Scattered Leaves (17 page)

"Where were you? We're all waiting. We sorta talk and make sure we're all on the same page."
"Mrs. Morgan kept me back to tell me things," I said. "What things?"
"About what to do if I should have a period while I'm in her room. She said I was the first girl she had in class with the problem."
"I bet she's lying."
"Why would she lie?"
"I don't know. Teachers lie, too. Don't be surprised. C'mon." she said and took me by the hand to cut us in front of some younger students who were too afraid of her to complain. "Pick anything you want. You have more than enough money," she said. "We'll keep the change in our own private bank."
"We're not going to have another party, are we?"
"Sure we arr. Don't let Mrs. Dart-face scare you." "Dart-face?"
"Mrs. Browne. Doesn't her face look like someone used it for a dartboard?"
"Oh. Yes," I said. "It does."
We ordered our food, then took our trays to the table where Nikki and Raspberry were sitting. I saw the way some of the students from my class were looking at us. They were probably wondering how I'd come to be sitting with older girls. I was sure that now they would all firmly believe I had been left back and these girls I was with were not all that much older than me.
Chad was two tables down right, glaring angrily our way and mumbling something to his friends. Alanis pretended she didn't see him.
"Okav, listen up. We just stick to our story." Alanis advised us all at the table. "It will be Stuart's word against ours.
Remember. He came drunk and we got rid of him. Anyone see you two in his truck afterward?'" she asked Nikki and Raspberry.
"No, there was no one around when he dropped us off,"
Raspberry said. "Good."
"What about the bottles in the basement?" Nikki asked. "There's all those empty ones and some more full ones."
"Yeah. Right after school, I'll take care of it." Alanis said.
"Crashed into a tree and broke his arm in two places," Raspberry said, shaking her head. "And arrested for drunken driving. That sounds very serious,"
"Didn't you two see how drunk he was when he let you off at the corner?" Alanis asked her.
"Sure we did, but what could we do about it?" Raspberry asked. "I feel sorry for him. His father probably will break his other arm.'
"Forget about him. He was a creep for getting to let us in trouble,' Alanis told her. You don't tell on your friends," she added, glancing at me. "Never."
"Maybe he just doesn't know how to lie," I said. "I'm not too good at it," I added, and they all stopped eating and looked at me as if I had said the weirdest thing.
"Everyone knows how to lie. Jordan. He just didn't care about us. He tried to push off his own blame on us," Alanis said.
"Raspberry's right. He's probably afraid of his father," Nikki said. "I've seen him. He's a really big man."
"Doesn't matter. I'm not afraid of his father." Alanis told her and then turned to me. "Look. Jordan. Here's how you do it. First, you tell yourself you're not lying. You force yourself to believe what you're saying and then when you say it, everyone else will believe you if you do it that way, understand?"
"I suppose," I said.
"We're just lucky she didn't say too much in Dart-face's office," Nikki said.
"What'd ya mean? She did better than you did." Alanis told her. "You were nearly in tears and getting ready to throw yourself on the floor and beg for mercy until I came up with the story."
"Shut up. I was not."
"Just make sure you're the one who shuts up," Alanis said. "For your information. Jordan could get into the most trouble. It was her great-aunt's house. They might send her away to some institution like they sent her brother.'
"What about her brother? You never told us what he did exactly." Raspberry said.
We heard the warning bell.
"She'll tell you some other time. Everyone just watch out. Dart-face could call us in one at a time and try to get one of us to say something different, Remember. Stick to the story or else," Alanis warned, standing. "C'mon. Jordan, Get your booty back to class and stay out of Mrs. Morgan's way, In her case her bite is worse than her bark."
"What's that mean?"
"It means watch out what you say to her. stupid," Nikki said.
"I'm not stupid," I said.
"Yeah. Don't call her stupid. She may look older than you, but she's not," Alanis told her. "Although sometimes I wonder," she added in a mutter.
Nikki's eyes flared. She pressed her lips together, then started away.
"Whatcha go take her side for over Nikki's?" Raspberry asked Alanis.
"I'm not taking sides."
"Right," Raspberry said and hurried to join Nikki before she left the cafeteria.
"Sometimes they act like they're the ones in the third grade, not you," Alanis said. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of them."
