The Gift-Giver (3 page)

"The twins."

"We ain't really friends. We just acquaintances."

He started looking around the schoolyard. "I wonder if Sherman is in school today."

"Who cares?" I said.

"Russell, Yellow Bird—everybody cares."

"He didn't care enough about us to show up for the game."

"Maybe he's sick."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

He looked around and saw Russell and them in the yard. "I'll see you later, Doris."

Soon as he left I felt a little bad about the way I talked to him, but he didn't act like he was insulted.

It was good I didn't have them twin friends anymore. That day was the first time all year I didn't get in trouble for talking in class.

Everybody else was still excited about the game. Mickey and Dotty got a pass to the bathroom and stayed an hour.

Russell autographed basketballs instead of copying notes off the board.

Yellow Bird came flying in the room playing basketball with big wads of paper. Of course, Amir behaved.

And Sherman still wasn't back.

We went to the yard at lunchtime. There was a whole crowd of kids around Bird and Russell.

"Hey, Bird, play some ball with us after school."

"Russell, you made some nice moves yesterday."

"Bird, you got to show me some of that."

"Come around the block after school."

And that Mickey and Dotty was twitching and dancing around Bird and Russell too.

People sure is phony, I thought. They used to laugh in Bird's face and behind Big Russell's back, now they was all over them.

Suddenly someone yelled, "Hey, there goes Sherman."

"Sherman!" Russell shouted.

Sherman just looked in the yard and then turned around and ran. Everybody ran out the yard calling him. Amir was the only boy who stayed. He sat down on the school steps and I walked over to him.

"How come you didn't run after Sherman too?" I asked.

"Sherman don't want to talk to no one."

"How you know?"

"I could tell. He didn't run 'cause he was scared. He just don't want to be bothered."

I sat down next to Amir. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I told you that boy just don't care about nobody. I knew he wasn't sick."

"Maybe he's in trouble."

"He just playing hookey and acting crazy," I said.

Amir didn't say nothing else. He just looked real quiet and serious.

"Hey, Amir, how come you ... I mean, why did you ... How come you don't act like you just moved here?"

He looked at me a long time and I felt kind of stupid. Then he smiled a little. "I'm used to moving to different schools. And new neighborhoods."

"How come you just followed Sherman and them to the park the other day? You know they was going to bother you."

He shrugged his shoulders. "They would bother me more if I ran home scared. It's better to face it and get it over with. Now we friends. You ever move to a new block or a new school?"

"Nope. I been living on 163rd Street all my life."

I was sorry when the bell rang to go back in. I saw Russell and them running back to the school. I wondered if they caught up with Sherman.

When we got out of school that afternoon Mickey and Dotty ignored me and I ignored them. Russell and the other boys disappeared before I could ask them about Sherman. I walked real slow hoping I might see Amir, but he was gone too.

Just as I started going into my building I heard him calling me.

"Doris, I was looking for you. Where you went so fast after school?"

Here I was walking like a turtle so I could see him and he's talking about where I went so fast.

"I heard that Sherman's family moved," he said.

"Russell and them talked to him?"

"No, they didn't catch up to him. Lavinia told me."

Lavinia is the most gossipy girl in our class.

"How she know?" I asked.

"She said that's what she heard."

"She always hearing something. How come he ain't tell nobody good-bye?"

"That's what I asked her."

"I saw his grandmother yesterday," I said.

"Did she say good-bye?"

"That mean old woman never talks to no one."

Amir sat on the bannister. "You going upstairs now?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll see you tomorrow then." He left the stoop and ran toward the playground.

At least he didn't act like I was a freak because I had to go in the house.

As I ran up the stairs to my apartment I thought about Sherman. He had about eight brothers and sisters. There was so many of them that you always saw somebody from that family. But come to think of it, I hadn't seen none of them for the past two days. I only saw his grandmother, and like I said before, she never talks.

Next day at lunchtime I heard five different rumors about Sherman. I wondered whether Lavinia started all of them.

