Read Katy Kelly_Lucy Rose 01 Online

Authors: Lucy Rose: Here's the Thing About Me

Tags: #Washington (D.C.), #Social Issues, #Family - Washington (D.C.), #Family, #Diaries, #Juvenile Fiction, #Family Life, #Fiction, #Humorous Stories, #Schools, #Girls & Women, #People & Places, #General, #Family Life - Washington (D.C.), #School & Education, #United States, #Animals, #Moving; Household, #Mice; Hamsters; Guinea Pigs; Etc, #Guinea Pigs

Katy Kelly_Lucy Rose 01 (8 page)

BOOK: Katy Kelly_Lucy Rose 01
4.14Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
APRIL
April 1

I am waiting so hard for my turn with Jake that I can hardly keep my brain on anything else even April Fools' Day which is one of my favorite holidays. But I still did a trick on my mom this morning by turning the clock radio to 9:13 to make her think we were late for school. I waited until she was all the way dressed and giving me a Luna bar for an emergency fast breakfast and had us out the door on the porch and then I screamed, “April Fools'!” at the top of my lungs and laughed so hard I almost fell over.

At lunchtime Jonique took a bite out of her bologna sandwich and there was a big black plastic spider inside. I think Mrs. McBee saved it from Halloween. When I say she is a genius, it is no joke. All day long Melonhead kept saying, “Hi, Lucy Rose,” and giving me pats on the back. Only it was not to be friendly. It was to put Post-it notes on my sweater that said, “Please pinch me!”

Luckily, Jonique told me and we got the big idea
of putting one of those notes upside down on Melonhead's chair and he sat on it so he had “Please pinch me!” on his butt for a lot of the afternoon which made Jonique and me laugh our heads off but the bad thing is no one pinched him.

Then when I got home from school Pop pretended he had a bean stuck in his nose. I fell for it and so did Madam and while Pop was jumping around holding his nostril she kept saying, “How does a sixty-two-year-old man get a bean stuck in his nose?”

Then Pop got a Kleenex and blew his nose and then he said, “Why, that's not a bean, it's a clementine.” And it was. He is the best joker in the family.

April 8

Here is a good thing: Since today was teacher planning day we did not have school. And since it was a workday for my mom and Madam and Pop had to go be volunteers at the Friendship House day care nursery, I got to stay at Jonique's house for almost the whole day which was excellent because they have Cartoon Network which my mother
thinks is not worth the money. And we had Bagel Bites for lunch and Sprite, if you can believe it. And Mr. McBee came home from work at 5:30 and had us laughing with his jokes which are all about elephants. But even with all of those many good things the only thing on my brain is how many days until Jake will be at my house. 9 days, that's how many.

April 12

Finally it is the day we get out of school for Easter and Passover break and at 3:00 Mr. Welsh told me and Melonhead to stay after. Then he showed us how to load up the water bottle which I already knew. And then he said, “Fresh H20 every day.”

I happen to know that H
2
0 means water. “Right-O, H
2
0,” I said.“Of course,” Adam Melon said.

And then Mr. Welsh said, “Only one handful of food at a time.”

And we both said “Okay” to that.“Can you clean the cage every day?” he asked us.“I can,” I said.

I wanted to say, “But I would not be counting on Melonhead.” But I didn't on account of having maturity.

At 4:00 Melonhead's dad came to school and loaded Jake and his enormous cage into the back of the Melons' minivan and told me that they would bring him to my grandparents' house in five days.

April 14, Easter Sunday

Waiting for Jake feels long but the days are going a little fast because of Easter which is today.

Madam is wild for Easter and she and my mom spent all afternoon yesterday making big baskets of pansies and tiny daffodils and hyacinths which look pretty but to tell the truth, which is something I am surely trying to do these days, not as pretty as the McBees'. Mrs. McBee hung plastic eggs all over the tree in their front yard and she has a sign that says BUNNY CROSSING and another one that says THE EASTER BUNNY STOPS HERE. This morning Jonique and I both got baskets full of chocolate bunnies and colored eggs
and jelly beans. Jonique wore a dress made of the orangey color of apricot insides and a white hat with striped ribbon for going to the Faith Tabernacle church and I wore a yellow skirt with a light blue sweater set and a pink hairband for going to St. Joseph's and while I was there I saw a palindrome which was a nun. After church the McBees came to Madam and Pop's to eat hot cross buns which look better than they taste, even though Mrs. McBee said to Madam, “These are delicious.” And I was surprised because I didn't think Mrs. McBee would say a lie but she did, over and over so then I thought maybe she actually does like them. When we were away from the grown-ups, Jonique said the truth: “These are P-U.”

