Philip and the Case of Mistaken Identity and Philip and the Baby (9781597051095) (9 page)

“Emery, there are no werewolves. It’s make
believe. Like witches.”

“Miss Smith is a witch. I don’t want to go
away. I’m scared of werewolves.”

“Well, I’m going.”

“Away from home?”

“Why not?”

“Because if the werewolf sees you...”

“Oh, Emery, shut up.”

The conversation ended. The boys stayed in
the pool until it was time for Emery to go home for dinner. But
Philip had made up his mind. His parents were more interested in
the new baby than in their old son. Good. If that’s the way they
wanted to be, he could be the same way. He’d run away. Then they
could think about the new baby all the time. They wouldn’t have to
waste one second thinking about him.

Just then, a dog howled somewhere in the
neighborhood.

Philip thought of Emery’s werewolf.

There really were no werewolves.

Really.

Philip swallowed hard and went upstairs to
his room to make plans. School started tomorrow, and he had to be
gone by then.

Philip lay in bed that night making his
plans. When he left his house next morning, he would start toward
school. He’d go down the street until he was sure his mother
couldn’t see him. Then he would head to the old railroad tracks
three blocks past the empty lot. Trains didn’t use the tracks
anymore. The track was on top of a hill covered with weeds. Philip
decided he would follow those railroad tracks as far as they went
and see what adventures waited along the way. His father had
finally brought him home some candy, and Philip put it in his
shoebox. He would take the candy with him in his schoolbag along
with his piggy bank in case he needed some money. He would show
Mommy and Daddy. They didn’t need him, and he didn’t need them. He
didn’t care. Not even a little. Philip gave a sniff and turned on
his side.

Morning came and Philip dressed, ate his
breakfast and listened to Daddy tell Mommy to call him at the first
sign of anything. Philip said good-bye, but he was sure his parents
didn’t hear him. They were too busy talking about the baby. Their
new
baby. Philip knew it was better that he was leaving.
Everyone would be happier this way.

He quietly left his house, paused for a
moment to look back at it, and started walking.

~ * ~

Philip had already walked a long way along
the railroad tracks. He had not brought his watch along, but his
hunger told him it must be lunchtime. The idea of more walking was
not very exciting. He was tired. A short way ahead he saw a small
bridge, which meant that a road was below. Philip decided to climb
down to that road and see where he was.

He slid down the steep hill near the bridge
almost smack into a big green sign. It read: ZOO 1/2 MILE.
The
zoo!
So that’s where he was. He hadn’t been to the zoo since
first grade. Spending the first day of school at the zoo made
Philip smile. And he wouldn’t have to think about babies there.
Only animals. And animals were fun.

The zoo was not very crowded. Philip noticed
a clock in the gift shop. He was surprised that it was just a
little past eleven o’clock. Not even lunchtime yet. It didn’t
matter. He’d eat some of the candy in his school bag anyway.
Munching a candy bar, he followed the signs to the monkey house. He
smiled when he caught his first glimpse of the monkeys swinging on
branches, chattering, chasing each other around. If he could be an
animal, he would most like to be a monkey.

Philip noticed the man behind the ice cream
cart staring his way. Philip ignored him and faced the monkeys
again. Three tiny monkeys were being scolded by the mother monkey.
Just like his mother used to scold him. Philip wondered what his
mother would do when he did not get home from school at
three-fifteen. But he put that out of his mind and found a bench
near the monkey cage to watch some more. After a few minutes,
though, Philip found his eyes growing heavy. All of a sudden he was
so tired! Philip took his schoolbag and laid it on the bench. He
lay down on his side, so he could still watch the monkeys, and put
his head on his bag. He caught another glimpse of the ice cream man
staring at him, but he was too tired to care. He closed his eyes
and was asleep in no time.

Philip dreamed of monkeys. Monkeys swinging
from trees. Monkeys doing tricks. They were so funny. Philip
laughed hard in his dream. But suddenly a noise made Philip stop
laughing. Someone was calling his name. Philip’s eyes popped
open.

“Philip Felton!” It was no dream. That was
his father’s voice!

Philip scrambled up from the bench, and there
was his father coming toward him. And did he look angry!

“Philip, what do you think you are doing here
instead of being in school? When I get you home...”

