Claudia Kishi, Live From WSTO! (8 page)

"George, are you still there?" "Yeah." "Call Dr. Reese at 555-7660, okay? Just talk to her for awhile. Tell her how you're feeling." "Okay." I could hear the sniffling again. "Thanks, Claudia." "Good luck, George." Click.
When he hung up, I slumped back in my chair. Ashley was giving me a worried look. Bob was sipping coffee. The engineers were busily adjusting dials.
Next to Bob, Mr. Bullock was leaning against a file cabinet. "Congratulations, you two," he said. "You covered for an emergency. You figured out a suitable replacement. You performed a valuable service." "Thanks," I said.
"Don't thank me," Mr. Bullock said with a chuckle. "Up until now, you've been doing a good show. Tonight, you became professionals." I turned to Ashley. The color was returning to her face.
This time, when she looked at me, I saw nothing but admiration.
Which, at that moment, was just what I needed.
Chapter 12.
Heartbroken? Devastated?
I think Kristy was going a little overboard. According to her, Carolyn and Marilyn were moping around the house that Friday afternoon. (Later, when I talked to Marilyn, she said they were reading Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher to each other in the den and laughing out loud.) Then Kristy found out how "upset" they were and calmed them down. (Carolyn's version was different. She said Kristy started talking about my show out of the blue and hinted that the Arnold twins would have made better guests than the other twins.) Marilyn and Carolyn are eight years old. They are identical in appearance, but definitely not in personality. They used to disagree about everything. Once they actually divided their bedroom in half with masking tape. Fortunately, their parents moved them into separate rooms, and now they tolerate each other much better.
Most of the time.
Anyway, I'll pick up the story of Friday a little further on — at the point where Kristy's version started matching the twins'.
"Claudia was so cool in that call-in," Marilyn said. "That was the best show." "Oh, boring. I liked the one about families/' Carolyn volunteered.
"If I did the shows/' Kristy said, "I'd have more humor in them." "You should try out for that show, Kristy," Carolyn said. "You'd be great." "I did try out," Kristy replied. "Twice. But Claudia rejected me." Marilyn's eyes widened. "And she's your friendl" "Hey, I'm not insulted," Kristy insisted. "I have more ideas. Great ones, too. If I can find a couple of helpers." ' (She is so sly, isn't she?) "How about us?' Marilyn asked.
"Yeah!" Carolyn piped up.
Bingo. Kristy was in business again. "All right. I was thinking of, 'Marilyn and Carolyn and Kristy and the Major League Mystery.' Like, we go to a ballgame and a player is missing and we have to find him." The twins just stared at her. "That's pretty stupid," Marilyn said.
"Or maybe, 'Stoneybrook — a Tour/ " Kristy barreled on. "We could talk about our favorite places, mention the library and some of the restaurants." "Boring, boring, I am snoring," was Carolyn's critique.
Ill "Kristy, we have to think of something kids will like/' Marilyn said.
"Like what?" Kristy asked.
"Dolls," Marilyn suggested.
Kristy shook her head. "That probably leaves out most of the boys." "Good," Carolyn shot back.
"What about sports?" Kristy asked.
Carolyn made a face. "Gross. Let's do something about movies." "Someone's already doing that," Kristy said.
Carolyn thought for a moment. "I know! A game show, like Jeopardy." Marilyn rolled her eyes. "Too hard." Kristy saw a copy of Jeremy Thatcher lying open on the couch. "What about book reviews?" The girls looked at Kristy as if she had suggested a foot-smelling contest.
"A book reading?" Kristy quickly suggested.
"Yeah!" cried Marilyn.
"I still think we should do a game show," Carolyn said, pouting.
"Why not do both?" said the Great Stoney-brook Idea Machine.
Twin blank stares.
"I could read aloud for awhile," Kristy went on. "You know, something short and fun, like Where the Wild Things Are. Then we could put on a Jeopardy-type show — about kids' books! We provide the answers, and the listeners call in to guess the questions." "Yes!" Carolyn shouted.
"But Jeopardy has categories," Marilyn reminded them. "This is all one category." "Not necessarily," Kristy replied. "We could have 'Books That Have Been Made into Movies/ 'Romance Books/ 'Mysteries' . . ." " 'Picture Books' and 'Chapter Books/ " Carolyn offered.
"And then, at the end," Marilyn said, "we give the winner a grand prize, maybe a vacation to Bermuda!" "Uh, it has to be something we can afford," Kristy explained.
"A trip to Washington Mall?" Carolyn said.
"I was thinking of a gift certificate for an ice-cream sundae," Kristy suggested, "or a movie ticket." "Oh, all right," Carolyn agreed.
"I want to ask the questions!" Marilyn called out.
