Fabulous Five 019 - The Boys-Only Club (8 page)

Katie couldn't believe what she was seeing either as she
stood inside the entrance to Mama Mia's with Jana, Beth, and the other girls
who had just come from the Wakeman gym. Laura McCall, the rest of The Fantastic
Foursome, and a sprinkling of girls who had gone to Riverfield Elementary were
sitting in booths and at tables with boys from Wakeman.

As they stood frozen in the doorway, the kids inside began
noticing them, and looks of surprise spread over the boys' faces. Richie
Corrierro moved quickly away from Elizabeth Harvey, and Bill Soliday almost
dropped Tammy Lucero on the floor. Randy Kirwan looked at Jana and then,
frowning, back at Laura, who was sitting across the table from him. Laura
smiled an icky-sweet smile and put one hand on Randy's in the center of the
table. The other twitched the end of her long braid.

Katie could almost see the steam rising from under Jana's
collar. Jana whipped around and stormed out through the crowd. The last thing
she did was give Katie an angry look. Katie stood openmouthed as the other
girls followed her.

Standing alone in the doorway, Katie looked at Laura, whose
smile broadened. The others watched, not saying anything. Tony, whom she hadn't
noticed before, looked up from the table where he was sitting with Matt Zeboski
and Melinda Thaler. As he looked back at her, his eyebrows creased together in
a frown.

Katie stared back at him for a moment before turning and
slowly walking out of the pizzeria.

Katie stayed in bed until ten o'clock Sunday morning. She
couldn't get up and face the world. She resented the bright spring sunshine and
the sounds of birds chirping that came through her window.

There was scratching at her door, and then it popped open
just wide enough for Libber to slide through. The yellow cat jumped up on the
bed and walked up Katie's legs to say good morning.

"Oh, Libber." Katie rubbed her hand down the cat's
back. "What am I going to do? I've ruined everything. I let Laura McCall
trick me into getting all the girls to join the girls' club so she and her
friends could be with the boys, and now everyone is mad at me, including Jana and
Beth. Maybe even Christie and Melanie, for all I know. No one will go to the
girls' club again. Mr. Bell won't let us have a women's history class. And Tony's
through with me. That's it. There's not
one more
thing that can go
wrong."

There was a knock at her door. "Katie. Can I come in?"
her mother asked.

"I guess so," said Katie dejectedly.

"You look sad. Maybe I can cheer you up," said
Willie brightly. "While you were sleeping, Gwyneth Plum called. Gwyneth
Plum Rawls, I should say. She came home early and called her son, and he told
her about you. She wants to meet you."

Katie's spirits soared and then they sank again. She had
been hoping that Gwyneth could tell her about how she handled her problems, and
Katie would know what to do about her own, but it was too late. The only way
she could solve her problems was to stay in bed the rest of her life.

"I thought for sure you'd be excited," said
Willie. "Mark's coming over in a little while. Why don't you take a shower
and have some breakfast, and we'll take you over to see her. I'm dying to meet
her myself, even if you're not. I still want to do that story about her."

Katie was surprised when Mr. Dracovitch pulled up in a
gleaming, remodeled 1957 Thunderbird convertible. "It's one of my
passions," he explained as they climbed in. "I love old cars."

Katie looked at him questioningly. He drove a big, black four-door
sedan to school every day. It looked like something a funeral home director
would drive. Was that also part of his act to make kids think maybe he was a
vampire?

They pulled up in front of a large brick house with a huge
yard with lots of trees and big bushes that were starting to show little red,
pink, and white blossoms. Katie followed her mother and Mr. Dracovitch up the
walk, carrying the time capsule under her arm.

A tall, elegant-looking older woman opened the door. Katie
immediately recognized her. She was finally face-to-face with Gwyneth Plum.

Katie and Gwyneth sat alone in a glassed-in sun porch at the
rear of the house. She could see Willie and Mr. Dracovitch walking out on the
lawn.

"Well, my dear," said Gwyneth, picking up the
pictures from the capsule and looking at them. "I'm so glad
you're
the one who found my time capsule. Now that you've read the journal I left in
it, tell me how it's different to be thirteen today."

