Fabulous Five 008 - The Runaway Crisis

by Betsy Haynes

  "Mom, please. She's desperate," said Katie. "Besides, we can talk to her and find out what the problem is once she's here . . . if they'll even let her come."

  Willie considered the situation for another moment while Katie stood by her desk and pleaded with her eyes. "Well," she said at last, "all we can do is try."

  Katie bounced nervously from foot to foot while her mother made the call. "Hello, Mrs. Pendergast? . . . I'm Willie Shannon, Katie's mother, and Katie would like for Shawnie to come over here for a little while this evening so that the girls can work on some homework together. Would that be all right with you? . . . It would?" Willie turned and gave Katie a wide-eyed shrug. "Wonderful . . . Why not drop her off around six-thirty? . . . Great. Good-bye."

  Katie grabbed her mother around the waist. "I can't believe it!" she shouted. "She said yes? Just like that?"

  "Just like that," said Willie. "Actually, she was formal and businesslike, but she sounded reasonably nice over the phone. Maybe things aren't so bad after all."

  "I hope not," said Katie.

  At exactly six-thirty a dark car pulled up beside the curb, and Shawnie Pendergast got out carrying a load of books and hurried to the door. Katie had been watching for her for ten minutes and wondering what kind of situation it was that Shawnie had called an emergency. Willie had suggested that Katie talk to Shawnie about it and then call her in if it was necessary. "There's no use making this thing any bigger than it is," Willie had commented, and Katie had agreed.

  "Come on in," said Katie as she opened the door for Shawnie.

  "Thanks," said Shawnie. Taking a deep breath and then letting it out slowly, she leaned back against the closed door as if she had just made it to safety. "I really appreciate this."

  "Put your books down and take off your jacket, and I'll introduce you to my mom," said Katie. A moment later in Willie's office Katie made the introductions.

  "It's nice to meet you, Shawnie. I'm glad you could come over," said Willie, standing up from her desk and extending her hand to Shawnie.

  "Thanks, Mrs. Shannon. It's nice to meet you, too. I really appreciate your calling my mom."

  "Anytime, Shawnie. I know it can be a big help to study together."

  Katie was thinking what a good actress her mother was, not letting on that she knew Shawnie had problems at home, when she noticed a flicker of concern in Willie's eyes. She followed her mother's gaze and saw a large, dark bruise on Shawnie's right arm just above her elbow.

  Shawnie must have noticed Willie's gaze, too, because she shrugged and pulled the sleeve of her sweater over the bruise. "You wouldn't believe how clumsy I am," she said with an embarrassed little laugh. "I walked right into my closet door."

  Katie felt a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. There was no way she could believe that Shawnie had walked into her closet door. Had one of her parents hit her? Was that what her emergency had been? Katie blinked and looked at Shawnie again as if she were seeing her for the very first time. Tall, pretty Shawnie with the long blond hair and the gorgeous wardrobe who had seemed at first to have everything going for her. Was it possible that things were as bad for her at home as they looked?

  Libber chose that moment to unwind herself from around the back of Willie's computer. She walked across the manuscript pages straight toward Shawnie, stopping only to yawn and stretch before reaching out a paw and looking pleadingly at Katie's friend.

  "Look! She likes me," cried Shawnie. "Is it okay if I pick her up?"

  Katie nodded and chuckled. "You'd better or she'll pester you all evening. Her name is Libber because she's a totally liberated woman."

  Shawnie picked up Libber and held her close, nuzzling her soft, yellow hair. "She sounds like a jet plane on takeoff," remarked Shawnie as she gently placed Libber on the floor. "I wish I could have a cat. One just like Libber. But we have a rule at our house. No pets."

  "We'd better get started on our homework," said Katie, feeling uneasy again. "But first, let's see what we can dig up to snack on."

  "See you later, girls," said Willie as the two left her office with Libber padding along behind them.

  "We have another rule at our house," said Shawnie, watching Katie fill a large bowl with chips and pop two cans of soda. "No snacks in between meals. It's grim."