"You mean, give the answers," Carolyn corrected her. "See, I'm the one who knows how to play, so I should — " "You can take turns," said Kristy the Peacemaker, rising from the den sofa. "Okay, we don't have much time. Let's get to work." The three of them went into the kitchen.
The twins found a pad and pencils in a drawer. Over the next hour, Kristy and the girls picked five categories and thought up questions (I mean, answers) for each.
I saw them that Monday.
Ashley and I were blown away. We were preparing our fifth show, and our topic was "What Are You Reading?" Guess what?
We said yes. Kristy's dream had come true.
Maybe now she'd leave me alone.
Chapter 13.
"Ready, Claudia? Ashley? Guests?" Mr. Bullock asked from inside the glass booth.
"Ready," we replied.
"Ready, Mr. Garber?" Theodore "Ted" Garber, author of the spooky, creepy, gross, and super-popular series Night Frights, cleared his throat and said, "Ready!" I was still in shock. The week before, Ashley had been dying to get a real, live author on the show. She'd heard that Mr. Garber lived in Connecticut. On Friday she tried to invite him to the show, by calling his publishing company.
She did not expect that he'd call back on Saturday and say yes.
(I have to admit, I don't read Night Frights, but it felt very cool to be in the same room with a famous author.) The engineer held up his arm. The red light went on."Helllllo, it's a warm, gorgeous, fantastic Thursday, and welcome to Tor Kids Only'! This is Claudia Kishi, sitting with Ash-ley Wyeth, as always, and we have the coolest, most innnncrafible show for you today!" Not bad, huh? I was getting better and better at this stuff.
"Today's theme," Ashley continued, "is 'What Are You Reading?' Later we'll have a call-in quiz show — a Junior Jeopardy based on kids' books. We'll also have Regina, Cathy, and David, three seventh-graders who are collecting their own strange and spooky stories." "And in the middle," I said, "for a full half hour, we'll have our surprise guest, who will read from his new book, Night Frights Number Thirteen: Don't Get Out of Bed! Yes, fans, we have for you, here in the studio, live and in the flesh ... Mr. Ted Garber!" "BOOO-AHHH-HAHHH-HAAAAHHH!" I nearly jumped through the ceiling. Ashley let out a gasp.
Through the glass I saw the engineers snickering and looking guilty. I guess that was their idea of fun — scaring innocent people with unexpected spooky sound effects.
So weird. I just glared at them.
"Uh, and now, take it away, Regina, Cathy, and David!" Ashley said.
Mr. Garber was smiling sympathetically at me. He looked as if he'd been scared, too (which I found very funny).
Well, the storytelling trio got off to a rocky start. (I think Mr. Garber made them a little nervous.) But their final story was fantastic. It was called "Kokolimalayas, the Bone Man," a Native American tale about a boy who defeats a monster made of bones. Kokolimalayas sticks out its chest and defies the boy to shoot. But the boy knows the monster's secret: its heart is in its fingertip. So he points his arrow and zzzing! 'Bye-'bye Bone Man.
"Bravo!" Mr. Garber called out when they were done.
They were thrilled by his response. They crowded around to shake his hand as I said, "And now, the guest you've all been waiting for: Misterrrr Ted Garrrrrberrr!" (That was reverb. The engineers were in a wacky mood.) "I wish I could talk like that," was the first thing Mr. Garber said. "Maybe then my kids would listen to me." He performed a funny routine, and then started reading from his book. Off in the waiting room, I could see Kristy and the twins shuffling papers and fidgeting.
After the reading, we "opened the phones," and Mr. Garber answered callers.
At precisely 5:45, Mr. Garber finished up. I thanked him, gave Kristy a thumbs-up, and announced, "And now it's time for Junior Jeopardy with Kristy Thomas, and the tremendous twins, Carolyn and Marilyn Arnold!" Kristy confidently grabbed the mike and held it right up to her lips. "THOCKHOO CLOFFFO!" The engineers' eyes bugged out. As they fiddled with dials, I gently pulled the mike farther away from Kristy's mouth.
"Welcome to Junior Jeopardy, the game of skill, smarts, and speed!" Kristy said with a huge grin. "Get your pencils out while I read today's topics: Books Made into Movies, Mysteries, Picture Books, Authors, and Timeless Classics. Each caller will pick a topic and we'll give you an answer to a question. If you guess the question, you get a second and third chance. Any caller who gives us three correct questions wins a cool prize! Let's take the first call." She punched the speakerphone button. "Heyyyy, you're on the air with Kristy! Tell us your name and pick your category!" (I know. What a ham.) "Um, Sarah," a small voice replied. "I'll take Picture Books, please." Marilyn looked down a sheet of legal paper and leaned into the mike. "The famous ele- phant who is married to Queen Celeste," she said.
"Babar!" Sarah squealed.
