Part of Me

by Kimberly Willis Holt

  “Cool!” she said and pulled it from the shelf.

  Kyle followed her until she met up with her mom standing at the circulation desk. There went the bait, thought Kyle. That girl lucked out, too, because Ms. Carol kept a list of names of people waiting for the next book in the series.

  Kyle couldn’t imagine any book good enough to be on some waiting list. No book could match getting a Jimi Hendrix album. Bill at The Record Shop should start a waiting list for certain in-demand titles. He could think of several times he’d asked Bill for Hendrix’s Are You Experienced? and Bill had said, “Sorry, dude, just sold it.” If Bill kept a list, Kyle could be the first to sign up. But Bill wasn’t a list kind of person. So scratch that idea.

  After the last Turnip Soup performance, Kyle noticed a red-headed kid he’d seen the day before, but hadn’t given him much thought until now. The boy wandered around the youth section, never looking at any books, always waiting for another turn on the computer. Or maybe, Kyle thought, he was just pretending to wait for it. Maybe he was really waiting for the coast to be clear when he’d go in for the big steal.

  Mr. Patrick held up a white cowboy hat and a black one. “Bad guy or good guy?”

  “Huh?”

  “Do you want to be the bad guy or the good guy? We’re performing Saving Sweetness next week, and there’s a bad guy and a good guy. There’s also Sweetness, but I didn’t think you’d want to play a little girl.”

  “That’s for sure.”

  “The bad guy’s part is a lot smaller.”

  “Bad guy,” Kyle answered, keeping an eye on the red-headed boy.

  Mr. Patrick smiled. “I thought you’d say that. Are you familiar with the story?”

  “Nope.”

  “Well, here’s the book. Take it home over the weekend and read it. I think you’ll get the idea.”

  Kyle had had similar assignments from Mr. Patrick all summer. He’d read Turnip Soup, Squash Pie, and The Wolf’s Chicken Stew. But those were quick reads since they were picture books. Now he was curious about that Harry Potter book. Maybe he could read just enough to get a clue. Maybe a clue hidden in the book would lead him to why some kid was stealing them. If he was lucky, maybe he’d find the clue on page one. If there was anything his days as a detective had taught him it was to keep an open mind. You never knew where you’d find a clue. So when Ms. Carol started to place another Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on the shelf, he asked, “Can I check that out?”

  * * *

  On the ride back home, Emma said, “You checked out Harry Potter?”

  “Yeah. Have you read it?”

  “A few years ago.”

  Figures, Kyle thought. “Did you like it?”

  “It was okay. I don’t think it lived up to the hype.”

  His sister often talked about the manipulation of people’s minds because of marketing ploys. Never mind that their dad made a living as an advertising executive.

  At home, Kyle quickly read Saving Sweetness. Sweetness and the good guy may have had the biggest parts, but the best part definitely belonged to the bad guy.

  Dinner at the Koamis’ house always included a how-was-your-day routine. His mother had started that a year ago when they got so busy with their own schedules that dinner had become a fend-for-yourself affair.

  “Enough!” Annabeth announced one night as Kyle’s dad came in at eight o’clock, followed by Emma, who was back from a debate team meeting. “Dinner,” his mother stated, “will be at 6:30 every night, and everyone’s presence is required. No exceptions.”

  Tonight Kyle had just taken his first bite of red beans and rice when Annabeth asked him, “How was your day?”

  “Fine,” Kyle said with his mouth full.

  Emma dropped her fork on the plate. “Kyle checked out a book today.”

  Kyle thought of kicking her under the table.

  “You did?” Annabeth looked as if she’d been told the historical society had been given a huge grant. “What’s the title?”

  “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” Kyle mumbled.

  Paul nodded, smiling. “Ah, the result of a good marketing campaign.”

  “That’s what I said,” chimed Emma, not meaning the admirable way that her dad had meant.

  “Well,” Annabeth said, “I think it’s great that you’re reading, no matter what book you chose.”

