School of Charm (11 page)

We plodded on toward Miss Vernie's house, tired from all that traipsing around. Before we stepped out of the woods, I set my hand on Dana's arm. “I had fun with you guys.”

Those big yellow eyes of hers locked on mine. “That was cool, wasn't it?”

“Really cool,” I said.

We walked up to the back porch, where Miss Vernie was arranging some flowers in a vase. “Hello, girls. You hungry?”

“Yeah,” Karen said. “And you'll never believe what we found! That field with all the dandelions.”

“Karen destroyed most of them,” Dana said, flopping onto a chair.

Karen crossed her arms. “You guys were running around too. And the seeds were going to fly anyway. We just helped them get where they were going a little sooner.”

Miss Vernie smiled. “Can't say that I've ever seen your field.”

“Really? It's right on the way to your pond,” I said. “You have to come check it out. It's incredible!”

I took Miss Vernie by the hand and we led her down the path. But we made it all the way to the pond without spotting that golden glow off in the woods. I scratched my head, wondering how we'd missed it.

“Oh, look!” Miss Vernie said, pointing at the pond. “Lily pads! They weren't there before. How lovely!”

“Do we have to rip them up too?” Dana asked.

“Heavens, no. I'd hate to yank them out after they just showed up. We'll see what they have to say.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“They must have shown up for a reason,” Miss Vernie said. “Everything and everyone does.”

That was good news, but I still wanted to get back to that field. “Let's head for the house. Maybe we'll see the path to the dandelions again.” This time we walked real slow, but we still couldn't find it.

“Darn it,” Karen said. “It was really neat. There were millions of fuzzy dandelions.”

“You could've made a wish, Miss Vernie,” Dana said.

“I don't need a dandelion to make a wish,” Miss Vernie said. She set her hand on my shoulder. “And you don't need a wish to make your dreams come true.”

My skin tingled under her touch, and her pale blue eyes twinkled like they held a million quiet secrets.

 

W
HEN
I
GOT BACK TO
G
RANDMA'S
, M
AMA AND
R
UTHIE
and Charlene were all in the living room, looking at a whole bunch of fancy dresses carefully laid out on the plastic-covered couch. Grandma stood next to them, smiling at the dresses like they were new grandbabies or something.

Mama waved me over. “Chip, come look at my old pageant dresses. Grandma saved them, can you believe it?”

Charlene held up a pale pink one in front of her, running her hands over the shiny material.

“You could use that for the talent portion,” Grandma said. “Go try it on. Cecelia, you try one on too.”

“It won't fit anymore,” Mama said.

“Just zip it up the best you can,” Grandma said.

Mama and Charlene looked at each other and giggled. Then they both snatched up a dress and ran upstairs to change.

“Can I try one on?” I asked Grandma.

Grandma's eyes swept over me. “You're filthy.”

“But . . .” I was about to argue, but then I stopped myself, remembering my promise. I wouldn't want to get one of Mama's beautiful gowns dirty and it probably wouldn't have fit anyway.

Sighing, I nodded. Besides, I wanted to wait until the pageant for my family to see me in my fancy dress. I was going to knock their socks off! That's what Daddy would've said.

Charlene and Mama ran down the stairs, the material of their dresses making a rustling sound. They stood in front of the mirror over Grandma's couch. Charlene wrinkled her nose. “It poufs out like it's from the sixties.” She turned around to inspect herself.

“It
is
from the sixties,” Mama said.

Charlene posed in front of the mirror. “I can't wear this for the pageant.”

“You're right,” Grandma said. “We're going to have to make you another dress for the talent competition if you want a real chance at winning. Something more sophisticated and sleek.”

“What's my talent?” Ruthie asked.

“Being adorable,” Grandma said, pinching Ruthie's cheek.

“There's no talent portion for you, Ruthie,” Mama said, smoothing her hair while Ruthie put her hands on her hips and pouted. “You just have to get onstage and be your cute little self.”

They were grinning at each other, while my stomach twisted. I wanted so bad to tell them I was joining too, but I was going to be patient for once and let this be a surprise, just like I had planned. I walked over and picked up one of the dresses. The material was white and silky, studded with rhinestones in the pattern of little roses. “You wore this, Mama?”

She nodded. “Grandma paid the best seamstress in the county to make these for me.”

