Anna All Year Round (3 page)

While Mr. Abraham measures Anna, she stares at herself in the mirror. She sees a tall, thin girl with a narrow face and long brown hair. She wonders if someday she'll get prettier. Or will she just get taller?

When he's finished, Mr. Abraham smiles at Anna. "Would you like to look at the pattern books now?"

Anna and Mother go through the books together. They look at page after page of coat patterns. Some are cut full, some narrow. Some have belts, some hang loose. Some are pleated, some are plain. Choosing the one that will look best on Anna is hard work.

At last Anna finds the perfect coat in the
Home Book of Fashions.
Its dropped waist and pleated skirt are very stylish, Anna thinks, and she loves the satin collar, the cuffs, and the matching buttons. It's even prettier than Rosa's coat.

Next Anna and Mother must pick the material from the huge bolts of fabric that Mr. Abraham lays on the table for them to admire. So many colors, so many textures. Does Anna want a solid color, a tweed, a plaid?

Anna picks up a bolt of red wool, the same red as the coat in Hutzler's window, the same red as Rosa's coat. "This is what I want," she tells Mother.

Mother shakes her head. "Red is too bright for you. It will make you pale." She shows Anna a bolt of brown tweed wool. "How about this? Brown is much more practical than red. It will be very smart with dark trim and silver buttons."

Anna shakes her head and clings to the red wool. The practical tweed is drab and boring. It won't look smart with dark trim and silver buttons. It will look ugly. No one will notice Anna in a coat like that. She'll be a plain brown sparrow instead of a gorgeous red cardinal.

Tears well up in Anna's eyes. "Please, Mother," she begs. "Please?"

Mother frowns. "Absolutely not, Anna. Red is a cheap, flashy color. I will not have a daughter of mine sashaying down the street in a common color like red."

But that's exactly what Anna wants—to sashay down the street in a flashy red coat like Rosa's.

Anna shows the bolt to Father. "Isn't this a beautiful color, Father? Don't you love red?"

Father looks at Mother. Mother is still frowning. She shakes her head again, harder this time. "Anna will look terrible in red," she insists. Father looks at Anna. She's crying now. "Red's my favorite color," she sobs, stamping one foot for good measure.

Mr. Abraham makes a little clucking sound with his tongue. "Red and brown aren't the only colors in my shop." He waves his hand at all the other bolts of fabric. "How about this nice forest green?"

He holds the bolt under Anna's chin and smiles. "Just as I thought. It brings out the color of your eyes. Not every girl has eyes as green as yours, Anna."

Mr. Abraham shows Anna her reflection in the mirror. "There. See how pretty you look?"

Anna stops crying. Mr. Abraham is right. The green is even prettier than the red. She turns to Mother hopefully. "Do you like green?"

Mother caresses the brown tweed. Father gives her a little nudge that Anna isn't supposed to see. "It's a nice shade of green," she admits. "Not as practical as the brown but much better than the red."

Mr. Abraham winks at Anna. "What would you think of dark-red velvet for the trim?" he asks. "And those silver buttons your Mother likes so much?"

Anna smiles and nods her head. She wants to hug Mr. Abraham but she's too shy. "Thank you," she whispers instead. "Thank you very much."

***

For another long week, Anna must wear her old coat to school. She keeps her hands in her pockets as much as she can. She ignores the looks Rosa gives her.

At last a parcel wrapped in brown paper and tied tight with string arrives at Anna's door. Inside is Anna's new coat. The green wool is even softer than she remembered. The red velvet trim and silver buttons look very smart indeed.

When Anna wears it to school on Monday, Rosa touches the wool. "Your new coat is pretty," she says. "But it would be even prettier in red. Red's my favorite color."

"Mine, too," Beatrice agrees.

But Charlie says, "You look just like an Irish girl in that green coat, Anna."

Anna smiles at Charlie. She knows a compliment when she hears one.

"Red is all right," she tells Beatrice and Rosa. "But green is
my
favorite color."

ONE DAY ROSA INVITES ANNA TO HER EIGHTH
birthday party. It's the fourth invitation Anna has received this year. In February she went to Beatrice's party. In May she went to Patrick's party. In July she went to Wally's party. Now it's December and she's going to Rosa's party.

