Time's Up (14 page)

T
hanks for driving us, Grandma Ruby,” Katani said. They had just picked up the scarves from the Knitwits and were on their way to deliver them to the homeless shelter downtown.

“I'm glad to do it,” she answered. “Next time, my dear—”

“I know,” Katani said. “Don't be afraid to ask for help!”

She was waiting for her grandmother to ask whether her schoolwork had suffered this week, but thankfully Mrs. Fields avoided that topic.

Kelley, on the other hand, was singing loudly, “We're going on a bear hunt. We're gonna catch a big one.”

All afternoon Kelley had been smiling as she hugged a bright green zipped-up bag to her chest. She wouldn't let anyone else near it. Mrs. Fields already asked what was in it and got no answer, so now Katani tried.

“Do you have something special in your bag, Kelley?”

“Yes, I do. I have my own pinkie-swear secret. But I can't tell you what it is.”

“A pinkie swear. I think we've had enough pinkie-swear secrets this week.” Mrs. Fields looked over at Katani, who didn't even want to think about what Kelley had in there. She had enough to worry about as it was.

“We'll never find a spot for the Triple B around here,” Mrs. Fields said, shaking her head at the downtown traffic and narrow streets. “So we'll use this parking garage. The shelter's just a couple blocks away.”

The girls each carried two bags. Mrs. Fields rang the security bell and then spoke through the intercom, “We have a delivery from the Knitwits.”

The door buzzed open, and the three of them walked into a cheery reception area. Beyond the front desk Katani saw a roomful of women and children. Many of the women were chatting and watching TV, while others looked like they were helping kids with homework or art projects. The area was buzzing with occasional laughter and the low murmur of conversation. This place was the opposite of what Katani expected when she thought of a homeless shelter.

Her grandmother opened a few of the bags to show the receptionist what they'd brought. The receptionist wrapped a purple wool scarf around her neck to model it for a few of the women walking by.

“Look at you, all dressed up and no place to go!” a pretty woman told the receptionist, and everyone laughed.

“Did you girls bring all this for us?” another woman asked, peeking into one of the bags.

“Yes, we certainly did,” a stone-faced Kelley volunteered as she clutched Mr. Bear tightly. The woman stared at Kelley for a moment. Katani knew she was wondering if there was something wrong with her sister.

But all the lady said was, “Thanks very much. My
daughter needs a new scarf this year. It's a cold winter out there. Brrr!” She pulled out a cuddly looking blue one and walked away with the other women, showing it off. Katani was relieved. It was tricky with Kelley, sometimes. You just never knew how things would go.

Then suddenly, Katani had an idea. She wanted to make clothes for women like these who really needed them. Kgirl wasn't just going to be a business. Katani could design clothes that would be fashionable but still affordable and practical for real people. And when Kgirl took off, women in places like these could work on some of her projects. She could help train women too, so they could run their own businesses. She was so excited that she made a mental note to write down her ideas as soon as she got home.

Back in the car after their delivery, Katani was feeling nervous about the time. “It's getting late. The Knitwits are going to need a snack,” Mrs. Fields said as she turned the car onto a busy Boylston Street. “I'll call and see if they want us to pick up some pizza.”

Katani moaned. “Grandma, do we have to? It's already taking us forever to get there.”

“Of course we do,” Mrs. Fields replied. “If someone does something for you, you need to return the favor. Simple as that. We'll bring an early supper. Besides, if we skip eating, we'll all run out of steam before the scarves are finished.”

Katani knew her grandmother was right, but the prospect of one more delay was so frustrating. All she wanted to do was get there and finish her scarves.

Mrs. Fields called Bluebell House on her cell to say she was going to stop for pizza and ask if there was a favorite topping, or a topping they couldn't eat. When she got off the phone she said, “We'll order two pies from Pizza Palace. One
regular and one with soy cheese, for Natasha. It turns out she's a vegan,” Mrs. Fields explained.

“What's a vegan?” Kelley asked.

“That's someone who doesn't eat anything that comes from animals, like meat or cheese or eggs, dear,” Mrs. Fields explained.

“Oh,” said Kelley, sitting back in her seat and looking thoughtful.