"Well, one thing that's different"—Katie couldn't
help but giggle—"we don't have to wear long underwear to school in the
wintertime."

Gwyneth laughed. "That
is
a blessing. Oh, I
still remember how badly I itched when I sat next to that hot, potbellied
stove."

Katie loved hearing the older woman's laughter. In fact, she
couldn't help but like everything about Gwyneth. It was as if Gwyneth were
wearing a Halloween costume and there was a girl inside whom Katie had known
for a long time. The young girl in her showed through the wrinkles, and Katie
felt as if she were with a friend.

"Another thing that's different," Katie continued.
"We can take any class we want to, not like when you were in school and
couldn't take manual shop. What was manual shop, anyway? Is that like machine
shop?"

"Sort of," answered Gwyneth. "Only we didn't
have as many machines as there are nowadays. Mostly the boys learned to make
furniture and other things with their hands. I wanted to take it as a matter of
principle. I thought there was no reason a girl shouldn't be able to make
things out of wood if she wanted to."

"I started a girls' club like your GRIT," said
Katie. "Only, it didn't turn out so well. And now all the girls are mad at
me," she said, looking at her hands in her lap.

"Tell me about it," said the kindly lady, and
Katie did.

After listening to Katie's story, Gwyneth said, "Don't
take all the blame for what happened. It sounds as if it would have worked out
beautifully if this Laura McCall hadn't pulled her dirty trick. Had you thought
about calling your friends and telling them you're sorry about what happened?"

"I don't think they'll speak to me," said Katie,
tears filling her eyes.

Gwyneth patted Katie on the leg. "Now, now, my dear. Don't
judge them until you've talked to them. I bet they were just hurt. If they're
really as good friends as you think, they'll understand."

Gwyneth smiled to herself, as if remembering something. "You
remind me a lot of myself at your age, Katie. I felt
so
strongly about
everything, and I
knew
I understood right from wrong. What I found out
about myself was that I couldn't see things through other people's eyes. When I
learned a little more about how to do that, I discovered there are lots of ways
of accomplishing what I believed in. I discovered that people would help me if
I approached them in the right way. I didn't have to hit them over the head
every time. Only now and then," she added with a little grin.

"Is that what happened between you and Tommy?" asked
Katie. "You learned to understand him?"

Gwyneth looked at a table standing against the wall that was
filled with pictures in old-fashioned frames. The one in the very middle was of
a young woman in a wedding gown with a man in a tuxedo next to her. They were
obviously Gwyneth and Tommy. "I finally decided to sit down with Tommy and
explain very seriously how I felt. He listened, and his views about females
gradually changed. But I also found that he wasn't as insensitive as I had
thought. We
both
learned to understand each other. After we were
married, he helped me get through medical school. He passed away three years
ago."

"I'm sorry," said Katie. She wished Gwyneth hadn't
told her that. It was so sad. "But you did finally go to medical school?"

"Oh, yes. I retired quite a while ago. My son, Ronald,
took over my practice. He followed in his mother's footsteps, you might say."
Gwyneth smiled sweetly. "We had a wonderful life together. We had three
children: Ronald, Rachel, who's an attorney in Washington, D.C., and Lillie,
who's a pediatrician in St. Louis. You see, things have changed a lot since I
was a girl."

"But where was Tommy when you lived with your mother on
Lincoln Street? Your marriage license says you were married before then."

Gwyneth gave Katie a sharp glance. "My, you
have
done your homework. Tom and I were married just before the Depression, and like
many people during those times, he had to go where the jobs were. He went to
California and picked vegetables and sent all the money he earned back home. He
returned not long after we moved from the Lincoln Street address."

Katie looked hesitantly at Gwyneth. "Did he . . . Tommy
. . . hold doors open for you?"

Gwyneth looked at her curiously. "Well, yes. I hadn't
really thought of it, but I guess he did. It was his way of showing respect for
me. I tried to show my respect for him, too. There were times when he wanted to
be alone with his books, and I let him. That's what caring for someone is all
about, isn't it?"

