Sink or Swim (8 page)

“Oh, Maddie,” Mom sighed. “Don’t say that. Did you talk to Dad?”

“Uh-huh,” Madison said. “You know, he told me all the good stuff like I was great and all that. But…I wanted to hear
your
voice. What do you think?”

“Oh, Maddie.” Mom sighed again. “I wish I were there with you right now so I could lean over and give you the biggest hug in the world. Don’t you know that you’ll be an amazing mother’s helper? You just need to give the baby-sitting some time. You’ve never really done this before. And little kids need time to warm up to you. I’m sure that Eliot will very quickly learn what fun the two of you will have together.”

Mom’s words were as good as a hug even though she felt so far away.

“When are you coming home?” Madison asked. Here she was talking about Eliot, but now
she
felt like the little kid.

Madison could hear Mom smile. Her voice went up. “Awww,” Mom said sweetly. “I only just got here. I’m still in Sydney for a week. But it will go by fast. I promise.”

After a long string of good-byes, Madison hung up the telephone. A little part of her felt empty—and even angry—inside. It was hard dealing with life without Mom by her side. It was tough not being in their house on Blueberry Street. It was hard not having Mom around to lend a hand or a hug when Madison felt super-insecure—like now.

While Stephanie and Dad talked about work and made a pot of tea, Madison sat curled up on the living room couch. She rubbed Phin’s head and thought about her job. She imagined that Eliot was probably at home right now playing with his plastic trucks
alone.
Madison guessed that his mom wasn’t available to him right now, either. She was off somewhere with Becka.

Madison wondered if maybe she and Eliot weren’t so different after all.

And if that was true—then why couldn’t they just get along?

The weekend flew by. Madison didn’t get to spend as much time with her friends as she’d hoped. The planned trip to Lake Dora on Sunday was postponed again because of rain showers. Aimee, Fiona, and Madison hung out at Aimee’s house and listened to CDs.

Madison tried to stop obsessing about the babysitting disasters of the previous week, but the whole time she was hanging out at Aimee’s house on Blueberry Street, all she could think about was Eliot. He lived only a few houses away. Was he thinking up ways to drive Madison crazy when she came back on Monday?

Sunday afternoon, Madison had better luck distracting herself. The rain stopped, and she joined Stephanie and Dad for a long bike ride through Far Hills, stopping in briefly to see some new puppies at the animal clinic. Stephanie was acting buddy-buddy again, but Madison didn’t mind so much anymore. It wasn’t bad having Stephanie around, especially when Mom was missing in action.

Before dinner, Madison and Dad logged onto the computer together to play around. Dad demonstrated how to create homemade cards and paper on funkyfotostudio.com. Madison downloaded images of her favorite endangered animals to put onto the flashy stationery.

But by the time Sunday night rolled around, Madison began gearing up for the week ahead with Eliot. And although she was exhausted from staring at a computer screen for hours, she still made time to write in her files.

Eliot

I love Eliot.

Eliot loves me.

Eliot and I are going to be best, best friends.

Stephanie has these self-help tapes that talk about “cultivating patience like crops” and “putting the joy back in enjoy.” I thought all that sounded so bizarre. Like crops? What is that supposed to mean? I’ve heard of meditation and yoga and all that, but I now doubt whether this has any effect on my life. And I know that Mom was super-supportive to me last night, but I already forgot half of what she said.

Rude Awakening:
Thinking positive is positively impossible.

I want to be upbeat about the whole mother’s helper thing. But I have this lump in my throat like something is going to happen.

And a lump is the worst kind of omen.

B
Y THE TIME MONDAY
morning rolled around, crying was no longer on Madison’s mind. The day was bright and sunnier than sunny. She needed to make her mood sunny to go along with the day. Phin scooted all around Dad’s apartment like he knew the weather was good—and Madison saw this as a positive omen. Finally. She was on the lookout for more good signs.

