Sink or Swim (10 page)

“Mama gonna play in the sink!” he cried.

Mrs. Reed laughed. She told Madison that Eliot could take off his T-shirt and strip down to a diaper so he wouldn’t get his clothes soaked. Of course, Eliot
loved
that. He pulled his shirt right off and started to hop around the bathroom like a kangaroo.

Madison filled the sink with water and soap bubbles. Eliot battled his boats. Water went everywhere, but Madison didn’t mind one bit. Eliot was giggling with each dunk.

They had so much fun together in the bathroom that an hour flew by. Soon it was time for lunch. Eliot whined a little about stopping, but Madison convinced him that it wouldn’t be so bad. She was planning another creative idea for lunch—the next item on her list—making little sandwiches and cutting them into shapes with cookie cutters.

The rain outside seemed to be letting up a little. Mrs. Reed put Becka down for a nap. Madison could tell that Eliot was the happiest he’d ever been when Madison was with him, but he still cried out a little at times for his mother. Unfortunately, whenever she tried to spend a few moments with Eliot, Madison noticed that Mrs. Reed always got distracted. Eliot asked her to read him a book, and she passed the task along to Madison. He asked Mrs. Reed to play Legos, but she had to get the phone. He asked for a hug, and she had to run and check on the baby.

By late afternoon, Mrs. Reed’s casual brush-offs seemed to be making Eliot crankier than cranky. He lost interest in reading books and playing toys with Madison. She suggested they play with the boats in the sink again, and he stuck out his tongue. She asked him what
he
wanted to do, and he pulled Madison’s hair.

Of course, Madison knew what he really wanted. But that was the one thing she couldn’t do for him. Eliot didn’t want to color, and Madison had no luck fishing with magnets, another game the Internet suggested. She only had two refrigerator magnets, and they didn’t work very well at all.

When Mr. Reed arrived home, Madison called Dad to say that she’d be going over to Aimee’s house and that he should pick her up there.

And even though Eliot was moody when Madison left, he seemed a little sad to say good-bye. It was the first time Madison thought he even noticed that she was leaving.

“Buh-bye, Maddie,” Eliot said, waving to Madison as she sprinted out into the rain. “See you tomollow.”

Madison chuckled. “See you then. Bye, Mrs. Reed!”

She leaped over a few giant puddles and walked down the street toward Aimee’s house. Blossom was spread out on her belly on the Gillespie porch, sniffing at the rainy air.

“Blossom!” Madison cried. She leaned down to kiss her big ears, and Blossom shook her head.

“Maddie!” Aimee said as she pulled open the door. “I was so glad you called. Come inside!”

Two of Aimee’s brothers were inside watching TV and eating homemade vegetarian nachos. Every meal in the Gillespie house was a tribute to health food. Even TV snacks here were healthy.

“Wanna go out on my roof?” Aimee asked Madison.

“It’s kind of wet outside, Aim,” Madison said. “Can we just hang here and make milk shakes or smoothies or something?”

Aimee nodded. “I have something to tell you,” she said in a singsong voice. Her eyes bugged out wide.

“What?” Madison said, taking off her coat. “What is it?”

“He called me,” Aimee said.

“Who?” Madison asked.

“Who do you think? BEN!” Aimee said. “He called me this afternoon. He said that he’s been thinking about calling me since the summer started.”

“Get OUT!” Madison cried.

They both screamed with delight.

“So what are you going to do now?” Madison asked. “Are you guys going on a date or something?”

“A date?” Aimee said. “No way. He just wanted to see if I would be at the pool tomorrow. If it’s not raining, of course. And he DID see me that day when I was sitting there in the hat. Isn’t that cool?”

Madison sat down on Aimee’s bed and sighed. “You are so lucky, Aim,” she said. “You like someone, and he likes you back.”

“We only talked once. He got my number from Egg, can you believe it?”

“I can’t believe Egg would give out your number when he makes fun of us so much,” Madison said.

“I think maybe Fiona told him to do it,” Aimee said. “But whatever. He called. Ben called!”

As usual, Aimee danced around her room.

Madison joined right in.

