“Anyway, I thought we’d help each other. I’ll pull you out of home ec one day a week if you’ll work for me. How does that sound?”
“What’s the catch?” Georgie asked.
“You’re very smart, aren’t you, Georgie? Well, there is a catch. I know how much you hate talking about your dad so I bought this for you.” She picked up a thin, red book.
Georgie reached over and took it from her. The pages were blank.
“I want you to write one feeling about your dad’s being gone, and then we can get busy on these forms.”
“Hey, no problem,” Georgie said.
She sat at Mrs. Donovan’s desk. No way was she going to write down her feelings. They were hers and she wasn’t sharing them with anyone.
She decided to draw a picture of Mrs. Donovan instead. Georgie angrily grabbed a pencil, but soon lost herself in the rhythm of strokes. She sat back to look at her work. It was a good likeness of Mrs. Donovan, with her glasses and curly hair. Her eyes were open but unseeing. Georgie had drawn a noose around Mrs. Donovan’s neck, her head at an angle. Georgie was past the point of caring if she got into real trouble. She was ready to get Mrs. Donovan off her back for good. If this picture didn’t scare her away, nothing would.
She put the open book in front of Mrs. Donovan with a flourish. “There you go!”
Mrs. Donovan closed the book without looking and pushed it toward Georgie. “Oh, it’s not for me,” she said. “I don’t want to see what you’ve written.”
“But you have to!” Georgie said.
Mrs. Donovan looked up at her. “No, I don’t. It’s for you, Georgie. Is what you wrote how you really feel?”
“Oh, yeah.” Georgie thought of the picture of dead Mrs. Donovan. “It’s how I really feel.”
“Great!” Mrs. Donovan smiled at her. “Let’s get busy. We receive completed forms once a week from the places where the students do their good deeds. The forms tell us if the students showed up and how many hours they worked that week. Unfortunately, not everyone sends in a form, so I need to know whom to call. I’ll check off the businesses or individuals who sent theirs in and pass the forms to you. Your job is to mark each student who worked at least two hours last week.”
Georgie looked at the list and saw her own name. “Don’t you realize I could put down that I worked whether I did or not? I could put down that everyone worked two hours! I could probably advertise and kids would pay me to do that.”
Mrs. Donovan picked up a stack of papers. “Yes, I suppose you could.”
Georgie started at the top and checked each name without bothering to see if the student worked at all. She checked all names beginning with A through D, keeping one eye on Mrs. Donovan. She expected Mrs. Donovan to stop her or yell or something. But Mrs. Donovan didn’t say anything. She didn’t even look to see if Georgie was doing what she was supposed to do.
Georgie started to mark the E’s, but it was too boring. Finally she erased the fake check marks, grabbed the first pile of forms, and checked off the students who really had done their job.
“Mrs. D.?”
“Yes, Georgie.”
“You sure know how to take the fun out of things.”
* * *
Georgie was walking in the crowded hall at the end of the day when she heard Lisa’s voice.
“Georgie!”
She saw Lisa making her way through the rowdy kids, who were clearly anxious to escape for the day.
“We were assigned kitchens in home ec,” Lisa said when she caught up with Georgie. “Because you weren’t there, they stuck me with someone else!”
“Bummer,” Georgie said.
“Where were you?”
“At the guidance counselor’s office.” Georgie threw her books into the locker and kicked it closed with her foot.
“Why?”
“Guidance, I suppose.”
“Seriously,” Lisa said, “why were you there?”
“It’s where they send the messed-up kids.” Georgie walked toward the exit.
Lisa squeezed her books to her chest. “But, Georgie, you’re not messed up! You’re the most together person I know.”
“Yeah, that’s me, all right.” Georgie sneered and slid a sideways glance at Lisa. She was thrown when she saw the open expression on Lisa’s face. Lisa really thought she was “together.” It had been a long time since anyone had treated Georgie as if she weren’t a problem.
“Well, what she really wanted was help with the Good Deeds project,” Georgie said. It wasn’t a complete lie.