  Kyle was tempted to say, I’m not really reading it. I’m looking for a clue. But he didn’t want anyone to bring up the detective agency subject again.

  Annabeth folded her napkin and placed it beside her plate. “Well, I have some news.”

  “What?” Emma asked.

  “I received a letter from Gamma Rose today and she said she had a surprise for the family. She asked that we block off the last weekend in September.”

  Another mystery, thought Kyle. But this one couldn’t be that interesting. This involved his great-grandmother.

  Emma leaned forward. “I wonder what that’s about.”

  “I don’t know,” Annabeth said, “but Mother seems to. She called today and told me that she’d tell me all about it tomorrow when she had more time. Her bridge club was about to show up. I said, ‘Mother, you can’t leave me hanging. Give me something.’ She said it had to do with a bookmobile. Then she hung up.”

  A bookmobile? Now Kyle knew it wouldn’t be interesting.

  Paul chuckled. “Sounds like she still left you hanging.”

  “Didn’t she used to drive a bookmobile?” Emma asked.

  Annabeth nodded. “A long time ago.”

  “Well,” said Kyle, “if she’s going to drive it again, let me know so I can stay off that road.”

  Emma laughed. “You should talk. You couldn’t make it out of the driveway.”

  Annabeth sighed. “I guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out about the surprise.”

  Kyle decided he could wait. After dinner, he climbed the stairs and logged on as Swampman in the hard-rock chat room. He placed the Harry Potter book in his lap until JJ appeared. They met online in that chat room a few months ago and had made it a habit to check in with each other every night around 7:30 p.m.

  C.W. and Earthchild were logged on, and a few others that Kyle didn’t recognize. But no JJ. So Kyle opened Harry Potter and began to read. He’d planned to read only a page, then check in for JJ. If he wasn’t there he’d move on to the next page. Before he knew it, though, he was on page twelve. He panicked when he realized how much time had passed. Looking up at the screen, he scrolled back until he saw some chatter from JJ.

  JJ: Hey Swampman, you there?

  JJ: Swampman?

  C.W.: Haven’t heard from him tonight.

  Earthchild: No Swampman here.

  Orange Jell-O: He hasn’t been around all night.

  Kyle had never heard of Orange Jell-O and for some reason it ticked him off that Orange Jell-O would try to speak about him as if they were big buds.

  JJ: Well, I’m out of here. I’m going to the Star Trek movie fest that they’re having downtown.

  Surprisingly, Kyle didn’t feel disappointed at all. He loved talking to JJ. He knew more about Pink Floyd than anyone. But Kyle returned to the book, this time reading stretched out across his bed.

  He awoke with his face between pages eighty and eighty-one. Harry Potter was good reading, but it made for a lousy pillow. His neck ached, though it didn’t stop Kyle from continuing. Like a bear, he hibernated in his room, only coming out to eat and to use the bathroom.

  He didn’t want his family to know what he was doing. They had made such a big deal over the book at dinner. And Kyle didn’t want them fussing over the idea of him reading. Although in some ways it would be a refreshing change to hear his dad say something positive about him. Paul Koami seemed certain that his only son was destined for a life of desolation. His mom didn’t treat him like that, but she kind of babied him. Even though he was dying to discuss the book, he decided to keep it to himself.

>   Behind closed doors, he played a Pink Floyd album, put on his earphones, but unplugged them from the stereo, to muffle the sound. He wanted to hear the words in the book. They were taking him to a new world.

  * * *

  Monday morning, Kyle and Emma rode in silence to work as usual until Emma asked, “How’d you like the book?”

  “It was all right,” Kyle said. Then he remembered his sister’s review, and he risked it all, saying, “Actually, I thought it was pretty damn good.”

  Emma nearly drove through the stop sign. She slammed the brakes so hard, the wheels screeched, and Kyle said, “Cool. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  Kyle knew it wasn’t the cuss word that unnerved her. She’d heard him cuss before. But she wasn’t used to him saying anything great about any book. The rest of the way there, Emma stole side glances at Kyle as if he were an alien that took over her brother’s body.