We started out of the cafeteria,
"Everything's going to be all right. Jordan," she told me before we parted in the hallway. "Just hang tough."
I tried, but all the while I was in Mrs. Morgan's classroom, I expected the door to open and Mrs. Browne to send for me to do just what Alanis had predicted: speak with us one at a time, especially me, to get one of us to contradict Alanis's story. I even imagined the police would come and take me away. How would I hang tough then? I wondered, but thankfully no one came.
We went through the first chapter in our history book. then Mrs. Morgan gave us our homework.
It
seemed like a lot. There was something to do for every subject. I would surely have to get started as soon as I was home and not join Great- aunt Frances to watch some afternoon soap opera. I didn't want to make her feel bad. but I had never been given so much homework.
When the bell rang to end the school day. I gathered my books and workbooks, stuffed them into my schoolbag and started out. No one in my class spoke to me, but I felt many looking at me. Alanis was waiting for me in the hallway.
"Nobody came back for you. right?"
"No."
"Good. We'll be fine. Let's go home. I better get down to the basement and get rid of that stuff quickly," she said. We headed out to the buses, but when we stepped outside. Alanis moaned. "Oh, no."
There, standing and waiting by his old car. was Mr. Marshall. Alanis's granddad, and it wasn't hard to see that he was fuming.
"Get over here," he called to her.
She paused.
"You go on the bus," she said. "I better deal with him myself."
I watched her walk to him and his car. He turned as she walked past him to get into the car, and he slapped her sharply on the back of her head.
I
could swear I felt it. too. She spun around on him, but he grabbed her shoulder and forced her into the car, slamming the door shut. He glared my way but got into his car quickly.
I hurried into my bus, my legs trembling so much that I thought I would trip on the steps.
One of the girls in my class was seated up front, and she put her hand out to stop me from going down the aisle. "How come you're in the third grade?" she asked.
"Because that's where I'm supposed to be,," I replied. She looked at her friend sitting beside her and they smiled. "It is!" I said. They both started to giggle. I walked all the way to the back quickly and sat by myself. Looking out the window.
I
saw Lester Marshall drive away. Alanis had her hand over her eyes and her head against the window.
It took much longer for me to get home because of all the stops along the way. By that time, almost three-quarters of the bus had gotten off. I hurried down the aisle without looking at anyone and got off. Then I charged up the driveway. I saw Lester Marshall's car. but I didn't see him or Alanis.
"Oh. Jordan." Great-aunt Frances cried as soon as I entered the house. She stepped out of the living room. I thought she was going to ask me to come in to watch the soap opera. "I had a phone call from the school principal today. She wanted to know if you had a party here last night. How silly, I told her. There was no party. You went to sleep to get ready for school. She asked me if I had seen Stuart Gavin here, the boy who delivers propane gas. I said no but I better see him soon. I think. Then she told me he was in an accident with his truck and he had been drinking alcohol. I told her I thought he was a nice boy and I was sorry to hear it. She said I should be sure to question you, but about what?"
I thought about trying to lie to her and decided instead to just be quiet.
"Did you like your first day of school?" she asked instead of asking anything about Stuart.
"No." I said. 'My teacher isn't very nice and I have lots and lots of homework to do."
"Oh. dear. Not nice, you say?" She thought a moment, then smiled. "Well, maybe that's because it's the first day and she wants all the students to be sure they behave. You must not judge too quickly. My father used to tell me that. Take a deep breath. Frances, he told me, and listen again or look again. So take a deep breath and let's see how you feel tomorrow, okay?"
I nodded.
"I have to get started on my homework," I said. "It's a lot, more than I ever had," I emphasized.
"Oh? Well, that might be because its the first day, too. You do what you think you should. We're going to have something called a quiche for dinner tonight. I took it out of the freezer and defrosted it. It's French, so we'll have French music. and I have two very pretty skirts for us to wear and French hats. My parents went to France a long time ago and brought them back for Emma and me. but Emma hated hers. I know how to say some things in French. I'll teach them to you later. okay? I also had this chocolate fudge cake in the freezer I had forgotten. Won't that be a wonderful dessert. We'll have a good time," she promised.
I nodded quickly and ran up the stairs. I was very worried about the bottles of alcopops in the basement. If Alanis's granddad punished her and made her stay in the house, she couldn't get over here to get rid of them, and then, if the police came to look, they would see we were all lying.
