Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself (9 page)

Next week is Halloween. There’s going to be a parade in Flamingo Park at night. A flamingo is a tall pink bird with skinny legs. Or did you already know that? Anyway, Andrea is going to dress up like one. She’s tall enough!

Mom came up with an idea for my costume. I’m going to be a peanut girl. She is sewing peanuts all over my old green dress. And she’s making me a crown out of cardboard that will have peanuts glued to it. Even my socks have peanuts on them. Mom has two infected fingers from pushing the sewing needle through the peanuts, but don’t worry. Ma Fanny knew just what to do and Mom is soaking her fingers right now
.

I am still blotchy red from the sun, but Douglas is already very tan. The pimples on his chin are clearing up. Mom says the Miami Beach sunshine is really
some
medicine. But she is worried that Douglas isn’t making new friends here. At home he didn’t have that many either so I think she should just leave him alone. He likes to explore by himself. He is also busy inventing a coconut catcher. He wants
to get coconuts off the trees when they are just ripe enough, but before they get rotten. He loves to eat them and drink their milk. I tried one the other day but
yuck
 … I spit the whole thing out. Does that mean I’m not adventurous? I hope not! When you take the shell off a coconut it looks like it has a face. Or did you already know that?

I miss you very, very, very much! I can’t wait until Thanksgiving either. I will give you such a treatment then. Say hello to Aunt Bette and Uncle Jack and Miss Kay and anyone else you think might miss me
.

Your loving daughter
,

Sally F
.

P.S. Jolly Roger is the best game I’ve ever played!

On Sunday mornings, at exactly ten o’clock, Sally, Douglas and Mom went down to the lobby to wait for Daddy’s phone call. The phone was too high on the wall for Sally to reach so she stood on a chair. This was her Sunday to answer.

“Doey-bird!” Sally shouted, when the phone rang and she heard her father’s voice at last.

Douglas hissed, “Will you shut up with that dumb name before everybody hears it.”

Sally motioned for Douglas to shut up himself.

“How’s my little gal?” Daddy asked.

“Fine … but I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

“Last night we went to the movies and nobody wanted to sit next to me because they say I ask too many questions … but if you don’t ask questions then you’ll never learn anything … isn’t that right? And did you hear about Halloween? There was this huge thunderstorm in the middle of the parade and all the lights in the park went out and
you should have heard all the screaming but I wasn’t scared because it was an adventure …”

Douglas muttered under his breath, “Not much …”

“Anyway, Doey … I wasn’t
that
scared … and we got home okay … just all my peanuts got soggy and we had to throw away my whole costume.” She paused for a breath. “And in school the music teacher lets me sing … she even likes the way I sing …”

Douglas mumbled, “Ha ha …”

“Well, she does … not like dumb old Miss Vickers who always made me be in the listener group …”

Douglas tried to grab the phone away but Sally held on and told her father, “Douglas is trying to take the phone from me and I don’t know why because he never even has anything to say and I have a lot to say and listen, Doey … the goldfish in the pool in our courtyard are
so
big … you never saw goldfish
so
big in your life and …”

Douglas grabbed again. “Okay, Douglas! Just one more thing, Doey … my friend Andrea has a cat … I wrote you about him … he’s so soft and he purrs when you pet him and I know he hasn’t got any worms. So will you please tell Mom it’s okay for me to play with him? And what about the bathhouse disease? Oh … well, don’t forget … 
okay, I’ll listen to her … yes, I promise … Douglas is practically
breaking
my arm … I love you too. Here, Douglas,” Sally said, shoving the phone at him. “I hope you have something important to say this time.”

“Hi, Dad …” Douglas said. “I’m okay … they’re okay … it’s okay … yeah, I feel fine … yeah, I’m trying … yeah, I know … yeah … well, here’s Mom …” He passed the phone to his mother.

“Oh, Arnold …” Mom said, sniffling. Douglas went outside. Sally stayed where she was, hoping to hear the rest of the conversation but Mom waved her away, saying, “Go play …”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes … hurry up … outside …”

“Oh, all right!” Sally went outside, in time to catch Douglas, walking his bicycle from the storage room to the street. “Hey, Douglas, wait up …” she called. “I’ll ride with you.”

“No, thanks …”

“Where are you going, anyway?”

“Exploring.”

“Exploring where?”

“All over,” he said and pedalled away.

Sally sat on the edge of the goldfish pool. It was so quiet this morning. Where was everybody? Probably still sleeping. It was going to be hot today, a
real sizzler, as Ma Fanny would say. Later they’d go to the beach. Sally watched a salamander work its way up a bush, changing its color to blend in with its surroundings. Lucky salamander! It would be nice to become invisible like that, sometimes. If she had been able to blend right into the sofa in the lobby she could have listened to Mom talking to Daddy. And what did Mom have to say to him that was so private anyhow? Yes, it would be very nice to be invisible whenever you wanted.

Sally looked into the goldfish pond. I am invisible … I can see you, fish, but you can’t see me … She tossed a pebble at her own reflection and watched as the ripples distorted her face. Invisible … invisible, she thought, closing her eyes.

When she opened them another reflection appeared in the pool, next to hers. She turned around and caught her breath.
Mr. Zavodsky!
He was standing very close to her. Close enough to reach out and touch her. Close enough to push her into the goldfish pool.

“Hello, little girl … you want some candy?”

“No!” Sally jumped up and tore off into the house. She rushed up the stairs and burst into her apartment. “Do you know Mr. Zavodsky?” she asked Mom.

