Masterpiece (16 page)

Fortunately, the turtle swerved after Marvin, who zoomed to the opposite end of the tank. Rushing directly to the corner, Marvin lifted two legs out of the water and frantically tried to pull himself up.

But the glass was too slippery. He crashed back into the pool just as the turtle descended on him with jaws snapping.

“Marvin!” Elaine screamed.

Marvin ducked under the turtle’s open mouth and hurled himself at the neck. He grabbed tight with all six legs. The turtle swung his head back and forth, twisting and writhing. Marvin clung tighter. Then the turtle spun back toward the rock, gliding swiftly through the water.

“Marvin!” Elaine cried again. “Jump off!”

Marvin knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold his breath much longer. As soon as the turtle neared the rock, he loosened his hold on the muscular neck. He saw Elaine’s blurry shape through the water, crouched at the edge of the rock. He flung himself toward her. For a second, the heaviness of the water seemed to trap him.
But then Elaine grabbed him, yanking him up, up, up into the clean air.

“Hurry!” she cried. Together they dashed for the slippery back wall of the tank. They could hear the turtle splashing out of the water and lumbering over the rock toward them.

“Don’t look back,” Marvin warned Elaine, pulling her with him onto the wall. Frantically they scrambled up the glass.

Seconds later, they climbed onto the top rim of the aquarium, well out of reach. They toppled over the edge and half-slid, half-fell to safety.

“Oh, Marvin!” Elaine let out a long breath as they flopped on the ground. “That was a close one! I think I saved your life back there.”

“Saved MY life?”

“When I pulled you up on the rock.”

“What about when you fell into the tank?” Marvin demanded.

“Oh, I know! Talk about scary. Who would have thought that old turtle would be so fast? We’ll have to be more careful next time.”

“Next time?” Marvin stared at her.

“You know what I mean,” Elaine said dismissively. “Come on, let’s go. It’s noon already.”

They ran across the aquarium table toward the windows, where the long planter filled with herbs beckoned in the sunlight. Marvin could smell the sharp scent of mint, and glimpsed Mama in the distance, untying the
yellow hamper and spreading the picnic fare on a fallen basil leaf. He and Elaine hurried past waving fronds of oregano and dill toward their parents.

“There you are,” Mama said. “I was beginning to worry.”

Uncle Albert smiled at them. “I told her, ‘What trouble can they possibly get into with a bunch of plants? There aren’t any humans around.’ ”

Marvin and Elaine exchanged sheepish glances.

“Sorry,” Marvin said.

“We were having so much fun, we didn’t notice the time,” Elaine added brightly.

“Oh, that’s all right,” Mama replied. “That was the whole point of coming here today, so you two could relax. Especially you, Marvin.”

Marvin secretly made a face at Elaine, but she only shrugged.

“I’m starved,” Papa declared. “Let’s eat!”

And with that, the six beetles gathered around the bountiful spread—a midday feast of shattered pretzel pieces, blueberries, cantaloupe seeds, muffin crumbs, a semisweet chocolate chip, and a fresh oregano salad—and enjoyed their picnic in the shade of the fragrant herbs.

F
or the past two days, Marvin had worried about what to do on Wednesday afternoon. Mama and Papa had made their position clear: There were to be no more trips to the Met, and no more drawings.

“It’s James’s problem now,” Papa said. “He’s a bright boy. He’ll figure out something.”

“I know this is important to you, darling,” Mama added soothingly, “but you can’t take the risk. It affects all of us.”

Marvin said nothing, quietly fretting and hoping that some brilliant solution would occur to him before Karl came at four o’clock on Wednesday.

By three o’clock on Wednesday, no such solution had appeared, and Marvin hadn’t even seen James since Monday.

“I want to go to James’s room,” Marvin told his parents. “Even if I can’t help him, I have to see what’s going to happen!”

Mama and Papa looked doubtfully at each other.

Papa said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Marvin. It will only make this harder for you.”

“But what about James? He won’t understand. He thinks I’m coming.”

Mama shook her head. “Marvin, darling, there’s no way to explain this to James. Your father is right. He’ll have to figure it out on his own.”