Anna shows Mother the invitation. Rosa's name and address, the time, and the date are printed on a pretty flowered card.

Mother wipes her hands on her apron and looks at the invitation. She is making dumplings to serve with the sauerbraten cooking in the oven. Her hands are crusted with flour.

"Oh, dear," Mother says. "Not another party, Anna."

Anna guesses Mother is tired of buying presents. "I can give Rosa a little thimble like the one I gave Beatrice," she says.

"Yes, that's a good idea. Not too expensive." Mother sighs and goes back to her work. "Parents should put an end to these parties," she says. "Such foolishness."

"I wish I could have a party," Anna says softly. She's asked Mother many times but Mother always says no. Birthday parties are too much trouble, they are expensive, they are foolish. Foolish is Mother's favorite word, Anna thinks.

Mother shakes her head. "What have I told you, Anna? It may not bother Mrs. Schuman to allow a tribe of savage children to run through her house, but I refuse to open my door to barbarians. I take pride in my home."

"But Mother—"

"No buts, Anna. My mind is made up. I will have no birthday parties here."

That is that. Anna knows better than to beg or plead or whine. When Mother says no, she means no. Father is no help. He always sides with Mother.

On the day of Rosa's party, Anna wears her best white dress, trimmed with lace and tied below the waist with a wide sash. Mother pulls Anna's hair back and fastens it with a big white ribbon tied in a bow.

"Remember to thank Mrs. Schuman for inviting you, Anna. When you leave, tell her you had a good time." Mother smoothes Anna's skirt and brushes a speck of dust from her sleeve. "And please don't spill anything on your dress," she adds.

Anna walks up the hill to Rosa's house with Charlie. For once his red hair is combed, parted in the middle, and plastered to his head with what seems to be shellac. He wears his best knee-length dark pants and a starched white shirt with a stiff collar. He looks very handsome, Anna thinks, but not very comfortable.

"I hate birthday parties," Charlie grumbles. "If it weren't for the cake and ice cream, I wouldn't go to Rosa's house today."

"The games are fun, too," Anna says.

"Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. Drop-the-clothespin-in-the-bottle." Charlie snorts. "Silly girl games, that's what they are."

Anna wants Charlie to like her as much as she likes him, so she says, "Ybu're right, Charlie. Rollerskating's much more fun, and we don't have to dress up to do it."

Charlie grins at Anna."If my mother would let me have a party, we'd play outside and wear regular clothes. "

He sighs and kicks a stone. "But I'll never have a party," he adds glumly. "Our house is too crowded. There's no room for anybody except us Murphys."

"My mother doesn't approve of birthday parties, so I'll never have one either." Anna kicks a stone, too, just like Charlie did.

"If I was allowed to have a party," she tells Charlie, "we'd have the biggest cake in Baltimore, covered with the sweetest, whitest frosting you ever saw. And mountains of strawberry ice cream. Nobody would get dressed up, either."

By now Anna and Charlie are climbing Rosa's white marble steps. There isn't a speck of dirt on them. Mrs. Schuman has scrubbed and polished them in honor of the birthday party.

Charlie lifts the brass knocker and lets it fall with a nice loud thump. Rosa opens the door so quickly, Anna almost falls into the hallway.

"Happy birthday, Rosa," Anna and Charlie say together.

Rosa grins and snatches her presents. She shakes Anna's little gift and says, "I know what this is. A thimble just like the one you gave Beatrice!"

Anna is disappointed. It's no fun to give a present if the birthday person guesses what it is before she even opens it. Worse yet, Rosa doesn't look excited or pleased. Just bored.

She tosses Anna's gift onto a table piled high with bigger, fancier presents and squeezes Charlie's gift. It's small and flat and not very well wrapped. The bow is lopsided. Charlie must have tied it himself.

"I wonder what this can be," Rosa says, smiling at Charlie.

"I guess you'll find out when you open it," Charlie says and walks away to find Wally and Patrick.

Rosa giggles and pulls Anna aside. "We're going to play spin-the-bottle," she whispers. "When it's my turn, I intend to kiss Charlie Murphy. He's the cutest boy in Baltimore."

