Hayley make her costume. Black-and-white saddle shoes, a poodle skirt, blouse, and a scarf tied around her neck. Her hair, as usual, was a wild mop of red curls. She’d tried to pull it back in a ponytail, but it was coming loose already. Couldn’t do anything about that!
There had been some rumors that the talent show would have to be canceled due to cutbacks. But somehow it had worked out, and now Hayley waited backstage, softly strumming her uke.
She’d practiced a lot. At the talent show tryouts, Mr. Y had given her a thumbs-up and told her that she was in. Dad and Mom had cheered.
“You’ll bring the house down!” said Dad.
“What’s that mean?” asked Tilly, anxiously looking at the ceiling. Mom laughed and hugged her.
“It means your big sis is going to be a star!”
Now Hayley peeked through the curtains to the front of the stage. There were a lot of acts. She watched Skeeter pull a rabbit out of a hat—or try to. The rabbit was a stuffed animal, and he dropped it twice before he finished. Being Skeeter, he didn’t mind when the audience laughed. He bowed with a big flourish and dropped the rabbit again. This time, even Skeeter laughed.
Olivia was next. She wore a fluffy tutu and pink satin shoes. Hayley thought she twirled as gracefully as a real ballerina. Then two fifth grade girls danced to a popular song. Some fourth graders performed a silly skit. A kindergartener tried to recite a poem, got scared, and had to be helped off the stage by his teacher.
Finally, the MC announced Hayley. She walked out to the front of the stage. She stood in front of the mic the way Mr. Y told her to.
She looked out into the gym. All the kids in the school looked back. Her stomach flopped. Her knees knocked. Her head spun. Why had she ever thought this would be fun? She wanted to crawl back in bed. Forget the whole thing. Be little Hayley, the shrimp, again.
She spotted Mr. Penwick at the back of the auditorium. He leaned against the wall, frowning. His ever-present briefcase was at his feet and his arms were crossed. Him again! thought Hayley. What’s he doing here?
Then the spotlight came on. She took a deep breath, and suddenly all of her butterflies flew away. She grinned. She tossed her head, making her curls dance. Bring it on! She was ready!
She tucked her uke under her arm and strummed the first chord. “One, two, three o’clock!” she sang, “Four o’clock rock!” She played an old rock ’n’ roll song from the fifties. She finished by swinging her arm in a big circle like a guitar hero. Just the way she’d practiced.
The gym erupted with applause and cheers. She was a shining star!
The talent show made Hayley a celebrity. Well, not a celebrity exactly, but at least famous. Maybe not famous. Make that sort of well-known.
Kids kept coming up and telling her how cool she was. “Can we join your band?” they asked.
“But I don’t have a band,” she said.
“Start one,” Skeeter advised.
“Okay,” said Hayley. “Anyone who wants to be in my band, get a ukulele, and I’ll teach you to play.”
On Monday, Michelle, Justin, and Robin waited for her in the hall. They all had ukuleles. Hayley tuned their ukes. She showed them how to play a C chord. They were all banging away when Mrs. McCann opened the classroom door. She peered into the hall. She frowned when she saw the four kids. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“I’m starting a band,” said Hayley. “A uke band.”
Mrs. McCann gave a faint smile. “Okay, but you can’t rehearse here. I have a meeting. Try the lunchroom.” They moved down to the lunchroom and practiced until the bell rang.
On Tuesday six kids with ukes waited for Hayley in the lunchroom. Zelda, Anna, and Linden had joined Michelle, Justin, and Robin.
Hayley tuned all six ukuleles and told everyone they should get digital tuners. “Buy one at the music store,” she said. Then she showed the G chord to go with the C chord and taught the kids to play “Skip to My Lou.”
Wednesday Skeeter showed up too. He carried a shiny new green ukulele. The six kids showed up again, so with Skeeter and Hayley, now there were eight. They learned the F chord and played “On Top of Spaghetti.”
Thursday Olivia brought a purple uke to school. “The music store was out of pink ukes,” she said. “But I painted my nails to match.” She showed Hayley her purple fingernails.
Olivia made nine. Nine kids in Hayley’s uke band! They sat on top of the lunchroom tables. They played and sang with enthusiasm, if not tunefulness.