  The red-headed kid was already at the library, using the first thirty-minute computer session. Kyle kept an eye on him until it was time for his debut as the bad guy.

  Saving Sweetness proved to be Kyle’s favorite skit. He loved the kids booing him. And since he finished first, Kyle left the Story Time room and went to see if Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was in. Even Janna from Genealogy had sneaked into the Story Time room to watch the rest of the skit.

  The youth section was empty of people except for the homeless man with Elvis sideburns, looking at the new YA book section. Then Kyle noticed the red-headed kid leaning over Ms. Carol’s desk.

  Kyle hid behind one of the bookshelves, peering through the space above the books. His heart pounded. Muffled laughter came from behind the closed Story Time room door. Kyle thought he should probably be there, too, but he’d return for the bow at the end. Besides he was about to solve the mystery of the missing Harrys.

  When the boy inched over, Kyle noticed the Harry Potter book on the desk. He couldn’t tell which one, but he could swear the kid was eyeing it. Suddenly a woman said, “Cody?”

  The boy jumped.

  “You were supposed to check in with me downstairs. Some of the newspapers hadn’t arrived. Let’s go home for lunch and then we can come back.”

  “Do I have to come back?” the kid asked.

  “Yes, I’m not leaving you home by yourself. And I have to finish reading the want ads. You can read a book while I’m downstairs.”

  The boy groaned.

  “Come on, let’s go.”

  Kyle started to wonder if the red-headed kid was the wrong suspect. Maybe he was like Kyle and didn’t enjoy reading. Or maybe he was pretending that he didn’t like to read, and he really wanted to snatch that Harry Potter book. His mom had returned before he had a chance to steal it.

  Kyle started to leave his hiding place when he noticed the homeless man move toward Ms. Carol’s desk. Holding his breath, Kyle watched him.

  The man dug inside his tattered bag and pulled out a Harry Potter book. He placed Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on the desk. Then he slipped Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban inside his bag, turned, and walked away. He didn’t walk fast. He sauntered, stopping to look at the rotating paperback display. A moment later, he headed downstairs.

  Kyle hurried to the elevator and pushed the button. He was surprised when it opened immediately. After stepping inside, he pushed the first-floor button. His heart pounded against his chest. Thr-ump, thr-ump, thr-ump. The door opened. He rushed out, running smack into the homeless man. Kyle gasped, but the man merely muttered “Excuse me” and kept moving. He passed the reference desk and the periodical section.

  It took Kyle a moment to catch his breath. From the periodical area, he watched the man walk to a back corner and sit at a table. The man put his bag in front of him, hiding the book before he began to read.

  Kyle wished he could stay and watch him to see what would happen next, but he knew Mr. Patrick would be wondering about his whereabouts. He’d forgotten to return to take his bow at the end of the skit. He’d forgotten everything because of a book.

  Finally, he had to leave. His sister was the type to overreact. She might call the police, or worse, make an announcement over the loudspeaker. The only time the library did that was for hurricane warnings. Besides, the man was so engrossed in the story, he’d surely be at the same place when Kyle returned after a while. Kyle took the stairs two at a time, and when he reached the top, Mr. Patrick was there.

  “Hey, where were you? You missed the standing ovation.”

  For some reason, Kyle didn’t tell Mr. Patrick about the man. He just shrugged. “Sorry.” Then he quickly added, “We got a standing ovation?”

  “Yep,” Mr. Patrick said. “All the kids wanted to know where you were. We told them you were in jail.”

  Emma smiled at him and almost startled Kyle. It was a kind of smile Kyle hadn’t seen from her in a long time—an I’m-not-embarrassed-that-I’m-related-to-you smile.

  “You were great,” she said. “How about lunch? We could go to The Dry Dock Café. I’ll even treat.”

  Kyle’s stomach was grumbling, but he wanted to watch the man until the next skit. “Um, I’m not so hungry.” Kyle had never said those words in his entire life.

  Emma’s forehead wrinkled. “Suit yourself.” Then she left with Carmel, one of the library aides.