Mom was sitting in the stuffed chair in the corner, one hand covering her eyes. “I know of him
 … why?” She sniffled and took her hand away from her face.

“I don’t like him!” Sally said.

“Why … did he do something to you?” Mom looked concerned.

“He offered me candy.”

“I hope you didn’t take any.” Mom wiped her nose with a Kleenex.

“I didn’t … but one time Andrea did.”

“She should know better.”

“That’s what I told her.”

“Stay away from him,” Mom said, “… and where’s your brother?”

“Out on his bike … exploring …”

“Oh, God … what am I going to do?” Mom asked, her voice breaking.

“About what?” Sally said.

But Mom didn’t answer. She ran to the bathroom.

On Thursday schools were closed because of a teachers’ meeting. Sally went down to the lobby to wait for Shelby, who was coming over for lunch. She wondered if Mr. Zavodsky would be there, with his bag of candy. If he was, she’d have to warn Shelby. She’d tell her he was a dangerous stranger, but no more.

Mr. Zavodsky wasn’t in the lobby but Bubbles
Daniels from next door was, talking on the pay phone. Sally sat down on the sofa. Bubbles had pretty hair, the color of carrots. She was almost seventeen. Sally wound her braid around her finger, thinking, Bubbles is older than Tante Rose when she had Lila.

Bubbles put her hand over the mouthpiece and spoke to Sally. “I’ll just be another minute.”

“That’s okay,” Sally told her, “I’m not waiting for the phone.”

“Oh … then could you possibly go outside?”

“What for?”

“So I can finish my conversation.”

“I don’t mind if you finish.”

“I’d like to finish in
private
,” Bubbles said.

“Oh … why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Sally walked outside. As she did, she heard Bubbles say, “Will I be glad when we finally get a phone upstairs!”

“Everybody’s got secrets these days,” Sally muttered to herself.

Sally met Shelby out front. “I brought my Jolly Roger game,” Shelby said.

“Good.”

They went into the lobby. Bubbles was still on the phone. “Just a minute …” she said into it, giving Sally and Shelby a nasty look. When they were on the stairs, Bubbles went back to her conversation.
“The
children
in this house are driving me crazy!”

“She’s my next door neighbor,” Sally told Shelby.

“Lucky you!” Shelby said.

Sally opened the door to her apartment and called, “Shelby’s here …”

Shelby looked around. “Your place is so pretty!”

“Thanks … you should have seen it before …” Sally had to admit that Mom and Ma Fanny had done a nice job. The apartment was bright and cheerful now, with plants and curtains and plaid slipcovers on the day beds. There were pictures of boats and sunsets hanging on the walls and Ma Fanny’s collection of family snapshots standing on all the small tables. There were twenty-two photographs in silver frames, four of them showing Tante Rose and Lila at different ages. Sally picked up her favorite. “This is Lila, my cousin, once removed. She died in a concentration camp.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Doesn’t she have big eyes?”

“Yes.”

“You can tell she’s happy even though she isn’t really smiling, can’t you?”

Sure.

Sally wanted to grow up to look just like Lila. She hoped her eyes would get bigger and her hair heavier, and that you would know she was smiling even
when her mouth was closed. And then, when she finally parted her lips—what a surprise—a beautifully chipped front tooth, exactly like Miss Swetnick’s.

Sally and Shelby had sour cream and cottage cheese for lunch and for dessert, ladyfingers with grape jelly. After, they played three games of Jolly Roger.

“Would you like to play something else now?” Sally asked.

“Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know … we could play Pretend …”

“Pretend what?”

“Cowgirl or Detective or War … something like that.”

“I wouldn’t mind playing Cowgirl,” Shelby said. “What are the rules?”

“There aren’t any … I make up the story and we play … it’s easy …”

“I don’t know … I’m not very good at games without rules.”

“Well … if you don’t want to …”

“What about marbles?” Shelby said. “I like to shoot marbles.”

“I have a great collection!” Sally said, jumping up. “Wait till I show you my favorite … clear green all over …” She pulled her keepsake box out from under the day bed, opened it, and took out
a small cloth bag. She emptied it on the floor, in front of Shelby.

“Next time I’ll bring my collection over,” Shelby said. “I’ve got one that’s pure black!”

That night Mom took Sally and Douglas to the movies to see
The Farmer’s Daughter
. Even though Sally loved movies she missed seeing them with her father, because without Daddy there was no one to act out scenes with her after the show. And when she asked questions during the movie, Mom and Douglas just said,
shush …

But there were some things in Miami Beach that were better than in New Jersey. One of them was Herschel’s Sweet Shoppe. Mom always took them to Herschel’s after the movies. Herschel knew just how to make Sally’s sundae. She never had to remind him. One scoop of chocolate ice cream, one scoop of vanilla, lots of hot fudge sauce, a great pile of whipped cream and just a touch of cherry juice on top, but not the cherry itself. Herschel got it right every time.

It was Wednesday afternoon and Miss Swetnick was dictating a poem to the class. They would be graded on spelling and handwriting. Sally dipped her stick pen into the inkwell in the corner of her desk. She glanced across the aisle at Barbara. Barbara had the best handwriting in the class. At least Miss Swetnick thought so. She always gave her an E for excellent while Sally never got more than a G for good. She was hoping for an E today. She watched Barbara form her letters and she tried to make hers look the same. Big and round with lots of space between each word. She didn’t worry much about spelling because she never got more than one or at the most two words wrong. Not like Peter Hornstein. He sat behind her and got five or six words wrong every week and since you had to write every misspelled word twenty-five times in the back of your book he never caught up and had to stay after school a lot.