Sauerkraut

by Kelly Jones

  I put the box in the corner, and sat down on my bed. Mom and Dad must have let Asad watch his program, because he didn’t come down to bug me, and Oma probably hadn’t finished with Eli yet. Usually I love having time to myself to do maker stuff. But right then I didn’t feel like making any notes for new project ideas. Yeah, sure, I still needed to figure out a plan for some software so my computer would do something. But I’d worked really hard on it, making my plan, earning all that money, doing my build. I just wanted to enjoy this part a little bit longer before I got back to work.

  I stared up at my posters until they swam a little, and sniffed back my feelings. I bet Shuri’s first computer ran half of Wakanda.

  There was a tap at my door, and then Mom came in. When she saw my face, she came over and gave me a hug. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

  I shrugged. “It’s okay, Mom—you don’t have to pretend to be all excited about my project.”

  She gave me a look. “Of course I’m excited about it! Just because you’re growing up doesn’t mean I have to stop being excited about everything you do.”

  I turned away. “It’s not like it’s that hard.”

  “Maybe not for you, but I’ve never built a computer,” she said. “Honey, I’m sorry your brother and your grandma didn’t respect your time tonight. But I’ll tell you what: Why don’t I find out if Asad can spend the day at the fair with his friend Liya when your presentation is scheduled, and we can celebrate your computer properly? We could invite Mr. Ziedrich, and Grace, and that librarian you’re always talking about….”

  “I’m not always talking about Harry,” I told her. “We just have some things in common.”

  She nodded. “Like computers, I bet. So, how does that sound?”

  “Well, they might have their own stuff to do,” I told her. “I told Harry he should enter his cookies this year, and Mr. Z. is bringing Rodgers and Hammerstein.”

  “But if they are available, is it something you would like to see happen?” Mom asked.

  I didn’t tell her that’s pretty much how I always dreamed it would be, ever since I thought up this project. I just nodded.

  But I think she guessed how I felt about it anyway.

  The next day, Dad wanted to take a bunch of the stuff from the “somebody else could use this” pile to the junkyard before he had to take Asad to camp. I offered to come along and help, since it was my project, and since I love the junkyard, but Dad said my job was to stay home and keep Asad out of trouble for half an hour, since Asad isn’t good at keeping his hands to himself at the junkyard.

  “Can’t Oma watch him?” I asked.

  “Your mom and I would feel better if there’s someone around that other people can see and hear, just in case,” Dad said. “I’ll be five minutes away. Call me if you need anything.”

  I sighed. “I guess we have to get our entry forms done for the fair anyway.”

  HUCKLEBERRY COUNTY FAIR ENTRY FORM

  Exhibitor’s name: HD Schenk

  Phone number: (206) 888-1212

  All entries are to be brought to the Entry Registration Booth by 9 a.m. on the date that category will be judged.

  Category: Technology

  Description: the computer I built from scratch

  Exhibitor category:

  PEEWEE ​ ​ ​

  YOUTH ​ ​X​

  IF YOUTH: GRADE IN SCHOOL JUST COMPLETED ​ ​6​

  ADULT ​ ​ ​

  SENIOR CITIZEN ​ ​ ​

  Special accommodations needed: electrical outlet for computer

  I understand that I must present my entry to the judges when scheduled in order to be eligible to win. NO EXCEPTIONS.

  The owner of the exhibit releases the Huckleberry County Fair from liability from any loss, damage, or injury to livestock or any other property while such property is on the grounds of the Huckleberry County Fair.

  Exhibitor’s Signature HD Schenk

  HUCKLEBERRY COUNTY FAIR ENTRY FORM

  Exhibitor’s name: Mrs. Marietta Schenk

  Phone number: (206) 888-1212

  All entries are to be brought to the Entry Registration Booth by 9 a.m. on the date that category will be judged.

  Category: Pickles & Jams

  Description: my finest sauerkraut

  Exhibitor category:

  PEEWEE ​ ​ ​

  YOUTH ​ ​ ​

  IF YOUTH: GRADE IN SCHOOL JUST COMPLETED ​ ​ ​

  ADULT ​ ​ ​

  SENIOR CITIZEN ​ ​X​

  Special accommodations needed: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

  I understand that I must present my entry to the judges when scheduled in order to be eligible to win. NO EXCEPTIONS.

  The owner of the exhibit releases the Huckleberry County Fair from liability from any loss, damage, or injury to livestock or any other property while such property is on the grounds of the Huckleberry County Fair.

  Exhibitor’s Signature Marietta Schenk

  Oma handed me her entry form.

  Eli read it over my shoulder. “What if the judges can’t see her? Maybe she should request an accommodation.”

  “Oma, do you think you might need an accommodation, since you can’t be seen and heard by people?” I asked.

  Oma sniffed. “Why would I need an accommodation? There is nothing wrong with me.”

  Eli stiffened. “Sometimes people who are smart and work hard still need accommodations to do their best.” He looked away. “I do, sometimes.”

  I watched him for a minute. He didn’t look like he wanted to say any more right now. “Is it okay if I explain, Eli?” I asked.