“I haven’t seen you in this good a mood in weeks,” Dad said to Madison over dinner. He had picked up some food at McDonald’s on his way home from a meeting.

Madison bit into a french fry and stared off into space.

“I haven’t been in a good mood, Dad,” she said. “But I think I’ve turned a corner. I think.”

“Good for you,” Dad said, tossing one of his fries onto the carpet. Phin was begging at the table again.

“Dad! I’m trying to get him to stop begging, and you’re not helping when you feed him scraps!” Madison complained.

Dad laughed. “You should put Phin on a seafood diet,” he said.

Madison groaned. “Yeah, Dad, so every time he sees food, he’ll eat. Ha-ha-ha. You’re so funny, I forgot to laugh.”

“You can’t fault me for trying,” Dad said with a wink.

After they did the dishes, Madison went online to see if anyone had written her e-mail. She was pleasantly surprised.

Fiona, aka Wetwinz, had sent e-mail to Madison, Aimee, and everyone else in their group of friends. She and Chet were organizing a barbecue at their house on Saturday. They would be having grilled food and games in their backyard. The Waters family was still in the middle of repainting the old Victorian house they lived in, but that didn’t matter. The party was on! Madison was happy to know that was one summer event she wouldn’t have to miss. She made a note in her calendar and planner.

Gramma Helen also had written to check in and say hello. Madison wrote a quick note back about the summer job, Eliot the Tantrum Boy, and hanging out with Dad while Mom was away on business. As she hit
SEND
, Madison realized that she needed to write more often to Gramma. She made another note in her calendar and planner.

The third message was from Mom. Madison read and printed it out so she could carry it in her pocket or stick it in her bag. It would be like having Mom right there along with her.

From: ff_BUDGEFILM

To: MadFinn

Subject: I Miss You

Date: Tues 24 June 2:51 PM

Honey bear, I have been thinking about you all day. It’s very late here right now, and I keep wishing I could be there to talk and try to help you feel better. Trust me when I say that the summer will be here and gone before you know it. And your experience with Eliot will be very rewarding. Australia is a wonder! I have to take you here sometime. Of course, as you know, it’s winter here while it’s summer there. It’s so strange being on the other side of the world from you. But I’ll be home soon! Give Phin a hug for me.

All my love, Mom

As great as Mom’s e-mail was, the very best message was the last one.

From: Bigwheels

To: MadFinn

Subject: Here’s What I Think

Date: Tues 2 4 June 5:09 PM

Maddie you would not believe how beautiful my camp is. We have these great cabins that are easy to get to and we have horseback lessons twice a day and crafts and a whole bunch of other activities. They even have computer labs where u can talk online with friends from home.

You asked me have I ever had any bad experiences baby-sitting my cousin? Duh! Of course! One time I was watching her and she stuck a ham sandwich and a carrot into the VCR. The machine ate it and I was picking out these little orange pieces. It was awful. Another time we were painting and she threw a jar of paint at the wall and it broke. There was green everywhere even on these expensive chairs. Her mom yelled at me forever for that one. You can STILL see some of the green on their rug. I think that your stories this summer probably top mine. IIWM I’d keep files on them all!!

I am so glad that I can write b/c it makes a big difference knowing ur out there. I would go crazy if I couldn’t write to you for a whole month.

Thanks for being such a cool keypal.

Yours till the horse shoes,

Victoria, aka Bigwheels

Madison hit
SAVE
. Not even the rain could dampen her spirits today.

Between Mom and Bigwheels, Madison was
finally
starting to believe that this summer babysitting job would work out.

She was finally starting to believe in herself.

M
ADISON COULDN’T BELIEVE THAT
Stephanie was meeting Dad for breakfast
again.
Dad said Stephanie was coming over to help with an important business presentation. Of course, he couldn’t get anything done in the middle of his morning rush. He ran around the kitchen wearing his good pants and undershirt but no socks and no dress shirt, because he hadn’t ironed it yet.

Madison chuckled to herself as she slurped down her bowl of Toasty-Os. This was the Dad she remembered from mornings at home back before the big D. This was the Dad who used to be married to Mom. Crazy Dad.

She missed seeing him every day.

