Take Charge (10 page)

“It’s stealing.”

“Shhh … ”

“I’m going to bed,” said Carlie, standing.

“Well, I’m going to watch the rest of the movie.”

So Carlie went upstairs and was just turning to go down the hallway when she heard Leslie and Mrs. Landers talking. They were sitting by the big window that overlooked the city lights. But they couldn’t see her.

“The truth is I feel sorry for Carlie,” said Mrs. Landers. “She and her other little friends live in this pathetic little trailer park on the bad side of town. Everyone there is so poor. And Chelsea told me they have this sad little club. I swear it’s like an ethnic potluck. One girl is black, one is Chinese, and then there’s our little Carlie.” She laughed. “It’s actually rather funny. I mean, to think of where we came from and the kinds of kids that Chelsea is used to being friends with.”

“You sound like a snob,” said Leslie.

“Oh, I don’t mean to,” said Mrs. Landers. “I really do like Carlie. And her aunt has been such a godsend, helping me to get settled into the house and all. But I expect that Chelsea will move on to some more appropriate friends, you know, once school starts …”

“So she’s just using Carlie?”

“Oh, Leslie, you make it sound so cheap and mean.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Carlie already has her friends. Like I said, she has the trailer-park kids. I’m sure she won’t even feel bad when Chelsea moves on.”

“But what if she does?”

“Well, I suppose we could work on Carlie. Help her to make more of herself. She’s a pretty girl. And she seems smart enough. And she does have good manners.”

Leslie laughed. “And perhaps you could groom her into something acceptable.”

“You make me sound like a monster.”

Carlie tiptoed down the hallway to the bedroom that Leslie had given her and Chelsea to share tonight. Blinking back tears, Carlie pulled on her pajamas and climbed into one of the twin beds. But it was a long time before she went to sleep.

“You’re being awfully quiet, Carlie,” said Mrs. Landers as the three of them drove home on Sunday. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine,” said Carlie. “Just worn out, I guess.”

“Yeah,” said Chelsea. “Our little shopathon was too much for the poor girl.”

Carlie rolled her eyes and leaned back into the seat. The sooner she got home, the happier she’d be. She decided to pretend to be sleeping as they drove. To her surprise, she actually fell asleep and had to be awakened in her own driveway.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” said Chelsea. “You’re home.”

Chelsea helped Carlie carry her packages up to the front porch. “Like I said, I’m sorry,” she told her. “I hope you won’t hate me forever.”

“I don’t hate you,” said Carlie. She waved and called out thanks to Mrs. Landers.

“I’ll call you,” said Chelsea.

Carlie nodded then grabbed up her things and went into the house. She wasn’t surprised to find that no one
was home. Her family sometimes went out after mass on Sundays. Sometimes they went to Tia Maria’s house or sometimes just to McDonald’s where Miguel and Pedro could run themselves silly in the play area.

Carlie began putting her new school clothes away. And while she was glad that she was going to get to wear what she wanted this year, she felt like it had lost some of its appeal too. In some ways she would rather be stuck in her girly dresses and long, curly hair than to have been a part of Chelsea’s sort of shopping experience.

She pulled out the blue top from the Gap bag and there — folded right into it — was that beaded blue necklace. The one that she had insisted Chelsea take back. She must’ve sneaked in while Carlie was asleep. No matter, she didn’t have to keep it. She dropped it into her wastebasket and continued to hang up her new clothes.

After she got done, she went outside and watered her flowers. But even their bright cheery faces didn’t make her feel any better. Finally, she decided to head over to the Rainbow Bus to see if any of her friends were around.

“Hey, Carlie,” said Morgan as they met on the trail. “You’re back from the big shopping trip. How did it go?”

And then, without any warning, Carlie began to cry. She was sobbing like a four-year-old, and she was totally embarrassed. She had no idea why she was acting like this, and she was glad that Morgan was the only one
there to see it.

Morgan hugged her, just letting her cry until the tears were gone.

“Want to go down to the beach?” asked Morgan.

Carlie nodded. She really didn’t want Amy or Emily to see her like this.

“What’s wrong?” Morgan asked gently as they walked through the dunes.

“If you promise not to tell, I’ll tell you,” said Carlie.

“You can trust me.”

