Morgan laughed. “Not exactly.”
“So, what’s with the suitcase?”
“Well, I was doing some closet cleaning this afternoon, and I noticed that some of my clothes were getting too small. I think I’ve grown about three inches this past year. Even my feet got bigger. I used to wear size 6 shoes last fall, and now I’m wearing 8s. I hope they don’t keep growing.”
“I wear a 6,” said Emily.
“Yeah, so I was thinking maybe you could use some of these things.” Morgan set the bag on the floor with a thump.
“Really?” Emily stared down at the bag. “You’re giving me this?”
“You don’t mind, do you?” Morgan braced herself. “I mean, I don’t want to offend you, but I was thinking that since we’re sisters in the Lord and everything … well, sisters share things, you know.”
Emily grinned. “I don’t mind at all, Morgan. I’m sick of wearing the same jeans every day.” She picked up the bag now. “I can’t wait to see what’s in here. Want to come into my room while I check it out?”
“Sure.” Morgan felt pleased at how easy this was. But when she stepped into Emily’s room, she had a shock. Other than an air mattress, some blankets, and a pillow, the place was stark and empty—no personal items, no pictures on the walls, no color.
“Make yourself at home,” said Emily sarcastically. “Not much, is it?”
“No … but it’s like a blank canvas, Emily. Just think of all we could do with it. Raw potential.”
Emily sighed. “Maybe you could do something with it, Morgan. But it looks pretty hopeless to me.”
“I could definitely do something with it. Will you let me help you fix it up?”
“Really?” Emily’s eyes lit up.
“It’d be fun!”
“Hey, knock yourself out.” Emily unzipped the bag now, pulling out a pair of khaki pants that were too short for Morgan. “Wow, these are great, Morgan.” And just like that, Emily whipped off her jeans and pulled up the khakis. “And they fit too!”
“They look good on you, Emily,” said Morgan with excitement. She reached into the bag and pulled out a pale blue T-shirt. “This would look good with them.”
The next thing she knew, Emily had on the T-shirt. “How does it look?”
“Fantastic,” said Morgan. “The blue is perfect with your eyes.”
“I wish I had a mirror,” said Emily.
“How about the bathroom?”
So they went into the bathroom, where Emily stretched to see her new hand-me-down outfit in the mirror above the sink.
“Hang on,” said Morgan. “I’ll be right back.”
Then she dashed over to her house where she quickly bagged up some extra hangers for the clothes and then put a full-length mirror under her arm.
“Moving out?” asked Grandma as Morgan walked through the kitchen.
“Mom will explain,” she said as she hurried past.
Soon she was back in Emily’s room, where Emily proceeded to try on all the clothes, checking them out in the mirror. Morgan hung them one by one on hangers and put them in the closet. Finally they were done, and Emily was back in the khakis and blue T-shirt. She threw her arms around Morgan. “Thank you so much!”
“There’s another thing,” said Morgan as she reached down to pull a New Testament from a zipper pocket in the bag. “I have several Bibles, and this is a spare. I thought that since you invited Jesus into your heart … well … you might want to start reading it.”
“Thank you!” exclaimed Emily. “You’re the best friend ever, Morgan.”
Morgan could feel herself beaming. “You are too, Emily.”
“I don’t see how,” said Emily. “I mean, here you are giving me things and helping me and taking me to church … I haven’t done much of anything to be a good friend.”
Morgan laughed. “Hey, you needed me. That’s pretty cool.”
Emily smiled. “Well, someday I’ll repay you—for everything.”
Now Morgan looked around Emily’s room again. Other than having some colorful items of clothes in her closet, it still looked pretty sad. “So, were you serious about letting me fix up your room?”
“Of course. But I don’t want you to feel like you have to, Morgan. You’ve already done so much.”
“Hey, I can’t think of anything that’d be more fun, Emily.” Morgan glanced at her watch. “It’s almost two now. I need to work on some things. Is it okay if I come back in a couple of hours?”
“Fine with me,” said Emily. “I’m the only one here anyway.”
