Taneesha Never Disparaging (5 page)

Finally, I couldn't bear the heavy pause stuck between me and that mean man. I dragged my feet over to the chair and plunked into it. Those two sat on either side of me.

In the five minutes or so that it took to finish Gongyo, reciting the Lotus Sutra scripture, even though I was supposed to be the leader, I mumbled the words on purpose. I ignored Mama's nagging whispers: “Louder, Taneesha.” “Sit up!”
“Put your hands together—
please
!” I slouched in my seat and kept my hands limp in my lap throughout the whole dang thing.

They can't make me chant and they can't make me go to crummy old Take Your Child To Work Day, either.

They'll see.

CHAPTER 6

Who are you kidding, Taneesha Bey-Ross? You know you can't do this. You're going to flop!

I did my best to ignore Loudmouth's non-stop jabbering inside my head. Sometimes it took everything I had to tune out Evella's pesky voice poking at me. I hated the way she popped in whenever I was in an uncomfortable situation—like right now, for instance.

This Friday—one week and four days after “Showtime at the Bey-Ross'”—I'd been dragged kicking and screaming (well, griping, at least) into Ontario Hospital for Take Your Child To Work Day.

With my back stiff as my father's jokes, I sat in a brown, pleather-cushioned chair, trying to ignore the fact that my pantyhose felt like Brillo pads. I smushed my knee bones together and kept my beige Payless dress shoes planted on the hard, green floor. Sweat trickled down my chest while I fought the urge to scratch at the itchiness underneath the yellow wool skirt and sweater get-up that my mother had picked out and I
hated
.

Surrounded by walls painted in a blue ocean scene—dolphins, seals, killer whales—three empty chairs were behind me. But my eyes zeroed in on what was in front—the big eyes of three little girls I'd never seen before in my life. They sat across from me in separate beds, wearing pale blue and white striped gowns and ogling me as if I were E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

On my lap, I had two books Mama had given me earlier—when she'd introduced me to the girls and then left me all alone in that great big room with them. Thinking of how she had just abandoned me just ticked me off all over again. Why wouldn't it?

In my head, I heard Mama going on and on…

“Remember, Taneesha, your evil twin never takes a vacation…”

Plus, Evella played her can't-do noise on top of my brain as if she was stuck on “repeat.”

Loser! Loser! Loser!

And I just couldn't control that girl.

Not only that, but knowing that the only reason I had to deal with Evella's blabbermouthing that morning was because Mama and Daddy hadn't
listened
to me had me smoking mad.

Now, I knew my mother's whole evil twin thing was pretty lame. And
weird
when you got right down to it—
split-personality
weird.

Loser! Loser! Loser!

I knew Evella was only imaginary. Just in my head.

Loser! Loser! Loser!

But it really was like I had an evil twin in there.

That's what I was thinking when all of a sudden one little word shined its light in my brain:

Chant.

I was whipped, and right then, that sounded like a real good idea so I started chanting fast in my head.

Those little girls kept looking at me like I was
going to say something. But since I couldn't, I just kept chanting in my mind.

I don't know how long we sat like that. Them looking at me. Me looking at them. A minute? Two minutes? I couldn't tell. But I starting thinking something: “Like it or not, Taneesha Bey-Ross, you've got a job to do and there's no way out.”

So while those six eyes x-rayed me, I made a decision. Where it came from I couldn't have said.

Loser! Loser! Loser!

But I decided that in spite of Evella's racket, I was
not
going to let her ruin everything.

At least that was my plan.

“Okay, girls, what should I read first?” I asked, holding up one of the books in my lap. “
Kendra's Not-So-Surprise Party
…or—”

“The party! The party!” squealed a girl, bobbing her chubby body up and down on her mattress. Her two thick braids flapped behind her like floppy wings.

“The Party!
Ow
!”

“What's wrong, Ebony?!” I stood.

“The needle pinched here,” she said, pointing to the place where a clear, plastic tube stuck out
of her arm.

