Natalie and the Bestest Friend Race (3 page)

Brianna busts up laughing.

“Stop laughing!” I shout. “I can’t believe you don’t even care about your own sister. My bestest friend.”

“And I can’t believe you thought she’d die from dyslexia,” Brianna says. She’s still laughing hard. “You better tell your teacher to bump you down to the dumb group too, Natalie.”

“Laurie’s not dying,” Sarah says. She puts her hand on my hand. It makes my neck not so much chokey. “Dyslexia is a learning disability. That’s all. Mom has it too. Our brains connect sounds and letters different than most people’s brains.” She grins

at Laurie. “But we do have great brains.”

“Maybe Jason has it.” I’m remembering something about my other bestest friend, the one who is a boy. “He turned his
S
backwards before Miss Hines showed him frontwards.”

“I doubt it,” Sarah says. “Lots of kids your age get letters backward and don’t have dyslexia. But it’s different with Laurie. She doesn’t see the letters the same way.”

This does not seem like a fair thing. And right then, right there, I whisper this to God. I hope it doesn’t hurt God’s feelings, but I tell him I don’t like that he let Laurie have ’slexia. And that Brianna calls her dumb. And I wish he hadn’t made that mistake with my friend. That’s what.

Laurie looks even sadder than she did at school.

“Does Miss Hines know?” I ask.

Laurie nods. “She called up my mom first. Then we all met after school last week.”

“You didn’t tell me.” Best friends are supposed to tell everything to each other.

Laurie makes her eyes little at me. “And you can’t tell anybody at school, Nat. Not even Jason.”

“Okay.” Only I still think she should have told me.

“I mean it, Nat,” Laurie says. “I don’t want
anybody to know.”

“Natalie?” Laurie’s mom calls. “Your grandmother is here for you.”

“Granny?” I get up and go to the front door, and there is my granny. “I’ll be right there,” I shout.

I run back to my friend and hug her. There are many things I want to say to her. Only I don’t know what they are.

“Bye,” I say.

“Bye,” she says.

Granny and I walk outside together.

“Where’s Mommy? Why isn’t she here to get me? Is she still at the meeting?”

“No, she’s home.” Granny takes my hand and holds it. I can feel her finger bones. “It’s such a gorgeous day. I wanted to walk over and fetch you myself. You got a problem with that?”

“No.” I watch my feet while we walk and make sure I don’t step on any cracks. I don’t want to break my mommy’s back. I think about Laurie’s mom and that she has ’slexia too. And that makes me sadder.

“What’s the matter, honey?” Granny asks.

My granny can always tell when there’s a matter. Sooner or later, I always end up telling her what that matter is.

So I vote
sooner
. “Granny, Laurie has a terrible
disease.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“I just found out. My bestest friend has ’slexia.”

Granny gets very big in her eyes. “Slexia?”

I want to explain it to my granny. Only I can’t think of the words Sarah used. “That’s when you read backwards and your mom and sister have it too.”

“Do you mean
dyslexia
?” Granny asks.

“Yeah.”

Granny lets out air like she was holding her breath.

“And our teacher moved Laurie to the dumb reading group on account of it.”

“Nat, don’t call it dumb, you hear? And if any of those other kids call it a dumb group, you set them
straight! You know good and well how smart that friend of yours is.”

“That’s what I told her. She shouldn’t be in that…that group Miss Hines moved her to.”

“None of those kids in that group are dumb,” Granny says. “They’re all smart. And they’re all God’s creations.”

“Then why did God give Laurie ’slexia? How come God made that mistake with my best friend?”

Granny stops walking. She stares down at me until I look up at her. Her eyes are not little lines. She is not aggravated. But she has thinking wrinkles on her head, like she’s going to say something really important.

“Natalie 24, God doesn’t make mistakes.”

“But—”

“No sir,” Granny says, not letting me say anything. “That’s where you start. God does not make mistakes. No buts there.”