Dad drove her over to the Reed house. Madison arrived armed with her bathing suit, orange beach bag, and her own plush purple towel for today’s trip to the Lake Dora pool. Mrs. Reed answered the door hurriedly but wore a happy, wide grin.

“Good morning,” she chirped, inviting Madison inside. “You know, Madison, you don’t have to ring the doorbell when you come. I’m expecting you. Just walk inside. That way if I’m in the middle of changing a diaper or picking up toys or just losing my mind…”

Her voice trailed off into laughter.

“Okay,” Madison said, trying to take it all in.

“So how was the rest of your weekend?” Mrs. Reed asked. Her eyes darted around the room like she was looking for something—or someone.

Madison shrugged. “Nice except for the rain. I spent yesterday with my friends, my dog, and my dad. I like doing that. How was your Sunday?”

Mrs. Reed told Madison about the family’s driving trip to visit Eliot’s grandparents who lived two hours away. Thankfully, Mrs. Reed explained, he had been a good boy during the drive, napping and singing along with his Wee Sing CD. Becka was well behaved, too.

Eliot
good
! Madison could only hope that he’d make a repeat performance for her today. No sooner had thoughts of Tantrum Boy popped into her head than he appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

“Thwimming?” Eliot asked. Madison knew he must have recognized who she was from the week before, but he also seemed confused. In some ways starting this new week was like starting all over again. Eliot clung to his mom’s leg, just like he had done the week before. He seemed on the verge of tears all over again.

Madison took a deep breath and remembered what Mom had said Saturday night.

It will take some time.

After lunch, Mrs. Reed packed the car up after Becka had a bottle, and everyone buckled into their seats. The drive over to Lake Dora took a little longer than usual due to morning traffic, but Eliot seemed content to hum to himself, suck on a shortbread cookie, and stare off into space. Becka fell asleep right away.

As usual, the pool was packed. Mrs. Reed and Madison negotiated the crowds and found empty chairs. More luck!

The good omens were piling up. Maybe I should have brought my rabbit’s foot, too, Madison thought.

Positive thinking. Positively.

Hart, Egg, and Drew stood over by the lifeguard tower together. They hadn’t see Madison yet. Madison noticed Aimee and Fiona, too, sitting nearby. There were a few empty chairs in their area. Madison wanted to ask Mrs. Reed if they could change seats so she could be closer to her friends.

But she didn’t have a chance.

“Oh, it’s getting late!” Mrs. Reed said as she smeared sunblock cream onto Eliot’s arms and back. “I have to go to a ‘baby and me’ dance class inside the pool center for a while. You two will be okay here until I come back, right?”

Madison nodded. Eliot was playing with some blocks and a fake plastic cell phone he liked to carry around. Mrs. Reed motioned to Madison. “If you want, in a little bit you can go and get an
i-c-e c-r-e-a-m
.” She smiled at Madison, swooped up Becka, and disappeared.

Eliot offered to show Madison one of his plastic sailboats that he kept in a little carrying case. Maybe today would be
g-o-o-d.

Things even got better after a few moments when Hart walked by with Egg and Drew. Eliot remembered the boys from the week before and roared with giggles when Hart leaned over to tickle him again.

“So how’s your boyfriend?” Egg teased again. He scruffed up the hair on top of Eliot’s head.

Madison groaned. “Nice one, Egg.”

But she didn’t mind the wisecracks. Eliot was being a good boy. All his good behavior convinced Madison that maybe things were looking up. Maybe all of Mom’s advice had sunk in? There were other mothers and mother’s helpers around the pool, and she seemed to fit right in—sort of.

“Let’s go see?” Eliot asked Madison.

“See what?” she asked.

“See! See!” Eliot said excitedly. He tugged on Madison’s shorts.

Madison grabbed him right back. “See what, Eliot?” she asked again.

He made a face at her and tried to pull away. She kept her grip, but he kept pulling and groaning. They were standing up in front of everyone, and a few people started to stare.

“Eliot, shhh,” Madison whispered. “Come back over here, okay?”

