by Lisa Tucker
“No. I haven’t called her, and I don’t think she has the number here.”
“I want you to call her on Thursday afternoon.” Matthew paused. “Just check in and see if she sounds all right. Not too depressed, not too insane.”
“Okay.” He waited a minute. “Have you heard from Changes?”
“Cassie spoke to them today. Apparently your mother is doing fine. She’s cooperating fully with the rehab process.” Matthew stood up. “Let me know what Amelia says. Now I have to go. I have four people sitting in a conference room, waiting for me to come back and get their input on the speech.”
Isabelle called him over and kissed him. “Bye, bye,” she said.
Danny didn’t hear from his mom the next week. It bothered him, but he had something else to talk to Matthew about when he came by again, on Saturday, late in the afternoon. Mrs. Linnas was cooking a roast; Danny was reading and Isabelle was watching a cartoon—or at least she had been until Mrs. Linnas changed the channel without saying anything, like Isabelle wasn’t even a person. Isabelle was just starting to cry when Matthew arrived. Of course seeing him made her forget what had happened, but Danny still told Matthew what Mrs. Linnas had done.
“Oh, the inhumanity,” Matthew said. He was grumpier than Danny had ever seen him; he kept cursing this nursery rhyme character, Humpty Dumpty, which was so weird that Danny didn’t even try to figure it out. After Matthew read two Dr. Seuss books to Isabelle and watched her play for almost an hour, he said he was going into the office “forever.”
“You can still call me if you have a dire emergency, but otherwise, I hope you’ll handle it.” He was talking to Danny, not Mrs. Linnas, who was back in the kitchen. “Hint: an adult changing the channel is not an emergency.”
Danny nodded. It was December 9; his mom would be home in only two weeks. Of course he could do this. He had a nice room and good food. He’d even met another boy in the neighborhood, Jeff, though Jeff was gone most of the day, in school. Matthew had mentioned Danny going to school, too, but it turned out to be a lot of paperwork and not worth it for a few weeks. It was a good thing, because he wouldn’t have gone anyway. He wouldn’t go to Jeff’s house, either; though Jeff kept asking Danny to come over or ride bikes, Danny always said no. He didn’t have a bike and he wouldn’t have known how to ride one if he did. And he couldn’t leave Isabelle alone with Mrs. Linnas—that was the main thing. Mrs. Linnas still didn’t like his sister and Danny had a feeling he knew why. Isabelle had brown skin. He’d heard some people call his sister ugly names like wetback, and sometimes they told her to go back to Mexico. Danny yelled at these people, but he didn’t know what to do about Mrs. Linnas since she wasn’t saying anything mean. Nothing happened that Danny could put his finger on until Wednesday, December 13—obviously an unlucky day—at lunch.
Mrs. Linnas had cooked macaroni and cheese, which he liked. Isabelle had never had it, but it turned out she hated it. She took one bite and spit it back on the plate. Mrs. Linnas said, “Now, Isabelle, you have to eat so you can get big.”
“Don’t wike!”
“This is your lunch, you have to eat it.”
“No.”
“We’ll see about that.” Mrs. Linnas sat down and picked up a magazine.
Danny didn’t feel like eating any more, either, but he did, every bite. Then, while Mrs. Linnas was flipping through the magazine, he tried to sneak a bite from Isabelle’s bowl. Unfortunately, the nanny saw him and said, “Don’t do that again, Daniel. That is your sister’s food, and she has to eat it. You’re excused to go play.”
Isabelle would have jumped down, too, but the house had a high chair. She was belted in, trapped. And she started to wail.
“Let me make her something else,” Danny said. “She likes almost everything.”
“You’re excused. Please leave the kitchen. Don’t worry about Isabelle. She and I will work this out.”
He left, but he lurked in the living room so he could hear what Mrs. Linnas did next. Nothing. She left Isabelle wailing and throwing macaroni and cheese. She didn’t move or stop reading. When Isabelle hit her in the face with a piece of macaroni, she stood up and wiped her face with a paper towel. She said, “None of that,” and slapped Isabelle’s hands. The slap wasn’t hard, but Isabelle started crying a lot harder, like she was afraid.
