He’s ready for questions.
“Good job,” she says. “You might have wanted your results to be different, but I’m glad to see that you posted them as they were. Very good,” she says again, and then writes something else on her paper.
That’s a good sign, Calvin thinks. He looks at the rest of the small group as they jot down notes and score stuff. Then they move on. He watches after them, unable to judge his chances by their expressions. It looks like they’re trying to keep their faces as blank as possible.
Calvin’s dad finally arrives. He can see him making his way over but stopping here and there to check out the other projects. He’s standing near Gavin, who’s demonstrating a method of separating salt from pepper with the use of a comb he runs through his hair over and over to build up static. Parents and the panel seem fascinated by this, like it’s some kind of circus trick. Gavin looks thrilled to be receiving so much attention.
At one point he glances over at Calvin and pumps his arm with confidence. Calvin smiles weakly and feels his optimism slip even more.
As if that weren’t enough, he notices a cluster of other parents around Harper’s display. And Harper is wearing a tie. Oh, no! The judges are probably loving that. That’s just how parents think. He should have put on a tie, too.
Harper’s mother, standing proudly nearby, has even thought to provide background classical music on the CD player he’d seen in the shed.
That’s what’s drawing the parents, Calvin thinks. That’s what’s drawing them like flies to honey. He checks their expressions. They’re looking all dreamy-eyed. They’re gazing at the radishes like they’re diamonds or something. He doesn’t stand a chance with parents acting like that—and probably influencing the judges. He feels like sitting down, but he knows he has to just stand there with a ready smile on his face waiting for someone to come by and show an interest in his project. It’s a little bit miserable.
At last Calvin’s father gets to his table. He seems to be about to give Calvin some words of encouragement when Mr. Brown, the principal, climbs the stairs to the stage with a few papers in his hand. He clears his throat. He taps the microphone and asks the stupid question “Can everybody hear me?” All eyes turn to him. Too late now, Calvin thinks. Here it comes. Here comes failure.
And here comes the long, boring talk about the importance of scientific inquiry and igniting curiosity in a child’s mind and creating environments that nourish the desire for investigation and on and on and blah, blah, blah.
Calvin has to listen to all of this before Mr. Brown gets to the announcement of the first-, second-, and third-place winners. And wouldn’t you know, he’s starting with the third-place winner. Calvin has never even thought about third place.
But then it occurs to him: He could actually get third place. What a letdown that would be. To be third best.
He turns his attention back to Mr. Brown just as he’s calling Antonia up to the stage to receive her third-place white ribbon and some kind of certificate. He can’t believe all that empty glitz is being rewarded.
Just as Calvin is wondering what his father might give him for winning second place, Mr. Brown calls up Richard’s brother, Darnell Woolsy. Darnell Woolsy? What did he do again? Calvin didn’t pay any attention to Darnell Woolsy and his project. He searches the room to see Darnell leaving his table to mount the steps to the stage. The topic on his display board says: Is Yawning Contagious?
Really? Everyone already knows the answer to that. It’s yes. How did Darnell get a problem, a hypothesis, a procedure, results, and a conclusion out of something that everyone already knows the answer to? This contest must be rigged. He looks down at Darnell’s table.
Sure enough, his board is packed with graphs and pictures of his brothers and his mother and father yawning. Oh, the unfairness of it! Calvin watches him climb the stairs to the stage to receive his red ribbon and shake Mr. Brown’s hand.
After a few words congratulating Darnell, Mr. Brown takes the mike off the stand and begins to walk back and forth as he speaks. He talks about how pleasantly surprised he was by the winner of the first-place ribbon. How he’s seen this really wonderful side of this person who won first prize, and how he hopes this is just the beginning of more good stuff to come. And that’s when Calvin knows it’s going to be Harper. Mr. Brown can’t be looking for more good stuff to come from Calvin.
Calvin glances over at Harper. He’s fiddling with his display board, looking completely unaware that he’s the person Mr. Brown is talking about. In fact, he doesn’t seem like he’s even listening.
So when Mr. Brown calls Harper’s name, he looks up, puzzled. His mother turns to him and gives him a big hug. Harper appears even more bewildered. She says something to him and leads him to the bottom of the stage stairs.
