You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown Read online

  He can’t say anything.

  I continue, “Actually, I’m more than just a little nervous . . . I’m scared. Fourth grade . . . . that’s supposed to be pretty hard . . . . and Mr. Cohen’s not going to be my teacher this year. . . . What if my brain is so filled with everything from nursery school, kindergarten, first, second, and third grade that I don’t have room in it to put any new facts? What if I get a desk that wobbles? Or a desk that some dumb kid sat in last year and there’s still some dumb kidness on the desk that’s going to rub off on me?” I can almost hear my father laugh as I say that.

  It even makes me smile . . . . . a little . . . and then I continue, “What if nobody wants to be my best friend? Daddy, I’m really out of practice for making best friends. I haven’t had to do it since preschool—and I didn’t even have to think about it then.”

  Then I give the picture a kiss.

  I can almost taste the cotton candy on his nose. “And Daddy, this is the big news: Mommy is going out with this guy named Max. She started going out with him while I was in England. And I think she really likes him. And she says that he really likes her.”

  I look at the picture of my father.

  He’s still smiling.

  I’m not. “When I got back, Mommy wanted me to meet Max, but I didn’t want to.”

  I think about how I don’t want her to have a boyfriend, not unless it’s my dad. When she told me all about him, I got really upset and I really cried, not make-believe-to-try-to-get-my-own-way tears, but real tears. So then she said that I don’t have to meet him for a while, not unless it gets VERY serious.

  I start talking to the picture of my dad again. “This could get VERY serious, Dad. If you are thinking about coming back to us, you better do it soon. I’m getting worried.

  Max doesn’t even live here. He lives in a whole different town. What if Mommy and Max decide to get married? Then you and Mommy won’t be able to be married. What if they decide to move to his town . . . . . . . . and what if I have to go to a different school?”

  My father says nothing.

  Maybe I should call him and talk to the real person, not just his picture.

  But then I don’t think I could say all of

  this to him really . . . . . or to my mother . . . . or to anyone.

  “How does this look?” My mother walks into my room.

  I close my Dad Book, turn it upside down, and look at her.

  She’s wearing a black skirt, a raspberry-colored blouse, and jewelry.

  Actually, she looks really pretty, but I’m not sure I want to tell her that.

  I sniff the air. “You’ve got a lot of perfume on.”

  Then I scrunch my nose up.

  Actually, she smells good, but I don’t want to tell her that either.

  She adds a black belt to the outfit and looks in my full-length mirror.

  Then she looks at me. “What time is What’s His Face picking you up?” I ask.

  “MAX is picking me up any minute.” She gives me a look.

  “What time will you be home?” I take a strand of hair and start to chew on it.

  “I’m not sure, but, honey, you don’t have to worry. Joanie said that she’ll spend the night. And I’ll be home long before you wake up in the morning.”

  I continue to chew on my hair. “Maybe I won’t go to sleep until you come back.”

  My mother sighs. “It’s going to be very late.”

  “I’ll wait up.”

  She tries to change the subject. “Honey, please don’t chew on your hair. You know how Aunt Pam’s cat, Cheshire, is always coughing up hair balls and leaving them all over the place. I’m afraid that you’re going to start doing that.”

  She points to a corner and teases, “You know, little Amber hair balls everywhere.”

  Even though I think it’s funny, I don’t smile. “I’ll stay awake until you get home. So don’t stay out too late.”

  She looks like she’s going to give me a lecture, but then all she says is, “Okay.”

  I know that she’s sure that I’ll fall asleep, but I won’t.

  I know I won’t.

  Amber can’t wait to be Best Child when her mom and Max get married, but planning a wedding comes with lots of headaches. Amber can’t find the right dress, her dad keeps making mean cracks about Max, and everyone is going crazy over how much things cost. Her mother even suggests they go to city hall and skip the party altogether!

  Justin and his family are supposed to come for the wedding, and Amber has been looking forward to that for months. Adults sure can be a lot of work, but if Amber can make this wedding work, it will all be worth it.

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  You Can’t Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown