“Yes, I agree, so I don’t try to make friends with them. I’m not happy in the private school. Maybe you can get Daddy to put me back in the public school. He’ll save money.”
“Um,” Carson said, thinking.
“It’s not any better. The teachers aren’t so great. I heard they don’t get paid as well, so the school doesn’t get the best possible teachers.”
“That’s true. I attended a preparatory school, you’ll remember, and that wasn’t so terrific.”
“You know, then.”
“I’ll talk with him,” Carson said. “Obviously, some changes have to be made.”
“Thank you, Carson. I feel so helpless sometimes.”
He nodded. Honey was working, I thought.
“They took away my allowance. You know what it’s like being around those snob birds and not having a cent in your pocket? They don’t let me forget it. They flash their fifties and hundred-dollar bills in my face.”
He grimaced.
“They do?”
“Oh, every chance they get. They don’t buy things. They just carry it to show off or drive the cafeteria cashier crazy by handing her big bills. She doesn’t have that sort of change, so their charges get put on a bill and sent to their parents anyway.”
He nodded again. I felt like a fisherman pulling in a catch that nibbled, bit, and now was easing onto the hook.
“Can you imagine what it’s like for me? And Daddy thinks I’m better off there.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll talk to him about it all.”
“Could you do one more thing for me?”
“What?”
“Just loan me some money, just so I have it on me. I won’t spend it,” I said. “Daddy won’t let me have any, but I dread returning to school tomorrow and looking like a pauper one more day.”
He bit the inside of his cheek as he thought.
“It will be just between you and me, Carson. You and I have never had any brother-sister secrets between us. Can’t we?”
“Okay,” he said, “but you’ve got to promise not to spend it and not to let Daddy know what I’ve done, Teal.”
“I swear,” I said.
He reached into his back pocket and took out his wallet.
“If you have two fifties, it would be great,” I said.
He hesitated, and then he gave them to me.
“This is an act of trust on my part, Teal. Don’t disappoint me.”
“I won’t.”
“And I want to see you work harder at school until we figure out what’s best for you, okay?”
“Yes, I will,” I said. “There’s my homework waiting on the desk,” I added, nodding at the books. “I’m getting right to it.”
“Get your grades up. It will make it easier all around,” he urged. “That way we can take another look at the situation after the midterm period. Any change would be easier. I know what it’s like to be stuck somewhere you hate, believe me.”
“Thank you, Carson. This is the first time I’ve really felt like you were my brother.”
I got off the bed and stepped up to kiss him on the cheek. He turned a little red, but smiled.
“We’ll get you on the right track,” he said. “Dad will be glad we had this talk, too. I promised him I would try, and he was hoping it would help.”
I smiled at him, and he went to the door. He stood there a moment and then suddenly smiled gleefully.
“What?” I asked.
“Since we’re sharing secrets, I have one for you.”
“You do?”
“I’m going to marry Ellery Taylor. I’ve bought an engagement ring and will be giving it to her this week, probably Wednesday,” he said. “So, you will be a bridesmaid at a big wedding this June.”
“Congratulations,” I said. “I like Ellery.”
I didn’t. She always looked like she was constipated when she was around me, and she was such a good little audience for Mother, nodding and agreeing with every silly little pronouncement. I wanted to puke, and she saw it in my face and avoided me whenever she could. She would certainly hate the idea of my being one of her bridesmaids. She would be afraid I’d step on the train of her wedding dress or something. Maybe I would.
“I plan on telling Mother and Father on Sunday, so keep it locked up,” Carson said.
“My lips are sealed,” I told him.
The moment he left, I went downstairs to Daddy’s den and called the pizza parlor. There was a great deal of noise in the background, so I knew Del couldn’t stay on the phone long.
“I’m sending something over to you,” I told him. “A surprise. It’s for Shawn and Patty Girl.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a surprise. Just do what you have to with it,” I told him.
