Then, in the hallway, he found a photograph of Lucky, the dog star of the movie we had seen that afternoon. Lucky was sitting with one paw lifted, as if he was offering to shake hands. Theodore just stood there staring up at the picture.
“Sit down,” Mrs. Golub invited. “Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll show you girls some of my albums and scrapbooks.” Then she opened a closet that was filled with books and papers. There must have been hundreds of them, but Mrs. Golub seemed to know where everything was. She just reached in and pulled out a handful.
Then the three of us sat down on the sofa next to Shirley Temple, who was wearing a beautiful pale-blue dress with a million pleats. First we looked through an album called Favorite Scenes. It was filled with still photos from movies Mrs. Golub had seen and liked best. She described them to us as we turned the pages. “That’s Clark,” she said. “That’s Vivien standing next to him. That’s Jimmy coming out of prison. There’s Pat. He always tries to help Jimmy go straight. There’s Lana. Isn’t she gorgeous?”
“Very nice,” I said, trying to be polite. At first the pictures were interesting, but after a while I began to be tired of them. I looked at Mitzi and I could see she was trying to swallow a yawn. “We’ll have to be going home soon, Mrs. Golub,” I said. “My mother...”
“Oh, girls, you have to see this one before you go. This is my most priceless collection.” She pushed a very large scrapbook across our laps. Secrets of the Stars was written in big red letters on the cover. Mrs. Golub turned to the first page. It said:
Robert’s Secret Formula for Success
1. Don’t give up. Try, try again.
2. Remember that God helps those who help themselves.
3. A penny saved is a penny earned.
They didn’t sound like real secrets to me. Our parents and our teachers were always saying things like that.
Mrs. Golub turned the page. The Secret of Joan’s Peaches and Cream Complexion. “Grade A,” Mrs. Golub said.
“What?” Mitzi asked.
“Milk baths,” Mrs. Golub whispered, as if someone else was listening. “She takes a milk bath every single night.”
“Ukk!” Mitzi said, making a terrible face.
But Mrs. Golub just went on to the next page. Dick’s Victory Over Stage Fright. “That’s how Dick uses the Power of the Mind to overcome his fears.”
“What’s the Power of the Mind?” I asked.
“Oh, you know, honey,” Mrs. Golub said. “It’s like hypnosis, saying over and over again, I won’t be afraid, I won’t be afraid, until you believe it.”
“Does it really work?” Mitzi asked.
“Of course,” Mrs. Golub said. “Does Dick ever look frightened to you?” We had to admit that he never did.
I turned around and saw that Theodore was still standing in the hallway looking up at Lucky’s picture.
Mrs. Golub looked at him too. “Do you like that picture, sweetie?”
Theodore nodded.
“Well, I have doubles on that one, so I’ll give you a copy.” She went to another closet and pulled out a photo of Lucky exactly like the one on the wall. “Here,” she said, handing it to Theodore.
“Th-thank you,” he said, staring at the picture as if he couldn’t believe it was his.
I nudged Mitzi and both of us stood up at once. “Goodbye,” I said to Mrs. Golub. “It was really very interesting. Thank you for inviting us.”
“Me too,” Mitzi said.
“Me too,” Theodore echoed, clutching his picture.
Back in our apartment we discovered a note from my father.
Dear Shirley and Ted,
Mother and Velma and I are going shopping. See you later.
Love,
Daddy
Mitzi and I went into the kitchen to get some milk and cupcakes, while Theodore took his precious picture into the bedroom. Mitzi sat at the kitchen table wearing a milk mustache and a thoughtful expression. “I have an idea,” she said at last.
“What?”
“Oh, something we can do to help Theodore.”
“Well, it better not be like the last idea you had,” I said. “I don’t want to get into trouble again.”
“Oh no,” Mitzi said. “This is entirely different, and I know it will work. In fact, it was Mrs. Golub who gave me the idea.”
“Mrs. Golub?”
“Well, she didn’t know she gave me the idea. Just something she told us. About the Secrets of the Stars?”
“Do you mean the milk bath?” I was getting worried. Besides, there were only two quarts of milk in the refrigerator.