  "Why are your parents so strict?" asked Katie. "I mean, do they tell you any reasons?"

  "Sure. They tell me their reasons all the time. They're doing what's best for me." She said the last words slowly and deliberately as if echoing the way her parents spoke.

  Katie took a deep breath. There was one more question she had to ask. It took all her effort to keep her eyes away from the bruise on Shawnie's arm as she said, "You haven't told me yet what your emergency was."

  Shawnie's eyes clouded, and she chewed her bottom lip as she considered her response. "I'd rather not talk about it right now. Okay?"

  "Are you sure?" Katie insisted. "You know I want to help, and sometimes just talking about something can make you feel better."

  "Thanks," said Shawnie. "You're a super friend, but believe me, talking about this is definitely not something I want to do. Besides," she added brightly, "we have a theme to write for Miss Dickinson. We'd better get started."

  Katie nodded and opened her notebook to the hastily copied quotation.

  If there were dreams to sell, what would you buy?

  Wow, thought Katie. Any other time the theme would have been a breeze. Her dreams had always been the causes she believed in, such as justice, equality, even her new one, helping the hungry. They still were, of course, and she knew that she would probably write her theme on one of them. But now she had a new dream, a new cause. Brushing tears out of her eyes, she glanced at Shawnie, who sat with her head bent over her own notebook and with Libber curled contentedly in her lap.

  I'm going to do something to help Shawnie Pendergast, Katie vowed silently. She didn't know what that something would turn out to be, but no matter how hard it was, she would do it because Shawnie needed her help and she had no one else to turn to.

  CHAPTER 7

  Walking to school the next morning, Katie thought back over the evening. Shawnie had kept her lips sealed about the emergency at home even though Katie had mentioned her willingness to help several times. She had even hinted that her mother would help, too. After Shawnie's parents picked her up at nine-thirty, Katie had a long conversation with Willie.

  "I feel so sorry for her," Katie began. "She must be too scared to tell me what happened. What are we going to do?"

  "We can't do much to help her as long as she won't talk about the problem," Willie had said. "But not only that, we have to be awfully careful about butting into another family's business. For all we know, things may not be nearly the way they seem."

  Katie knew her mother was right about not being able to help Shawnie if she didn't want them to, and also about being careful. But Katie had no doubt in her own mind about how bad things were for Shawnie, and Willie's words did nothing to alter her determination to help her new friend.

  Finally she had told Willie about Tony and the march for hunger. "Now you'll have something to write about," she said proudly. "Tony and I are going to make this the best march ever. We'll get all the students in Wakeman Junior High involved and ask them to get pledges of a certain amount of money for every mile they walk from all their friends and relatives."

  Willie had reacted just the way Katie had hoped she would. "Katie, that's terrific!" she said, giving her daughter a hug. "I am so proud of you. You know," she added thoughtfully, "sometimes when I'm out working on stories for the paper, I see whole families who have nowhere to live just sitting on park benches waiting for the shelters to open up and take them in. It reminds me of how lucky you and I are."

  Katie nodded. She had seen the street people, too. It wasn't fair, she thought. Everyone should have somewhere to live and enough to eat.

  "Have you decided who will get the money you collect?"

  Ka
tie shook her head. "I was going to ask you for suggestions since you already know so much about the subject."

  "Well, there's the county food bank that gives bags of groceries to families who need them," said Willie, "and there are two organizations who serve meals to the street people every day. They're always in need of donations."

  "Great," said Katie. "We'll get every single kid in Wacko to sign up, and then we'll collect as much as we possibly can."

  Her mother smiled. "I'll tell you what. You give me all the information about your march, and I'll call all three organizations to tell them your plans and then write the first article about it tonight for the newspaper. The publicity should help you get more and bigger pledges from people around town."

  Now, on the way to school, Katie was feeling more proud than ever about the march for hunger. Still, she knew that there was one thing that she hadn't talked to her mother about, and that was her mixed feelings for Tony. It was still true that part of her disliked a lot of things about him, but it was also true that the other part of her was starting to like him more than ever, and little tingly feelings danced up her spine when she came in sight of the school and saw him waiting for her beside the gate.