“Okay. Okay. I…I…I'll get my mother.” Panicking, I rushed toward the door.

“No. I'm all right. The needle always do that when I jump on the bed.” I looked at her, unsure. “For real. I'm okay.”

“Then don't jump on the bed, Ebony. All right?” I eased back to my chair.
Whew! Girl, you nearly gave me a heart attack
.

“All right. But can you please read about the party?”

“Okay.” I sat. “I like that one, too.”

That wasn't so hard. A little drama, but it's over.

Even though I hadn't wanted to be there at first, I started thinking it would be kind of cool to be able to tell Carli that the little kids at the hospital looked up to me.

I opened one of the books on my lap and started to read: “Kendra couldn't wait. She peeked out from under her red blanket—”

“Nurse Jim read that one yesterday!” A Thumbalina-sized girl sitting on the bed across from Ebony blasted that news. She had short, reddish hair braided in a pattern that looked like the lines on a soccer ball.

“Oh. I didn't know that, Loren. Um….” My mind raced.

See? Told you you' d flop.

I twisted one of my locks and chewed my bottom lip. I tried to think of what to do next. My mother had only given me two books.

Maybe I better go ask her for more.

You are such a
baby!
You can' t even get through the first few minutes without Mama!

“Well, I wasn't here yesterday, Loren!” A skinny girl said that. Over a dozen teeny braids were caught in shiny yellow and red baubles that decorated her hair as if it was a gumball garden. “I want to hear about the surprise party, too.”

I was glad to know that, thanks to Shantay, the problem was over.

“Okay, girls. I think Shantay's the tie breaker.”

“What's that mean?” asked Loren.

“The party wins.”

“Goody!” yelped Ebony.

“Aw
man
!” moaned Loren.

“Sorry, Loren. I'll read the other book next, okay?”

Loren's lip poked out. “Okay.”

I started to read again:, “Kendra couldn't wait.
She peeked out from under her red blanket—”

“Hey, girls! Sorry for interrupting, but it's time to check your glucose levels.”

I looked up.

Mama breezed into the room in dark blue pants and a midnight blue smock that had galaxies glowing and swirling all over it. She carried a tray of medical stuff.

I slumped back in my chair, frustrated. Just when I was getting to work, I had to stop.

“Dang!” said Ebony. “Nurse Alima, we was just getting our story!”

Yeah, dang.

“Hey, Mama,” I muttered, waving a blasé hand when she brushed passed me.

She headed toward Loren's bed. “Sorry, girls. I'll be as quick as I can. Taneesha, how're things going in here?”

“Good. Like Ebony said, we were just
about to read
.”

I wanted Mama to go away. I was ready to get down to business. With her in the room, I didn't feel so on top of everything anymore.

“Okay. I hear you. I'll be out of your way in a minute. Promise.

“With diabetes we have to make sure glucose levels aren't too high or too low.” Mama stood over Loren. “Glucose is sugar, Taneesha. If you've got too much or too little in your blood—”

“You can faint or die,” Shantay blurted out, matter-of-factly.

Her words shocked me. The girls seemed fine. I'd almost forgotten they were patients in a hospital. It was hard to imagine that any one of them was really sick.

“Now Shantay,” Mama said, fluffing Loren's pillow, “none of you need to worry about that. You're in good hands here. As long as you do what your doctors and parents say, you'll be fine. You just had a few complications—some problems we need to look into—but we're taking good care of you.”

I felt better hearing Mama say that. But I also worried about those girls.

I watched Mama hold the end of a thing that looked like a fat white pen without a point to Loren's fingertip. A speck of blood appeared on Loren's finger.

Ouch!

I was surprised that little girl didn't shout
herself.

“Taneesha, this is a glucose meter. It reads bloodsugar levels.”

The new thing Mama held looked like a cell phone without a key pad.

“Oh.”