"Answers must be in the form of a question," Kristy said solemnly.
"Who is Babar?" suggested Sarah.
"Rrrrrrrrright!" Kristy barked. "You go again!" "Um — um — what were the other categories?" Kristy patiently repeated them.
"Okay," Sarah said. "Timeless Classics." Carolyn's turn. "In this book, three children step through a wardrobe into a wintry land ruled by a witch." "What is ... The Wizard of Oz?" "Nooooo! We're sorry. The question is, What is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?" "But I haven't read that!" Sarah said.
"You should," was Kristy's reply. "It's great." She flicked on the next caller. "What's your name?" "Poindexter," a nasal voice said.
"And your category?" "I pick . . . Kristy Thomas's nose!" Kristy scowled. "Alan Gray, is that you?" We heard a burst of wild laughter, then a click.
Typical.
The next caller picked Books Made into Movies. Marilyn gave the answer: "She is the famous nanny who takes care of the Banks children." "Who is Mrs. Doubtfire!" the caller cried out.
"Nope," Kristy said. "Let's give another caller a chance." She pressed line 3. "Name, please." "Mary Poppins!" the caller said. "I mean, Sandy Gray son. That's me. And . . . uh, who is Mary Poppins?" "Yyyyes! Pick another topic!" "Mysteries." Carolyn said, "Her best friend's name is Bess and she lives in the town of River — " "Who is Nancy Drew?" Sandy blurted out.
(I barely held myself back from answering that one.) "Yyyyes!" Kristy shouted.
"Authors," Sandy picked.
"He wrote Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher and Jennifer Murdley's Toad" Marilyn said.
Silence.
Marilyn repeated the answer.
"Who is ... Dr. Seuss?" "Nnnnoo! Next caller!" "Who is Bruce Coville?" "Yyyyyyou got it!" Kristy replied. "What's your name and your next category?" Kristy was flying. Carolyn and Marilyn looked as if they were having the time of their lives.
The fifteen minutes went by fast. The only embarrassing moment was when a caller didn't recognize one of Mr. Garber's books.
Mr. Garber grabbed a tissue and pretended to cry. We tried not to crack up. He's pretty cool.
Eventually three contestants did win prizes. When we finally ended the show, Kristy hopped around the room, whooping and pumping her fists.
"Eeeee! Eeeee! Eeeee!" Carolyn and Marilyn sounded like screaming parakeets as they hugged each other and jumped up and down.
The show which came on after ours was using a different studio, so Ash and I could hang out with Bob for awhile after our guests left. We had already planned our sixth and seventh shows (themes: "Music" and "Hobbies"), but not our eighth.
I think we had been avoiding it. Number eight was our last.
The problem was, we hadn't used some of the talented kids who'd auditioned, because they hadn't fit into any of our themes.
"I can think of themes for all of them," Ash said with a sigh. "But we'd need a few more shows. I wish we could just keep going." "Me, too," I replied. "Maybe we could call the last show 'Weird Talents' or something. Just let it be a grab bag of acts." "You want my opinion?" Bob asked.
"Sure," I said.
"Your call-in segment — the one you did on the spur of the moment? Kids have been calling us, asking if you'll do it again." "Great!" Ashley said. "We can do half weird acts, and half 'Ask Dr. Claudia.' " "No way," I said.
Ashley gave me a puzzled look. "Why not?" "You mean, 'Ask Dr. Claudia and Dr. Ashley/ " I reminded her.
Her face lit up. "Deal." Chapter 14.
"Bye, Dad," I called as the car drove away from the station.
"Good luck!" he replied.
Ash and I waved and watched him leave. Then we stood in the parking lot for a moment. Neither of us moved. We just stared silently at the squat, tan building.
Today was the Saturday of our last show. I didn't feel like rushing things, and I could tell Ashley didn't, either.
Everything had happened so fast. It was hard to imagine only a month had passed since I'd first met Mr. Bullock. All my memories were so fresh. Frantically writing my essay. Sitting in Mr. Bullock's office for the first time, petrified. Seeing Ashley walk in. Feeling absolutely horrified.
"Well, I guess this is it," Ashley said softly. "Shall we?" "Wait," I said. "I have a secret to tell you." She turned toward me. Her eyes were moist. I could tell she was feeling just as nostalgic as I was.
"I didn't think this would work. The show, I mean. You and me trying to get along." Ashley smiled. "Neither did I. No one told me you'd been the first-place winner. When Mr. Bullock brought me into the office, I almost walked back out." "I almost quit." We both nodded and looked at the ground. "Well," I said finally, "I feel really stupid about that now. I was wrong." "Yeah. Me, too." We shared a smile. Then we put our arms around each other's shoulders and walked into the station.
The door was unlocked, but the reception room was empty and the light was out.
"Are we early?" I asked.