“No, silly,” Mitzi said. “I mean the Power of the Mind. Don’t you remember?”
I was still worried. “What do you mean?”
“I mean we’ll hypnotize Theodore into believing that he’s brave, that’s all.”
“We don’t know anything about hypnotizing people,” I said.
“Oh, that’s nothing,” Mitzi assured me. “It can’t be very hard. A long time ago my father and I saw a hypnotist on the stage at the Roxy. Marvello the Great. I remember pretty much what he did and it didn’t look that hard. We just have to get Theodore into a trance.”
I bit my lip. “I don’t know, maybe...”
“Maybe it will just be the best thing we’ve ever done,” Mitzi said. “You heard Mrs. Golub. The Power of the Mind. Shirley, we could become famous. I can just see the headlines in the newspapers. Brooklyn Girls Save Little Brother from Being a Sissy.”
“Well...” I said.
Before I could say anything else, Mitzi went into the hallway and called Theodore. “Theodore?” she said in a very sweet voice. “Wouldn’t you like a nice chocolate cupcake? Creamy and delicious? A nice cold glass of yummy milk?”
Theodore came out of the bedroom and followed her to the kitchen. Mitzi was just like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. She poured a big foaming glass of milk for him and put the whole box of cupcakes right in front of him. “Go ahead,” she said generously. “Pick one with a lot of icing on it. Then when you’re finished, we’ll play this little game.”
“Wh-what kind of game?” Theodore asked.
“Oh, something nice,” Mitzi said. “You’ll like it. Hurry up now and get finished.”
I wondered when my parents and Velma would be home. Could Mitzi really hypnotize Theodore?
She was certainly going to try. Theodore still had cupcake crumbs all over his mouth when she led him into the living room and made him lie down on the sofa.
“I-I don’t want to p-play that g-ghost game again,” he said.
“Oh no,” Mitzi said in that same sweet voice. “You’ll really love this game. All you have to do is just listen to me and do what I tell you. Okay?”
“O-okay,” he said.
Mitzi pulled a chair close to the sofa and sat down. I cleared my throat and she turned around and said, “Shhhh. Quiet. It must be absolutely quiet or the Power of the Mind won’t work.” She turned back to Theodore again. “Now look at me,” she told him. “Look into my eyes.” She opened her own blue eyes wide and leaned her face close to his.
Theodore began to giggle.
“Quiet!” she commanded. “This is very serious.”
“I-I thought it was a g-game,” Theodore said.
“Well, it is. Only it’s a serious game. You have to concentrate or it won’t work.”
She leaned close again and stared into his eyes. Theodore put his hand over his mouth to hold back another fit of the giggles.
“Theodore, look into my eyes,” Mitzi said. “Listen to the sound of my voice. You are going into a trance.”
Theodore sat up. “What’s a t-trance?” he said.
“It’s... it’s... never mind what it is. Just lie down again. You are going to listen to nothing but my voice. You are going to obey only my voice.”
“Okay,” Theodore said.
“Shhh. You’re not supposed to answer me. Just look deeply into my eyes.”
Theodore
stared back at Mitzi. He blinked and he yawned.
“You are going to be in my power,” Mitzi said. “You will do anything I tell you.”
Theodore yawned again, forgetting to cover his mouth.
“Soon, soon, you will be in a trance. Now shut your eyes,” Mitzi said. “Shut your eyes and listen only to the sound of my voice.”
Theodore closed his eyes.
“Ah, good,” Mitzi said, turning around for a second to smile at me. “Now, raise your right hand,” she said. “Raise it slowly.”
“He doesn’t know which is his right,” I whispered.
Mitzi said “Shhh” again, putting her finger to her lips.
Sure enough, Theodore raised his left hand. He turned onto his side and yawned again.
“Now you are under the Power of My Mind,” Mitzi said, speaking very slowly. “You are in a deep, deep trance. You will do everything I tell you to do. Listen to the sound of my voice, Theodore. You are going to be a brave boy from now on. You are going to be stronger than Superman, faster than Flash Gordon, braver than Lucky, the dog actor. Theodore, I want you to sit up now.”