This went on for at least an hour. Danny tried to come in and help over and over, but finally Mrs. Linnas told him to go to his room. Poor Isabelle was holding her arms up, calling him, “Danny!” The crying was breaking his heart, but he didn’t know what he should do. What if he picked up his sister anyway and Mrs. Linnas got even meaner? They couldn’t run away out in the suburbs. He’d noticed police cars everywhere on Lancaster Avenue. One of those cops would pick them up for sure.
It felt like an emergency, but he wasn’t sure if Matthew would agree, so he decided to call Amelia. She’d said she’d help him and he needed help, bad. He had to save Isabelle, who was crying so hard he was afraid she would throw up.
Amelia answered right away. He told her what was happening and their address and she said she’d be over as soon as she could get there. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll deal with that nanny.”
It was another fifty-five minutes before she made it. Danny wanted to cooperate, like Matthew had told him to do, but Isabelle was crying and calling for him and finally he just couldn’t take it anymore. He went back downstairs to get his sister out of the high chair, but Mrs. Linnas was standing right there, making it impossible for him to get Isabelle unless he physically moved the nanny out of the way. He felt like shoving Mrs. Linnas, hard, but his mom had told him never to do that because pushing or hitting a grown-up could land you in jail for a long time. Mrs. Linnas ordered him to return to his room, but he ignored her and talked to Isabelle, telling her it was all right, just hang on and he’d get her out of this. Mrs. Linnas got louder and louder; she even threatened to spank him if he didn’t leave the kitchen immediately, but he told her he wasn’t going anywhere without his sister. She was still yelling at him when Amelia finally knocked on the door.
Danny ran to the living room, let her in, and put his arms around her waist. “I’m so glad you’re here.” Mrs. Linnas started to introduce herself, but Amelia ignored her. She followed the sound of Isabelle’s cries to the kitchen; then she walked over and removed Isabelle from the high chair. When Isabelle reached out for Danny, Amelia handed his sister to him. And then she told Mrs. Linnas she was fired. Just like that.
“I don’t know who you are, but only Doctor Connelly can fire me. He hired me, not you.”
“Fine, let’s call him and see what he says, shall we?”
Danny was still comforting Isabelle, but he turned to Amelia.
“He said not to call unless it was a real emergency. He has some kind of problem at work and—”
“He’ll live.” She took out her phone and dialed the number. When Matthew answered, she told him what was going on. He said it was fine to fire her. That’s what Amelia told Mrs. Linnas, anyway, though from the length of time they were on the phone, Danny had a feeling Amelia was making it up and Matthew hadn’t answered at all.
“Mrs. Linnas, I’m a friend of Doctor Connelly’s. He told me if you don’t want to be arrested for child abuse, you’d better go.”
“I’ve never been treated like this.”
“Neither has Isabelle,” Danny said. His sister’s whole body was still shaking, though she’d quieted down. “No drug addict ever treated her as mean as you.”
Mrs. Linnas stomped up to her room. A few minutes later, she was back with her things. “You may want to remind Doctor Connelly that his fee for this week is not refundable.”
Amelia shrugged. After Mrs. Linnas left, she said, “Where did Matthew find that witch?”
“A nanny agency,” Danny said. “But he didn’t find her, his assistant did.”
“When will he call to check in?” Amelia said.
“I don’t know,
” Danny admitted. “Do you have to go right now?”
“Of course not,” she said. “I can stay as long as you need me.”
Isabelle must have understood this because she reached out her arms for Amelia. “Well, hello there,” Amelia said, smiling. “I wondered if I’d ever get to hold you.”
Isabelle pointed upstairs.
“She wants to show you her bedroom,” Danny said.
“I’d love to see it,” Amelia said.
It was a little after six. Amelia played with Isabelle for a long time, then they cleaned up the kitchen and had a great cheese pizza that was delivered from a local restaurant Amelia found in the yellow pages. Now she was lying down because she felt a little sick. Danny was trying not to worry about Amelia being sick so much, but it was hard because he really liked her.