Grandma beamed. “You were exquisite in them. Those were good times, Cecelia. And I think we should continue our post-pageant tradition of a special five-course dinner afterward on my good china.”

“A feast fit for a queen!” Mama and Grandma said at the same time, laughing.

“Beef Wellington, French onion soup, strawberry cheesecake—the works,” Grandma said.

Mama clutched her hands in front of her and closed her eyes. “That was my favorite part of the pageants. Our celebrate-like-queens dinner.”

My eyes widened. I loved cheesecake.

“And how about a new tradition?” Grandma asked. “Whoever brings home a crown gets to choose one of my dolls.” She gestured to her doll cabinet.

Ruthie's eyes nearly popped out of her head and she ran over to the cabinet. Charlene squealed and said, “Really?” She stood beside Ruthie while they decided which doll they would choose.

“Mother, that's very kind of you,” Mama said.

Grandma wrapped an arm around Mama's shoulder. “Well, this is an important milestone for the family, passing on the pageant torch to a new generation.”

I looked over at the dolls, chewing on my bottom lip. Was there any chance I could win a crown? And even though I didn't want a china doll, I couldn't chase away the image of Grandma opening her cabinet and telling me to pick one out. But me in a crown? It seemed as likely as snow in July.

 

A
FEW DAYS LATER
,
MISS
V
ERNIE WAS ALL SMILES
when we showed up after lunch. “Did you see that Saturday night, girls?” she asked us as we sat in the wicker chairs on her back deck. “It was amazing.”

I knew what she was talking about. A black woman from some tiny island won Miss Universe. Grandma had sat there in front of the TV just blinking.

Karen nodded. “She looked just like a black Barbie doll.”

Dana's grin was huge. “Did you see her dress, all shiny and gold? She looked like a queen.” Her eyes were wide and bright. “It was like magic.”

“I think we'll have some magical moments of our own at the Miss Dogwood pageant,” Miss Vernie said.

“You do?” I asked.

Those secret-keeping eyes twinkled again. “Indeed, I do.”

The three of us girls looked at each other, and I wondered if they felt the same rush of cool tingles on the back of their necks.

 

A
S THE DAYS FLEW BY
, I
COULDN'T STOP THINKING
about what Miss Vernie had said. Would the pageant be magical? I worked my hardest, practicing the baton, picking flowers, and pulling cattails. And Miss Vernie's gardens were thick and beautiful even though we hadn't had any rain. Grandma's flowers were all dried up. I didn't go back to the creek anymore, because I had pageant work to do.

I still had two charms to lose on my bracelet, but Karen and Dana each had three left, until Karen showed up breathless one morning, running up to us and shaking her wrist. “I lost my ballet slippers!”

We crowded around her on Miss Vernie's back porch to look. “What do you think you learned?” Dana asked.

Karen shrugged. “Maybe it's because I'm getting good at the baton?”

Dana glanced over at my wrist. “And you lost your flower.”

I nodded. “A week or so ago.”

“What did you learn, Brenda?” Miss Vernie asked.

I stared up at the clouds steaming across the sky. “People and ideas can grow on you. Just like a flower grows, you know?”

“Very good. Very good, indeed.” Miss Vernie looked proud.

I leaned against the railing on her porch. “But I don't understand how the bracelet works, Miss Vernie. How does it know when to lose a charm? How does it know when you learn a lesson?”

She shrugged. “How is it that
you
know?”

I studied my bracelet. I wasn't sure, but I did know I had two charms left and no idea what I still had to learn.

 

A
FTER OUR USUAL MORNING ROUTINE, WE GATHERED
for lunch. Karen ran her hand along her cheek. “My skin really does look good after using that clay. See?” She tilted her chin toward us. “My zits are clearing up. Better than Clearasil.”

“You do look lovely.” Miss Vernie nodded.

Then Karen stood up. She pulled on the waist of her shorts. “I've lost some weight too.” She was smiling as she plopped back in her seat and pushed her unfinished plate away. “I even told my stepfather about it when he called me porky.”

“He called you porky?” I asked.

“No, but he said I didn't need second helpings of dessert,” she said. “That's when I showed him my loose shorts.”

“Sounds like you're standing on your own two feet,” Miss Vernie said with a smile.

“Your two feet in two
ballet slippers
,” I offered.

Karen's eyes widened. “You think that's what I learned? I thought I learned something about beauty, but we already lost the mirror. Maybe you're right.” She looked off for a while. “My skin looks as nice as yours in that picture on your piano, Miss Vernie. The one where you look like a movie star.”

