by Geof Johnson
“How about Daddy?” Rachel asked.
“I never told your father. I was too ashamed. Connie knows, but nobody else.”
“Oh, Mom.” Rachel walked over to Evelyn and put her arms around her. Carl sat in silence.
“Sophie’s been trying to contact me for a while now.” Evelyn wiped her eyes. “That’s her name, Sophie.” She paused as if she were trying the name on for size. “I gave permission to the adoption registry, and she found me here. Now she wants to come over and see me.”
“Rachel, you always wanted a sister,” Carl said.
Rachel’s head spun. This can’t be true! “Well… what are we going to tell Jamie?”
“Please let me tell him,” Evelyn said. “I don’t know if he’s old enough to really understand, but I want to do it.”
* * *
That Saturday, Evelyn sat in the gazebo and Rachel paced around the family room, where Jamie was watching television. When the doorbell rang, Jamie started to get up, but she said, “I’ll get it.”
Rachel rushed to the door, but paused for a moment before answering it. She didn’t know what to expect or how she would react. She’d played the scene over and over in her mind the night before, thinking about what she would say, but with her hand on the doorknob, her mind went blank. The bell rang again and she opened it.
Standing before her was a middle-aged, slighter heavier version of herself. Same height and light brown hair, though it was cut shorter. The resemblance was still there.
“Is this the Sikes’s residence?” the woman asked.
Rachel threw her arms around Sophie and hugged her with all her might as a small sob escaped her lips. This wasn’t how she imagined meeting her new-found sister, but she couldn’t help herself.
After a long moment, Rachel pulled back and held her sister at arms’ length. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I’m Rachel. You must be Sophie.” A tear ran down Sophie’s cheek.
“That’s okay. It’s not every day that you get to meet your long-lost sister.” Rachel brought her inside and introduced Jamie to his aunt.
“I’m so glad to meet you,” Sophie said. “You’re even more adorable than your grandmother described you.”
Jamie blushed but didn’t say anything.
* * *
Jamie’s mother asked him to stay inside while she took her sister out to the gazebo, where they talked with his grandmother for what seemed like hours. Every time he looked out of the back window to check on them, it seemed like they were holding hands, hugging, or wiping their eyes.
They finally walked through the back door and Jamie’s mother said, “Where are you staying?”
“At the Hampton Inn,” his aunt said.
“Oh no, you can’t stay there. You must stay with us. We have a nice guest bedroom.”
“I don’t want to be a bother.”
“Don’t argue,” Gramma said. “Go get your things. You’re staying here.”
Good old Gramma, Jamie thought. Nobody can say no to her.
* * *
Late Sunday afternoon, Rachel, Lisa, and Adele sat on Adele’s front steps, watching their kids play basketball. Rachel told them about Sophie.
“And your mother kept it a secret all these years?” Lisa said. “That’s amazing.”
“Yes, but I think I understand why,” Rachel said.
“I can’t picture your mom pregnant in high school.”
“You can’t? How do you think I feel?” That was the biggest surprise of my life, she thought.
“What does Jamie think about her?” Adele asked.
“He likes her. As soon as he found out that she teaches high school biology, he wouldn’t hardly leave her alone. He finally found someone he can talk science with.”
“Does she have any kids?” Lisa said.
“No, she can’t. She has the same problem I have. She’s not married, either, but she’s dating a guy.”
“Are you going to see her again?”
“She’s coming for Thanksgiving. Mom wanted her to come for Christmas, too, but she spends that with her adoptive parents.”
“So what do you think of her?” Adele said.
“She’s nice. I’ve only known her for twenty four hours — a very emotional twenty four hours — but she seems like a sweet person.” Rachel sighed. “You know, I always wanted a sister. Now that I’ve got one, I guess this means I can’t be in the Only Child Club anymore.”
“That’s a good thing, Sugar,” Lisa said. She looked away and took a deep breath. “I have a confession to make.” She bit her lower lip, obviously struggling with what she wanted to say. “I can’t be in the club, either. You know that great aunt that I go visit once a month?” She looked at Rachel and Adele. “She’s not my aunt. She’s my sister.”
“Your sister?” Rachel said. “Why haven’t we met her?”
“She lives in a special home. She’s mentally handicapped… severely handicapped. She’s got some bad health problems, too. That’s why she’s at the home.”
“Does Fred know?”
“No,” she said with a tight shake of her head.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I don’t know.” She looked at the step in front of her. “I feel bad about her being in an institution instead of living with us. I’m embarrassed, I guess, like I’m a bad sister. I love her so much, and she should be living with us. But what can I do?” Her voice caught in her throat. “I can’t give her the care she needs. I just can’t.” She put her hand to her chest as she tried to continue. “I promised my mom before she died that I’d go visit as often as I could, but it’s hard, especially with Fred. I’ve got to look after her, you know.”
Lisa covered her face with both hands. “Ever since my dad died, I’m all my sister has left. There’s nobody else visiting her. And every time I go see her, she gets so excited and happy. God, it just makes me feel worse.” A tear trickled from between her fingers.
Adele put her arm around Lisa’s shoulders. “You’re not a bad sister, Lisa. You’re a good person.”