“Mama, please!” Marvin felt like crying. All he could think of was James, excitedly getting ready for the Met, sure that Marvin would be right there alongside him.

“I can’t just not show up,” he pleaded.

Mama sighed.

“Mama, we’re friends.”

His mother looked at him for a long minute. “All right,” she said finally, “but I’m coming with you.”

Together they left the cupboard and darted along the kitchen baseboard. William was strapped in a bouncing canvas sling in the doorway, careening madly from one side of the door frame to the other, his feet intermittently thumping the ground.

“Watch out,” Mama warned as they skirted treacherously close to his fat flailing legs.

“Ayeeeee!” squealed William. A long string of saliva dangled from his chin.

As they hurried down the hall, they heard voices in the living room.

Mrs. Pompaday sounded annoyed. “Of course he isn’t ready. You said four, Karl. That’s what we planned on.”

James called nervously from his bedroom, “It’s okay, Dad. I just need a few more minutes.”

Marvin looked at his mother. Karl was here already? James must be in a panic.

“No problem,” Karl said sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I finished early today, and I thought if we got to the Met earlier, that would give James more time.”

“More time for what?” Mrs. Pompaday demanded. “Isn’t the art lesson at four-thirty? That’s what you said.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Karl said easily. “It’s not a big deal. I’m ready whenever you are, James.”

Marvin and his mother crawled under James’s closed door and waited at the edge of his rug, hidden by the cotton fringe. The boy was hunched over his desk, his head in his hands. They could hear him talking to himself, his voice muffled.

“Oh, where are you? Where are you, little guy?” His shoulders shook. “I haven’t seen you in
days
! What am I going to do if you don’t come?”

Marvin looked at his mother, horrified. “Mama, he’s
crying
.”

Mama frowned. “Well, I’m sure he’s upset. But he’ll pull himself together, you’ll see.”

“James? Almost ready?” Karl’s voice echoed distantly from the living room.

James looked around, his eyes wet, his cheeks flushed. He wiped his nose furiously with the back of his hand. “Yeah, Dad, um . . . just a sec.”

He stood up slowly and lifted his jacket from the closet doorknob.

“I don’t get it,” he mumbled, biting his lip. “Why didn’t you come back?”

“Mama,” Marvin cried, “he can’t do this by himself!”

Mama shook her head firmly. “Marvin, we already discussed this.”

“But James is my friend.”

“Darling, he’s a human! He can’t be your friend. You come from different worlds. Why, you can’t even communicate with each other.”

“But we can, Mama! We do! Not by talking . . . but in other ways. And besides, that’s not the only thing that matters.” Marvin groaned in frustration. Why didn’t Mama understand? The most important things in a friendship didn’t have to be said out loud.

James put on his jacket and gazed forlornly around the room. “I know you’d be here if you could,” he whispered into the air. “I hope nothing happened to you.”

“Mama!” Marvin was beside himself. “Look at him!”

The boy picked up his ink set, turning the navy blue pen case over in his hand. Marvin could see the three gold letters on the top. “I can’t draw, not the way you can. I can’t do it by myself.”

Marvin pictured James alone in Christina’s office, faced with the blank paper and the tiny, perfect Dürer drawing. He looked hard at James, at his pale, worried face, the sad slump of his shoulders. He thought back to the disastrous birthday party on Saturday, the loud, indifferent boys, the scolding Mrs. Pompaday who always seemed vaguely irritated by her son.

People like James weren’t treated right by the world, Marvin decided. The quiet ones never were. They were doomed to be jostled, bullied, and overlooked because they didn’t know how to take up space for themselves, to insist on their own share.

And now James was about to lose the one thing that had finally given him the attention he deserved.

No
, thought Marvin. He stared at the boy, sending every ounce of his affection and loyalty pulsing through the air between them.
You’re not alone
, he thought.
You have me
!

As soon as he thought it, Marvin knew it was true. He turned to Mama, suddenly determined.

“Mama, he needs me. I can’t let him down. You and Papa always tell me to be a good friend.”

“Of course we do, darling, but—”

“A good friend is someone you can count on. No matter what.”