“Oh! That sounds like fun. Does she need anyone else to help?”
“No, I think it’s only a job for one.” Georgie thought about that stupid book Mrs. Donovan wanted her to write her feelings in. “But it’s just one day a week during home ec. So maybe it’s a good thing you have another cooking partner, since I won’t be there all the time.”
They reached the line of buses. Georgie’s hadn’t pulled up yet, so she waited with Lisa.
“I should just get on the bus with you. We could call my mom from your house. She could pick me up after the brats go home.”
“No!” Lisa looked panicky. “That’s not a good idea.”
“Sorr-ee!” Georgie said. And Lisa had just made her feel good about herself. “I didn’t realize having me over last night was such a bad thing!”
“It’s not that. I told you, my parents fight a lot.”
“Which I don’t get at all. I mean, Alan moved out of the house. What’s the big deal?”
“It’s not just that he moved out…” Lisa faltered.
“What’s the rest of the story?” Georgie said. “Where is Alan?”
“There, uh, isn’t any more to it.”
Georgie could tell that Lisa was lying. “Lisa, where is Alan?” she persisted.
Lisa looked down.
“Look, tell me or I’ll get on your bus, ride to your house, and ask your mom myself.”
Lisa raised her head, her eyes open wide. “No! Alan is in—Chicago.”
“So?” Georgie said.
Lisa lowered her head so that her hair covered her face. “He’s in Chicago. And—Dad’s afraid he’s using LSD and smoking pot and stuff. So please don’t talk to my parents about it, okay?”
“Okay. Geez, you could have said that all along.”
Lisa quickly climbed onto the bus. “See ya!”
Georgie’s bus still hadn’t arrived. She watched Lisa find a seat beside a window. Georgie waved goodbye, but even from the sidewalk she could see that Lisa’s face was pale, and she didn’t look back at Georgie.
11
Three Saturdays later, when Georgie and Lisa walked into the Sunset Home, Camille was sitting behind the front desk, reading a newspaper.
“Anything good in there?” Lisa asked.
“Nothing good, girl. Nothing good,” Camille said. “But then, what did we expect when we put that Richard Nixon in office?”
Lisa reached past her for the sign-in paper and pulled a pencil out of the drawer. Georgie sat on the corner of the desk as Lisa filled in her name and time on the sheet. She handed it to Georgie to sign. Georgie glanced at the record of their visits. After the first week, they’d lasted more like four hours than the two hours that were required.
“Do you guys realize we’ve been coming here a month?” Georgie said.
“Feels like you’re part of the furniture, doesn’t it?” Camille said.
Lisa laughed. “It does seem like we belong here.”
“Like we’re ancient and decrepit?” Georgie hopped off the desk and bumped a stack of flyers. “Oops!” She picked up the papers.
“Here, take one,” said Camille. “We’re having an open house in two weeks. These are to get the word out. Lord knows, these folks need visitors.”
Lisa read one of the flyers and said, “Georgie, the open house is the last day of our project.”
“So? We’ll visit then anyway.”
“I know, but a lo
t of people will be here. It would be nice if we got Sophia a corsage and dolled her up.”
Georgie put the stack back on the desk. “You know I don’t like doing that kind of stuff.”
“I’ll take care of everything. It’ll be fun.”
Georgie blew a strand of hair out of her face. “Well, since it is the last day we’ll be here, I guess it’s okay.”
A sad look came over Lisa’s face. Georgie had a feeling Lisa would come forever, but Georgie was ready to do as she pleased on Saturday mornings again.
“Hiya, Pearl,” Georgie said as she walked past an elderly lady sitting on the sofa.
“Hi, Pearl,” Lisa said. “How’s the poncho coming?”
“Hello, girls.” Pearl put down her knitting needles and said, “Why, Lisa, you would not believe how much easier a poncho is to make than a sweater. I’m so glad you told me they’re the newest thing. My little great-granddaughter is going to be so surprised.”
Georgie tapped her foot, then folded her arms. Lisa could talk to these coots all day if no one stopped her. “I’m going to find Aggy,” she said. Georgie had gotten to know them all, but Aggy was still the only one she really liked.