Curtis walked past the open door. He stopped when he heard them banging out “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” He rolled his eyes as if he couldn’t believe his ears and walked away.
Hayley nudged Olivia. “I wish he’d join the band. He’s really good. He could teach us a lot, I bet.”
“I wish he’d join too,” said Olivia. “I think he’s cute.” She giggled.
The next week ten kids sat on top of the tables in the lunchroom. Hayley was teaching “The Ants Go Marching Two by Two.”
Mr. Harvey, the janitor, came over. “You can’t play here anymore,” he told Hayley. “I’ve got five tables to set up for breakfast. Then I’ve got to take them down, mop, and set up for the first lunch.” He shook his head. “Ever since they let Bob go, I have to do both jobs. Not enough hours in the day!”
“But where are we going to practice?” asked Hayley. “We can’t use Mrs. McCann’s room. The gym is full of PE kids. And the librarian will never let us play in the library.” She giggled, thinking of the noise.
Mr. Harvey shook his head. The cutbacks made everyone grumpy. “Not my problem. Go outside.” It was too cold to practice outside, so the group played in the hall.
A few days later, Hayley saw Curtis in the hall alone. He was playing a uke. It wasn’t colorful. It didn’t have a palm tree and a hula girl. It was the color of brown sugar and had dark stripes along the sides. It was bigger too, and louder. The notes rang out clear and clean. He sounded as good as the Hawaiian guy on YouTube.
“Wow,” said Hayley. “Come play with us. You can be the star.”
Curtis didn’t answer. He didn’t even look at her. He just tucked his uke under his arm and walked away. What’s up with him? she wondered.
Now that she was paying attention, Hayley noticed that Curtis was always alone. He didn’t seem to have any friends, not even fifth graders. At recess he leaned against the wall of the school, strumming. Just Curtis and his uke.
Pretty soon, Hayley forgot all about Curtis. She had her hands full with her band. One morning, ten kids sat in the hall singing “The Blue-Tailed Fly.”
Ms. Lyons, the principal, came over. “What’s going on here?” she asked.
“It’s my band. A ukulele band. I’m teaching everyone how to play,” said Hayley.
Ms. Lyons shook her head. “Hayley, as much as I admire your initiative, we can’t have an unauthorized group meeting in the hallway.”
“Why not?” asked Hayley, surprising herself. Go-Away-Hayley would have backed down. Ukulele Hayley did not. Olivia gasped. Skeeter giggled. Even Ms. Lyons seemed taken aback.
But she didn’t give up. “Because it causes problems with noise and traffic flow.” Ms. Lyons folded her arms.
“We can play quieter!” said Hayley.
“No,” said Ms. Lyons.
“We can sit like this.” Hayley scooted up next to the wall. “Then we won’t take up any room.” She smiled at Ms. Lyons—her nicest, most reasonable smile.
Ms. Lyons didn’t give in. “No.”
“What about the chess club? And the science club? They have meetings.”
“If you want this group to be a club, you’ll need a teacher to sponsor you, and a designated, supervised place to meet,” Ms. Lyons said. “Not in the hallway. Now, put the ukuleles away. Go outside and get some exercise.
” With that, she walked away, her high heels snapping like castanets.
You Can’t Tuna Fish
The uke kids went outside. Only Skeeter, Olivia, and Hayley were left.
“Wow, Hayley. You really stood up for us,” said Skeeter.
“But it didn’t do any good,” Hayley said, sadly.
“I guess that’s the end of our band,” said Skeeter. “Too bad. I was just starting to get the hang of it.”
“It isn’t fair,” said Olivia. “They let the chess club meet, and the science club. Even the Chinese Culture Club!”
“Maybe if we were a club, instead of a band . . . ,” began Hayley.
“You heard Ms. Lyons,” Skeeter interrupted. “We need a sponsor. And a place to meet.”
“Who can we get to sponsor us? Mr. Benniger, the assistant principal, used to organize the clubs, but now he’s gone too.” Olivia made a face. “All these cuts. It isn’t fair.”
“Let’s ask Mr. Y!” said Hayley. “He’s the music teacher. He could sponsor us!” Hayley wasn’t scared to talk to Mr. Y anymore. He’d become a good friend. They trooped down to the music room to ask him.