After I hung up, I called Daddy’s messenger service. Then I put the two fifties into an envelope and wrote “Del Grant” on the outside. The messenger arrived, and I gave him directions. By the time Daddy found out I had used his service, it would be too late anyway and I would have time to think of some excuse like I had to get homework from someone or something.
Then I went back to my room and started my homework.
Of course, I would do better in school, I thought.
Honey gets more than vinegar.
Del
was angry about the money and called me from the mall before he left for home. Fortunately, Daddy wasn’t back from wherever he had gone on business so I was able to take the phone call. I pleaded with Del to keep the money.
“It’s nothing, just pocket money for me. I’ll waste it on some new lipstick and such. Your brother and sister have real needs and it will help you keep the dogs off,” I reminded him. “If the social worker comes around and sees they have what they need, they won’t haunt you.”
“I don’t like charity,” he insisted.
“Okay, so consider it a loan. When you’re rich and famous, you’ll pay me back.”
“Right, me rich and famous. That’s a good laugh.”
“I’ll try to see you this week,” I said. Then I heard the front door open and told him I had to go. It was Mother bursting in with all the latest social gossip. She couldn’t wait to get to her phone to pass it on. In her world, whoever knew something someone else didn’t was the person to envy. She barely seemed to notice me and asked me nothing about how I had spent my day. I almost felt like telling her about Carson’s impending engagement just to see the shock on her face that I knew something so socially important before she did, but I didn’t want to lose Carson’s trust.
I went back to my room and returned to my homework instead.
The next day I discovered that despite the lesson Daddy tried to teach me by having me arrested and kept in jail overnight, no one at school knew anything about it. Del certainly wasn’t going to gossip, and I wasn’t about to tell anyone, either.
All that week I did as well as I could at school. I was even nice to Mr. Croft and stayed after class to apologize to him for my previous behavior. I knew he liked things that were dramatic, so I concocted a new story.
“Not that it makes what I did right,” I told him, “but I had a bad shock at home. A cousin of mine whom”— I made a point of using the correct form, practically humming the
m
—“I was very close to was killed in a terrible car accident. No one wants to talk about it.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said. “How horrible.”
“No, I’m sorry for what I did,” I repeated, and assured him I would behave in his class from now on. Then, I asked him about a grammar problem I really did understand, but I let him review it quickly, pretending to grasp it finally because of bis extra help, and thanked him.
Every day thereafter, he gave me a nice hello before class began. I could see the looks of confusion, even anger, on the faces of the snob birds, and I smiled to myself. I was actually beginning to enjoy being good. People, I discovered, wanted you not to be a problem so much that they were more trusting and gullible. My grades improved, and then, unbeknown to me, Mr. Bloomberg had all my teachers fill out a behavior report. It was sent home by the end of the week, and at dinner that night, Daddy surprised me by bringing it to the table and announcing what it was.
Mother held her breath as he took it out of the envelope and unfolded it.
Daddy put on his glasses and sat back.
“Apparently,” he began, “every one of your teachers has indicated a significant improvement in your classroom decorum and your work ethic.”
He lowered his glasses on the bridge of his nose and peered over them at me.
Mother released a deeply held sigh of dread.
“Also apparently, your experience in the real world, namely a jail cell, has awoken you to the potential consequences of your misbehavior. I say ‘apparently’ because I’ve been disappointed in you many, many times before, Teal.”
“Well, if all of her teachers have only good things to say,” Mother interjected, “then certainly…”
Daddy held up his hand and she caught her next words in her throat.
“I need to see consistency. I want to see a report like this every week from now on.”
He folded the paper and put it back into the envelope.
“I understand, however, that you and your brother had a good heart-to-heart talk about all this and about your future,” he said.
“They did?” Mother asked, looking from me to him.
I could see it coming. “Why wasn’t I told about that?”
“Carson volunteered the assignment. You’d have to speak to him,” Daddy replied.
I winced at hearing my talk with my brother referred to as an assignment. Didn’t anyone in this family do anything because they really felt like doing it? Was everything a responsibility, an obligation? Was it the same for all families or just mine?