April 17

Finally it's the day I have been waiting for all year and Melonhead and his mom came over to Madam and Pop's at 11:00 sharp. Pop and Mrs. Melon carried Jake's cage inside and we put it in the morning room with newspaper underneath and then Melonhead said, “Guess what?”

And I said “What?”

And he said, “I taught Jake some tricks.”“Like what?” I asked him.“Like this,” he said, and he took Jake out of the cage and put him on his shoulder and put Cheerios in his hair and Jake climbed up and ate the Cheerios. I could hardly stand it especially since I'm the one who has been giving Jake Cheerios all this time. Plus I think Melonhead is a big bragger. So I was glad like anything when those Melons left and the first thing I did was call Jonique on the phone and she came running over triple-fast to help me set up the guinea pig paradise.

The first thing we did was dump out the Melon water and put fresh water from our house in the bottle. We also put in new food and we stuck our arms in the cage and gave Jake a lot of petting and showed him his new ball with the bell which he didn't act interested in even when we pushed it around so it would make noise. He just sat there looking wiggy. I thought we should take him out but Pop said we should not especially because it might make Gumbo go berserk.

We stayed right by the cage all afternoon and
only took one break which was to walk to Grubb's because Madam needed thumbtacks. Mostly we sat in front of the cage and ate our lunch which was sandwiches of peanut butter and guava paste which let me tell you is not at all as good as grape jelly but Madam thinks it is a good experience for a person to eat things from other countries which guava paste is, so she doesn't even buy normal jelly. Jonique was a good sport about it and I was thinking that maybe Jake would like a little sandwich piece but when I called my mom at work she said it wouldn't be a good idea so we gave him more Cheerios and mostly we just sat.

April 18

This morning my mom and I went out to breakfast at Jimmy T's Place on East Capitol Street and I had chocolate chip pancakes and she had a cheese omelet and we split a little plate of bacon and on the way back we stopped by to get Jonique and then we went to Madam and Pop's for guinea pig watching and my mom went to the farmers' market to buy sourdough bread.

Jake was sitting in the corner of his cage looking a little sad so I played my cello for him and Jonique did the song of “America the Beautiful” and then we both sang “Seventy-six Trombones” which we learned from watching
The Music Man
on TV. I have to say, Jake did not look like he was liking it too much.

Then I got to thinking about Melonhead and his tricks and it just made me wild inside and I was thinking that I can teach Jake better tricks and then Jonique and I had a conference and I said, “We HAVE to get him out of the cage, otherwise we can't teach him.”

And she said, “Are you sure, Lucy Rose?”

And I said, “Sure, I'm sure.”

And she said, “Okay.”

So we got him out of that cage and we started by doing Melonhead's trick. Jake went right for it and you can't believe how funny it feels to have a guinea pig walking on your head.

And then Jonique said, “We should put him back, I think.”

But I said, “I think we should not.”

Jonique looked like she was not going to be
agreeing with that but then she said, “All right, I guess.”

So I made a line of Cheerios on the floor and she carried Jake over by the coffee table and I said, “Eat!” and pointed to the Cheerios and Jake did but it wasn't really much of a trick so I put him on the coffee table which is glass and then I climbed under it and pretended I was tickling him on his stomach which made Jonique snort with laughing and then at that minute the worst thing happened. Gumbo came into the room and started barking like a maniac which must have made Jake feel skittery because he jumped off the table and onto the sofa and onto the floor and went tearing down the hall and Gumbo was running after him and I had to grab Gumbo by his legs and I yelled at Jonique to catch Jake and she went running after him and Gumbo started barking his poodle head off. Then Jonique was calling for me saying, “Jake is nowhere!”

Gumbo was wiggling like crazy, trying to run down the hall, so I yelled. “He has to be SOMEPLACE! Are you looking everywhere?”

And she hollered, “I can't tell if he went into
Pop's office or the other way into the dining room or straight ahead into the back hall or maybe into the kitchen.”

Then I got nervous like anything and Jonique said, “We should get Pop.”

But I didn't want to on account of he had already given us the warning that this could happen so I said, “Come on, Jonique. Let's find him ourselves real fast.”

Just then Jonique yelled, “There he goes!” and Gumbo made a big break away from me and started jumping all over the hall making sniffing noises and Jonique and I went chasing into Pop's office but we were too late and Jake was gone again. I got scared right then.

Right at that second Madam came up from her picture frame room and Pop came downstairs from where he was lying on the chaise doing his best thing which is the
New York Times
crossword puzzle. And Madam said, “What's the matter, girls?”