Mrs. Fields dropped the girls off with the pizza at Bluebell House, and then she drove around the corner to park the Triple B. Frances opened the door and warmly welcomed Katani and Kelley. Inside, Katani busily scanned the room for her scarves. When she saw them spread over the piano like a sea of pink, she almost felt like her old self again.

When Mrs. Fields walked in a few minutes later, Francis cried, “Why, Ruby Fields!”

“Frances Coulson!”

“What a small world!” Frances embraced Ruby. “I kept meaning to call or e-mail you after the New England Teachers Conference.”

“Me too! I'm so glad to see you.” Mrs. Fields shook her head. “Just because you're teaching in Somerville, that's no excuse for us not to get together.”

“It took Katani's scarves for us to meet!” Frances exclaimed, and the women laughed.

Kelley sat down in a navy blue rocking chair and rocked back and forth, her head tilted up to the pale blue ceiling. Katani couldn't believe it. Here Kelley was in a strange place with all these new people and she was as calm as could be!

“We ordered a pesto and broccoli pizza because Natasha is a vegan,” Kelley explained. “That means no cheeseburgers, hot dogs, milk shakes, yogurt tubes, Oreo ice cream, chicken
nuggets, or fried shrimp ever!” she announced. Katani shook her head. Kelley was obviously intrigued with the vegan thing. She hoped her sister didn't go on and on about it all night.

“Well said, Kelley!” June agreed loudly. “Pizza lovers of all stripes, grab some breadsticks! A little snack will be good knitting fuel, I think. Just be careful not to spoil your dinners.” When everyone had a few bites of the crunchy bread in their bellies, June ordered, “All right, knitters, pick up your needles. We're on a mission here.”

Natasha gave Kelley and Mrs. Fields needles and yarn, and the Knitwits focused on their knitting. Katani had never seen people knit so quickly. It was like the Knitwits were on fast-forward. Katani settled into a big comfortable blue armchair and began adding her signature bead motif to the finished scarves. Delilah put a record on an old-fashioned record player. Then, in a sophisticated falsetto, she sang out to every single Gershwin song. Her voice was like honey—soft and smooth.
Maeve would be twirling in circles if she were here right now
, thought Katani.
That woman can sing!

Mrs. Fields asked, “‘I Got Rhythm'? I just love that song.”

“I've got rhythm in my toes just listening to Delilah sing it,” Frances said kindly. “We're lucky to have this songbird around the house.”

“Delilah is a pretty bird!” Kelley repeated, laughing loudly.

Everyone looked up at Kelley, who had propped Mr. Bear on her lap. Now that she had everyone's attention, Kelley dramatically unzipped her green bag and pulled out a miniature version of one of Katani's scarves. Wrapping the little pink scarf around Mr. Bear's neck, she announced, “Starring
Mr. Bear—clothes by Kelley Summers, Esquire! See?”

“Why, that's about the cutest thing I've ever seen,” Delilah oohed and ahhed.

“So adorable,” Frances added.

“Smashing, just smashing,” June pronounced.

As the Knitwits went on praising Kelley, Katani squeezed her hands into fists and counted to ten. Usually she could deal with Kelley being a distraction, but tonight she needed to get
her
scarves finished…pronto. To calm herself down she imagined how the store window at Think Pink! would look tomorrow with all her scarves displayed. Scarves gently folded over one another, scarves draped over fuzzy sweaters…wait! Maybe there was a way to include Kelley after all!

“Kelley, that's a fabulous idea,” Katani exclaimed.

Mrs. Fields sent Katani the warning look, arched eyebrows and all. Katani ignored the skepticism written all over her grandmother's face and plunged on. “We can make teddy bear–size scarves just like my people-size ones and bring them to Think Pink! for the fund-raiser. I bet people would buy them for dogs to wear too. They'd look so cute in the window display next to mine, and Ms. Pink loves pets. The matching scarf theme could be part of my project—”

Kelley jumped up, clapped her hands, and threw her arms around Katani. “I'll get to meet five hundred fortunate people in D.C., too!”