  Kyle returned to his watch post in the periodical section, but his stomach sank when he realized the man was gone. He circled the first floor so many times that one of the research librarians frowned and started watching him with a suspicious glare. Finally, Kyle gave up and returned to the children’s area.

  The only thing that made him feel better was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the one the homeless man returned. Kyle grabbed it off the desk. “Ms. Carol, could you hold on to this? I’m going to check it out at the end of the day.”

  “Sure.” She took the book from him. “Wait a minute. Where did this come from?”

  “Your desk.”

  “This is the one that went missing the other day. Strange.”

  She looked frantically around and underneath her desk, again. “And now the third one is missing. The oddest things happen in this library. Just the other day someone returned a book. They’d been using a piece of bacon for a bookmark.” Shaking her head, she started to put the book in her desk drawer. “Oh, Kyle, I’m sorry, but I forgot there are three other people on the waiting list for that book.”

  Kyle nodded, disappointed.

  Ms. Carol leaned over her desk and lowered her voice. “Do you think you could finish it by Friday?”

  “You bet!” Kyle sounded more excited than he’d meant to.

  She winked. “It’ll be right here.”

  Kyle wandered into the break room and ate lunch from the vending machines. It wasn’t an oyster po’-boy, but in a fix two Snickers bars and a Coke could hit the spot. Then he moseyed downstairs, wishing the man would return.

  The case was solved. The man wasn’t a thief. Emma had recently told Kyle that the homeless couldn’t check out books because people had to have an address to get a library card.

  Now Kyle was just curious about him. It would be cool to strike up a conversation with the man about Harry, like he and JJ did in the chat room when they shared info on Hendrix or Zeppelin. He scoped the back section of the library. The man wasn’t there.

  Kyle walked over to where the man had sat and settled into his chair. He tried to see the world from the man’s eyes. He surveyed the shelves. A library must be a candy store to someone who loves to read. His gaze settled on a familiar book spine on the fourth shelf. Most people would have to use a stool to reach that shelf, but Kyle wouldn’t. Sometimes being the tallest kid in middle school came in handy.

  He got up and went over to the Harry Potter book that was between The History of Philosophy and Questions in Philosophy. He walked away, leaving the book on the shelf. Even though they didn’t get to talk, Kyle thought of how he’d probably be reading abou
t Harry tonight, but the man with Elvis sideburns couldn’t because the library would be closed.

  Kyle reached the stairs as the Sunshine Day Care Center’s bus drove up in front of the library—Saving Sweetness’s next audience. He hoped they booed him like the morning kids.

  On the second floor, Mr. Patrick looked up from behind his desk. “There you are. You’re quite the mystery man, Kyle. You show up just in time, just like those missing Harry Potter books.”

  Kyle grinned. He looked over to Ms. Carol, who was helping a lady with a toddler find a book. Cody, the red-headed kid, was back, hovering over a boy searching the Internet.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Patrick,” Kyle said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Mr. Patrick peered over his glasses. “You aren’t going to do another disappearing act, are you? The kids will be seated any second now.”

  Kyle could hear them already climbing the stairs. “I promise. This will only take a couple of minutes.”

  He went to the R section and grabbed the only remaining Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone off the shelf. He walked over to Cody, who was still watching the other boy at the computer.

  “Hey,” Kyle said.

  “Hi,” Cody murmured.

  “Do you like to read?”

  The boy shrugged.

  “Ever read about Harry?” Kyle asked, showing Cody the book.

  “No. I’ve seen the movie, though.”

  “Oh, the book is much better. Let me give you a short book talk.”

  Cody’s mother came up just as Kyle finished his spiel. “I’m finished,” she said. “Do you want to go home?”

  “Yeah.”

  Kyle held out the book. “Don’t forget this.”

  “You picked out a book?” Cody’s mother sounded pleased.

  The boy looked reluctant, but took the book from Kyle anyway. Just wait, Kyle thought. He watched the boy walk away with his mom, the book tucked under his arm. Kyle felt like his chest was going to burst.