Theodore just lay there with his eyes shut.
“Theodore,” Mitzi said, a little louder this time. “I want you to sit up!”
“He’s asleep,” I said.
“He is not!” Mitzi insisted. “He’s in a trance.”
“Well, he looks just like he does when he’s asleep.” And he did. Theodore had his knees drawn up and one hand resting under his chin, and he was breathing evenly.
“I want you to sit up right now!” Mitzi was really yelling this time.
Theodore went on sleeping.
“He’s hard to wake up in the morning, too,” I said.
“It’s not my fault,” Mitzi said. “I did the very same things as Marvello the Great. I guess it just doesn’t work on first-grade babies.”
She sounded as if she was getting angry. “You can hypnotize me if you want to,” I offered.
“I would,” Mitzi said, “but I have to go home how.” She marched past Theodore and put on her coat.
Later, when my mother and father and Velma came home from shopping, Theodore was just getting up from his nap. “Where’s Mitzi?” he wanted to know. “That was a g-good game.”
Twelve
The First Round
IT WAS THE BIG day. All the way to school, hard words went in and out of my head. “Shirley,” Theodore kept saying, pulling on the sleeve of my coat, but I wouldn’t answer him. I was too busy practicing for the first round of the spelling bee. It was going to take place that very afternoon in Dr. Vanderbilt’s office. In the office with the door marked D. M. VANDERBILT, PRINCIPAL, where you usually had to go only if you were in some terrible trouble.
Before I left the house, Mother kissed me on both cheeks for luck, just like a French general. Daddy kissed the top of my head. “We’re proud of you, Shirley-girl,” he said. Even Velma came out of the bathroom, where she had been brushing her teeth. She still had her toothbrush in her hand. “Good luck, Shirley,” she said. “Make the Bravermans famous in Brooklyn.” Then she kissed me too, a wet kiss that smelled nicely of mint toothpaste.
But I was very nervous, more nervous than I ever was before a test, or when I had to go to the dentist to have a cavity filled. I felt the corn flakes and sliced banana I’d had for breakfast dancing around in my belly.
I was glad to see Mitzi waiting for me as soon as I reached the schoolyard. “I brought my good-luck charm for you to borrow,” she said. She pressed something cold and hard into my hand. I looked down and saw Mitzi’s favorite bracelet, a gold circle with a tiny Scotty dog charm hanging from it. Buddy had bought it for her just before he joined the Army. He called it a going-away present, even though he was the one who was going away.
“Oh, Mitzi,” I said. “I can’t...”
“You have to. It will bring you good luck. I want you to wear it.”
So I slipped the gold bracelet onto my wrist. It looked beautiful there.
One other kid in our class, a boy named Sheldon Bloch, was going to enter the spelling competition. He looked just as nervous as I felt. All the other boys were standing around him. I knew they were going to root for Sheldon to win that afternoon, just the way the girls were going to root for me. There were going to be ten kids in this first spelling bee, some from each sixth-grade class. Nobody else but the five teachers and the principal would be present, but all the friends of the kids who were in it were going to wait in the schoolyard for the results.
“I’m going to keep my fingers crossed,” Mitzi said, “and my arms,” she added, twisting them around one another, “and my feet, and my...”
I looked at her and saw that she had crossed her eyes as well. “Stop it,” I said. “I’m too nervous to laugh.”
“Don’t be nervous, Shirley,” Mitzi said. “I know you’re going to win. I just know it.”
But I imagined that Sheldon Bloch’s friends were telling him the very same thing, that his mother and father had kissed him for luck that morning. I knew that all the kids were hoping to win and there would only be one winner.
How could I concentrate on anything but the spelling bee? Miss Cohen put arithmetic problems on the blackboard. If it takes six men two days to build a bridge, how many days would it take... I couldn’t think about the numbers at all. I just kept thinking about those six men high above the sparkling water of the river, putting the pieces of the bridge together.
Miss Cohen was walking around the room, looking at our papers while we worked.
