Growing Up in Lancaster County (10 page)

Rachel shrugged. “I’ll get by. I got by before, and I’ll do it again.”

“Don’t be lecherich, Rachel. You have to wear your glasses.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Jah, you do. Mom and Pap would be very upset if they knew you weren’t wearing your glasses.”

Rachel grabbed Jacob’s arm. “Promise you won’t say anything?”

He shook his head. “I can’t promise that. It would be wrong to lie, and you know it.”

“I’m not saying you should lie. Just don’t tell them I’m not wearing my glasses.”

Jacob folded his arms and tapped his foot. “Hmm…I don’t know, Rachel.”

“If you keep quiet, I’ll do one of your chores for a whole week.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

She nodded. “Just name a chore—any chore at all, and I’ll do it.”

“Okay. You can feed and water Buddy.”

Rachel wrinkled her nose. “You know what will happen if I go anywhere near that mangy dog of yours.”

“Okay, forget I mentioned it. I’ll just tell Mom and Pap you put your glasses in your backpack and didn’t wear them at school today.”

“If you do that you’ll be a retschbeddi.”

He shrugged. “So, I’ll be a tattletale. At least I’ll be telling something they should know.”

Rachel rubbed her chin as she thought. If she continued to wear her glasses at school, Orlie and Brian would make fun of her. If she didn’t wear them and Jacob told Mom and Pap, she’d be in big trouble.

“Oh, all right,” she finally agreed. “I’ll feed and water Buddy for one week.”

As Rachel sat behind her school desk that morning, her stomach knotted. Not only had she promised to feed and water Jacob’s flea-bitten mutt, but now that she wasn’t wearing her glasses, she couldn’t see the writing on the blackboard or read her schoolbooks well.

“
Psst
…Audra,” Rachel whispered as she leaned across the aisle. “What do the words on the blackboard say?”

“You’d know what they said if you were wearing your glasses.” Audra wrinkled her nose. “Why aren’t you wearing them?”

Rachel started to respond, but Elizabeth stepped up to her desk. “What’s all the talking about, Rachel?”

“She was asking me what’s written on the blackboard,” Audra said.

Elizabeth looked at Rachel curiously. “Why aren’t you wearing your glasses?”

Rachel bit her lip as she tried to think of how to answer her teacher’s question.

Elizabeth tapped her foot. “I’m waiting, Rachel.”

“Well, I—uh—don’t have my glasses with me today.”

“Why not?”

Rachel swallowed. She knew it was wrong to lie but was afraid to tell the truth. If she told Elizabeth that her glasses were in her backpack, Elizabeth would ask why. Then she’d have to tattle on the boys who had made fun of her.

Elizabeth touched Rachel’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you bring your glasses with you today?”

“I—uh—forgot them.”

“I see. Well, since you’re having a problem seeing the blackboard, I’m going to move your desk close to the front of the room like I did before you got glasses.” Elizabeth pushed Rachel’s desk to the front row.

Rachel followed with her head down. She heard a few snickers from some of the boys and ground her teeth. If she had to sit up front every day, all the scholars would watch her. On the other hand, if she admitted that she’d lied about leaving her glasses at home, she’d be in trouble with Elizabeth and be embarrassed in front of the class.

Rachel bit the end of a fingernail.
Why do I always have so much trouble?

W
hen Rachel headed to school the next day, she stopped near the schoolhouse driveway, took off her glasses, and put them in her backpack.

“I forgot to ask…how’d it go when you fed Buddy last night?” Jacob asked.

“It went fine. He was so hungry he headed straight for his food.” Rachel smiled. “I was surprised he didn’t lick me, not even once.”

“That’s good, I guess.” Jacob leaned close to Rachel. “So how long do you plan to keep taking your glasses off before you get to school?”

She shrugged.

“You’re not gonna do well with your schoolwork if you can’t see.”

“I can see. Some things are blurry, that’s all.”

“Jah, well, Mom and Pap paid good money for those glasses, and you should be wearing them to school.”