Georgie walked into the rec room.
“Hi, Georgie!” Aggy called when she saw her.
“Hi, Ag.” Georgie flopped down beside her on a couch. “What’s goin’ on?”
Aggy looked sad. Another resident, Emmaline, sat next to her in her wheelchair, nodding off.
“Nothing,” Aggy said. “They won’t let us turn the television on yet.”
Man, Georgie thought, you have to follow other people’s rules when you’re a kid and when you get old, too. What a raw deal. Georgie watched one of the men, Arnold, slowly refold the paper he had been reading and drop it into a box full of newspapers. That gave her an idea.
“Aw, who needs television!” Georgie forced her voice to be light, knowing that no one needed a television more than she did. “Wouldn’t you rather have a snowball fight?”
Aggy clapped her hands. “Oh, yes!”
“Aggy,” Georgie said, “you wad up those newspapers. Arnold, give me a hand with this sofa.”
By the time Lisa pushed Sophia’s wheelchair into the rec room, two elderly men and three women were in position on one side, holding sofa cushions and big pillows as shields. On the other side, Aggy, Georgie, and even Camille were hidden behind the sofa frame.
Both sides had piles of wadded newspaper balls that they were throwing at one another. Besides Sophia, the only other person at the Sunset Home in a wheelchair was Emmaline. Georgie had talked her into being the referee. She sat at one end of the room with a baseball cap on her head and a whistle in her mouth. Emmaline looked official and kept blowing her whistle even though Georgie wasn’t sure she understood the rules.
“What on earth?” Sophia said.
“Sophia!” Aggy jumped up and immediately got hit with a paper ball. “We’re having a snowball fight!”
“This is so cool!” Lisa said. “Georgie, was this your idea?”
Before she could answer, Georgie heard Sophia sniff. “Maybe Georgie, maybe Aggy,” she said. “They’re like two peas in a pod, you know.”
Georgie rose to answer Lisa and got smacked by a stream of snowballs. “Hey! They’ve got a ringer on their team!”
Arnold, on the other team, yelled back, “Betty played first base in the church softball league for thirty-five years!”
Georgie gave a phony look of surprise and cried out, “You’re gonna get it, sister!” She and Aggy stood up and threw with both hands. One of Aggy’s wild pitches hit Sophia on the side of the face.
Things quieted considerably. Sophia sternly said, “Lisa, please give me that wad of paper and wheel me closer.”
Georgie watched as Lisa gave Sophia the paper ball and wheeled her beside Emmaline.
Sophia held out the ball and said, “Aggy? I believe this is yours.”
Oh, great, Georgie thought. Leave it to Sophia to be a wet blanket.
Aggy bowed her head and came out from behind the couch. She walked slowly toward Sophia like a child who knew she had done something wrong.
Georgie let her go but swore to herself that if Sophia chewed Aggy out, she was going to step in. When Aggy was a few feet from the chair, Sophia cried, “Get her!” and beaned Aggy on the head with the wad. Everyone on the other team pelted Aggy.
Camille crouched down, holding her sides with laughter. Sophia barked, “Get me to the other side!” Lisa quickly pushed Sophia, almost toppling her as she ran to the safety of the sofa cushions.
“No fair! They’ve called in new recruits!” Georgie cried out, laughing as Lisa and Sophia grabbed their share of paper balls and joined the fight.
* * *
Afterward, Lisa told Georgie she’d wheel Sophia back to her room, because she tired easily. Georgie and Aggy cleaned up the mess. When they finished, Camille turned on the television. Aggy practically hopped onto the couch, she was so excited. If there’d been any news on, Georgie would have stayed. Since it was much too early in the day for that, she set out to find Lisa.
Lisa was with Sophia out on the patio.
“Oh, Georgie. I’m glad you’ve joined us. Isn’t it lovely weather?” Sophia tilted her face toward the sun and closed her eyes.