  "Hi, there, Your Honor," he called as she got near. "Are you ready to talk to the prince?"

  "The 'prince'?" asked Katie.

  Tony laughed. "That's short for 'principal.'" Then when he saw her wrinkle her nose, he added, "Cornball, huh?"

  "You've got it," Katie said, but she couldn't help laughing anyway.

  They walked toward the building in comfortable silence until Tony said, "You know, it's funny, but the more I think about this march for hunger, the better I like the whole idea."

  Katie's spirits zoomed. "You do? That's great!"

  "I guess I just hadn't thought much about anything like that before. You know, that I could do something. But I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I just hope the prince . . . uh, Mr. Bell lets us go through with it."

  "Me, too," admitted Katie. "My mom's going to try to get an article about it into this afternoon's paper. If he turns us down, I'll have to call her and tell her not to print it."

  Miss Simone was pounding away on her typewriter when Katie and Tony entered the office, and Katie shook her head in wonder at how the secretary managed to hit the keys in spite of her long, red fingernails.

  "What can I do for you two?" Miss Simone asked sharply.

  Katie started to respond, but Tony stepped forward and took charge. "We'd like to speak to Mr. Bell, please."

  Miss Simone stopped typing and looked over the top of her glasses at them as if she was trying to figure out what the two of them could possibly have to say to Mr. Bell. Finally she stood and said, "Just a moment. I'll see if he's available," and disappeared into his private office. A moment later she reappeared.

  "Go on in. He'll see you now."

  Tony and Katie exchanged thumbs-up signs and hurried into the principal's office. Katie could see that Tony was starting to get a little nervous, and she smiled to herself, speculating that the only times he had been in the principal's office before this had been because he was in trouble.

  "What can I do for the two of you this morning?" Mr. Bell asked cheerfully. He was a tall, thin man with a bald spot shining through a fringe of gray hair, and he leaned back at his desk and smiled at them.

  Katie decided she should take charge this time. "We would like to organize a march for hunger at Wakeman Junior High, and we thought we should get your permission before we get started."

  Mr. Bell raised his eyebrows approvingly. "Well, that sounds like a fine thing to do. Tell me more about it."

  For the next five minutes Katie and Tony outlined their plan. They had set a date for two weeks from Saturday, and they wanted to put an article in the school paper and posters in the halls asking students to sign up to march. The marchers would ask friends and relatives to pledge money, so much for every mile marched, which would go to the three organizations in town who fed the hungry that Willie had suggested.

  "It will just be for Wacko students," Tony said cheerfully. Then blushing, he said, "I mean Wakeman Junior High students, sir."

  Mr. Bell chuckled. "I've heard it called Wacko a few times, Tony," he admitted. "And I think it's a wonderful project for the school to become involved in. You have my approval. In fact, you can count on me to help any way I can. How about if I start out by pledging two dollars per mile to each of you?"

  Katie and Tony exchanged wide smiles and thanked Mr. Bell at least three times as they left his office, but they waited until they were in the hall again to let out a whoop of self-congratulation.

  "We did it!" cried Katie, jumping up and down.

  "Hey, give me high five!" Tony shouted. Then he held his hand palm up, and Katie smacked it with her own. "This is too much," he said, shaking his head. "Tony Calcaterra, champion of the downtrodden . . . or whatever they're called. Nobody's going to believe it."

  "I believe it," Katie said stubbornly.

  Tony blinked in surprise. "In that case, maybe we ought to celebrate," he offered. "Would you like to go to a movie with me Friday night?"

  Katie could hear her pulse pounding in her ears. This was it. The moment had come when she had to tell Tony yes or no for once and for all. She couldn't put off making a decision any longer.

  "Well?" he urged.

  She took a deep breath. "Yes," she answered in a tiny voice.

  CHAPTER 8

  Somehow being around Tony was easier once Katie had accepted a date with him, and they spent the rest of the time before the bell rang sitting on the front steps together planning the march.