  He nodded, but he didn’t look up. Eli likes to talk, but he doesn’t like talking about this. He doesn’t like people not understanding either. So I help him out, when he says it’s okay.

  “Look, Oma, we’re not all built exactly the same, and sometimes people need accommodations. You’ve seen how careful Eli was when he wrote to you. That’s because he was thinking hard about what he was saying, but it’s also because his brain doesn’t see words the same way mine does. Writing down what he thinks is harder for him. Sometimes he needs an accommodation at school to make things fair. You know how smart he is—he just needs to show people that in a different way sometimes.”

  I snuck a glance at Eli. He was staring at his sneakers. “I bet you didn’t mean to hurt his feelings, Oma. But I think you owe Eli an apology.”

  Oma turned to Eli, and her face fell. “I apologize, Eli,” she said quietly. “You have been a great help to me, and I did not mean to be rude, or hurt your feelings.”

  “It’s okay, Mrs. S.,” Eli said. He wasn’t smiling anymore, but at least he looked up at us. “I wish I didn’t have to have an accommodation either. But they’re there to help us.”

  The ghost nodded. “I see that now. What would you suggest?”

  “Well, if the judges can’t hear you, HD could tell them what you’re saying,” Eli said. “Like this girl in our class who can’t hear what’s going on, so a translator signs everything for her.”

  “Yes, yes,” Oma said, nodding.

  “Wait, let’s think this through,” I said. I could see Eli’s point, but I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be a ghost’s translator at the fair. I had stuff I needed to do—like present my computer. Besides…“If they can’t see you or hear you, how will they know you’re the one who really made the sauerkraut? I mean, what if they give me the prize, just because I’m the only one there they can see? I don’t want to wreck your chance to level up.”

  “Then you will tell them that I am right there, and that they must give the prize to me.” Oma folded her ghostly
arms and looked stubborn.

  I looked at Eli. I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to go well.

  “Wait,” Eli said. “I think I might have an idea.” He left the family room. A minute later, he came back with his mom’s old camera that can do video—the one he brought so we could make a video of the goats on their obstacle course. “Maybe we can record a video of her.”

  “We could try it, I guess,” I said.

  Asad’s cartoon ended, and I turned the TV off. He blinked, and looked around. “HEY, ELI!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “Want to play checkers?”

  “HI, ASAD!” Eli shouted right back. “Not right now—I need to help HD with an experiment.”

  “I will play with you,” the ghost told Asad, floating over to take her place at the game table.

  “Fine, but we’re going to record you while you play, Oma,” I said.

  “Make a video of me! I’m going to be FAMOUS!” Asad shouted.

  “Yeah, okay,” I told him. “But, Asad, no more yelling.”

  “OKAY!” Asad yelled.

  Honestly, that kid has no sense of his own volume. Mom says it will develop with time. I’m pretty sure she’s wrong, though.

  “Start it up,” I told Eli.

  The ghost fluffed out her hair a little. “I’m ready,” she told me, with a big, stiff smile.

  Eli turned the dial to the little video icon and pressed some camera buttons. “Three…two…one…Here we go!”

  “Get ready for TOTAL ANNIHILATION, Oma!” Asad yelled.

  “Never!” the ghost told him, still smiling.

  Eli held the camera, and I set my watch timer for three minutes. We waited as Oma defeated Asad in, like, ten moves, and then tried to explain how he could do better next time.

  When my watch beeped, Eli stopped the camera and brought it over to the table.

  We all crowded around the little screen on the back.

  I could see Asad’s head and the checkerboard—but not the ghost.

  “Get ready for TOTAL ANNIHILATION, Oma!” Asad’s voice came out of the little camera speaker.

  He giggled. “That’s me!”

  I nodded. But I couldn’t hear Oma’s response, not even when Eli turned up the volume.

  We all watched Asad move his checker. It was weird to see Oma’s checker fly through the air without seeing her.

  “Your turn.” Asad’s voice boomed out of the speaker, so loud I jumped.

  But the video hadn’t recorded the ghost’s reply.

  Oma was staring at the screen like she hadn’t really realized that she was a ghost, until now.

  “Turn it off,” I told Eli.

  Eli stopped the video. “Maybe there’s a setting we can change. Something that can make her louder, and visible. I could check the manual.”

  “You can check, but I don’t think it’s just a setting,” I said.

  Asad ran back to the checkerboard. “I’m getting ready for total annihilation again, Oma!”

  But the ghost didn’t join him. She looked down at her own ghostly hands, and I wondered if they looked solid to her. “What now?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” I told her. “Maybe you could make a poster?”

  “Don’t you still have to explain a poster to the judges?” Eli asked.

  I shrugged. “Maybe we could put that she needs to do a poster instead of talking as a special accommodation.”

  Eli examined our forms. “But it says you must be there to present it—“no exceptions.” I know she’ll be there, but what if the judges can’t see her, and they think she wants an exception?”

  “No one ever entered the pickling contest with a poster!” the ghost said, frowning.

  “Well, what would you suggest instead?” I asked. (That’s what Mom says when she wants someone to stop whining and start working, or at least help her figure things out.)

  The ghost started to glow a little bit red around the edges. I took a step back.