I think about this. “Okay. Then why does Laurie have it?”

Granny starts us walking again. “Now that’s a harder question.” We walk some more. “I’ve talked this over with God a lot, Nat, why some people are so sick and others can’t walk or talk or maybe do have horrible diseases.”

“What does God say?” I want to know this answer.

“I don’t think we’ll get the whole answer until we’re in heaven and can ask God face-to-face. But I’ve come up with part of an answer.”

Part is more than I’ve got. “Like what?”

“Well, when Adam sinned, the whole earth fell with him. That’s where we get weeds. The garden of Eden didn’t have any before. But now we’ve got weeds, and we’ve got disease, and even dyslexia. So sometimes, things just happen, honey. Weeds grow. Diseases come.”

I know about Adam and Eve being bad in that garden. So this kind of makes sense. Only not so much in my head. “I wish it didn’t happen to Laurie.”

“Laurie will be just fine. You know, she might even end up a better person with dyslexia than she would have been without it. And you might be a better person knowing her, with her having dyslexia. You wouldn’t change your friend, would you? You like Laurie the way she is?”

“She’s my bestest friend in the whole world! I would never change her.”

Granny nods. “And I guarantee you this: God is right there with her, helping her through it.”

Thinking about Jesus sitting beside Laurie, even
when she makes
S
backwards, makes me feel better. Only not all the way. “Granny, I’m not sure I get it all the way,” I admit.

“Well, join the club, Nat. But don’t forget. God gets it all the way. And he doesn’t make mistakes.”

Mommy is in the kitchen putting dinner in the microwave. I run up and hug her hard. On account of it feels like I didn’t see her for so long.

She hugs me back. “How was school today, Nat?”

“First, it was okay. Jason stuck his finger in Ham the Hamster’s cage and acted like he got bit. Only he didn’t. And Miss Hines told him not to cry about wolves. And Anna lost her tooth—this one right here—only hers. Plus, Sasha said she already lost all of her teeth. But then we were birds, only different birds with different homes. And Laurie isn’t a Mockingbird. She’s a Goldfinch, and that made her really sad. Only it’s not a dumb group, on account of she’s so very smart and so are all of God’s creations ’cause God doesn’t make mistakes. Granny said so. Only I didn’t ask her about cockroaches. ’Cause those guys sure don’t look like God did that on purpose.”

I have more stuff about my day, but Mom has to take things out of the microwave and put other things in there. This is how my mom cooks.

Granny goes to her home. Then Daddy comes
home for dinner. And I tell him all the stuff about Laurie. So I only eat about four spaghetties ’cause I’m not allowed to talk with food in my mouth.

“Do you know about ’slexia, Daddy?” I eat a spaghetti while he answers.

“I know what dyslexia is. A buddy of mine in college had it, but he loved reading. He was a good writer too. I think most people work their way around it.”

“Marge told me they were taking Laurie to see someone about it,” Mom says. Marge is Laurie’s mom.

“And you didn’t tell me?” I say. “You should have told me.”

Mom knows Laurie’s my best friend.

Mom is all done with her food. “If Laurie wanted you to know, Natalie, she would have told you.
I
didn’t have the right to tell you. Marge talked to me in confidence.”

I don’t feel like eating. I push my plate away. I still think everybody should have told me.

Daddy and I go outside to play. Sometimes he is a good player.

“Want to race?” he asks.

And that makes my head remember. “Daddy! I forgot the other big news.”

“What news is that?” Mom is coming outside too.

“We’re going to have a Kindergarten Olympics, that’s what!”

“Yeah?” Daddy says.

“Cool,” Mom says. She sits on my swing.

I run over and sit on Laurie’s swing. “Only we’re not supposed to know about it yet.”

“So why
do
you know about it?” Mom asks.

“Sasha’s mother is in charge of the whole thing. And she told Sasha. And Sasha told us. Only really just Laurie. Only I heard. And Sasha said we’re not supposed to tell.”