  "We'll have to start talking it up to all our friends and to everybody in our classes," said Tony. "And I'll bet Mr. Bell will let us put sign-up sheets on the main bulletin board beside the office."

  "That might not be such a good place," said Katie. "Without someone watching, kids might sign up other people as a joke."

  Tony nodded. "Or Pee-wee Herman. Or Rambo."

  "Or worse," conceded Katie.

  "I've got a better idea," said Tony. "Why don't you and I sit at a table in the cafeteria every day and collect signatures there. We could get a small table from the custodian and set it up by the cashier where everybody would see us."

  "Terrific idea," said Katie. She hoped her voice sounded normal or that she didn't look fidgety. She was having a hard time sitting still now that he had not only asked her to go to a movie with him but had suggested that they have lunch together every day, too.

  ". . . and we can take the sign-up sheets to Bumpers after school and talk to kids on the school ground before the bell every morning," Tony was saying. His eyes were sparkling, and Katie could hear excitement growing in his voice.

  A shiver ran through her. Things were moving awfully fast. She supposed she would take some flak from people such as Laura McCall and her crowd about being seen with Tony, especially after all the noise they had made when Teen Court first started. Laura had accused Katie of letting Tony off easy and giving Laura's friends tough sentences. Katie even dreaded explaining her change of heart to the rest of The Fabulous Five. They suspected, of course, but she had hoped she would have until Friday night to think of something convincing. Something that would explain why someone like herself would fall for someone like Tony. But now, if the two of them were going to be together all the time getting kids to sign up for the march, she would have to think of something quickly when she didn't even understand it herself.

  When the bell rang, Katie agreed to meet Tony in the cafeteria at noon and headed for her locker. The rest of The Fabulous Five were waiting for her in the hall.

  "We saw you with Tony yesterday at Bumpers and this morning on the steps," said Beth, grinning broadly. "Did it take all that time to make plans for the march for hunger?"

  "Or is it going to be a march for love?" teased Melanie.

  "Okay, you guys. Knock it off. This is serious," Katie warned. She
tried to sound annoyed, but she could tell by the way her friends were looking at her that she wasn't succeeding.

  "So, are you really going to have the march?" asked Christie.

  Katie nodded. "Tony and I talked to Mr. Bell a few minutes ago, and he thinks it's a terrific idea. We're going to have sign-up sheets in the cafeteria during lunch period and at Bumpers after school."

  "You and Tony are going to have the sign-up sheets?" Jana asked knowingly. "How romantic!"

  "I just can't believe it, Katie," said Christie, shaking her head. "You and Tony are such opposites. I mean, how can you, of all people, be organizing a march for hunger with him? Especially after what he did yesterday."

  "What are you talking about?" Katie demanded. She swallowed hard, trying to ignore the prickly feeling on the back of her neck as she remembered his mentioning that he would be back in Teen Court this week.

  "You mean you haven't heard?" asked Beth. "Wow. Wait until you hear this. You know the girls' bathroom in the hall past the cafeteria? Well, someone sneaked into the custodian's office and got a sign that said: KEEP OUT—MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL AT WORK. Then that someone propped open the door with a bucket and hung the sign on the door, and for three whole hours nobody could go in."

  "Right," interrupted Melanie. "Just think. Three whole hours. Some girls were so desperate that they tried to get to the bathroom at the other end of the school, and most of them ended up being late for class and getting tardy slips."

  "Finally, Mr. Bartosik, the custodian, walked down the hall and noticed the sign," said Christie. "He knew that nothing was broken in there and that nobody had called the maintenance people, so he took the sign down and notified the office."

  "And now I suppose everybody just assumes that Tony did it because he's in trouble so much," Katie said angrily. "Is that it?"

  Beth shook her head. "No, somebody saw him carrying the sign through the halls just before the last bell tang and ratted on him."

  Katie knew that her face must be turning red because she could feel steam rising from under her collar. "Oh," she mumbled, trying to hide her embarrassment by looking at the floor. "I'll see you guys later. I have to go to my locker."