Now Eliot screamed, “No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!” and yanked his arm away. Madison fell back onto a chair. He grabbed for her again. “No sitting. Come with me,” he demanded, pulling her up off the chair.

Madison was trying to tug him gently back again when he broke free and swung out his arm. He hit her. Hard. When Madison stood back from him, her arm stung. Now several more people were staring. Madison could feel their eyes drilling holes through her back.

“I wanna see Mama,” Eliot said.

Mama? At last she understood what all his fuss was about. He wanted his mother—not Madison. It was more proof that he hated her.

Positively.

“Mama just went away for a little while,” Madison said softly, trying to reassure him. She gently took both of his wrists in her hands, but he pulled away again. Eliot lunged forward and grabbed Madison’s bag from the chair. Almost everything fell out of her bag, and the bag itself went flying.

Splash.

Right into the pool.

Some kid in the deep end laughed out loud when he saw the bag float beside him. He hurled it up onto the pool deck, but it fell right back into the water. The lifeguard on duty blew a whistle.

Hart was first on the scene to retrieve the orange bag. He leaned over the pool edge and saved Madison’s bag from sinking. She watched on in horror, knowing that her cheeks had turned blister red between the sun…and the shame…of the passing moments. Her crush had saved the day.

“Funny,” Eliot said, sounding an awful lot like a parrot. “FUNNY! FUNNY! Funnnnnnnny!” He started to laugh and went right back to his toy sailboat as if nothing had ever happened.

Madison was relieved to have him calm down, but at the same time her mind raced. What if Eliot had thrown
himself
into the pool and not the bag? she thought. What if Mrs. Reed had been there to witness the whole sequence of events? Could she do anything right when it came to baby-sitting?

Madison leaned over Eliot and patted him on the back. “Are you okay now?” she asked quietly, praying for a quiet response.

Eliot just grinned. “Okay, Maddie,” he said, as if none of the commotion with the wet bag had ever happened. “Wanna play tucks?”

Madison sat back in the chair, half in shock. But she wasn’t surprised by his sudden mood swing. She didn’t think it was strange that Eliot wanted to play. Madison was stunned because Eliot Reed had said her name.

It was the very first time.

“So, you’re hanging with babies now, huh?” someone said from behind the chairs where Madison and Eliot sat.

Madison turned to see her mortal enemy, Ivy Daly, and her drones, Rose “Thorn” and “Phony” Joanie. The trio stood with hands on their hips, gawking at Madison and Eliot. Ivy was dressed in a bikini with sparkles on it. It glittered in the sun. Ivy and both drones already had perfect tans.

“Hello, Ivy,” Madison said, trying to be friendly even though she disliked Ivy and even though she was embarrassed. “Hi, Rose and Joanie,” she said to the drones, too. “What are you guys doing here?”

Ivy smirked. “Having fun. What are YOU doing?”

Phony Joanie cackled. On closer inspection, Madison thought she looked bronze, as if she were wearing a tan out of a bottle.

Madison looked over at Eliot and sighed. “I’m having fun, too. I’m baby-sitting.”

Unfortunately she didn’t sound convincing, and she knew it.

“Sounds like fun,” Ivy said, laughing some more. “Of course, I’d rather spend time with my friends my own age.”

“Me too,” Rose said.

“Me three,” Joan said, giggling.

“Gee, where’s Aimee or Fiona?” Rose asked.

“Are
they
baby-sitting, too?” Ivy couldn’t stop laughing.

Madison was disappointed that she had no BFF to come to the rescue. Neither Aimee nor Fiona was anywhere to be seen—and here she was outnumbered three to one. The enemies giggled loudly, too, taking great pleasure in Madison’s embarrassment. As the trio walked away in their perfect bathing suits and sunglasses that made them look sixteen instead of twelve, Madison guessed that Rose and Joan would follow Ivy for the rest of their lives and that right now Ivy was going off in search of Hart.

Meanwhile Madison was nowhere near Hart. She remained poolside with Eliot, her summer boyfriend.