One boy said Sherman was sent to reform school. A girl in class 6-1 said he was just playing hookey.

Another girl said she heard he was scared Big Russell would beat him up for missing the game. I guess Big Russell started that rumor.

Another boy said he heard Sherman was suspended from school, but he didn't know why.

Me and Mickey and Dotty still wasn't talking to each
other, even though we was standing around in the schoolyard listening to the same rumors. I noticed that this day the twins wasn't dressed exactly alike.

Suddenly Dotty goes over to some little fourth graders and starts jumping double-dutch with them.

Then Amir says that maybe we should go to Sherman's house and find out what really happened.

Mickey says, "Yeah. That's what we should do." Then she looks at me. I made believe I didn't see her and turned to Amir.

"No one goes to his house," I said.

"That's right. His grandmother hates kids. And they can't have no company," Mickey said. She looked at me again like she was talking to me. I looked back at her, but I really didn't want to.

"Yeah. No one goes there," I said.

The bell rang and I walked back to the building. Mickey followed me. Dotty was still jumping double-dutch like a little nut.

"That's really something about Sherman," she said.

"No one knows what happened." I walked real fast, but she kept following me.

"You think he afraid of Big Russell?" she asked in a little whiney voice.

"Girl, you crazy. Sherman could beat that fat Russell into a Virginia ham," I said.

We laughed so hard we couldn't stop. When we got to the room Mrs. Brown made up her face right away.

"Shut up that racket. You've been so good for the past two days, Doris. Don't spoil it."

School was long and hot and boring that afternoon. But everytime me and Mickey looked over at Russell we had to cover our mouths to keep from laughing.

Then Mrs. Brown called Russell up to the board. Mickey drew a picture of a big ham and showed it to me. We tried not to laugh out loud. But we couldn't help it. Me and Mickey exploded. We was all doubled over laughing and crying.

Mrs. Brown stopped her lesson. "Mickey and Doris, go and stand in the hall until you control yourselves."

We went outside. When we looked at each other we started laughing. I guess you could say we was friends again.

After school Mickey and Dotty headed for the playground and I went home.

For the rest of the week all we heard was these stories about Sherman. By the time the weekend came I was off punishment, but it didn't matter 'cause it rained all weekend. I still had to stay in the house because of the rain, so I didn't hear any news about Sherman.

On Monday morning me and Mickey and Dotty took the shortcut through the playground to school. As we passed the swings we saw Sherman sitting by himself on a bench. Before we could say hello, he just got up and ran. "What's wrong with him?" Mickey said.

"That boy is going crazy. Running from us like he's scared."

I told Amir and Big Russell when we was all walking back home from school what happened. Russell said, "That's what he did last week. And I saw him this morning too and he did the same thing to me. Guess he scared I'm going to get him for missing the game."

I said to myself, You know good and well Sherman ain't afraid of you.

"Something must've happened to him," Amir said.

"Like what? He just afraid, that's all," Russell answered.

"Is he afraid of me and Mickey and Dotty too? He ran from us."

Russell looked at me. "As ugly as you girls is, who wouldn't run from you?"

All the boys started laughing. Sometimes I hated Big Russell. He was so mean. Amir was the only boy who didn't laugh.

Dotty put her hands on her hips and stuck out her mouth. "You a big, fat hog, Big Hocks."

She flew down the street and me and Mickey went right behind her.

When we got to Mickey and Dotty's stoop I said, "Dotty, why you say that to him? Now he's going to bother us all week long."

Russell never hit girls, but he'd tease you, pull on you and embarrass you in front of everybody. We was in for a miserable week. I sat on Mickey and Dotty's stoop. "Now I can't even go back home until Russell leave my stoop."

"We going upstairs now," Mickey said.

"See how dirty y'all are? I got to go back over to my building with that Big Russell on the stoop and you and Dotty is safe in your house."

"Big Russell ain't gonna bother you. See you later."

