Just Grace and the Terrible Tutu (8 page)

 

"She did a real good troll face," said Lily. "She was scary." "Yeah, she was," I said. And because Mom was not around anymore I said, "Let's play something else."

Finally it was time for us to walk over to Mrs. Luther's house to meet Lily's mom. She was getting Mrs. Luther's house ready for the big move-in. Now I was suddenly not looking forward to the job anymore, and there was not even one idea in my head about how to solve the new Mimi-mad-at-me problem. Augustine Dupre said she and Lily would walk over first, and Mimi and I could come over when we were ready.

Augustine Dupre was smart. She knew I was having a problem. I was wishing she could be super smart and magic and know how to fix it, but that kind of thing only happens in movies—a twirl of the finger and then everything is okay.

WHAT LILY WAS NOT

Lily was not fabulous or fancy like I thought she was going to be. In one day she had almost gotten me in trouble with Mom and had made Mimi mad at me.

Now I was wondering if French kids started out just like regular normal kids and the fancy-fabulous part was maybe something they learned later on.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

I decided to stand around outside in my front yard while I tried to think of what to do. I did not want to go to Mimi's front door and have her yell at me. I was hoping that maybe she'd notice me and come outside to talk—somehow that seemed easier.

It was a good plan for getting noticed. First Crinkles saw me, and then Lily almost saw me. I did not want to go over to Mrs. Luther's house yet, not without Mimi. I needed more time. Luckily Lily didn't see me, and that was because I hid behind the big tree in the front yard before she could look over.

 

The only person that actually saw me was Sammy. He was holding a big glass jar full of white things, like cotton balls but smoother. "Are you hiding from the cat?" He saw me peeking around the tree and Crinkles sitting at the other end of the yard. Sammy does not like cats, so this was a normal kind of question from him. "Shhh," I said. "Don't talk so loud. Whisper."

Of course now Sammy was full of questions. "Are you hiding from that lady over there?" He pointed to a lady who was holding Lily's hand—it was probably Lily's mom, Yvonne. "No, stop pointing! They'll see you." Sammy was not good at being sneaky. "The little girl," I whispered. "I don't want Lily to see me." Sammy started to laugh. "The little girl? You're scared of her?"

I had to do something fast or Sammy was totally going to ruin everything with his loud laughing. Lily would hear him, look over, and then be running over to make me carry her all over the yard again. When you want someone to stop what they are doing, it is sometimes a good idea to try to change the subject really fast.

THINGS MY BRAIN WAS THINKING IT COULD DO (NOT ALL GOOD CHOICES)

 

1. Kick Sammy in the leg.
   
2. Pretend-faint.
   
3. Climb tree.
   
4. Grab the jar from Sammy's hand.
   
5. Start dancing.
   
6. Handstand.
   

 

The handstand would have been good except that I don't know how to do one. I have tried and tried but I just can't hold myself up. For sure Sammy would have forgotten all about Lily if I was suddenly doing an excellent handstand right in front of him, but Lily might have seen that too. A good handstand is pretty noticeable.

 

WHAT MY BRAIN PICKED

I grabbed the jar out of Sammy's hands and said, "What's this?" It was a good choice because Sammy forgot all about Lily in about a second. "Hey, that's mine. Don't break it. It's a present from Mrs. Luther. She left it for me." At first I thought it might be something totally disgusting. Mrs. Luther once let Sammy borrow a jar of lion poop, so disgusting things were not surprising for them.

 

"It's rocks," said Sammy. "Each rock is from a different place. And on the bottom of each rock is the name of the place where Mrs. Luther found it. Isn't that cool?" Sammy is the kind of boy who loves collections. This was a perfect present for him. All the rocks looked the same to me. They were small, round, and white. Sammy said he had a favorite, and it was from a place called Squamish in Canada. That sounded like a made-up name, but I didn't want to argue with him, so I didn't say anything about it not being real. I gave him back the jar so he could find his favorite and show me.

 

For sure Sammy was going to miss Mrs. Luther. I felt a little sad for him. Not that many people in the world understand Sammy as perfectly as she does. I'm pretty sure she is the only person in the world who was truly happy, and not only pretending to be happy, when Sammy said she could borrow his summer art project for a few months and hang it up in her house.

THIS IS WHAT SAMMY SAID AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SUMMER

"Every time I see the ice cream truck I'm going to try something different."

 

THIS IS WHAT SAMMY MADE AT THE END OF THE SUMMER

 

Mrs. Luther loved it, and she really did borrow it and hang it up in her kitchen for two whole months. Sammy said he might give it back to her for keeps when she gets back from her trip. Partly because she really loves it, and partly because his mom says it's taking up too much space in his room.

WHAT SAMMY SAID NEXT

"Okay, you don't have to hide anymore. She's gone." He said it without smiling, without laughing, and without making fun. My brain said,
Thank you, Sammy. You really are a nice boy.
My mouth said, "If I find any cool white rocks I'll save them for you." He seemed happy with that.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

I saw Mimi coming out of her garage with a bunch of stuff. "Should we take jump ropes?" she shouted. She did not look one bit mad or unhappy, which was a big surprise. Even if my leg had been broken I would have said, "Yes, we must skip," because more than anything, I wanted us to be friends again and for Mimi not to be mad at me.

"Lily might like to play with this stuff," said Mimi. "Should we ask her mom if she wants it?" I was surprised and shocked and couldn't believe my ears, but I said, "Sure! Good idea." Mimi was amazingly still liking Lily.

LILY'S MOM

A few minutes later Mimi and I were standing on Mrs. Luther's porch. It was nice to have Mimi with me. On the way there I made myself a big promise, no matter what, this time I was not going to be a dolphin, a unicorn, a turtle, or any other kind of creature that could give a ride on its back. Sometimes you just have to make rules! Even if it makes you sound like a mom.

 

WHAT FEELS GOOD

Five minutes after we met Yvonne, who was very nice, the biggest part of me that was feeling good was my stomach. Lily's mom is a fantastic cook. We sat on Mrs. Luther's porch and ate fresh muffins and homemade strawberry and apricot jams. It was super tasty. Even Lily was not so much of a bother. I guess it's hard to be pesky when your mouth is full of food. I'm going to have to remember that. Mimi tried to sit next to her and talk, but Lily was being shy and mostly wanted to sit in her mom's lap. From far away, she actually looked kind of cute, but that was probably because she was sitting on someone else that wasn't me.