Jonique said, “We are in a disaster.”

And I said about Jake getting out.

And Pop said, “Jake got out?”

And I said, “Yes.”

“By himself?” Pop asked me.“Not exactly,” I said. “We took him out.”“So he could do tricks,” Jonique told Pop.“Okay,” Pop said. “Don't panic.”

He didn't say one thing about what he already said not to do which I appreciated.

Madam just said, “Think, everyone. If you were a guinea pig where would you hide?”“I don't know,” I said and I started to cry.

And Pop said, “Lucy Rose, we are a family of problem solvers and this is just another problem we will solve.”

That helped me to stop crying but I told him, “I am really feeling stress.”

Jonique had the good idea to put Cheerios in the hall so we did. And then I called my mom who was at our house painting the laundry room and she came and even though she is against small mammals she made herself brave and helped us look. And look. And look. Me and Mom and Madam and Pop and Jonique. And we did not find him. The later it was getting the more nervous I was feeling. We were trying everything including we took off our shoes so our clomping wouldn't scare
him. When it got to be night Madam made chicken noodle soup for dinner but Jonique and I did not want to stop and eat, so Madam poured it into mugs so we could all drink while we looked, even the grown-ups. We made a big inspection of Madam and Pop's room and my room and Madam's office and the bathroom and the closets and we did not see him. Then I realized that the problem was that while we were moving, Jake was probably moving too and I didn't know if we would ever find him. “I wish I had listened to you, Pop,” I said.“Me too,” Jonique told Pop.“Some temptations are hard to resist, girls,” Pop said.“This was one of those,” I said.

Finally at 10:30 my mom said we had to go to bed and that we would start fresh in the morning. So Jonique and I got under the estate sale quilt and I told her the truth. “This is my worst mistake ever.”“Mine too,” Jonique said.“Worse than the licorice,” I told her.“Worse than the time I said that really bad word,” she said.“What word?” I asked her.“That would be saying it twice,” Jonique said.

“What if I have to tell Mr. Welsh?” I asked her. “I promised I would keep Jake safe.”“That is a hard thing to think about,” Jonique said.“What if Jake doesn't know where he is and gets scared?” I said. “What if we never get him back?”“The only single thing I can think of to say is that I will help you every minute until we find him,” Jonique said.

I told Jonique that she is what my mom calls a tough-times friend and that is somebody who sticks with you always, even when something bad that happens is actually your fault.

And Jonique said, “Of course I am, Lucy Rose. You are my best friend.”

Even though I felt misery inside I also felt a little good from hearing that.

April 19

When I woke up this morning I had a plan. I went down to the kitchen with Jonique and I told Madam and Pop and my mom, “Everybody, I have a serious thing to say.”

“Let's hear it,” Pop said.

So I told them, “I know what I have to do.”

And everybody waited and I said, “I have to call Adam Melon. And I have to ask him to come over and help.”

Jonique made a breath-sucking sound. And Madam made her wise eyes. And my mom nodded her head.“Problem solving is rarely easy,” Pop said.

Then I did call and I told Mrs. Melon about the emergency and she said she would bring Adam right over. She did and I was thinking that Melonhead was going to be mean about it but he was actually nice.“The next class of Mr. Welsh's should give Jake the name of Harry Houdini after that old-time magician who could escape from everything,” he said.

That made me feel better because it made it sound like we would find Jake. And then Melonhead said, “I have practice capturing guinea pigs because last week when I was in charge, Jake got away from me.”“This is the greatest news,” I said. “How did you get him back?”

“It was easier to capture him because before I took him out of the cage I shut the door to the room,” Melonhead told me.“I wish I had thought about doing that,” I said.

It was Melonhead's idea that Jake would probably look for a hiding place and we should start in the basement and work our way up to the top floor. “This is a search-and-rescue mission,” he told Madam. “We will need a flashlight.”

Madam gave him the one she keeps for if the electricity goes out and then he put guinea pig food in his pockets and Melonhead and Jonique and I went downstairs and we climbed all around the picture frame room and flashed the flashlight at all of the frames and looked hard but we did not find any clues at all. “One thing to look for is poop,” Melonhead said. “Jake will probably poop wherever he goes. Guinea pigs are like that.”

BOOK: Katy Kelly_Lucy Rose 01
4.14Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

A Winter's Night by Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Christine Feddersen Manfredi
The Last Faerie Queen by Chelsea Pitcher
Worth Saving by G.L. Snodgrass
Mania by J. R. Johansson
Newport Summer by Nikki Poppen