The ice cream man came over. “Are you the
boy’s father? We spoke on the phone.”

“Yes, yes. I’m Mr. Felton. I want to thank
you for keeping an eye on him.”

The ice cream man smiled. “I saw his name and
address on his schoolbag and called you.” The ice cream man’s grin
widened as if he thought he’d done the smartest thing ever. Philip
hated him.

“Thank you. Thank you,” his father mumbled,
pulling his son toward the car.

Philip was beginning to get scared. He’d been
caught. Caught running away from home. What would his father do to
him? His father didn’t usually spank him. Would he now? For running
away?

The ride home was quiet, and when his father
pulled the car into the Felton driveway, all he said was, “Get out
and get into the house.”

Philip moved quickly.

“Sit down on that sofa.”

Philip sat.

“Do you know where your mother is?”

“Upstairs?” Philip answered softly.

“No. Not upstairs. In the hospital. She’s
going to have the baby today. I got a call from Mommy to tell me to
come home. When I walk in the door, the phone is ringing, and it’s
a call from the ice cream man at the zoo telling me that my son,
who is supposed to be in school, is sleeping on the park bench in
front of the monkey cage.”

Philip could feel tears rising in his eyes.
Now his father was so mad he’d ignore him even more when the new
baby came.

“Your mother doesn’t know you aren’t in
school. And I don’t want her to know. This is no time to have your
mother upset. What were you doing at the zoo, if I may ask a stupid
question?”

Philip started to answer, but he knew if he
spoke one word he’d cry.

“Answer me, Philip.”

Philip looked at his father. His father’s
face didn’t look as angry now. Philip sprang from his seat on the
sofa and ran to his father.

“Daddy,” he cried. “I don’t want a baby in
the house. I want you and Mommy to have only me.” Philip lifted his
head a little. He could see the wet mark his tears had made on his
father’s shirt. Philip felt his father pull his head toward his
chest and hug him tightly. When Philip lifted his head again, he
thought he saw some water shining in his father’s eyes.

“Philip,” Daddy sighed. “We’ve talked about
this some. Probably not enough. Let me see.”

His father’s arms were still around him, and
Philip liked that.

“Do you remember the turtle you got last
year?”

“Fred,” Philip said.

“Sure you do. You liked Fred so much you
wanted another turtle. So we went to the store and bought you
Effie. Now think. Did you love Fred less after you got Effie, or do
you love them both a whole lot?

“Both.”

“Philip, love is not something you run out
of. You can never give it all away. No matter how much you use up,
there is always more inside of you than you can ever use.” His
father pulled him to his chest again. “Mommy and I love you the
same as ever. But something exciting is going to happen, Philip.
Mommy will be home soon, and we will have a baby in the house. A
tiny, tiny baby. A baby who can do nothing for itself, Philip. A
baby who will depend on us for everything. It will cry at night and
wake us up. It will cry a lot, and maybe not even stop if we hold
it and rock it and sing to it. But it will be our little baby. And
one day, Philip, this baby will smile at you. Maybe it will reach
out and grab your finger. You think your finger is small, don’t
you? But it will take the baby’s whole hand to hold your one
finger, Philip. The baby will hold it tight, and it will be magic.
Believe me, Flipper. Magic, just like you were magic. You still
are.”

Philip let his father hug him one more time.
Then his father stood up. “It’s almost one now. Go to Mrs.
Moriarty’s and stay there until I come and get you. And tomorrow go
to school. And don’t do anything that might upset your mother. I
mean it. Understand?”

Philip said he understood.

He went to school the rest of the week.

Philip was watching cartoons at Mrs.
Moriarty’s house on Saturday when Mrs. Moriarty answered her phone.
“Philip,” she called. “You can go home now. Little Becky’s
there.”

Philip heard Mrs. Moriarty congratulate his
mother and say she’d be over later in the day. When she hung up the
phone and walked into the living room, she was surprised to see
Philip still watching the television.

“Didn’t you hear me, Philip? The baby’s home.
Don’t you want to see what your new sister looks like?”

His father had told him the baby would be
magic. Philip didn’t know whether he liked the kind of magic that
turned having fun into always having to be quiet. Magic that made
his parents forget about him and only think of the new baby. Magic
that made him and Emery the two unhappiest boys in the world.