Rachel yanked the zipper closed on her backpack. “I might wear them to school if I knew certain people wouldn’t say mean things!”

“Want me to have a talk with Orlie and Brian?”

She shook her head. “They’d probably think I was a retschbeddi who had to ask her older bruder to speak for her.”

“Then speak to them yourself. Wouldn’t that be better than not being able to see clearly and lying about forgetting to bring your glasses to school?”

Rachel thought about that a few seconds. She didn’t feel good about lying, but she didn’t feel good about being made fun of, either. Would it help if she tried talking to Orlie and Brian? If she could get them to stop teasing, she’d be able to wear her glasses at school again.

She glanced across the playground and saw Orlie near the swings, talking to Brian.
Maybe I will try talking to them
, she decided. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Jacob.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I’m going to have a little talk with Orlie and Brian.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“No thanks. I think I should do this on my own.”

“Okay, suit yourself.”

Rachel hurried off. By the time she got to the swings, only Orlie was there. Brian was on the teeter-totter with Audra.

“Hey, Rachel,” Orlie said, “I see you’re not wearing your other set of eyes today. You sure look funny in those glasses.”

Rachel shook her finger. “You should be ashamed of yourself for saying such mean things to me. I used to think you were my friend, but not anymore.”

A smile flickered across Orlie’s face. “Aw, come on, Rachel, don’t take everything so personally.” He brushed past her as the school bell rang. “See you inside, four eyes.”

Rachel grimaced. She’d probably never be able to wear her glasses to school without being teased. She stomped toward the schoolhouse.
I’ll probably be feeding and watering Jacob’s dog until I graduate from school!

“Where are your glasses?” Elizabeth asked when Rachel sat at her desk.

“I—I forgot them again.” Each lie Rachel told seemed to cause another lie, and even though she knew it was wrong, she couldn’t seem to stop.

“You’ll have to sit close to the blackboard then,” Elizabeth said. “And if you keep forgetting your glasses, I’ll have to send a note home to your parents asking that they remind you to wear them to school.”

Rachel gulped. She couldn’t let that happen. She’d have to think of something to keep Mom and Pap from finding out she hadn’t worn her glasses to school for two days, and she’d have to think of it soon!

“Good morning, boys and girls,” Elizabeth said after she’d tapped the bell on her desk.”

“Good morning, Elizabeth,” the scholars replied.

Elizabeth opened her Bible and read a verse of scripture, but Rachel didn’t even hear the words. All she could think about was how miserable she felt, and wondered what to do about her glasses.

When it was time to do her schoolwork, Rachel had to lean close to her book to read. Even then, some words were blurry, and her eyes watered from staring so hard. She was tempted to turn around and ask Phoebe to tell her what some of the words were, but if she did that and Elizabeth saw her, she’d be in trouble again.

Hee-hee
. Rachel heard snickering to her right, and she glanced that way. Brian grinned at her as he made circles with his fingers and then held them in front of his eyes like he was wearing glasses.

Rachel swallowed hard and looked away. She was going to cry if she wasn’t careful.

Brian snickered again, but Rachel refused to look at him.

On the way home from school that day, Rachel waited until they were a safe distance from the schoolhouse. Then she opened her backpack, took out her glasses, and put them on her face. It was a relief to be able to see things clearly again. She wished she felt free to wear her glasses at school.

“What are you going to do when we get home?” Jacob asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t forget about feeding and watering Buddy.”

“I won’t forget.” She groaned. “But I wish I could.”

Jacob poked her arm. “Aw, you’ll get used to it after a while. You might even think it’s kind of fun.”

Rachel glared at him. “I’ll never get used to that mutt’s smelly breath or his slimy tongue slurping my face. He’s nothing but a big hairy mutt!”

Jacob chuckled and sprinted for home.

When Rachel entered their yard, she spotted Grandpa in the garden. He called her over to him. “Let’s go see what Grandpa wants,” Rachel said when she caught up to Jacob.