“And a good mother,” Rachel said. “You’re raising Fred right. She’s your number one priority right now. You should be proud of the job you’re doing.”
“I guess,” Lisa mumbled. “But sometimes I feel like a failure.”
“We all feel that way at one time or another,” Rachel said.
“That’s right, Honey,” Adele said. “We might not be the Only Child Club, but we are the Moms Doing the Best They Can Club.”
“Amen to that,” Lisa said, as Rachel nodded.
* * *
The following Saturday, Lisa took Fred to Charlotte to meet her aunt for the first time.
Chapter 31
Sixth grade was full of changes and challenges for Jamie, Fred, and Rollie. The biggest change was that they started middle school and were the little kids again, dwarfed by eighth graders in the throes of hormone-fueled growth spurts. Jamie and Rollie weren’t the smallest boys at school, but they were far from the biggest. And because girls mature faster than boys, Fred had shot past both of her friends and was almost four inches taller, a fact she reminded them of daily.
The biggest challenge of sixth grade for Fred was the eighth grade girls. A few who rode their bus thought it was fun to flirt with Jamie, sitting by him whenever they could, running their hands through his curly hair, and telling him how cute he was. Jamie withstood it in red-faced silence, but Fred seethed with fury. Rollie found it to be funny, needling Jamie relentlessly, calling him “ladies’ man” and “lover boy”. That only made Fred madder.
The biggest challenge of sixth grade for Jamie was that he started it on crutches. Jamie’s father had pushed him into trying out for football.
“What did the doctor say?” Carl asked as he closed the kitchen door behind him and laid his coat over a chair.
“It’s just a bad sprain, thank God. It’s not broken,” Rachel said. “He’ll be on crutches for a couple of weeks or so.”
Rachel stopped cutting potatoes and gave Carl a hard look. “You just had to talk him onto trying out, didn’t you? I told you he was too small, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“A sprained ankle can happen to anybody, even the biggest guys.”
“Carl, he doesn’t really want to play football. He only went to tryouts because of you. He wants you to be proud of him, but he’s not you. He’s not an athlete, so stop pushing him to be one.”
“He just hasn’t found his sport yet, that’s all.”
“Carl…arghhhh!” She shook her fists in frustration and went back to cutting potatoes.
* * *
Starting a new school also meant making new friends, and Fred’s new friend was Betsy Moore. One Friday in early September, she rode the bus home with Fred for a sleepover.
Late Saturday afternoon, after Betsy’s had gone home, Lisa said, “Well, did you have fun with Betsy?”
“I guess,” Fred said.
“That’s it? I guess?”
“Well, she’s nice, but she’s kinda boy crazy. That’s all she wants to talk about. And she wouldn’t leave Jamie alone.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I think she only wanted to come over because she knows Jamie’s my friend. On the bus yesterday, she was sitting with him and flirting.”
“She’s too young for that. You probably misread her.”
“No, she was flirting. She’s worse than those older girls, ’cause they just do it to be funny. All she wanted to do today was go over to his house all the time.”
“What does he think about it?”
“He doesn’t like it. He told me so. He went over to Rollie’s and got him to tell her that girls aren’t allowed at his house.”
“But you go all the time.”
“She doesn’t know that.”
“I don’t remember being like that when I was your age. She seems too young to be liking boys. How old is she, eleven?”
“She’s almost twelve. But lots of sixth graders are dating already.”
“Dating? Come on, Honey, what kind of dating can they do?”
“They mostly just text each other and talk on the phone and stuff.”
“Text? These kids have cell phones?”
“Uh huh. Can I get one?”
“Absolutely not.”
“When can I?”
“I made a pact with Rachel and Adele, and we’re not letting you get phones until ninth grade.”
“Ninth grade!”
“Yes, ninth grade. We knew we had to agree, or one of you’d get a phone, and then the rest of you would expect one.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Too bad, Honey. And stop making that face. It might freeze like that.”
* * *
“Does everybody have coffee who wants it?” Rachel called from the kitchen on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
“I think we’re all good,” Evelyn said from the table. A memory came to mind of twelve years ago, when she was a lonely widow in Greensboro, eating by herself in her small kitchen in her condo. Today she was at a large table, surrounded by talking and laughter and all the women in her family — both of her daughters, her niece Gina, and her sister Connie. She couldn’t help but smile.
“Where’s Jamie?” Sophie asked.
“Carl took him and Fred to the movies,” Rachel said. “Jamie said he didn’t want to be around a ladies’ yak-a-thon.”
Evelyn had worried, tossed and turned through restless nights, about how the rest of the family would take to Sophie, but they seemed to accept her, even enjoy her company, especially Connie. Evelyn’s sister was the only other person who had known of her, sharing the heartbreak of the adoption all those years, and Connie had become quite emotional when they met. Even Pete and Darla had been cordial to her during their Thanksgiving dinner.
“Sophie, next time you come, you need to bring some pictures,” Connie said. “We want to see what you looked like when you were little.”
“I was thinner, for one thing.” Sophie laughed. “And I had blonde curly hair like Jamie.”