Morgan grinned. “Okay. See you around four.”
“Mom?” called Morgan as soon as she got into the house. “Where are you?”
“In here,” called Mom from the laundry room.
“Mom!” exclaimed Morgan. “It was so cool. Emily loved absolutely everything, and she tried it all on and we hung it up in her closet and she told me that I can even fix up her room. I mean, all she has in there is this air mattress and some bedding and I’m going to—”
“Slow down,” said Mom, placing a hand on Morgan’s shoulder. “And take a breath.”
“Sorry, but it’s just so exciting. Do you know that it’s fun helping others?”
Mom smiled. “It is, isn’t it?”
“Anyway, I just remembered that we still have a lot of things in Grandma’s storage shed, don’t we?”
Mom nodded. “Yes, that had occurred to me too—things from our old apartment that didn’t fit in here. And I’ve been worried that some things will get ruined from the moisture. Do you want to help me go through it?”
“Yeah!”
So Morgan and Mom spent the next couple of hours sorting and sifting through the storage shed. Morgan found pillows and pictures and a lamp and a rug that would cover the stain of Texas just perfectly. They loaded an assortment of items into the car, and by four o’clock they were driving the treasure over to Emily’s house.
“This is so beautiful,” said Emily as she held a purple and green pillow.
“I’m glad you like it,” said Mom. “I’m afraid a lot of our things will be ruined if we leave them in storage much longer. Do you think your mom could use anything? I mean, until your other things arrive?”
Emily glanced at Morgan.
“I told her about how your furniture and things haven’t gotten here yet.”
Emily nodded. “Yeah, and it could be quite a while before they do.”
“Well, if you think your mom wouldn’t mind,” said Cleo, “I’d love to get some of my things out of the storage unit. I noticed that one of my chairs has been nibbled on by mice.”
“You can ask my mom when she gets here in a couple of hours,” offered Emily. “I don’t think Mom will mind at all.” She laughed. “You’ve seen that we have plenty of room.”
Cleo hugged Morgan and said she’d be back in a couple of hours to see what they’d accomplished. Morgan and Emily got to work and in what seemed like no time, the room was transformed. Fabric and pictures decorated the walls. The girls made a sitting area with the rug and some pillows. And a small desk and a bedside table with a lamp helped fill the once-barren room.
Emily and Morgan were sitting on the floor when Morgan’s mom returned. “Come and see Emily’s room.” said Morgan with excitement.
“It’s awesome,” said Emily as they all three went to look.
“Very nice,” said Mom, patting Morgan on the back. “You have a real flare, Morgan. I think you might have to come help out at the shop when school’s out. I could use your touch.”
“What kind of shop?” asked Emily.
“Didn’t I tell you about Mom’s shop?” asked Morgan. “It’s an import shop. Down by the waterfront. I’ll take you there next week. It’s really cool.”
Just then they heard voices. “Sounds like Mom and Kyle are home,” said Emily. “Come and meet them.”
“What has happened here?” cried Emily’s mom as she stared in shock at Emily’s room.
“I hope you don’t mind,” began Morgan’s mom, taking one of the bags of groceries from Emily’s mother’s arms. Emily quickly introduced everyone. Her mom’s name was Lisa. And, like Emily, she was a pretty blonde.
“I moved in with my mother a couple of years ago and put a lot of my things in storage,” Morgan’s mom quickly explained. “Morgan told me how your things haven’t arrived yet, and I have furniture and kitchen items just sitting in storage getting damaged by moisture and mice.” She looked at Lisa’s nervous face. “It would really help me out if I could store my stuff inside a house rather than in a storage shed. You are welcome to it. I mean, until your things arrive, Lisa.”
“I don’t mind at all,” said Lisa. “But it might be a while before our things get here. The … uh … moving van seems to have gotten lost along the way somewhere.”
Morgan’s mom laughed. “Hey, the longer you can keep these things for me, the happier I’ll be.”
“Well, thank you.” Cleo followed Lisa into the kitchen where they continued to talk.