“You go ahead,” he said. “I’m going to change into my work clothes and help Pap and Henry in the fields.”

“Okay. See you at supper.” Rachel sprinted across the yard to the garden.

“How was your day, Rachel?” Grandpa asked. A smudge of dirt decorated his cheek, and if Rachel hadn’t felt so sad, she might have laughed.

“My day was all right.”

“Just all right?”

She nodded slowly.

“Well, how would you like to help me plant some seeds?”

“Are they vegetable seeds or flower seeds?”

“They’re flower seeds, and when the flowers get big enough, I hope to sell some of them in my greenhouse.” Grandpa’s blue eyes twinkled like fireflies on a hot summer evening, and his bushy gray eyebrows jiggled. “Even though the building’s not up yet, I need to prepare and stock up on things.”

“I guess that’s a good idea,” Rachel said.

“So, would you like to help me?”

“Jah, okay. I’ll plant some seeds.”

“You should run into the house and change out of your school clothes first,” Grandpa said.

She nodded. “I’ll do that right now.”

Rachel scurried into the house. She stopped in the kitchen long enough to tell Mom hello, then rushed upstairs to change out of her school dress. When she came down a few minutes later, she saw a plate of peanut butter cookies on the table.

“Jacob had a few cookies before he went out to the fields,” Mom said. “Would you like to sit at the table and have something to eat?”

She shook her head. “I don’t have time. I’m going to help Grandpa plant some flower seeds.”

“Why don’t you take a few cookies for you and Grandpa?” Mom suggested.

“That’s a good idea. Grandpa might be hungry.” Rachel plucked four cookies off the plate, wrapped them in a napkin, and scooted out the door. Her bare feet tingled as she skipped across the lawn. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad day after all.

“Are you hungry? Mom sent some cookies for us,” Rachel said when she joined Grandpa in the garden.

“That sounds good. I’ve been working hard, and the hurrier I go the behinder I seem to get. Maybe a little break and some tasty cookies will fuel my fire.”

Rachel smiled. Grandpa Schrock always said such funny things. She remembered him saying that he liked to tell one joke every day.

Rachel opened the napkin, gave Grandpa two cookies, and ate the other two. “If you’re tired, why don’t you sit on the porch and rest?” she suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea,” he said. “After I show you what to do, I might sit a few minutes and rest my back.”

“Is your back hurting today?”

“Not really, but it gets a little stiff if I try to do too much.”

“Then you’d better sit.” Rachel patted Grandpa’s hand. “Once you show me what to do, I’m sure I can manage.”

“I’m sure you can, too.” Grandpa smiled. “Are you getting used to your glasses, Rachel?”

“Uh—jah, I guess so.”

“I’ll bet you’re doing better in school now that you can see things more clearly.”

Rachel swallowed.
What would Grandpa think if he knew I’ve been taking my glasses off at school? He’d probably lecture me and tell Mom and Pap
.

“It’ll sure be exciting when we have a greenhouse,” Rachel said.

Grandpa nodded. “I love working with flowers. Every day in my new greenhouse will be exciting for me.”

“I hope I’ll be able to help out.”

“When you’re not doing other things, I’d appreciate the help.” He handed her a packet of seeds. “Are you ready to plant?”

“Jah, sure.”

Grandpa explained which seeds Rachel should plant and where he wanted them planted. “I’ll give you one packet now, and when you finish that, if you still want to help, you can have more.”

“Okay, Grandpa.”

“Guess I’ll head to the porch now and stretch out on a lawn chair for a little while.” Grandpa turned to go but stubbed his bare toe on a rock and yelped.

“Are you okay?” Rachel asked, rushing forward.

“It smarts a bit, but I’ll be all right.” A smile spread across Grandpa’s face. “Do you know what a big toe is best used for?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“It’s a way to locate sharp objects in the dark,” he said with a deep chuckle. “I’ve always been good at stubbing my toe whenever I get out of bed at night.”

Rachel snickered. What a fun-loving grandpa she had. She wished she could feel this happy all the time.