Our gazes went to the French doors where you could see her pictures on the big baby grand piano.

“So who is that man in the picture next to you?” Dana asked, which was very strange, because she had yelled at us for asking before.

The man stared out from underneath an army cap. He had Miss Vernie's thin nose and pouty lips.

Miss Vernie took a deep breath. “That's my Charlie.”

We chewed silently, waiting for more of an explanation. Was he her son? A brother? A boyfriend? But she said nothing.

“What happened to him?” Karen asked.

I kicked her under the table.

“Hey,” she yelped, rubbing her leg.

We were all quiet for a while until Miss Vernie finally raised her head. But her eyes were still fixed on the table. “I don't know. I don't know what happened to Charlie. I don't know where he is.”

I opened my mouth to ask how that could be, but then snapped it shut. I figured Miss Vernie would tell us if she wanted to.

Even Karen knew enough not to say anything.

Dana looked at Miss Vernie with big, sad eyes. “I'm sure Miss Vernie would appreciate a break from the three of us so she can have some quiet time to herself. Let's go back to the pond.”

We hadn't worked there in a few days, and the idea snapped us out of our funk.

“Okay,” I said, trying not to sound too excited.

“Yes!” Karen shouted. “More mud. Can we have more plastic containers, please?”

Miss Vernie hurried to the kitchen, back to her usual smiling self.

It took a little while to get into our groove but we worked through the afternoon, silent and smooth like a machine. After a few hours, we'd cleared another twenty feet. We had finished half the pond. It was hard work in the hot sun, but it felt good. We collapsed on the shore, dangling our feet in the water. I grabbed another handful of mud to smear on my face.

“Good idea,” Karen said.

I was hoping Dana would pick some up too, so we could all be the same. But she just closed her eyes and basked in the sun, twining a piece of marsh grass around her finger. “I've still got three charms left.”

“Guess you've got a lot to learn,” I said.

“You don't know anything about me,” she said quietly.

“But I'd like to.”

Dana thought about this for a moment and nodded. Then she got up and packed her things. “I've got a lot of chores to do at home. See you guys tomorrow.”

We watched her walk away.

Karen examined her bracelet. “I sure hope these charms teach us something that'll help us at the pageant. It's getting close.”

She was right. Even after all this time at Miss Vernie's, I knew nothing about getting onstage and acting like a beauty queen. And how was ripping cattails out of a pond going to help? If this pageant didn't bring me closer to my family, I didn't know what would. Chip was gone and I wasn't sure who I was becoming.

chapter fourteen

M
ISS
V
ERNIE SET US TO WORK WEEDING ANOTHER
garden the next morning. We were busy pulling out clover and thick, creeping ivy that must have popped up overnight. We had just cleared out that garden two days before. Now that I wanted to surprise my family and show them I was a pageant girl too, I wanted real lessons that would help me. But I had promised to do whatever she asked back when I joined the school, so it felt wrong to grumble about it.

After working for a while, Miss Vernie checked on us. “Girls, we need to go back into town today. I have to buy some supplies and I'd like to give you a treat for your hard work.”

We stopped weeding. The tips of my fingers were stained green.

“What kind of treat?” Karen asked. “Ice cream?” She licked her lips.

“I'm going to drop you off at the movie show while I do my errands.”

“Cool!
Star Wars
is playing. Everyone says it's amazing. I haven't seen it yet, have you?” Karen asked me.

“No,” I said. I hadn't been to the movies in months, and I didn't want to see some spaceship movie. But
Star Wars
was playing at the matinee, so that was our movie.

Miss Vernie paid the dollar and fifty cents for our tickets and bought us popcorn and sodas too. She looked at her watch. “I'll meet you here in two hours. Have a wonderful time.” She waved good-bye and we handed our tickets to the usher.

We walked into the cool, dark theater. That in itself was a nice treat from the steamy day. I never imagined summer in the South would be so hot. We walked down the aisle, looking for a seat. There were plenty to choose from on a Tuesday afternoon.

“Dana, what are you doing, girl? Where you been this summer?” Two black girls stood up from their seats and looked at her.

She bent her head to take a long drink from her straw. “I've been busy.” She didn't look at them.

“Doing what? Babysitting for some white family?” one of the girls asked with a little laugh.