“This is so cool,” said Kyle. “We’re going to have real furniture. I can help move it.”
“This seems to be working out just fine,” Morgan told Emily as they headed back into her bedroom.
Emily looked around her much more colorful room and sighed happily. “It’s starting to feel like home here.”
Morgan nodded. “You are home, Emily.”
“I hope so.”
“Remember that feeling I had yesterday?” Morgan reminded her. “How I thought God was working things out for you?”
Emily laughed. “You were totally right!”
chapter ten
Three quiet days passed with no bully attacks and by Thursday afternoon, Amy questioned whether or not they really needed to continue their arrangement. She’d made it clear that she didn’t like arriving at school later than usual. Morgan wished Amy would lighten up. She thought their walk might be all that was holding the four of them together.
“Why not stick together?” urged Morgan as she looked to the others for support. “I mean, we don’t know what those guys are up to right now.”
“Besides,” added Emily, “we should use this time to keep working on our plans for fixing up the trailer court.”
“That’s right,” said Carlie. “My dad said to tell you guys to be ready bright and early on Saturday. He wants to get back from digging up plants by noon.”
“And we need to start some of our fund-raising plans,” said Amy, finally getting into the spirit of things. “I’ve already started collecting cans. Man, you should see how much pop my sisters and brother drink. You’d think their teeth would be rotten by now.”
“And my dad told me that he’d help us make some planters out of the old fence pieces that we piled up last weekend,” said Carlie. “So that’ll be free.”
“Cool,” said Morgan. “And my grandma read something in the paper about how the dump is giving away recycled mulch.”
“Recycled mulch?” said Amy. “Like, what is that supposed to be?”
Morgan shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s free, and Grandma said it would come in handy.” She turned to Carlie. “Do you think your dad could get some for us in his pickup?”
Carlie nodded. “And your grandma’s right. It will come in handy.”
Morgan lowered her voice and hissed through her teeth, “Don’t look now, but I think we’re being watched. Up there by the fence next to that alley … I see a bike tire.”
“Oh, brother,” said Carlie. “They just don’t give up, do they?”
“Let’s just act natural,” said Morgan. “Don’t let them think they’re getting to us.”
“I’m getting out my phone.” Amy paused to dig in her backpack.
“That’s not a bad idea,” said Morgan as they waited for her.
“Yeah, it might show them that we’re not going to take it anymore,” said Emily.
So the girls continued walking, with Morgan and Carlie in the lead and Emily and Amy following. Sure enough, there was Derrick. He was with a boy that Morgan didn’t recognize, and both of them were scowling, trying to look tough.
“Don’t act scared,” whispered Morgan as they got closer. “Show ‘em your cool face.”
The four girls continued walking, and Morgan made an attempt at light conversation. “Nice weather we’re having, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” said Carlie. “And only a week until summer va—”
“Thought I told you trailer trash to stay off our turf,” snarled Derrick, pulling out his bike to block their way.
“I thought we told you this was a public street,” said Morgan, still walking.
“Public for some people,” said the other boy with narrowed eyes. He was taller than Derrick with a buzz cut and a bad complexion. “Not for people like you.”
Morgan and Carlie were only a foot or so away from the boys, and Amy and Emily were right behind them. Morgan’s eyes fell to a piece of wood Derrick brandished in his hand. She felt a tightening in her chest and throat. Her eyes widened slightly and she prayed a quick prayer. Then she took a deep breath and pointed calmly at the stick. “What are you planning on doing, Derrick? You think you’re going to club us with that?”
He swung the stick and grinned. “Just protecting my territory.”
“I’m calling the police,” said Amy as she pushed a button on her phone and held it to her ear.
“That’s a good idea,” said Morgan. “We have four witnesses and—”
“I’m outta here,” said the buzz-cut boy, taking off down the alley on his bike.
Morgan looked directly at Derrick now. “What about you?” she asked. “Want to stick around for when the police arrive, or should we just tell them where to find you?”