Katie looked out the window. Her mother and Mr. Dracovitch
were heading back toward the house.

"What about your father? Did he come back from the war
okay?" asked Katie.

Gwyneth took the little porcelain doll from the time capsule
and looked at it lovingly. "No," she said, "he didn't. It was
very hard on my mother. She loved him so much. We both loved him." There
was mist in her eyes.

The door opened and Willie and Mr. Dracovitch entered the
room.

"I've loved meeting you, Katie," said Gwyneth. "Would
you like to keep the time capsule?"

The question surprised Katie. "You don't want it back?"

Gwyneth smiled. "No. I meant for you or someone else to
find it. Keep it if you'd like."

Katie nodded. "Just one more question. . . . Was there
ever another Cho Cho?"

"Cho Cho, the monkey?" Gwyneth declared, hooting
with laughter. "I'd almost forgotten about him. No, my dear, just as there
was never another Tommy, there was never another Cho Cho. We can only expect so
many good things out of life, can't we?"

Katie gave Gwyneth a hug, then turned away so the older
woman wouldn't see the tears welling up in her eyes. Meeting Gwyneth Plum was
one of the best things that had ever happened in Katie's life.

Later that afternoon, Katie sat with her hand on the
telephone, trying to decide what she would say. What if Jana and the other
members of The Fabulous Five were so mad they wouldn't talk to her? She
remembered what Gwyneth had said: If they were truly her friends, they would
forgive her. Still, it was scary.

Katie took a deep breath and punched in Jana's number.

"Hello." Jana's voice sounded cheerful.

"Hi," said Katie softly. "It's me, Katie."

"Oh, Katie! I'm glad you called.
Guess what!
I
just hung up with Alexis and she said that Bill Soliday called her right after
she got home last night. He said he was sorry Tammy Lucero sat on his lap. He
didn't want her to, she just plopped down on him." Jana giggled. "Alexis
said he was absolutely
apologizing
to her all over the place and asked
her to go to the movies with him on Friday. She thinks it was because she
finally
really
got angry at him, and he knew it. She tried to call you this morning
to tell you, but no one answered."

Katie held the receiver with her mouth open, not knowing what
to say.

"And Katie, I tried to call you, too." Jana's
voice softened. "I don't know if you realized it, but I kind of got mad at
you last night. I should have known better. It was obvious that Laura had set
the whole thing up, and Randy got caught in her trick just like
we
did."
Katie noticed Jana's emphasis on the word
we.
"I want you to know I'm
sorry. Forgive me?"

Tears flooded Katie's eyes. "There's no need to forgive
a friend," she said. "But thanks, Jana."

An hour later Katie was still sitting by the telephone, but
now she was smiling to herself. She had called Beth, who had talked to Keith,
and everything was okay between them, too. Christie had talked to Lisa Snow,
who said she was glad to find out just what Richie Corrierro was really like,
and even if he groveled in front of her, she would never go out with him. Lisa
also realized that Laura had been behind the whole thing and didn't blame
Katie. She said that none of the girls she had talked to did.
And
, best
of all, the boys were changing their computer club meetings to Saturday
mornings so they could be with the girls on Friday nights.

Melanie acted as if nothing at all had happened and only
wanted to talk about the three pounds she had lost doing aerobics. She couldn't
wait for Scott, Shane, and Garrett Boldt to see the new her.

The doorbell sounded, and Katie stretched lazily. It was
probably Mr. Dracovitch for Willie again. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon
and it would be just like him to want to take her mother on a picnic. Katie
chuckled to herself. Maybe she should go along as a chaperone. He might have a
basketful of bat-wing sandwiches and eyeball olives.

"Katie! It's for you," Willie called.

Tony was standing in the foyer. Katie's knees almost buckled
when she saw him. "Yo, Your Honor," he said with a little sideways
smile.

"Hi."

"I wondered if we could talk," he said.

Katie looked into his dark eyes and nodded. "Let's go
outside."

He sat on the top step, and Katie sat beside him. The spring
sun felt warm on her face.