Georgie took a deep breath. The sun felt warm and the scent of flowers was still thick. It was a welcome smell after the stale air in the home. “Yeah,” she said, “it’s hard to believe it’s October.”
“I do dread winter,” Sophia said. “I’ll miss coming out here.”
Georgie felt a little friendlier toward Sophia. “Um, Soph, it was cool the way you joined in the snowball fight.”
Sophia chortled. “I knew I’d surprise you most of all, Georgie.”
“Yeah, I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Human nature is a pretty complex thing,” Sophia said. “Not everyone is the same all the time.”
“I guess,” Georgie said, feeling a speech coming on. She should have kept quiet.
“Where is Aggy?” Sophia asked.
“Probably napping,” Lisa said.
“Are you kidding?” Georgie said. “She’s watching television. I doubt she ever naps.”
“Aggy has always had more energy than any three people. Certainly more than I,” Sophia said.
“She is … different … from you, isn’t she?” Lisa said.
“Oh, dear, that’s certainly an understatement.”
“Hey, don’t bad-mouth Aggy,” Georgie said, “just because you don’t like her.”
“Don’t like her?” Sophia said. “I adore her! I have for years and years.”
“Really?” Georgie said. “I mean, like you said, you’re just so different.”
“You said ‘years and years,’” Lisa said. “Does that mean you knew Aggy before coming here to live?”
Sophia said, “Dear, I’ve known Aggy since we were both young brides.”
Lisa sat on the lawn bench. “How did you meet?”
“Oh, it wouldn’t interest you.”
“No, really, I’d like to hear the story.”
By now Georgie was a little curious, too. “Go ahead, Soph. We’ve got nowhere else to be.”
“Well, if you insist,” Sophia said. “My husband and I bought our first house a long time ago. We were young and thrilled to be in our own home. Then our new neighbor introduced herself—Aggy Jensen. At first I was happy to have a friendly neighbor my age. But, oh, my! She nearly drove me crazy, that Aggy. She was as generous as the day is long, but she couldn’t take a hint if you broadsided her with it.
“I’d always been a private person and wanted to stay that way, but Aggy would drag me to Tupperware parties or insist that she had to have my opinion on something so I’d feel forced to shop with her. She simply wouldn’t leave me alone.”
Georgie moved closer to Sophia. Lisa pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees.
“She did
some crazy things in those days. Some people thought she was touched in the head.”
Lisa said, “It doesn’t sound like she’s changed much.”
“Well, she really is a little strange now. She’s getting older and had a mild stroke last year. But I knew there was nothing wrong with Aggy before. She was just a free spirit. Then, after my husband died, I had my accident and was put in this thing.” She pointed to her wheelchair. “I needed help. I had no family here, so I put our little house on the market and made plans to move to the Sunset Home. By then, Aggy lived alone, too. As soon as I told her my plans, she immediately called my real estate agent and told him he had to sell her house, too, because she would not let me live here ‘alone.’”
Sophia’s voice cracked and tears pooled in her eyes. “That was the single most selfless thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“That’s a neat story,” Lisa said.
“Yeah, it is, Soph,” Georgie said.
Sophia cleared her throat and sat up as straight as ever. “Yes, well, there is a point to it, you know. The point is, life would be easier without people like Aggy, but it would be so dull.”
Georgie saw Lisa look at her with a funny expression. “What?” she said.
Lisa jumped a little, as if startled. “Nothing,” she said. “I was just thinking that things aren’t ever dull with you around, either.”
Georgie snorted but knew that the sun wasn’t the only thing making her feel warm.
* * *
Georgie was still feeling good when she got home that afternoon. She hadn’t finished her weekend homework and needed to read a chapter of science and one of social studies. She took the books outside, knowing the cool days of winter would soon be here, and sat on the grass to read.
A shadow fell over her book. Georgie shaded her eyes and looked up at Mom.
“Hey, what say we go out for supper for a change?” She handed Georgie an open bottle of Coke.
“Great!” Georgie said. She took a sip and asked, “Where are we going?”
Mom sat on the ground next to her. “I’ll let you pick the place and I’ll pick the time.”
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