Six men. Two days. Bang! Bang! Over here, Joe! Lower that girder, Mac!
When Miss Cohen leaned over my shoulder, my paper was still as white as snow. I thought she would be angry and say something about daydreaming. But instead I felt her hand resting lightly on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Shirley,” she said. “I know you’re going to do well today. Just do the best you can. We’re all proud of you, whether you win or not.”
“I’m wearing Mitzi’s good-luck charm,” I said, holding my arm up to show her.
“That was nice of her,” Miss Cohen said, “but you have to depend on your good sense and not be superstitious. Sometimes you make your own good luck.”
I nodded, feeling much better. The rest of the day wasn’t so bad. I felt better and better until the moment I faced Dr. Vanderbilt’s closed door. All at once my hands were sweaty and cold, and I could feel the thump of my heart.
Then the door opened and I went inside with the others. One by one we approached Dr. Vanderbilt’s desk. He shook hands with each of us and said, Good luck! in a deep and special voice, the way I imagined King Ferdinand said it to Christopher Columbus before he set out to find a new way to India. When it was my turn, I wiped my hand on my shirt first, but he must have felt how cold it was, because he squeezed it very hard and smiled at me.
The five teachers were going to be judges. They sat at a long table on the other side of the office. The ten of us who were going to be in the spelling bee stood facing Dr. Vanderbilt’s desk. A sealed envelope rested on top of it.
“Boys and girls,” he said. “In a few moments we are going to begin. I want you all to know that P.S. 247 is very proud of you. You are all fine students, and the future of our great country depends on you. Ahem. Ahem.”
When he cleared his throat, I knew the spelling bee was about to begin. Sure enough, Dr. Vanderbilt picked up the envelope and opened it with a silver letter opener. Then he sat back in his chair, reading the list of words to himself. “Your teachers have prepared this list from a selection of the more advanced words for the sixth-grade student. Again, good luck to all of you. If a student misses a word, the next student must try to spell the same word. As soon as it is spelled correctly, the one who missed will be eliminated from the bee. If a student is eliminated, he or she will sit here until a winner is officially declared.” He indicated with his hand a row of chairs lined up against the wall behind us.
“The
first word is ‘progress.’ The student is making good progress with his work. ‘Progress.’”
The first boy on the line stepped forward and spelled it correctly. Dr. Vanderbilt turned to a girl from the room across from ours. “‘Business,’” he said to her. “My father’s business has earned a good profit. ‘Business.’”
At the end of the first round, nobody was eliminated. My word was easy. “Electric.” I took a very deep breath after I spelled it, and felt better.
In the second round, one of the boys was caught on the word “attendant”; he put an e near the end instead of an a. I could see that the words were getting a little harder. Yet I came through the second round and the third and the fourth. Another boy and two girls had been eliminated by then, and the words were getting even harder.
After seven rounds there were only three of us left. Sheldon Bloch from my class, Antoinette Scarpi, a tall dark-haired girl, and myself.
I touched the little Scotty dog on Mitzi’s bracelet. Then I remembered what Miss Cohen had said about making your own good luck. I listened as Antoinette tried to spell “vacuum.”
“‘Vacuum,’” she said. “V-a-c-c-u-m.”
“I’m sorry, Antoinette,” Dr. Vanderbilt said. “That is not correct.”
I looked at Antoinette and saw her blush and lower her eyes. Even though we were in competition with one another, I felt sorry for her.
Now the next person in the line had to spell “vacuum.” That was Sheldon. If he couldn’t spell it right, it would be my turn. If I could do it correctly, I would be the winner! And I knew how to spell “vacuum.” It was one of my favorites in Words That Stump the Experts.
“‘Vacuum,’” Sheldon said, his voice cracking a little in the middle of the word. “V-a-c-u-u-m.”
“Very good!” Dr. Vanderbilt said, and he nodded at Antoinette, who took a seat against the wall.
Now there were just two of us. Sheldon and me. Dr. Vanderbilt turned to me. “‘Rhythm,’” he said. “The orchestra has very good rhythm. ‘Rhythm.’”
Introducing Shirley Braverman Page 5