Tony rubbed his thighs with the heels of his hands as he
searched for words. "I've been thinking. I don't like our being mad at
each other, and I guess I should have said something to you before I joined the
computer club. I, uh . . . I'm sorry."

Katie slipped her arm through his. "I've been thinking,
too. I was hurt that you wanted to play computer games with the guys more than
you wanted to be with me. She grinned ruefully. "Especially after I'd
bragged to my friends that you would never treat women unfairly. Now, I know
that you weren't being sexist or anything. It's just that there are times when
you should be with the guys just like I want to be with my friends." She
looked up at him and smiled teasingly. "But does it have to be on Friday
night?"

Tony grinned at her. "No. Never again on Friday night."

Katie squeezed his arm and he squeezed back.

The next morning, Katie went to the administration office
before classes started.

"Oh, hello, Katie," said Miss Simone. "If you
can wait a minute, Mr. Bell would like to see you." She stuck her head in
the principal's office and turned back to Katie. "He'll see you right now."

"Sit down, Katie," said Mr. Bell. Katie slid into
the chair across from him.

"This petition of yours. I'm impressed with the number
of names you've gotten, and I might say"—he looked at Miss Simone—"you
certainly have a friend in the king's court. I don't know if you understand how
difficult it is to add a class to the curriculum. It takes approval of the
school board, teachers have to be trained, it requires a classroom, and new
textbooks have to be bought."

Katie sank in her chair. She could hear the bad news coming.

"I have a suggestion. What if, rather than adding a new
class, we made some changes to the Family Living class to include information
on the role of women in history and on equal rights? Would that meet your expectations?"

Katie was thrilled. It was what Christie had suggested, and
in her push to get the petition signed, start the girls' club, and her problems
with Tony, she had let the idea slip out of her mind. It was
almost
as
good as a whole class. It would work. She tried to keep her composure when she
answered. "That would be fine, sir."

"Understand, now," continued Mr. Bell, "I
still have to get approvals, teachers' guides have to be developed, and so
forth. At best we'll be able to start it next semester."

Katie practically skipped out of his office after they had
finished talking.

"Are you going to take all day, Katie?" asked
Melanie. The Fabulous Five were congregated in Katie's bedroom. Katie was
sitting at her table writing, and Melanie, Christie, Beth, and Jana were
sitting in a circle on the floor with a square plastic container in the center.
Its lid was on the floor next to it.

"Just a minute," answered Katie. "I'm almost
through."

"I'll probably die next week because I put my favorite
earrings in," said Beth. "Can I dig them up if I find something I
want to wear them with?"

"No, dummy," said Christie. "When you put
something in a time capsule, it's for keeps." Beth made a sour face.

"Okay, I'm ready," Katie said as she scribbled a
final sentence on the bottom of the page. She stapled the sheets together. "Let's
go."

The Fabulous Five gathered around a large hole under the
tall tree in the backyard.

"I hope some boy finds our time capsule and likes the
picture of me I put in," said Melanie. "Maybe he'll come looking for me,
like Katie did for Gwyneth."

"You might be old enough to be his grandmother,"
said Jana.

"So what?" Melanie said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Let's see, we put in The Fabulous Five T-shirt we had
made," said Christie. "Is there anything we've forgotten?"

"Katie hasn't put her stuff in yet," said Beth.

Katie took the notebook from Gwyneth's time capsule and put
it in a brown envelope. Next she looked at the papers on which she had written
her own story about the last few days. In it she had told about wanting to
start the women's history class and the girls' club and the problems she had
had with Tony. She had also told about how everything had worked out and how
she had learned that people need to talk when they have problems and even if
you like someone very much, you still need to be an individual. Katie glanced
at the last line she had written. It said:

Pass it on.

As she put the envelope in the plastic container, she looked
at her best friends. "I hope a thirteen-year-old girl finds our capsule,"
Katie said. Gwyneth Plum's time capsule had certainly changed her life. It sent
shivers up Katie's spine to think that Gwyneth's and her own experiences might
help another girl in the future.