Harper still looks confused as he climbs them—and when Mr. Brown congratulates him and puts the blue ribbon in his hand, he stands there looking speechless. “Thank you,” he mumbles. He goes back down the stairs and receives handshakes and hugs from the panel of parents.
Calvin realizes then that his lip is curling slightly. He glances up at his father and sees him actually smiling. He looks down at Calvin and says, “If it can’t be you, then I’m glad it’s Harper.”
Calvin nods slowly. He guesses he feels the same.
His father looks down at him again. “Come on,” his dad says.
“Huh?”
“Let’s go congratulate Harper.”
Eleven
Saturday
Calvin’s lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and rehashing all the events of the day before. Why does life have to have disappointments? Why can’t things always go as planned? Why is it that something that you don’t see coming . . . well, comes? He thinks about how his mother had called just before they were leaving for the science fair to wish him luck. Now even she’s going to be disappointed.
Or maybe not. His father didn’t act disappointed. He just said things like, “You win some, you lose some,” as they were driving home. Yeah, yeah. But is that the point? To Calvin the point is that he’s not getting the latest Wuju Legend video game. That’s the real point. He sighs. He might as well get up and prepare for a boring Saturday.
But the doorbell rings just as Calvin is dragging himself down the stairs to see what’s for breakfast. He peeks through the peephole and there’s Harper’s big face peeking back at him. Calvin opens the door to Harper standing on his porch with the blue ribbon pinned to his shirt.
“Why are you wearing that?” Calvin asks before he can stop himself. He braces for an angry response. Harper could think Calvin is making fun of him. But there’s no angry response.
“Because I want to,” Harper says simply.
“You want to come in?” Calvin asks.
Harper shrugs but steps inside. He has something, Calvin notices. Something small and hidden in his closed hand.
Calvin leads the way to the kitchen. His dad is standing at the counter, stirring pancake batter. “Hey, Harper,” he says. “How’s it going?”
“Fine,” Harper says. “Your dad cooks?” he whispers to Calvin.
Calvin sits down at the table. “Yeah. Sometimes,” he answers.
Just then the doorbell rings.
“Oh, shoot,” Calvin’s dad says. “That must be Miss Viola from across the street. Her cat is missing, and I promised to post some fliers at Big Barn. Hope you guys can wait for your pancakes. She’s a talker.”
They both shrug at the same time, and Calvin feels a strange sense of . . . companionship with Harper. Just for a moment.
“Here,” Harper says as he glances at Calvin’s dad’s retreating back. He pushes something toward Calvin.
“What’s this?” The small item is wrapped in brown paper and taped closed.
Calvin unwraps it. It’s his mother’s bracelet! His mouth drops open. He’s speechless.
“My mom told me I should give it back. ’Cause I told her I took it.” Harper
looks down at his hands.
“You told your mom that?” Calvin is surprised.
“Yeah.”
“Did she get mad at you?”
“No.”
Calvin looks at the bracelet. “Thanks,” he says. He slips it into his shirt pocket. Funny: He imagined being proven right would feel good. It doesn’t feel all that great. He’ll just return it to his mother’s jewelry box and maybe not even mention it to his dad. Just yet . . .
The pancakes aren’t that bad. They’re not as good as his mother’s pancakes, but still. He watches Harper drown his in butter and syrup and then cut a huge forkful to stuff into his mouth.
Calvin’s father, who’s only eating oatmeal for breakfast these days, is now loading the dishwasher with last night’s dinner dishes. “So, Harper,” he says, “how does it feel to be a first-place winner?”
“Good,” Harper answers, before cramming his mouth with another giant forkful. He chews, swallows, then says, “I’m gonna get the new Wuju Legend video game. My mother’s been saving and saving. She sells crochet stuff she makes at the swap meet. She promised me she’d get it even if I didn’t win if I just tried to do a good job.”
Calvin looks at his father quickly to see if those remarks have had an impact. But his father just smiles at Harper and nods.
“Hey,” Harper says. “When we finish, you wanna go out and shoot some hoops?”