“This is Amy Ngo,” Amy said in her know-it-all voice. Then Amy very accurately described their location. “We’re being harassed by some older boys and one of them is armed with—”
“Hey, take it easy,” said Derrick quickly. “We were just fooling around. You don’t have to take it so seriously.”
“Seriously?” Morgan stepped a little closer now. “You knocked Emily off her bike and ruined her front tire. Is that not serious?”
“We were just messing around with her.”
“You hurt her!” shouted Carlie with her hands on her hips. “And you’ve threatened all of us. And we are sick and tired of it, Derrick Smith. And we are going to tell the police—”
“Look, I’m sorry,” he said quickly, and Morgan could tell that he really was scared now. “I’ll fix the bike too. Just don’t tell, okay?”
Morgan turned and looked at the other girls, and Amy winked at her. “Hold on a minute,” Amy said into the phone, then to Morgan, “I guess we could give him one last chance.”
Morgan turned back to face Derrick. “Okay, we’re going to give you one chance, but if you do anything like this again—to anyone—we will definitely report you.”
“That’s right,” said Carlie.
“And you have to replace Emily’s bent bike wheel,” said Morgan. She glanced at Derrick’s bike now. “I think it’s the same size as your bike tire. Maybe you’d like to hand that over to us right now, Mr. Smith?”
Derrick looked flustered now. “But how will I get home?”
“The same way Emily got home,” said Carlie. “You’ll walk. But at least you won’t be limping.”
“Hand over the tire,” said Morgan in a firm voice.
“Yes, I’m still on the line,” said Amy into the phone. “Yes, sir, we’re still trying to determine whether or not this boy really intends to hurt us. Yes, he’s still here. Yes, he still has the club in his hand.”
Derrick tossed the board aside and hopped off his bike. In the same instant he snapped the quick-release gadgets on his front tire. Then he rolled it over to Emily. “Here.”
She just nodded. Then Derric
k took off on foot down the alley, awkwardly wheeling his disabled bike beside him as he went. The girls stood and watched until he turned the corner at the end of the alley, then they all clapped and cheered, giving one another high fives to celebrate their victory.
“Way to go, Morgan!” said Carlie, slapping her on the back.
“Way to go, Amy!” said Morgan. Then she thought of something. “But what about the police, Amy? Won’t they come anyway?”
“Yeah,” said Emily nervously. “I … uh … I heard that if you call 9-1-1, the police will come no matter what.” She peered down the street, looking as if she was about to run. Morgan suddenly realized what Emily was doing. She knew that Emily couldn’t give her name to the police because it might lead her dad there.
Amy just laughed. “No fear; I punched in the numerals, but I never hit Send. I figured we should just scare the boys to start with. If they didn’t respond, I would’ve put the call through—just like that.” She snapped her fingers.
Morgan saw Emily relax and step back toward the girls.
“Maybe we should’ve done that before,” admitted Carlie.
“Maybe …,” said Amy with a sly smile. “But then we never would’ve become friends.”
Morgan stared at Amy. “So, you really do consider us your friends?”
Amy looked surprised. “Of course. Aren’t you?”
Morgan nodded. “Sure.” Then she looked at the other two. “Right?”
“Right,” said Carlie.
“Right,” echoed Emily.
Then Morgan put out her right hand, and the other three girls put their hands on top of it. “All for one,” said Morgan. And the other three joined in with, “and one for all!”
“Does that make us the Four Musketeers?” asked Emily as they walked toward home.
Morgan laughed. “Yeah. Something like that.”
“Anyone want to join in me in soliciting returnable pop cans from the neighborhood today?” asked Amy.
“Soliciting?” said Carlie. “What’s that mean?”
“Begging,” said Morgan.
So it was agreed the four girls would “solicit” their neighborhood for cans for the next two afternoons. But it didn’t take long before it turned into something of a competition. Thinking it was safer to go out as teams of two, it was soon Morgan and Emily against Carlie and Amy. And, driven to outdo each other, both teams ended up going outside the mobile-home park as well.
Girl Power Page 6