“You just might,” Mrs. Fields said to Kelley, laughing. She didn't say anything to Katani, but the warm smile on her face told Katani that she was definitely doing the right thing. Well, that settled it.
Sisters are way more important than prizes, anyway,
Katani thought with a smile. There would be more contests out there, but there was only one Kelley. Maybe business owners didn't have to win contests to be really successful
anyway. Katani felt happy, really happy, for the first in what seemed like a very long time.

Natasha arranged the women like a factory line to incorporate Kelley's bear-size clothes into the knitting project. Incredibly organized, Natasha had the knitting system down to a science within minutes, giving each Knitwit a designated job.

“Let's rock it, ladies!” June demanded. “You think that's funny?” She pointed at Katani, who had put her hand over her mouth. Envisioning the gray-haired June “rocking” was just too much.

As they all got closer to finishing, Sally couldn't sit still. She was a first-rate Speedy Gonzales knitter, but she kept getting up to go into the kitchen. First she brought out circles of French bread with olive tapenade and roasted peppers, then marinated artichoke hearts and asparagus spears, and after that stuffed shrimp.

“These are fabulous. What's that herb?” Mrs. Fields asked.

“Marjoram,” Sally said.

“Amazing. Sally, you're spoiling us!” Mrs. Fields took another shrimp. “Does she always feed you like this?”

“Oh, yes. She's trying to keep us fattened up,” Delilah joked as she came in with warm pizza on a tray. At the sight of pizza, needles stopped and everyone jumped up to grab a slice.

The ladies listened respectfully as Katani filled them in on the details of the contest. Katani felt like a real professional fielding all the questions.

“Would you do anything differently?” June asked Katani while looking over at Mrs. Fields.

Katani sat back in her chair and put her paper plate down on the coffee table. She looked around at her knitting team,
the women who had come to her rescue, and said, “I would ask for help at the beginning. You know, get ideas from people on the best way to do things…then I would get all my ducks in order….”

“Quack, quack,” Kelley said as she wrapped a little pink scarf around Mr. Bear's neck. June looked at Delilah, who bit her lip and raised an eyebrow at Sally, who stifled a giggle.

It was too much for Katani, who let out her first belly laugh of the week. “Kelley, you crack me up! Or should I say ‘quack' me up.”

Kelley looked away and began knitting another scarf.

After the pizza, Sally carried around a plate of chocolate-fudge brownies to keep everyone's energy up, she said. They were so awesome that Katani asked her for the recipe so she could make them at the next Tower sleepover. When she heard that there was puréed spinach in them, she almost fell over. Maeve collected brownie recipes, Charlotte was a true chocoholic, and Avery loved healthy food, but spinach brownies…the BSG would be so surprised when they tasted them!

When Kelley heard there was spinach in the brownies, she refused to believe it and would not calm down until Katani told Kelley that they were special vegan brownies. Mrs. Fields's grateful kiss on the cheek made Katani realize that managing Kelley was hard for everyone, not just her.

“Did you have enough to eat?” Sally asked everyone. “Do you need another drink?”

“If I eat anything else, somebody's going to have to carry me out,” Mrs. Fields teased.

As the women continued to knit and Delilah played records, the scarves began to multiply as if by magic. Frances was like a knitting prodigy. She whirled out the most amazing patterns.

As Katani looked on, Frances explained to her the knitting and purling techniques she used to achieve different textures. Katani was thrilled to be learning so much. She settled into her chair, feeling right at home. Kelley was busy knitting tiny scarves for the fund-raiser. When the Knitwits said they couldn't believe Kelley had just started knitting, Kelley announced that she was “a Knitwit too.” Katani felt a warm happiness for her sister. Kelley didn't often get compliments on her achievements.

Just before the final push, Kelley decided to count the scarves. She stopped next to her grandmother. “What is this?” Kelley held up the lopsided scarf, full of holes.

“Oh, it's fine,” Frances said. “It just needs a little, um, straightening.”

“Just a tad more work and it'll be fine,” Delilah and Natasha agreed.

“Fine?” June asked. “It looks like moths have eaten through it.”

“Poor Grandma Ruby,” Kelley said sadly. “Maybe you should read Katani's knitting book.”

They all laughed, including Mrs. Fields. Kelley, who wasn't really sure what was so funny, just shook her head at her grandmother.