Mr. Y listened. He scratched his head. “I’d love to help,” he said. “But I’m swamped. I can’t sneak one more thing into my schedule.”
Hayley made puppy dog eyes at him. Skeeter got down on his knees like he was praying. Olivia smiled her most adorable smile.
Mr. Y laughed. “Far be it from me to squelch budding musicians!” he said. “Okay. But here’s the deal. The ukulele club will be open to anyone in the school who wants to join. Everyone must have a signed permission slip and a contract agreeing to practice at home. I’ll supply those. Hayley, you are in charge. When you’ve taught the group everything you know, I’ll take over. If we are going to have a band—it must be a good band. No slackers. Got that?” They nodded.
In charge! Hayley glowed all the way home. She wasn’t too little. She was in charge!
On Monday Hayley waited in the office to make her announcement. She noticed Curtis slouched in one of the chairs outside Ms. Lyons’s office. Waiting to see the principal, she thought. I wonder why he’s in trouble?
Then she forgot about him. She was about to talk on the intercom! She had begged Olivia to do it instead, but Olivia refused.
“You can do this, Hayley,” she said.
So now, here she was—Little Hayley—about to talk to the whole entire school! She had to swallow twice before the words came out.
“Announcing a new club at school! The Ukulele Club!” She stopped to take a deep breath. Talking over the intercom wasn’t so bad. Not as scary as the talent show, anyway. At least no one was looking at her! “If you want to join, see Mr. Y or Hayley Godwin to sign up. We will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunch recess in the music room. Bring your own ukulele.” Her voice only cracked once.
When she got back to class, everyone cheered. Olivia beamed at her. Skeeter slapped her on the back. Mrs. McCann gave her a big smile. Even Lupe smiled shyly.
Later that morning, Mrs. McCann called Hayley up to her desk. The other kids were bent over their math books. Uh-oh, thought Hayley. What did I do now?
But she wasn’t in trouble. “I’d like you to do me a favor,” Mrs. McCann said.
“Okay,” said Hayley.
“I’d like you to take Lupe to your ukulele club,” said Mrs. McCann.
Hayley looked over at Lupe. She was not doing math. She was staring into space. “Does she want to join?” asked Hayley. She didn’t want to force anyone.
Mrs. McCann lowered her voice. “I think she’s too shy to ask,” she said gently. “Belonging to a club would help her make friends. Give her a chance to improve her English.”
Hayley could sympathize with being shy. She’d been shy herself before learning to play the ukulele. And she liked Lupe. Well, she probably liked Lupe. Come to think of it, she didn’t know whether she liked Lupe or not. Lupe never said a word. “Does she have a uke?” Hayley asked.
“Don’t worry about that,” said Mrs. McCann firmly. “I’ll see that she gets one.”
The first meeting of the Ukulele Club was Tuesday. The usual ten kids, plus Lupe, showed up in the music room.
And a few other kids. Make that a lot of other kids! Every chair was full. There were kids in chairs, kids on risers, and even kids sitting on the floor. Hayley counted fifteen. Fifteen kids! And not just third graders, either. Kindergarteners. Second graders. Fourth—even fifth graders!
But not Curtis. Hayley was disappointed. It would really be something to have a great player like Curtis in their band.
Hayley knew some of the kids, but not all. Most of the kids carried a ukulele. Pink, yellow, green, blue. A rainbow of colors. Lupe had a brand-new orange uke, a loan from Mrs. McCann.
But no one else has a uke with a palm tree and a hula girl, thought Hayley. Mine is one of a kind. Like me!
A few kids didn’t have ukes. “But I’m going to get one! As soon as I get my allowance!” said Jason.
“Me too!” said the others. “Please let us stay?”
Hayley shrugged. “Okay.”
“Whew!” said Mr. Y when he saw all the kids. He handed out permission slips and contracts. “Hayley, do you think you can handle this group?”
Hayley took a deep breath. Could she? Little Hayley? The shrimp? She grinned. “No problem-o, Mr. Y!” she said, snapping a salute.
The noise was terrific. Everyone was talking or singing or trying to play. The ukes twanged like a cat fight. Hayley stood on a riser. She put her hands on her hips. She put on her outside voice, just like Mrs. McCann did when the third grade got rowdy.