I decided to sneak down into the basement and take care of it myself, Great-aunt Frances was watching her show, so it wasn't hard. I was glad I had done it because the bottles were everywhere and there were seven full ones left in a bag at the side of the sofa. I gathered it all as quickly and quietly as I could and then took it all upstairs. Before I stepped out. I listened for Great-aunt Frances. I just heard the television. so I went quickly through the kitchen and out the door to the big garbage cans. I put it all in one and then hurried back inside and up to my room to start my homework. I wanted to get it done as quickly as I could so I could get back to Ian's letters and finish reading them. Maybe there was something about Mother in one of the letters he'd written later. Surely, they wouldn't all be about insects. I hoped.
The homework wasn't difficult, but there were so many math problems to do that I thought I would be working on it until I went to sleep. I lost track of time, so when I heard footsteps in the hallway. I was sure it was Great-aunt Frances coming to tell me to get ready for our French dinner. I wasn't excited about getting dressed up as a French lady, but considering the phone call she received and the trouble we could still be in, I thought I should do whatever she wanted,
When I looked up, however, I saw it was Alanis.
"You took away the bottles. I hope?" she asked. "I went down there but they were gone. It wasn't your great-aunt, was it?"
"No. I did it. I put them all in the garbage can."
"What? We can't do that. My granddad takes the garbage down to the front of the driveway for the garbagemen. He's liable to see it. He thinks I might be telling the truth right now, otherwise, he'd whip me good."
"He whips you?"
"Not with a whip, but it might as well be. He's got this thick leather belt leaves welts the size of quarters. Your parents never whipped you?"
I shook my head.
"Not your grandmother either?"
"No." I didn't say it, but her whipping us with her words stung enough.
"I'll take care of the bottles.I'll hide it all behind the barn in a hole where I've thrown other stuff. What did your great-aunt say when you got home?"
"She said Mrs. Browne called and asked about a party."
"What did she say?"
"She told her I was asleep and she hadn't seen Stuart."
"Good. That's perfect. We'll be fine. You did real good today, Jordan."
I knew it wasn't something to be proud about, but her smile and compliment made me feel better.
"The bottles," she said and hurried away. Not ten minutes later. I heard Great-aunt Frances coming with the skirt, hat and blouse she wanted me to wear,
After I dressed. I looked at myself in the mirror. Suddenly. I was surprised myself at how comfortable and relieved I felt escaping from reality and
pretending to be in one of Great-aunt Frances's makebelieve worlds. In those worlds, we had no Mrs. Brownes and no policemen, no lying and trembling with fear.
When I stepped into the kitchen. I found her in her skirt and blouse and French hat. The French music was playing. She turned from the oven.
"Bonsoir, ma peu assez un. Comment allezvows?"
I didn't know what to say.
"That means 'Good evening, my little pretty one How are you?' Go on and say 'How are you?' in French."
She repeated it for me. and I said it.
"
Parfait.
That's 'perfect' in French. Now I'll tell you to sit at the table.
Reposez-vous a la table,s'il vows plait.
The last part means 'please.' Always say 'please' when you ask someone to do something. Go on. say 'please' in French." She repeated it. and I did it, and she clapped. "
Parfait
. What's that mean?"
"Perfect "
"See? You're speaking French."
"How did you learn it?" I asked. impressed.
She served the quiche and poured us each a glass of grape juice. Then she lit a candle she had placed on the table.
"We had a French maid and she spent a lot of time teaching me. It annoyed Emma because she thought I wasn't learning it properly. I should learn it in school only. It bothered her that I could speak French and she couldn't. I remember." she said smiling. "when this boyfriend of hers came to the house and I started to speak French to him. Suddenly, he was more interested in me. and Emma was fit to be tied. He even called me for a date once. but I said no. I didn't want Emma to hate me more than she did."
"She hated you?"
"She couldn't help it." Great-aunt Frances said.
"But why?"
"Let's not talk about it. I'll teach you French, too, and someday, you'll impress everyone. You hear that song?" she asked. "That's a famous French singer. Edith Piaf. My father loved her and he loved when I could sing, too. Emma couldn't carry a tune in a suitcase." She laughed. "That's what my father told me once and right in front of her."