While Amelia was resting, Matthew called, sounding even grumpier than he had on Saturday. “The nanny agency has called my assistant repeatedly to ask why I fired Mrs. Linnas and threatened her with child abuse charges. They’re hinting at a lawsuit, though of course they have no grounds. Still, any publicity is bad publicity right now. So, would you mind telling me why I did this?”
Danny told him the whole story and Matthew cursed, but he said Danny had done the right thing. He also said Cassie had already performed a miracle and found them a new nanny who could be there later tonight. “But in the meantime, we have a new problem. I was planning to come over and be with you two until she gets there, but I’ve just gotten an email inviting me to dinner with some investors and Humpty Dumpty. I’m dreading it, but such is life. I’ll have to bother Cassie again and see what she can arrange.”
Danny was reluctant to admit that he’d called Amelia, and that she was downstairs right now. He didn’t want to deal with Matthew getting mad. But when he told him, Matthew sounded relieved. “Fine, if she can stay until the new nanny gets there. But if she can’t, before she leaves, you’ll have to call Cassie.” He made Danny write down Cassie’s home number. “Repeat after me. I will not stay here alone with my sister. It is illegal. If Amelia has to leave, I will call this number. I will not screw over my benefactor.”
Danny repeated each sentence, though he wasn’t sure what benefactor meant.
When Amelia came upstairs a few minutes later, Danny told her that a new nanny was coming. She seemed a little depressed, like maybe she wanted to take care of them instead of the nanny, but she said at least she could be with them until the nanny got there. She called Ben, but whatever he said upset her and she sat on Isabelle’s bed and cried. Both Danny and Isabelle tried to comfort her, and finally she blew her nose on a Kleenex Danny brought from the bathroom and said, “What about taking a walk around the block? It’s dark, but it’s not that cold. Isabelle, can I push you and your elephant in your stroller?”
Isabelle nodded and broke into a grin. Danny felt a lump in his chest but he followed them and got his sister’s coat on and grabbed his own jacket. Before they opened the door, he told Amelia that she was pretty.
“Thank you.” She kissed him on the top of the head. “I really needed to hear that.”
He knew she did, but he also thought it was true. She was so pretty that he wished it wasn’t dark outside, so he could look at her. He liked to look at her; it made him feel safe. Her face was kind, like his mom’s, and honest, like his mom used to be, before her habit. Even when the new nanny came at ten-thirty and she was really young and really nice, Danny still wished Amelia would stay, too. But he knew Matthew wouldn’t like it.
Before she left, she asked Danny if Matthew had mentioned the holiday party at Astor-Denning. Danny said no, and then Amelia said, “I got the strangest phone call inviting me to the party and hinting that something newsworthy was going on at AD. The person never identified himself, but it certainly didn’t sound like Matthew.”
“Doctor Connelly is busy with this person he calls Humpty Dumpty.” Danny shrugged. “Could anybody really have that name?”
Amelia laughed. “It’s probably code for one of their scams. I don’t know what’s going on over there anymore.” She rolled her eyes. “Since the evil jerk won’t take my phone calls.”
Danny hesitated, but finally he said it. “He’s really not evil.”
“I have to stop using that word, I know.” Amelia smiled and touched his arm. “Your mom is right.”
“Yeah, ’cause it brings bad karma.”
“Well, I certainly don’t need any more of that.” She laughed, but it was a sad kind of laugh. Danny felt the lump again as he watched her go.
At least the new nanny, Rosalie, was nice to Isabelle. And a few days later, Sunday, December 17, his mom called. Again, she said she just wanted to know how they were doing. He told her about the kid Jeff with the bike and Isabelle walking and talking constantly and about Amelia, too, and how nice she’d been when the nanny had to be fired. He skimmed over what was wrong with Mrs. Linnas and focused on how great Rosalie was and how she sounded funny because she was from Ireland. His mom didn’t seem to care about Rosalie, but she asked a lot of questions about Amelia.
“Is she Doctor Connelly’s wife?”
“No, they’re like friends. Sort of.”
“But she helps him watch out for you and Belle?”
“Yeah, I guess. If anything goes wrong, I can call her and she’ll come fix it.”
“Is she a doctor, too?”
“No, she’s a writer. I think. She said she writes about ethics, which is like how to be a good person.”