“Philip, you’ll hurt your mother’s feelings
if you don’t go see the baby. Look, here comes Emery. Maybe he’ll
go with you.”

The doorbell rang, and Emery walked in,
holding a present under his arm. He looked at Philip.

“My mother told me to give this to your new
baby.”

“Why did you bring it here?” Mrs. Moriarty
wanted to know.

“I knew Philip was here, and I didn’t want to
go all alone. I’m going to have another baby soon, you know.”

“I know,” Mrs. Moriarty laughed. “You tell me
every time you see me. You make it sound like a monster is
coming.”

“It is,” said Emery. “The attack of the
babies.”

“Come on, Emery,” said Philip. And the two
little boys left.

When the boys walked into Philip’s house,
Philip’s mother sat on the sofa and in her arms was a tiny bundle
wrapped in a blanket. Philip’s father was taking photos from every
angle.

Philip’s mother smiled at Philip. “Come and
see,” she said.

His mother looked awfully happy,
Philip thought.

Philip sat next to his mother and looked at
the bundle. He had never seen such a tiny person in his life! “Look
how small,” he couldn’t help saying to Emery. The baby’s head was
moving up and down and from side to side.

“She’s inspecting the place, Philip,” his
father said, lowering his camera. “And she’s probably looking for
her brother.”

“Look at her wiggling around, Emery,” said
Philip. The more he stared, the more amazed he felt.

Little Becky made a noise.

“Can she talk?” Philip asked.

“That’s dumb,” said Emery. “That’s really
dumb. Babies can’t talk for at least a year after they’re born.
Even I know that. You think she’s superbaby or something?”

Philip was about to tell Emery to shut up
when the baby made another noise and wiggled even more. Her mouth
opened, and it seemed as if she were trying to take a bite out of
the air. She did it over and over again.

“What’s she doing?” Philip whispered.

“She’s looking for something to eat,” Mrs.
Felton explained. “Watch.” She produced a bottle from her robe
pocket and put the nipple in the baby’s mouth. The baby immediately
stopped its wiggling and began to suck.

“Do you want to hold her, Philip?” his mother
asked.

“Hold her! Not me. Let’s go out and play,
Emery.”

“Here,” said Emery, putting the present on
the sofa next to Mrs. Felton. “My mother said this is for the
baby.”

Mrs. Felton thanked Emery and the boys headed
for the backyard. “Oh, and Philip,” she added, “play quietly. Becky
will be falling asleep soon.”

Philip made a face his mother couldn’t see—a
face like he’d gotten a sour taste in his mouth.

“See,” said Emery once they were outside.
“You’ll hear your mother say that a lot now. My mother says it to
me all the time.”

Philip slumped onto the grass under the one
tree the Feltons had on their back lawn. “I hate having a baby in
the house.”

“Me, too,” said Emery, slumping next to
him.

“I’m not even going to look at her.”

“Me, too,” agreed Emery.

“I’m not going to talk to her at all.”

“Neither will I,” said Emery.

“If Mommy or Daddy want me to help with the
baby, I won’t do it.”

“Neither will I,” promised Emery.

“If they want me to change a diaper, I
won’t.”

“Neither will I,” promised Emery.

“Thanks, Emery. If we both treat our sisters
the same, maybe...”

“
Our
sisters? I was talking about
your
sister. My parents won’t let me be mean to Amy. But
I’ll be mean to your sister if you want me to.”

Emery wanted to be mean to his sister? That
didn’t sound right to Philip.

“Forget my sister. Let’s just keep being
friends.”

“Shall we shake hands again?” Emery wanted to
know.

“No,” said Philip. “We did that.”
Sometimes Emery acted so weird
, Philip thought.

The two boys said good-bye, and Philip went
into the house. The baby was sleeping in a tiny crib in the living
room. Philip tiptoed up to the crib and peeked at the baby. Becky
was lying still. Philip bent close to get a good look at her foot.
Such a tiny foot! His looked like a monster’s foot next to hers.
The baby wiggled in her sleep and Philip jumped. He watched Becky’s
head go back and forth and her arms and legs wave about for a
moment. Then she lay quietly again.