Mary Jane by Jessica Blau (debian ebook reader TXT) 📗

we were parked in front of your house.” It was Thursday andI hadn’t seen Beanie since Monday night, when Sheba and Jimmy had driven me home. Driving me home had become a ritual, onethat began with Sheba taking off and Jimmy and me jumping into the moving car. We called it “Doing a Starsky and Hutch.” Shebacritiqued our performance each time. Mary Jane, you should have jumped in deeper! What if I had been going faster? You would have ended up under the back wheels! I took Sheba’s critiques seriously, and put real effort into being a better car-jumper.

We took a different street to avoid Beanie Jones. And we only parked in front of houses whose owners I knew were out of town.Jimmy always lit a joint, and then the three of us sang church songs, with Sheba on melody and Jimmy and me harmonizing—himlow and me high. Turns out that Sheba and Jimmy had both been in their church choirs, Sheba because she liked it, Jimmy becausehis grandmother forced him to. (Of his grandmother, Jimmy had said, “She was a warty old hag who loved Marlboros and Old Crowbourbon almost as much as she loved Jesus.”)

“No need to apologize,” Beanie said. And then she lowered her voice to a whisper and said, “But tell me. That was Sheba andJimmy, wasn’t it?”

Izzy looked up at Beanie with huge, blinking eyes. “NOPE!”

“Uh, it was just some people who looked like them. Old friends of the Cones. They’re gone now.” The words came out so smoothlythat I almost wanted to laugh. The more I lied, the easier it was. And instead of feeling guilty about my lies, I was startingto feel guilty that I didn’t feel so guilty.

“Mary Jane.” Izzy tugged my hand. When I looked at her, she quietly said, “Secret.”

Beanie’s eyes ticked like a cat clock, back and forth. “Huh. Amazing resemblance. Why don’t I bring this cake in? Mr. Jonessuddenly decided he was watching his ‘girlish figure,’ and I thought, with you here all summer, there were enough people inthe house to need an angel food cake.”

“Oh, I’ll put it inside for you.” I took the cake and turned to go. Izzy followed me, and Beanie followed her. There was no one to see; Jimmy and Dr. Cone were in Dr. Cone’s office, and Sheba and Mrs. Cone had gone to the Eastern Shore for the day. They both wore wigs this time, long and blond, like Swedish sisters. Still, I felt a bolt of panic with Beanie in the house.

I put the cake on the kitchen table, then turned to Beanie. “Thank you so much.” I wasn’t sure what to do. How to be good,polite, and kind while still getting Beanie out of here?

“Is Bonnie home?”

“No, she’s gone.”

“And my dad’s in his office with a patience,” Izzy offered.

“A patient,” I said. “We’re on our way to Eddie’s.”

“Oh, I can drive you!” Beanie held up her car keys.

“Thank you so much,” I said. “But we need the walk.”

“We sing,” Izzy said. “And we talk about the witch. And we look at things. Sometimes we play with toys that kids leave outfront. Oh, and we buy Popsicles.”

“How nice,” Beanie said, making no effort to leave.

“Thank you again for the cake.” My voice sounded airy and strange. I took Izzy’s hand and walked toward the hall, hoping Beaniewould follow. Eventually she did.

“Maybe I’ll stop in again later. I’d really like to meet Bonnie,” Beanie said, once we were out the door and on the sidewalk.She took a few steps toward her car, which was white and shiny.

“She’ll be out all day,” I said. “But I’ll tell her you came by.” I smiled real big; my cheeks hurt and my palm started sweatingagainst Izzy’s.

“Bye, Beanie!” Izzy waved with her free hand and tugged me down the sidewalk. My heart was still pounding as Beanie droveby us in the car.

“Let’s cut over,” I said, and we took the parallel street early to avoid Beanie Jones.

“That was scary,” Izzy said.

“Yup. A close call.”

“Can we have that cake for dessert tonight?”

“We sure can. We could add sliced strawberries and whipped cream.”

“Hurrah!” Izzy lifted a tiny fist.

We walked in silence for a minute until we came upon a skateboard sitting alone on a lawn.

“Can I try it?” Izzy asked.

I looked up at the house. No one on the porch. No one in the windows. “Okay, but I have to hold your hands.”

Izzy picked up the skateboard and placed it on the sidewalk. She put one flip-flopped foot on it. I took both of her handsand then she stepped her other foot on. I pushed her up the sidewalk to the edge of the property, then turned around, so shewas backward and I was forward, and pushed her the other way.

We went back and forth like this several times, until my body, mind, and heart calmed. Beanie was gone. Everyone was safe.We’d eat the cake after dinner and then I’d return the glass plate on the way home. I’d have to run up to the porch and leaveit so Sheba and Jimmy wouldn’t be spotted. But I could do that. And Sheba and Jimmy seemed to like the sneaking around, asif it made their lives in Baltimore just a little more thrilling.

Each time we shopped at Eddie’s, Izzy liked to find the ratio of employees to customers. She missed people, but I didn’t point them out. And she often lost count, so I’d make up a number and give it to her. It was as inexact as pulling random numbers from a sack. The ratio that Izzy liked to talk about the most, however, was that of the witch. With Sheba now on our team, that remained three to one.

That day, we did our usual shopping. Izzy knew what to grab: Screaming Yellow Zonkers, Popsicles, and Slim Jims, which Jimmyand Mrs. Cone were eating with equal fervor, alternating a salty bite of Slim Jim with a sweet bite of something else. YesterdayI had tried it