“When is it, Nat?” Daddy asks. He tosses the ball in the air and swings at it. He misses. But he tries again.

“I don’t know.”

“What events?” Daddy tosses the ball, swings, and hits the ball. He is a good player all by himself.

“I don’t know.”

Mommy and Daddy have other questions about Kindergarten Olympics. Only I am all out of answers.

The next day at kindergarten, I get some of those answers.

“Class!” Miss Hines shouts. “I need you to quiet down. Jason, sit down! Bethany and Kate, no whispering.”

This works pretty good and makes us quiet.

“I have an announcement,” Miss Hines says.

This works even better, on account of we love
’nouncements. They are like surprises you don’t know yet. Only I’m pretty sure I know this one.

I look over at Laurie, but Sasha is talking in Laurie’s ear. And Sasha’s big head is blocking the way.

“As part of the national health program, West Side Elementary will participate in this year’s Kindergarten Olympics!” Miss Hines waits for us to be excited.

We are.

Jason jumps out of his desk and screams, “Yahoo! Me first!”

“Jason, sit down,” Miss Hines says, only not mean.

“My mother is in charge of it,” Sasha says without raising her hand.

“We have several parent volunteers who will be helping out with the different events,” Miss Hines says.

“What events?” Peter asks. He looks more frowny faced than most of the boys in our class. Except for Brandon, who hates outside recess.

“I don’t have the list, but we’ll have relay races, hurdles, and other running events,” Miss Hines explains.

“What if you do not want to run in a race?” Farah asks.

“Yeah,” Brandon agrees.

“What’s the matter, Brandon?” Peter has on his mean teasing voice. “Are you chicken?”

“No talking. Raise your hand if you have a question,” Miss Hines says. “This will be fun, everybody! We’ll divide into teams, and everyone will participate and get an Olympic T-shirt.”

“Teacher! Teacher!” Jason waves his hand like it’s on fire.

“Yes, Jason,” Miss Hines says.

“How do you decide teams? Can we race to pick teams?” Jason stays in his seat, but his legs are running. His shoes are untied. “Or
jump
to pick teams?” He jumps up and crashes down in his seat again.

“We’ll select two team captains, and the captains will choose their teams,” our teacher explains.

Sometimes Laurie and I get out all of my stuffed animals and choose up sides. Only my one-eared rabbit always gets picked last. And that makes him sad.

I really hope my bestest friend, Laurie, and I get on the same team.

“Can I be a captain?” Peter asks.

“Me too!” yell a bunch of kids.

“We’ll draw names for it.” Miss Hines opens her
desk drawer and comes out with a small green plastic bowl. She tips it so we can see the pieces of paper in there. “I’ve written each of your names on a slip of paper and put them all into this bowl.” She shakes the bowl.

“Okay. I’m going to close my eyes.” Our teacher does this. “And I’ll reach in and pull out a name.” She does this too. Then she opens her eyes.

We are not bumbly bees. We are very quiet.

Miss Hines raises her eyebrows, and then reads the name on the paper: “Peter.”

“Yes!” Peter punches the air with both hands. “All right! We’re number one! We’re number one! I am Peter the Great, and we are going to smash the other team and—”

“Sit down and be quiet, Peter,” Miss Hines says in her not-kiddingaround voice, “or I’ll have to choose another captain.”

That does it
for Peter. He sits down on the outside, but I can tell his insides are still cheering.

Miss Hines closes her eyes again and reaches into the bowl. She comes out with another piece of paper. Her smiley face is bigger than before. “Our second team captain is…Laurie.”

I can’t believe this lucky thing! My bestest friend who is a girl is a team captain.

Laurie turns in her desk and sends me her smiley face, right over Sasha’s head.

And I know one big, fat answer. And that is for the question in my head:
Will Laurie and I get to be on the same team?
Now I know that answer:
Yes!