“Should I wear the blue or red tie, Maddie?” Dad asked.

Madison shrugged. “What about the orange one?” she said.

“Orange? What?” Dad looked panicked for a moment. Then he stopped in his tracks. “Oh, I see. What a joker.”

He came over and gave her a huge squeeze.

Ding-a-ling. Ding-a-ling.

“Dad, you have to do something about that doorbell. It sounds so lame,” Madison said.

Phin leaped up, barking at the doorbell like an attack dog. Once he saw Stephanie, however, the pug turned to mush. He loved Stephanie because she always gave him fake bacon strips and scratched his back in exactly the right place.

“Good morning, troops!” Stephanie said, swinging her briefcase onto the counter.

“Hey,” Dad said, giving her a little kiss. Madison cringed. It was way too weird to watch her parents kiss, let alone watch them kiss other people.

“Aren’t you dressed yet? Where’s your shirt?” Stephanie asked.

“Oh no! I knew there was something I forgot!” Dad cried. He dashed out of the room like the scarecrow in
The Wizard of Oz
, all floppy and confused.

Madison took another bite of cereal and smiled at Stephanie. “He’s been standing around like that for a half hour,” Madison said. “What a dork.”

Stephanie giggled. “That’s what I love about him,” she said. “So how’s the baby-sitting going?”

“Okay,” Madison said. “Yesterday was better, but Eliot isn’t very happy a lot of the time. I’m learning to deal with that.”

“Isn’t happy? Why not?” Stephanie asked.

“He cries a lot. He doesn’t like it when I change his diaper. He hates it when we try to sing songs, like he knows I’m a really bad singer. Is that possible? And he threw my bag into the pool the other day,” Madison said.

“He’s two and a half, right?” Stephanie asked.

“Yeah,” Madison said. “What does that have to do with it? He hates me. I know when someone hates me, and HE hates me.”

Stephanie poured herself a cup of coffee from the drip machine on the counter. “Maddie,” she said. “No two-year-old hates anyone. He just doesn’t know you. I’m sure that he’s upset about something, but I bet it isn’t you.”

“How do you know that?” Madison asked.

“You said he has a new sister, right? He probably is jealous of her.”

Madison’s jaw dropped. A giant neon bulb went on inside her head. Of course
that
was it! Eliot didn’t hate Madison. He hated Becka.

But that didn’t make sense, either.

Eliot loved his little sister. He hugged her whenever he had the chance. He gave her one of his favorite stuffed animals. He even liked watching Becka fall asleep.

Madison put her head in her hands. “Stephanie, it must be me. I try everything I know to make him happy. And it’s only been a week or so, but I think that maybe this isn’t the right job—”

“Don’t say that!” Stephanie said, interrupting. “This is all a minor setback.”

Madison knew this was one of those bonding moments when Stephanie got this “trust me, I know what you’re talking about” look in her eye.

“What do you know about baby-sitting?” Madison asked.

“What do I know about baby-sitting? You name it. I baby-sat in high school and college to help pay bills,” Stephanie explained. “And don’t forget I have a family of a hundred or so relatives—cousins, nieces, nephews—most of whom I baby-sat at some point in my life.”

Madison had forgotten how big Stephanie’s family back in Texas was. She couldn’t imagine having that many people turn up at a barbecue or other family event.

“I baby-sat this little girl once and she would not smile. Not once. Not ever.”

“Come on,” Madison said. “Every baby smiles.”

Stephanie shook her head. “Oh no, not Jessie. That was her name. And of course, just like you, I thought she HATED me.”

Madison listened close. “So what did you do?” she asked.

“I became her friend,” Stephanie explained. “When Jessie was grumpy, I just let her be. And when I didn’t
force it
, she came around. One day Jessie just grinned right at me. Needless to say, I melted.”

“But if Eliot is only two…how can I be his friend? He doesn’t want me. He wants his mom,” Madison said.

“Maddie, little Eliot needs you to be his friend more than anything, no matter what he does. He doesn’t know about being bad or hate yet. Like you said, he’s only two! And sure he wants his mom, but he’ll get used to you. He’ll realize that you’re the one giving him special attention. Be patient.”