Dana didn't say anything.

The other girl patted the seat next to her. “Sit by us. Those girls are big enough to take care of themselves.”

Dana's eyes flashed over at us and then back at the girls. “Naw, I'm good. I'll see you guys later.” And she led us down the aisle away from the girls' whispers.

“It's okay if you want to sit with your friends,” Karen said quietly, eating her popcorn one piece at a time.

“Yeah, it's dark. We wouldn't even know you were gone.”

Dana looked down her nose at me. “You don't want me sitting with you?” Her amber eyes glowed in the dim theater.

If there was a wrong thing to say to her, it always seemed to land in my mouth, just like a hornet lands on your Popsicle right when you set it down. “No, I just don't want you to feel like you have to sit with us if you'd rather sit with your friends.”

“I said I'm fine where I am.”

We were quiet then, waiting for the movie. I dropped my box of popcorn when
Star Wars
started—with that music and those stars shooting past me like I was out there in space too. The three of us laughed and cringed and dropped our jaws all at the same places. Karen offered me some of her popcorn and we drained our big sodas. We stood up and cheered when Luke blew up the Death Star and we kept clapping after the movie ended.

“That was great,” Karen said as we stayed in our seats, watching the credits roll. I didn't want to leave. I closed my eyes and imagined myself flying through the stars at light speed. Then I frowned, remembering the night at the dinner table when I'd told Grandma what Miss Vernie had said about women joining the space program. Grandma got all mad.

“Women don't have the same opportunities as men,” she'd said. “Women will never fly in space.” And that had been the end of the conversation

“What's wrong?” Karen asked, noticing my frown.

“It was a cool movie,” I said. “But why didn't Princess Leia get to fly the ship or blow anything up? Most of the time they were just rescuing her.”

“But she was a princess. And she was funny. Bossy too. Man, Luke and Han are such foxes,” Karen said with a sigh. “Of course she was waiting around for them to rescue her. That's what I would do.”

“Come on, Miss Vernie's waiting for us,” Dana said. We got up and crunched across spilled popcorn and sticky soda.

Miss Vernie clutched a few bags and scanned the lobby. She smiled when she spotted us exiting the theater doors. “How was it, girls? Did you have a good time together?”

“It was great!” Karen pumped her arm in the air.

“Real nice, ma'am. Thank you,” said Dana.

“Hey! You lost a charm.” I pointed to Dana's bracelet.

“The ballet slippers,” Karen said. “What did you learn? Wait, let's think.” Karen tapped a finger against her chin. “You had to do a little tap dancing when your friends wanted you to sit with them.” Karen shuffled her feet in a quick dance.

“What's this?” Miss Vernie asked.

“Some of Dana's friends thought she should be sitting with them instead of us,” Karen said.

“Oh, so what did you do, dear?”

“I sat with my charm school friends,” Dana said, a tiny smile curling up the corners of her lips.

“Sounds like you stood up for what you believe in. On your own two feet, if you will.” Miss Vernie winked at Dana.

Dana looked up at Miss Vernie and smiled.

Was that what would happen for me too?

Karen chattered on about the movie as we walked toward Miss Vernie's car. “It was the best movie ever! Well, Chip didn't like that Princess Leia didn't get to drive any of the spaceships. But it's not like there are any girl astronauts. That's for boys,” Karen said.

I jabbed Karen with my elbow. “Shhh!” I hissed. What a blabbermouth. That should be her talent for Junior Miss Dogwood.

“Why wouldn't a woman fly a spaceship?” Miss Vernie asked as we loaded ourselves into her car. “I just read in the paper that they're accepting applications at NASA for the space shuttle program. Remember how I told you they were testing it? I bet there'll be women in that class.”

“No way,” Karen said, shaking her head.

“Maybe someday our Chip will be the first-ever female astronaut.” Miss Vernie studied me in the rearview mirror. Her bony fingers gripped the steering wheel.

“I couldn't do something like that,” I said. But a little voice whispered in my head,
Then why do you think you can be in the pageant?
I shook my head to get rid of the thought. “What did you do while we were at the movies?”

“I had to get some new makeup for my contestants.”

I scrunched my nose because I had never worn makeup before, but then I reminded myself that I'd never covered my face in mud before either, and that had been fine.

We drove home the rest of the way in silence while my mind twirled with images of speeding stars and sparkly tiaras.