“Okay, Ms. Loren, you just need to take your insulin and you're good to go. Taneesha, insulin helps keep the right amount of glucose in your blood. It also helps your body use sugar correctly.”

“Where's it come from?”

“Insulin? Your body makes it. But with Type One diabetes—the kind these girls have—your body
doesn't
make it. So you have to get it from a shot.

“It's also important to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and move your body every day. But we should do that whether we have diabetes or not, right?”

I rolled my eyes.

Here we go.

“Yes, Officer HP,” I groaned, after calling Mama the short version of “Officer Health Police”—the nickname I gave her because sometimes she just went too far about health stuff.

Mama laughed a little at the HP thing—and then she stuck a needle in Loren's thigh!

Double ouch!

How come that girl's not screaming?

I paid close attention while Mama went through the same routine with Ebony and Shantay.

“Okay, ladies, you're all set. Breakfast trays'll be coming around in a little while. Enjoy your story. Bye!”

“Bye, Nurse Alima!” said the girls.

“Bye, Mama.”

Finally
.

I wanted to ask the girls the burning question that I couldn't ask them with my mother in the room.

“Taneesha—” Mama said, turning back just before she went through the doorway, “later I'll take you on a tour of the hospital. Then you can help me tidy the nurse's station.”

“Even
here
I got chores?” I asked, slumping my back against my chair.

“'Fraid so, sweetie.” She had the nerve to smile. “Oh, and I'll be bringing by more books in a minute. I meant to give them to you this morning, but things got kind of backed up. Thanks,
honey.”

“You're welcome,” I mumbled.

Like I need extra chores.

My mother passed through the doorway and walked out of sight.

I leaned forward in my chair to ask the girls my scorching question: “Doesn't it hurt to get those shots?”

“A little,” shrugged Ebony. “But I'm used to it.”

“Yeah, me too. I get 'em three times everyday,” said Shantay.

“Only two times for me,” said Loren.

Now
that
frightened me. As far as I was concerned, even one shot a
year
was too many.

“Wow. You girls are brave. I hate shots, but you act like it's nothing.”

The girls didn't seem so babyish anymore.

Now everything seemed real important. I wanted to make the day extra special for them. I straightened my back and sat taller in my chair.

“Okay, where were we?”

“The party! The party!” squealed Ebony, bobbing up and down on her mattress.

“Watch it, Ebony. Remember?”

“Okay,” she said, in mid-bounce. “I'll stop.”

“Right. Okay. Here goes.”

I opened one of the books on my lap and read: “Kendra couldn't wait. She peeked out from under her red blanket. What surprise would she see?”

I made sure I enunciated the way Mr. Alvarez always told us to do. I said the t's in
couldn't
,
wait
, and
blanket
jusT righT.

Too bad I couldn't have frozen that moment—a moment when everything was okay, not terrible—and thawed it out when I needed it.

CHAPTER 7

L
ater, after school hours, Carli and I studied together as usual. I had changed out of my scratchy, wool outfit into jeans, a gray sweatshirt, and my lavender bunny slippers.

My mother had gone back to Ontario after she dropped me off at home so I could start my homework. I'd wanted to get going on it and I couldn't at the hospital because I needed a program that was on my computer.

When Mama and I had pulled into our driveway in her dark blue minivan, we'd seen Mr. Flanagan and Carli sitting in his green car, parked in front of our house on Rosebush Road, waiting
for us. Like my mother, Carli's father had to go back to work for a few hours after he'd kept Carli with him most of the day.

When Carli and I had taken off our coats in my house that afternoon, I'd noticed that, apparently, she'd gotten to dress down at her father's job instead of itching it up like I did at Ontario. She had on jeans and a beige pullover.

We both liked to finish our weekend homework on Fridays so we could keep Saturdays and Sundays free for whatever. Now we stretched, bellies down, on my living room floor. My locks hung past my face and Carli's red hair hung past hers. She had her left leg, the one with the brace, propped on one of our moss- green couch pillows.