Anna frowns. She has never heard of spin-the-bottle but she doesn't admit it. Rosa is the kind of girl who makes fun of people who don't know as much as she does. "I'll kiss Charlie, too," she tells Rosa.

Rosa sticks out her tongue. "Charlie is my boyfriend," she says. "He likes me better than he likes you."

"He does not," Anna says.

"He does too!"

"Doesn't!"

"Does!"

Just as Anna is about to pull Rosa's long blond curls as hard as she can, Mrs. Schuman calls the children in to the parlor to play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. When it's Anna's turn, Mrs. Schuman ties a blindfold over Anna's eyes and puts a paper donkey tail in her hand. The tail has a sharp pin in one end.

Mrs. Schuman turns Anna around once, twice, three times. "Now," she says, "go and pin the tail on the donkey, dear."

Anna takes a small step toward the donkey's picture. Mrs. Schuman has tied the kerchief too loosely. Anna can see out the bottom. She knows exactly where to pin the tail.

Holding the tail before her, Anna walks toward the donkey's picture. Suddenly Rosa steps in front of her, blocking the way. Without hesitating, Anna pins the donkey's tail on Rosa in just the right place.

Rosa shrieks. Anna pretends not to know what has happened. She staggers around the living room, her arms stretched out like a blind person's. "Where's the donkey?" she asks. "Where's the donkey?"

Mrs. Schuman comforts Rosa. She doesn't guess Anna can see through the blindfold. She doesn't blame her. "That's enough of that game," she says, untying the kerchief.

After the cake and ice cream, Rosa opens her presents. She yawns when she sees Anna's pretty silver thimble. She yawns when she sees the drawing pad Wally has given her. She yawns when she sees the colored pencils Patrick has given her. She even yawns when she sees the bottle of cologne Beatrice has given her.

But when she opens Charlie's present, Rosa smiles. "Oh, look, Mother. Isn't this handkerchief the prettiest thing you ever saw?"

Mrs. Schuman smiles and nods. Wally and Patrick make silly sounds and poke Charlie. Charlie scowls at the floor. Beatrice leans close to Rosa so she can admire the handkerchief, too.

The look on Charlie's face tells Anna he doesn't give a hoot whether Rosa likes his gift or not.

When Rosa has opened all her presents, she goes to the kitchen and comes back with an empty milk bottle. First, she tells the children to sit in a circle. Then she says, "I'm going to spin the bottle. When it stops, I get to kiss the person the bottle points to."

"You're not kissing me," Wally says.

"Who says I want to kiss you!" Rosa says, making a face.

Beatrice giggles but Wally jumps up and says he's going home. Before anyone can stop him, he runs out the front door.

Patrick and Charlie look at each other. Anna has a feeling they want to leave, too, but they stay in their places. Maybe their mothers told them it's rude to leave before the party is officially over.

Rosa puts her chubby finger on the bottle and spins it ever so slowly. Anna isn't sure how she does it, but Rosa manages to make the bottle stop when it's pointing right at Charlie. She jumps to her feet and grabs Charlie's arm to stop him from running out of the room.

"I get to kiss you, Charlie!" Rosa says. "I'm the birthday girl and I spun the bottle right at you!"

Charlie scowls again, but he lets Rosa kiss his cheek. Rosa aims a quick glance at Anna as if to say, "I told you he likes me best!"

Anna pretends not to notice the smug look on Rosa's face. Beatrice puts her hand over her mouth to keep herself from giggling but she giggles anyway. Patrick fidgets with his bow tie and inches closer to the door.

Rosa hands Charlie the bottle. "It's your turn to spin it," she says. "If it points at me this time, you get to kiss me!"

Charlie puts the bottle down. Anna ducks her head so she can watch him secretly. He's looking right at her, not at Rosa. Slowly he spins the bottle. When it stops, it's pointing at Anna.

Though this is exactly what Anna hoped would happen, she's suddenly afraid to raise her head. She's never kissed a boy. She sees Charlie's feet come closer. She sees him stop.

"Well, Anna," he says, "are you going to let me kiss you?"

Anna stands up slowly. Charlie leans toward her, a big grin on his face. Very carefully, he kisses Anna's cheek. He smells sweet, like birthday cake and ice cream.

"It's your turn, now." Charlie hands Anna the milk