“Well,” she said. “He didn’t mention it to me when I saw him today. I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
“To return to my point,” Daddy said clearly, showing he didn’t like to be interrupted, “you complained about the private school and apparently won over your brother’s support.”
“She did? He did?”
“Amanda, please. I don’t know if you realize the opportunities and advantages you have attending this school, Teal. Your classes are smaller, aren’t they?”
“Some are,” I said.
“As you can see from this report, your teachers give you more individualized attention,” he added, waving the envelope. “And more to the point, your behavior and achievement at public school have been deplorable. There is nothing I would like more than saving money. I would love you to be able to attend public school and be successful, but you haven’t been able to do that, and I can see you’ll be watched over more closely here. However,” he concluded, unfolding his napkin to indicate the conversation was ending and we were to concentrate on eating, “should you have a successful year and still wish to return to a public school, we’ll discuss it. And,” he added before I could protest, “you can thank your brother that you even have that. There are other places, not so pleasant, I was beginning to envision you in, Teal. Just continue to watch your step, young lady.”
He turned to the maid, and she began to serve dinner. Mother, still upset about being out of the news loop, pouted.
“I just don’t understand it,” she said, “I just don’t. Carson never keeps anything from me. We’ve always been so close. As close as any mother could be with any child,” she added.
I couldn’t help the tears that burned under my eyelids. We’ve never been close, I thought. And then it came. It just burst out of me, riding atop a magic carpet of pain and rage. I couldn’t help it.
“He told me he’s giving Ellery an engagement ring. Supposedly he gave it to her this past Wednesday,” I said, sounding nonchalant about it.
Mother’s mouth dropped open so wide, her yet to be chewed pieces of lettuce and tomatoes dripped over her lower lip. Daddy glanced at me, and I knew immediately that he had known. Carson had confided in him, and what he had told me was to be our special secret, our first brother-sister secret, was really not any such thing. It made me feel better about betraying him. I would have an answer when he learned about it.
“A formal engagement? A ring?” She turned to Daddy. “Did you know about this, Henderson?”
He shook his head and went back to bis salad.
“First I’ve heard,” he said, but anyone objective who heard him say it would know he was lying. Mother, of course, chose to believe him. She turned back to me.
“What did he say exactly?”
“I don’t remember his exact words,” I replied.
“Well, not exactly then. What?”
“He just said he was giving her a ring and would tell you at the end of this weekend. Oh,” I said, making it sound like a small added detail, “and they would be married in June.”
“June!” She threw down her fork. “There’s not enough time between now and June to do a decent wedding.”
“Maybe they’ll elope,” I offered, and she opened and closed her mouth.
“They will not. They most certainly will not. Henderson?”
He shrugged.
“I don’t expect they would,” he said. I was sure he already knew every detail of Carson’s plans.
“This is… astounding,” she muttered. She had turned a bit white and looked like she was going to have a panic attack. “I’ve got to get right on the phone with Waverly Taylor.” She started to rise.
“Amanda,” Daddy snapped. “How can you do that? Maybe Carson hasn’t even given Ellery the ring yet. You will have to wait and hear it from him. Sit down,” he ordered.
Mother froze and then, as if her body had turned to pudding, poured back into her chair.
“But… this is a crisis, Henderson, a true social crisis. Do you know how hard it is to book the club for a wedding, or any decent hall, with such short notice? These things are planned nearly a year in advance, maybe two. You don’t know about such things,” she lectured him. “You’re too busy in the business world. This is my world.”
“Nevertheless,” Daddy said calmly, “you’ll have to wait to see if the event is indeed going to take place. Right now all you have is Teal’s report of a conversation she had with Carson.”
Mother thought a moment and then turned to me.
“You are telling us the truth, aren’t you, Teal? I mean, this isn’t one of your terrible lies, is it? Please, be honest,” she pleaded.
“It’s what I remember,” I said practically under my breath, and started to eat. I glanced at Daddy, who was looking at me angrily again. He was sure to run off and tell Carson what I had done.