Somehow Carlie knew she could. And so, as they walked, she told Morgan the whole story, even the part about hearing Chelsea’s mom talking to her friend. “I don’t know why I feel so bad about everything,” she said finally. “It almost sounds kind of silly now.”

“It’s not silly,” Morgan assured her. “I can understand how it would be upsetting to be with a friend who shoplifts. And then hearing Mrs. Landers say those things. And being away from home. I would be upset too, Carlie.”

“You would?” Somehow Carlie found this hard to believe.

“Yep. I would.”

“But you never seem to get upset, Morgan.”

Morgan laughed. “Oh, yes I do.”

“Well, somehow you handle it.”

“It’s not me,” said Morgan.

“Huh?”

“It’s Jesus in me,” she explained. “When I get upset over something, I go to Jesus. I tell him what’s hurting inside of me. And Jesus makes me feel better.”

“Really? You just talk to him like that?”

“Yep. And he understands, Carlie. Because Jesus went through everything while he was here on earth. He knows how it feels to be picked on or disliked or even beaten … and killed.”

Carlie nodded. “I guess I never thought of it like that.”

“Well, you should think about it,” said Morgan. “I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t take all my troubles to Jesus.”

“Do you think Amy or Emily are at the bus now?”

Morgan nodded. “Yeah, maybe we should get back.”

“I will think about what you told me, Morgan.”

“Good.” Morgan laughed now. “Not that I’m trying to get you
saved
. Remember what Chelsea said the other day? The fact is only Jesus can save people. But I don’t mind telling someone about how Jesus helps me get through hard times. I really don’t know how people get by without him.”

“I don’t really want to tell Amy or Emily about any of this,” said Carlie as they turned down the trail to the bus.

“Like I said … you can trust me.”

“Thanks.”

“By the way, great haircut!” Morgan grinned. “You look very chic!”

Emily and Amy liked the haircut too. And both of them seemed genuinely happy to see her.

“You’re getting so sophisticated,” said Amy, pointing to Carlie’s new top. “You might think you’re too cool to hang with us anymore.”

“Ha!” said Carlie. “Don’t worry about that.”

“So what about Chelsea?” asked Amy. “Are we going to invite her to join our club? We never really talked about it on Friday.”

“What do you think, Carlie?” asked Morgan.

“I don’t know … ”

“Why?” said Amy. “Are you going to keep her to yourself?”

“No, that’s not it …”

“Well, I think we should ask her to join,” insisted Amy. “I think we need someone like her to class this place up a little.”

Carlie felt the need to bite her tongue.

“Yeah,” said Emily. “Maybe we should invite her.” She held up her wrist with the bracelet. “That would be the loving thing to do.”

“She might not want to join,” said Carlie.

“Or do you mean you might not want to ask her?” said Amy with a suspicious look.

Carlie looked at Amy now. “Maybe you should ask her, Amy. If you’re so certain that she’d like to join.” But as soon as she said it, she regretted it.

“Okay,” said Amy. “Maybe I will.”

Carlie glanced over at Morgan, hoping she might say something to straighten this mess out. But she didn’t. Instead she just smiled at Carlie and asked if they’d like to have a beading day next week.

Carlie still felt frustrated and confused when she went home. She wished she’d never met Chelsea Landers. But even more, she wished she’d never introduced her friends to Chelsea Landers. It’s like Amy was not going to let it go.

“You’re home,” said Mom as Carlie came in the door. “I didn’t hear a car.”

Carlie told her she’d been home for a while, then Mom suddenly exclaimed over her hair. “Oh, it’s very pretty, mija! I’m surprised to say that I like it.”

Carlie was relieved. And then, since her brothers were napping, she offered to show her mom her things. But she could tell that her mom’s enthusiasm wasn’t totally sincere. Still, she was trying to be a good sport.

“Oh, oh,” said Mom, stooping down by the wastebasket. “You must’ve dropped this, Carlotta. Oh, it’s so pretty. Let me see it on you.”

For her mother’s sake, Carlie tried on the necklace. “Chelsea gave it to me,” she said in a flat tone, holding up
the blue top that it went with.

“Very nice.” Mom nodded with approval. “You are turning into a lovely young lady, Carlotta. I’m proud of you.”