“Stop making comments about your weight,” Connie said. “You’re fine just the way you are.”
“Speaking of skinny,” Gina said. “Fred sure has shot up since the last time I saw her.”
“That Fred is something else,” Sophie said. “She’s so cute and has so much personality. But she seems a little bossy.”
Rachel shook her head. “A little?”
“But she and Jamie seem like such good friends. How does he put up with it?”
“Don’t worry about Jamie.” Evelyn set down her coffee cup. “He knows how to deal with Fred. They’ve been friends for a long time. They’re about as close as you can get.”
“I think Fred wants him to be her boyfriend,” Gina said. “I gave her my e-mail address last time I was here, and I know I shouldn’t be telling you this, but she talks about him all the time. She just pours her little heart out.”
“I’m not surprised,” Rachel said. “Lisa said that Fred thinks of you as her older sister.”
Sophie smiled. “That’s so sweet. I wish I knew her better.”
“Oh, hang around here long enough and you will,” Evelyn said. “You won’t be able to help it. And Rollie, too. He’s out of town right now, but and he and Jamie and Fred are as thick as thieves.”
“Lisa and I are hoping that Jamie and Fred go to the prom together someday,” Rachel said. “But right now, Jamie’s more interested in other things. I don’t think he notices girls just yet.”
* * *
“There sure are a lot of good-looking girls in this school,” Jamie said, walking through the halls with Rollie one day in early December.
Rollie pursed his lips. “But they’re all so tall.”
“They’re not tall. We’re short.”
“Even Fred’s taller than us now. I asked my mom when I’m gonna grow, but she said be patient. That’s all she ever says — Be patient,” Rollie said in a mocking, nasal tone.
“My mom told me that girls mature faster, and that we’ll have our growth spurts later.”
“I wanna be taller now. Can’t you use your magic on us and make us grow?”
“I can’t. The oath. Remember? I don’t know how, anyway.” Jamie looked around to make sure no one was listening. “But I think I’ve figured out how to make plants grow really fast, I mean, like poof. It’s really cool. I’ll show you and Fred after school.”
Later, Jamie, Fred, and Rollie went up to the clubhouse. Jamie had a small pot of dirt and a bottle of water.
“Now this,” Jamie said, holding out his hand, “is a zinnia seed. I remembered how to do this the other day.”
“Here we go with the memories again,” Fred said. “I suppose this is one of the old man’s?”
Jamie nodded.
“How do you know he’s old, anyway?” Rollie asked.
“Because sometimes memories come to me in dreams, and I’m looking through somebody else’s eyes. When I look down, I can see a gray beard.” Jamie touched the middle of his chest. “Coming all the way down to here. Long gray hair, too.”
“How do you know you didn’t just figure this trick out on your own?”
“Did I figure this out?” Jamie lifted his finger and the pot rose about a foot in the air. Then he twirled his finger and the pot spun. Fred reached out, grabbed the pot, and set it back on the table. “I dreamed it, and now I can do it,” Jamie said. “But what I’m going to do now is something that came to me in biology class.”
He buried the seed in the pot of dirt. “The old man knew a lot about plants. He even knew about cells and stuff.”
“So what,” Rollie said. “Lots of people do.”
“Yeah, but he had to build his own microscopes.” Jamie poured some water over the dirt.
“Why didn’t he just buy ’em?”
“He couldn’t. They don’t have them where he’s from.”
“Is it some poor coun
try or something?” Fred said.
“No, I think it’s another world.”
“Now don’t go telling me —”
“No, hear me out. There are no cars or electricity, hardly any technology at all. And the moon! It’s really different. It looks bigger and it’s got all these different colors, not all white like ours.”
Rollie looked at Jamie with a skeptical expression. “If you say so. What are you gonna do with that pot?”
“Watch.” Jamie held his hand over it, and within seconds, a tiny shoot appeared. He added more water and the plant grew quickly, and within a minute or so, was nearly fully grown. Jamie added more water.
“Wow,” Fred said.
The bud appeared, swelled, and opened into a fully developed flower.
“What do you think?” Jamie asked.
Fred and Rollie stared in wonder. Jamie broke the flower stem near its base and handed it to Fred.
“Dude, that is so cool!” Rollie said. “That’s really gonna come in handy on Mother’s Day.”
* * *
That winter was a cold one, and Jamie spent most of his time indoors with his friends. But when spring came, they were out in the yard again.
One Saturday in March, the kids helped Carl take down the kid swings and put up a porch swing in their place. Carl climbed down the stepladder. “All done. Have fun.” He folded up the ladder and took it to the garage as the kids scrambled to get on the bench. Jamie and Rollie were first.
“Move over!” Fred said, pushing Jamie and Rollie apart. “I want to sit in the middle.”
When she scrunched between them, Rollie said, “Ow! Your boney butt hurts, Fred.”
“My butt is just fine, thank you.” She looked at Jamie. “Stop kicking your legs back when we’re kicking forward. We can’t swing ’cause you’re messing us up.”
“Fred, I think I know how to swing.”
“Prove it, then. Do what me and Rollie are doing.”
“Don’t be so bossy.”