  So did Eli. “Um, Mrs. S., are you feeling okay?”

  But she just kept getting redder and redder. Not like when Dad gets embarrassed. Like, Christmas-tree-light red.

  “I must win the Pickle Prize!” the ghost roared.

  Eli took another step back. “Um, Mrs. S., let’s talk about this calmly—”

  “I will not be calm!” Her ghostly body was starting to boil a little around the edges, like she was too mad to hold it together. “I have waited too long for this!”

  “I know, Oma!” I said. “I’m trying to help you figure this out!”

  “I MUST WIN!” the ghost yelled, and it was almost-but-not-quite her scary ghost yell.

  Asad’s eyes got big. He packed all the checkers he’d set out back in the box and ran upstairs with it.

  “It’s okay, Asad!” I called up after him.

  “Okay!” he yelled. But he didn’t come down.

  The ghost looked after him. Slowly the red started to fade away. She floated to the bottom of the stairs and looked up after Asad.

  I sighed. “Look, we’ll keep working on this, okay?”

  The ghost tried to go up the stairs, but she couldn’t get past the fourth step. She never can.

  “Let’s go find a poster board,” Eli said.

  “Yeah, see what you can find,” I told him. “I need to check on Asad first.”

  The ghost touched my sleeve as I passed her. “Please, Hans Dieter—will you tell Asad that I am sorry?”

  She looked like she really meant it. I sighed. “I’ll ask him if he’ll come down, so you can tell him yourself,” I said, heading up the stairs.

  After Oma apologized and promised Asad she wouldn’t yell anymore, he went off to camp with Dad, and Eli and I decided to take the goats to Uncle Gregor’s to make our video of the GOAT Obstacle Course. Rodgers still didn’t see why he couldn’t focus on knocking Hammerstein off the balance beam instead of walking across it, and Hammerstein chewed on the Hula Hoop, so we had to duct-tape it back together. But overall, it went pretty well.

  Since we were there, I decided to fill up Uncle Gregor’s recycling with old magazines and papers and wheel it out to the curb while Eli practiced his latest solo.

  When I came back inside, I showed him what I’d found. It was an old certificate with fancy type. “Know what this reminds me of?”

  Eli grinned. “The World’s Best Hay-Loader certificate I made you!”

  I nodded. When Eli won a prize at last year’s science fair, and I didn’t, he decided it wasn’t fair that I couldn’t show my hay-loader off properly in the gym, but the science judges didn’t really want to discuss that any further. So he made me his own prize. It wasn’t as good as the real thing, and I’m still going to beat him next year. But I felt better knowing that someone knew what I could do, and respected it.

  “I still have it,” I told him. “It gave me an idea too….Want to head over to the library? I need to ask Harry about something.”

  * * *

  That night, after dinner, we had a special viewing of the GOAT Obstacle Course video. My parents laughed so hard I thought they might hurt themselves, and even Oma cheered. Asad said it would have been way better if he was in it too, so we should do another one.

  Then Oma told us she’d made something special for dessert.

  Eli and I shut our eyes and tried to guess what it could be.

  “Those almond moon cookies?” I guessed, sniffing hard.

  “No, wait, what was that other thing?” Eli said, sniffing too. “The one with the swirls?”

  “Wrong!” Oma said, and we opened our eyes. A huge pan of brownies was floating right in front of Asad.

  “My favorite!” Asad yelled, and gave Oma a huge hug.

  I grinned at her. “Where’d you get the recipe?”

 
“Mr. Ziedrich’s friend Mrs. Alvarez emailed it to me,” she said, smiling proudly. “It won a blue ribbon at the fair.”

  “Mrs. Alvarez gave you her brownie recipe?” I said, surprised. “I thought it was a secret.”

  “Well, I told her it was a special request from my grandsons—and then I had to send her my Kirschenkuchen recipe in exchange,” Oma said. She looked down at Asad, and smiled. “It was a good trade.”

  Then it was Asad’s turn to tell us about the photo he’d picked for our wall.

  “This was me on my birthday,” he said. “Right after my brother FINALLY let me use his Mentos tube for the first time, and Diet Coke went STRAIGHT UP EVERYWHERE! Then it went ALL OVER ME!”

  We all clapped for him, and he grinned almost as wide as he did in the photo.

  I couldn’t help but grin too. “Yeah, that was pretty cool. We should probably do it again this summer. Only, this time you should at least try to get out of the way.”

  “NEVER!” Asad yelled, and did a happy stomping dance, with a lot of punching.

  He’d be pretty cute sometimes, if he wasn’t my annoying little brother.

  “We can have a PARTY for ME and the Mentos and SCIENCE!” Asad went on.

  “A science party?” Mom asked as she and Dad started gathering plates.

  “Sure!” Eli told her, following them into the kitchen. “Science is awesome! It could be kind of like a science fair, or maybe like the county fair, only the food and the recital and everything would all be science-related….”

  “And Mom and Dad and Oma and Eli and Rodgers and Hammerstein and Uncle Gregor and Andre and I guess my brother, HD, could all come…,” Asad went on.

  “Who is Andre?” Oma asked him.