Dotty just kept popping her gum and acting like she didn't even care. Sometimes I think that girl ain't got sense enough to be afraid of nobody. Not even Big Russell.

When they left I heard someone from down in the basement calling my name. I looked over the railing and saw Sherman sitting outside the basement door on a box.

"What you doing down there?"

"Shush. I don't want no one to know I'm here."

"Why you been running from people?"

"I don't want no one to know my business."

"What business?"

I ran away.

"You ain't go far. Your family is in the next building."

"I ain't run from there. I ain't got no more family. They broke us up."

"What're you talking about? They who?"

"The authorities. They say my grandma too old to take care of us, so they put us in different homes."

"You mean with other people in your family?"

"No, with strangers. In a foster home."

"Foster home? Where your brothers and sisters?"

"We all in different homes."

I never heard about things like foster homes before. "Where's your mother and father?"

"I ain't got none." He looked like he was gonna cry so I didn't say nothing else. I thought everyone had a mother and father.

"I ran away from the foster home. I hate it. Nobody can make me stay there."

"Why don't you go back to your grandma?"

"'Cause that's the first place they'll look for me. Don't tell no one what I told you. Can you get me some food?"

"Where you sleeping?"

"In the basement. That old super so drunk most of the time he don't even know I'm here."

"But it's nasty down there."

"I know. But I ain't going back to that foster home. I can make it on my own. Could you get me some food? And don't tell nobody. Especially them old simple twins you hang out with."

"Okay," I said. "I'll try to get you something. But it's gonna be hard sneaking food out my mother's house."

"You can do it. You ain't dumb. But don't tell no one. Not even Big Russell."

I felt very sorry for Sherman. I never heard of no one being taken away from their family. I always thought Sherman's mother and father just lived somewhere else.

Sherman went back in the basement. I looked over to my stoop. Big Russell, Amir and some other boys was still there. I knew Russell was gonna bother me because of Dotty. But I figured I'd be like Amir and just face what was coming.

When I got to the stoop Big Russell says, "Look at Long Tall Sally. You better tell that little tack-head Dotty I'm gonna get her for what she said."

I ignored him and went upstairs. Mama was in the kitchen like always. "I was just getting ready to call you in," she said. There was no way I could sneak food out. I sat at the table.

"Ma, down in the basement at 130 there's a cat just had kittens. They hungry."

"You always messing with some stray animals. You can't bring no cats in here."

"I just want to feed them."

"We ain't got no cat food."

"Give me a sandwich then."

"If you don't get out of here with your nonsense. Here, take a bowl of milk." She put some milk in an old plastic bowl.

"Can I have some crackers?"

"Crackers? You just want them crackers for yourself. You ain't even had dinner yet."

"No, Ma, it's for the cats. You know them old alley cats eat anything."

"Just hurry back from them cats. We can hardly afford to feed ourselves."

She turned to the stove and I grabbed some crackers and an orange. She'd fuss if she saw me, but she was always giving somebody food. One time Mrs. Grant, our neighbor with five children, asked her for two slices of bread and she gave her the whole loaf. My father got mad about that.

When I got outside all the other boys was gone and only Amir was there. "Where you going?" he asked.

"To feed some cats."

"I'll walk you."

"I don't want no company."

"What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing."

"Where's the cats?" he asked.

I know I promised Sherman I wouldn't say nothing, but I couldn't help telling Amir. Somehow it seemed okay to tell him. I'm good at keeping secrets. That's why everybody tells me the gossip, 'cause all I do is listen.

"Amir, can you keep a secret?"

He smiled and nodded his head. We walked over to the basement. When Sherman saw him he yelled, "You big-mouth thing. I knew I shouldn't trust a girl. Why you bring him here?"

"It's okay," I said. "Amir ain't gonna say nothing."

Sherman looked like he wanted to cry. "Why you bring me milk in a bowl? I ain't no cat."

"That's what I told my mother you was."

Amir said, "Sherman, I'll get you a blanket."