This is weird. Calvin was thinking that even before Harper—Monster Boy?—asked the question. Two weeks ago, he would have never imagined Harper sitting at his kitchen table, eating pancakes, and then asking him if he wanted to go outside and shoot hoops. Funny how life can be.
Now he notices that Harper has a hopeful expression on his face. And that his hopeful appearance is fading a tiny bit. He’s already starting to look like he’s thinking Calvin is probably going to turn him down. But Calvin doesn’t turn him down. He doesn’t even consider it.
“Yeah, sure,” he says, and then realizes that it’s going to be kind of fun living next door to Harper. He’ll always have someone to shoot hoops with, and maybe—just maybe—from time to time Harper will let him borrow that latest Wuju Legend video game. Until Calvin gets his own, that is.
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1
What Did You Do to My Hair?
Nikki and Deja are best friends. They live next door to each other. On Saturday they sit on Deja’s couch watching cartoons. Soon Nikki grows tired of The Mouse Queen and says, “Let’s walk to the store.”
“I can’t,” Deja says. “My hair’s not combed.” She plucks at Bear’s fur. Bear is her favorite stuffed animal. Deja’s hair sticks out all over, just like Bear’s fur. “And Auntie Dee can’t comb it ’cause she’s working in the garden right now.”
Just then, the garage door to the kitchen slams and Auntie Dee passes through the room carrying a tray of seedlings to the backyard. “You’re not spending the whole morning in front of that TV,” she announces.
After she leaves, Deja says, “See? She’s too busy to comb my hair right now.”
“Let me comb it,” Nikki says.
“You don’t know how.”
“Yes, I do. I know how to comb hair now.”
Deja looks at Nikki as if she doesn’t believe her.
“I comb my little cousin’s hair all the time,” Nikki says.
Deja gets off the couch and runs to the bathroom. Soon she comes back with her comb and brush and ten ball barrettes. She sets them on the coffee table. “I want the pink ones in the front, the blue in the middle, and the purple on the bottom,” she says, scooting down onto the floor.
Nikki picks up the comb and tries to pull it through Deja’s hair.
“Ow!” Deja cries.
“I’ll use the brush first,” Nikki says quickly.
“Everybody knows you’re supposed to use the brush first, Nikki.”
Nikki looks at the barrettes and realizes she hasn’t learned how to make them work yet. She brushes until she thinks she can pull the comb through, but it gets stuck again. She gives it a tug.
“Ow!” Deja cries. “That hurts!”
Nikki puts the comb down. She won’t comb anymore. She’ll just brush. Then she remembers that she hasn’t learned how to braid. So she decides to put bunches of hair in the barrettes. But she doesn’t really know how to do that, either.
Deja reaches up and touches her head.
“This doesn’t feel right!” She jumps up and runs to the bathroom to check it in the mirror. Then she comes running back.
“Look what you did to my hair!”
“I like it . . . ,” Nikki says weakly.
“It doesn’t look like it’s supposed to!”
“Yes, it does.”
“It doesn’t.”
Deja flops down on the couch. She slips her thumb into her mouth and turns back to The Mouse Queen, her favorite cartoon. Deja won’t let anyone except Nikki see her sucking her thumb. She knows Nikki won’t laugh. Nikki slides over next to Deja on the couch. There isn’t anything about Deja that Nikki would laugh at, and there isn’t anything about Nikki that Deja would laugh at.
After a while, Deja takes her thumb out of her mouth and says, “I’m tired of cartoons. Let’s go outside. I don’t need my hair combed for that.”
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About the Author
KAREN ENGLISH is a Gryphon Award winner, Coretta Scott King Honor recipient, and the author of the Nikki and Deja series. Her chapter books have been praised for their accessible writing, authentic characters, and satisfying story lines. She is a former elementary school teacher and lives in Los Angeles, California.
About the Illustrator
LAURA FREEMAN has illustrated several books for children, including ten chapter books about the kids of Carver Elementary. She grew up in New York City and now lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two sons. Her drawings for this book were inspired by her children, as well as her own childhood.
Trouble Next Door Page 7