“Wow,” his mom said. “Do you think she’s trying to be a good person by being nice to you kids?”
“Kind of.” He told his mom what Amelia had told him about her grandma and sponsoring orphans from poor countries when Amelia was a little girl. “But she likes us, too.”
“Do you like her?”
“Yeah.” He felt himself blushing, and he changed the topic to the calendar he’d made to count down the days until his mom was home, with the biggest square coming in only six more days, December 23, which he colored in red and green. He also said he missed her, which was so true it was painful. Every night before he went to sleep, he thought about the way his mother used to be, back in the apartment, when he was in first grade. She made popcorn and they sat at their tiny kitchen table and played Uno and Go Fish. She told him stories about the town she grew up in: the lake and fishing with her grandpa, her grandma teaching her to use a sewing machine and the time she tried to make a blue skirt with a bright pink tulip on the pocket. But the pattern was cut wrong and the skirt was a square, with no waist. It kept slipping down to her hips, but she wore it anyway because fabric wasn’t cheap and because she’d made it all by herself.
In all the stories, his mom was such a normal kid, but later Danny discovered the other side. Whenever she tried to quit using drugs, she talked about the bad part, and cried about it, too. Her own mom had disappeared when she was nine and her father drank and beat her. This was why all her happy memories involved her grandparents. This was why she ran away when she was seventeen, after her grandpa died and her grandma was put in a nursing home.
“The calendar sounds sweet,” his mom said now. Her voice was flat, though, and Danny wondered if it made her feel bad.
He said, “You’ll be here for Christmas.”
His mom had always loved Christmas. Even when they lived in the car, she insisted on dragging back a scraggly tree and decorating it with strips of tin foil. At night, the lights of the city made the foil reflect red and green and yellow and blue, like real ornaments.
“Do you know what Belle wants from Santa?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He knew his mom didn’t have any money, and he didn’t want her scrounging on Christmas Eve.
“I guess Amelia and Doctor Connelly will get her everything she wants anyway.”
“Yeah, sure,” he said, though he doubted Matthew would even think of it now that he’d gone to work forever. Amelia might, but Rosalie was the best bet. She’d alr
eady said she was going to use some of the household allowance to get decorations. She’d also told them both to think about what they wanted.
“I have to go,” his mom said. “We have meetings every hour.”
She still sounded weird. Sad, but something else, too. What was it? He tried asking her, “Don’t you like the meetings?”
“I don’t know, Cobain. They make us talk about our feelings about what’s happened. I guess I have a lot to figure out.”
He didn’t know what to say to this. After she hung up, Rosalie asked if he and Isabelle wanted to go bumper bowling. “It’s a load of fun,” she said, picking up his sister, who was nodding and smiling. He said yes and tried not to worry about his mom. Rehab was hard; he knew that from listening to all the people in the house. You had to change yourself, they said, not just stop using drugs.
He wondered if his mom could really change.
But as the day she was coming home grew closer, Danny held on to the hope that his mother would be back to the way she used to be, maybe even better. Cassie called to say the plane ticket was arranged, but her voice was so businesslike that Danny got nervous and forgot to ask what time. He hadn’t seen or spoken to Matthew since the day Mrs. Linnas was fired, but it was okay. Rosalie kept them busy decorating the house for Christmas and taking them to the huge King of Prussia Mall so Isabelle could sit on Santa’s lap. She also gave them each five dollars to buy presents for their mom. They put the money together and got a pretty brush and comb set.
On December 23, Danny woke up with the sun, too anxious to go back to sleep. Rosalie made Danny and Isabelle a special breakfast: waffles with chocolate chips and whipped cream, “in honor of our last day.” The rest of the morning he was distracted, thinking about ways he could help his mom stay off drugs. First, she needed a good job and an apartment far from the city, away from her friends. There were lots of apartments on Lancaster Avenue; they could live out here if they had a car. Or maybe they could find an apartment right by the train station. The job came first, and he’d been cutting out ads from the paper, just in case Matthew couldn’t or wouldn’t help his mom get a job at Astor-Denning. He hoped his mom had gained some weight. It might be hard to get a job if she still looked as sick as she did when she left.