Carlie wondered how proud Mom would be if she knew the truth. How would she feel to know that the necklace around her neck right now was stolen property? Carlie wished she could remember the name of the shop where Chelsea had shoplifted, but she’d been too shocked at the time to even notice. She wished she could put the stupid thing in an envelope and return it with an apology. Instead, she tucked it into her top drawer, determined to get rid of it when Mom wasn’t looking.

The next few days passed uneventfully. Chelsea called several times, but Carlie was either babysitting her brothers or she made up an excuse not to see her.

Finally on Thursday, Chelsea sounded totally fed up. “Look, if you don’t want to be my friend anymore, you should just say so.”

Carlie was so tempted to say so, but instead she said, “I’ve just been really busy.”

“Well, Amy hasn’t been busy,” snapped Chelsea. “She’s called me twice this week. And today she called and invited me to come over there and hang with you guys tomorrow.”

“Oh …”

“But I’m not going to come, Carlie. Not if you don’t want me to come.”

“It’s not that …”

“What is it then?”

“I don’t know …”

“Look, I told you I’m sorry for stealing those necklaces. Can’t you get over it?”

“It just makes me feel bad.”

“Do you still have yours?”

“Well, yes, but I —”

“Sure, you feel bad, but you kept it. What’s up with that?”

“I tried to throw it away, but my mom found it. I was going to throw it away when she wasn’t around. I guess I forgot. I wish I knew the name of the shop where you stole them from. I’d send it back.”

“Would that make you feel better?” she asked hopefully. “If I sent them all back?”

“Yes!” Carlie felt hopeful. “It would.”

“Okay, that’s what I’ll do then.”

“You will?”

“Yes. If it will make you forget about it. I will.”

So they agreed, Chelsea would come over on Friday. She would bring the stolen goods and an envelope and they would write an apology letter and send them back. Carlie hoped that would put an end to this thing, once and for all.

As planned, Chelsea came over, and they wrote a letter and took the package to town to mail from the post office. But even when they were all done, Carlie still felt badly.

“What’s wrong with you?” demanded Chelsea as they went back into the trailer park.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you want from me? Would you be happier if I was caught and sentenced to prison or something?”

“No, that’s silly. I don’t know why —”

Just then Amy called out from her front porch, running out to join them. “Morgan and Emily are already at the clubhouse. We were going to head down to the beach for a while. You know there are only three days of summer vacation left. You guys coming?”

Chelsea glanced at Carlie. “Are we?”

“Sure,” said Carlie without much enthusiasm. “Why not?”

Once again, Carlie loaned Chelsea her favorite swimsuit, and the two of them set off to find the others. Soon they were all down on the beach parked out at their favorite spot and just soaking up the sun. Today, Chelsea had brought her iPod in her purse and she turned on the little speaker so they had music. But for some reason the sound of the tunes only made Carlie feel worse. She closed her eyes and told herself to get over this thing — this whatever it was. Nobody wanted to hang with a girl as gloomy as she
was getting to be. What was wrong with her anyway?

She listened to the other girls talking, and it seemed like Chelsea was actually trying to get along with everyone for a change. Oddly enough, it was Carlie who felt like she’d like to jump on someone. Like Amy, who was going on and on about how she was going to try out for cheerleading as soon as school started.

“That’s crazy,” said Carlie, sitting up. “Why would you have a chance at being a cheerleader? And why would you even want to anyway?”

Amy blinked at her. “Why not?”

“Because it’s stupid.”

“Sounds like somebody got up on the wrong side of bed today,” teased Emily.

“I’m going for a swim,” said Carlie, jumping to her feet and taking off toward the ocean.

“I’m coming too,” called Chelsea.

Carlie ignored her. Mostly she just wanted to be alone. She ran past the low waves out to where the water came to her waist. As usual, it was cold, but she didn’t care. She dove in and began to swim. She swam for a while, not even bothering to look back, not caring whether Chelsea was trying to catch up to her or not. Carlie was a good swimmer. She’d even considered going out for swim team, but then they had moved. Finally, she was starting to get tired, and she turned around and looked back.

Chelsea was about twenty yards behind her, waving frantically. “Come back!” she yelled, “you’re going too far!”

Carlie was surprised to see how far she was from shore. Tired and cold, she began to swim back. But as she swam she noticed she didn’t seem to be getting very far. And that’s when she remembered the tide. Her dad had warned her many times about the tides. He’d told her not to swim too far out on certain days — that she could get caught in the tide and be pulled out to sea.