“QUIET!” she roared. And everyone was.
Not all of the kids had tuners, so Mr. Y taught the club how to tune without one. First, he told everyone the names of the strings. Then, he plucked the C string. Everyone plucked their C strings. Finally, Mr. Y showed how to turn the tuning peg until the pitch matched.
“You can tune a uke . . . ,” he said.
“I know! I know!” said Hayley. “But you can’t tuna fish!”
At last everyone was more or less in tune.
“You can remember the notes by singing ‘My Dog Has Fleas’,” said Mr. Y.
“I thought it was Good Cooks Eat A lot,” said Hayley, puzzled.
“That gives you the names of the strings—GCEA. ‘My Dog Has Fleas’ gives you the melody.” He plucked each string on Hayley’s uke and had the group sing along.
“I’d better get a uke too,” said Mr. Y, scratching his goatee. “Maybe a red one to match my vest!”
Tuning thirteen ukes took a long time. There was only enough time left for Hayley to teach everyone the C chord. The whole group strummed along with Hayley. Then the recess bell rang, and the first meeting was over.
“Don’t forget to practice!” Hayley yelled, as the kids rushed out. “On Thursday we will learn the G chord!”
On Thursday the group learned G. Mr. Y handed out song sheets. The chords were written above the words.
“This is the start of our club songbook,” he told them. “Keep all the song sheets in a binder. Every week we’ll add a few new songs.”
Hayley led “Skip to My Lou” and “Buffalo Gals.” And that was the end of the second meeting.
But next week was winter vacation. Three weeks with no school. As Hayley walked to the school bus, she wondered, Will anyone still want to be in the Ukulele Club after vacation? Or will everyone forget all about it?
BUGs
She didn’t need to worry. On Monday after vacation, eight more kids showed up with ukuleles. Christmas and Hanukkah presents. Now there were twenty-three kids in the ukulele club!
“The school is full of kids who want to play,” Hayley told her parents at dinner. They were having chicken tikka masala, an Indian dish Dad was working on. They’d had it three times so far this week, but this was the best.
“Crawling out of the woodwork,” said Dad. He passed Hayley the s
alad.
Hayley laughed at the image. “Like ants or bugs or something.” She speared a tomato with her fork.
“Bugs!” said Mom. “That should be the name for your club—Bridgewater Ukulele Group! BUGs!”
At the next meeting, Hayley suggested the name.
“We should be The Soggy Froggy Uke Band,” said Skeeter.
“No!” yelled Josh. “We should be the Motorcycle Ninja Uke Band!” Josh was motorcycle crazy.
“Let’s vote,” said Hayley. The group voted. BUGs was unanimous. Almost.
Skeeter made his fingers into eyeglasses. “Call me Bugman!” he yelled.
“We should get matching T-shirts,” said Olivia. She strummed a new chord.
“That’s a great idea!” said Hayley. She could see the design in her mind. Ladybugs and beetles. Maybe a centipede too. All playing ukuleles.
In a few weeks, the club had a thick binder of songs they could play. And they were learning new ones all the time. At every meeting, there was something new to share.
“Look at my fingers!” said Anna. “I practiced so hard I got blisters!”
“I learned a new chord!” said Devon. He played a new chord that sounded like an old movie.
“Listen!” said Lupe. A smile lit up her face as she sang a song in Spanish. “Mi abuelo, my granddaddy, taught me!”
“Write out the lyrics—the words—and the chords,” said Mr. Y. “So we can all learn it. We’ll add it to our songbook.”
Mr. Y recorded some lessons and posted the videos on the Internet. That way they could practice at home. He recorded some of their rehearsals too. Everyone liked watching themselves play.
Skeeter, Olivia, and Hayley wrote a song together. They made a video too. Then all the kids wanted to do one, so Mr. Y set up a BUGs uke channel on SchoolTube.
Olivia and Robin designed BUG shirts, based on Hayley’s idea. Everyone ordered one. The group wore the red shirts when they toured the school. They stopped in each classroom and played a few songs. Soon the whole school was humming “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and “Found a Peanut.” Hayley even overheard Ms. Lyons, the principal, warbling, “It was rotten, it was rotten, it was rotten last night,” as she strode down the hall.
