The Newsy News Newsletter (7 page)

"We have to walk directly there and directly back," Nikki says when she returns.

"Yeah, that's what Auntie Dee said, too."

They start toward Maynard and Mr. Delvecchio's market. Just as they are passing Antonia's house, the door opens and out comes Antonia's mother, her arms loaded with stuffed animals. She puts them in the trunk of her car, slams it closed, and gets in the driver's seat. She starts up the car and drives off, not looking at them once.

"I know why Antonia hasn't been at school," Deja says excitedly.

"How do you know?"

"Don't you get it?" Deja asks. "Didn't you see what she just did?"

"She put some stuffed animals in her trunk and drove away."

"Right. She and Antonia have moved. She probably has to get those so Antonia will feel at home at their new place. Where she and Antonia live now."

Nikki thinks about this.

Deja goes on. "And now only Antonia's father lives there. That's why Antonia hasn't been at school. She's moved away."

This kind of makes sense to Nikki, but there is just one question. "Why do they live somewhere else?"

"Because they had a big fight and Antonia's mother is mad and Antonia is on her mother's side."

"Antonia's parents had a big fight?" This
makes Nikki feel uneasy. She immediately thinks of her own parents.

"A really big fight," Deja says with certainty.

They walk back home in silence—a serious silence—but with a bag of hot chips from Mr. D's market between them.

"We'll see if she comes to school tomorrow," Deja says.

The next morning, they take their seats and watch the door of their classroom as each straggler walks in. Ralph is tardy as usual and is looking sheepish. He always ducks his head as he enters late. Then there is Ayanna coming in with a tardy slip extended toward Ms. Shelby. She's usually not late. "Where's your tardy slip, Ralph?" Ms. Shelby asks. He makes a U-turn back out the door. After a few moments, Nikki and Deja look at each other. No Antonia. This is news.

As soon as the class is let out at recess, they make a beeline for the outdoor lunch benches. Those with snacks are confined to that area during recess.

"Let's add Antonia to our list," Deja says. "Take out your pad."

"What list?" Nikki asks, but takes out her pad anyway.

"For our newsletter. We're going to put Antonia in it."

As soon as they get home, Nikki makes an appearance at her house and then runs over to Deja's. They have work to do. First, they start with their headlines.

SNEAKY THIEF IN ROOM TEN!
BUG PROBLEM AT THE DENVERS'
NEW SCHOOL FOR ANTONIA
MISS IDA VISITS NIECE
(Deja heard this from Auntie Dee.)
STILL NO SKATEBOARDING FOR DARNELL
OVERPRICED FOOD AT SIMPLY
DELICIOUS HEALTH FOOD STORE
(Again, overheard from Auntie Dee.)
GREASY FOOD AT PUERTO NUEVO

(Yet another item Deja overheard when Auntie Dee was on the phone with her friend Phoebe.)

Deja looks over her headlines with a smile. She was the one who came up with them. Nikki is glad that Deja remembered a couple of choice items from Auntie Dee's telephone conversations with Phoebe to fill up the last part of the second page.

They work until almost dinnertime, then print out a copy. Nikki looks it over and finds the typos and misspellings. Once Deja makes the corrections, she prints out the rest of the copies
in color. Auntie had replaced the color ink after puzzling over how fast it had been used up.

"Auntie Dee," Deja says from the kitchen doorway. Auntie is chopping zucchini for a vegetable casserole.

"What, honeybunch?"

"Can we go out and deliver our newsletter? Just on this block," Deja adds quickly.

"Newsletter?" Auntie asks.

"Me and Nikki made a newsletter for our block. Can we go out and deliver it? Just on this block?"

"I guess so," Auntie says slowly, as if she isn't all the way sure, but she doesn't know why.

Nikki and Deja dash out before she can change her mind.

"We did it!" Deja says when they reach the walkway. She gives Nikki half of the newsletters. "I'm taking that side this time," Deja announces. Nikki suspects that Deja wants a chance at one of Phoebe's freshly baked brownies.

It doesn't take long. People know about the newsletter already. Those who weren't home the week before can finally make sense of the strange subscription form they'd found in their mailboxes. They are happy to buy the latest issue for a quarter.

Deja and Nikki meet up on Nikki's porch in record time. "We did it," they can't help saying again—at the same time. They slap palms.

On Monday, as soon as they finish writing about their weekends in their morning journals, Ms. Shelby has an announcement to make.

"I feel so negligent," Ms. Shelby says. "I just learned that your classmate Antonia had an appendicitis attack and had to have an operation. She's home now and doing okay, but we really should make get-well cards for her." She turns to the kidney table to begin moving things out of the way so she can call up the slow readers.

"Oh yes, one more thing," she says over her shoulder. "I'm happy to say that Mrs. Broadie, in the cafeteria, found Ayanna's envelope of book money under a lunch table on Friday." She looks over at Ayanna. "You can pick it up in the office at recess, Ayanna." Ayanna grins happily.

Deja closes her mouth, which had been hanging open, and looks at Nikki. Nikki looks at her at the same time. She thinks of the paragraph they put in the newsletter about Antonia.

Antonia Barkley has moved to a new neighborhood and a new school, leaving behind her trampoline and tetherball built into the ground that she's told us about so many times. She's moved with her mother. But her father still lives at their old house. Maybe a new family will move into her split level house after her father moves out. No one knows where she moved to. If we find out, we'll print that information in our next newsletter.

Then Nikki thinks of the one about Calvin:

Thief strikes again! Ayanna Ford of Room Ten had her book money stolen this week. Everyone and all their stuff was searched. But the thief was tricky. He was able to hide the money probably at recess. The prime suspect has to be someone who has taken stuff from other people before. We don't want to accuse someone falsely, but prime suspects initials are C.V. We hope he gives the money back.

Uh-oh.
Nikki swallows hard. She doesn't even want to think about how much trouble she and Deja are going to get into. She pictures her mother's wagging finger in her face. She sees Deja's aunt with her hands on her hips and her foot tapping while she waits for Deja to explain herself. What are they going to do?

"We're in for it," Nikki says at recess. She feels her lip quiver a little bit. "People are going to think we just made everything up."

"No, they won't," says Deja. "We'll just put the right information in the next newsletter. It'll be fine." Deja no longer seems very concerned. She looks like she is already scouting the yard for what she feels like playing.

After lunch, Ms. Shelby has them make get-well cards. It is fun, actually. It is always a special treat to have an unexpected art activity that cuts into instruction time. Plus, it is P.E. day. Math is cut down to only thirty minutes, which Nikki knows suits Deja just fine.

***

Nikki is still feeling a bit worried as she and Deja walk home from school.

"Let's do homework at my house," Deja says. "Auntie's home early today. We've got leftover pizza, and Auntie Dee lets me use the microwave, so we can eat pizza before we do our homework."

"Okay," Nikki says. Her mouth is already watering. "But I have to check in at my house first. I'll be right back."

Deja goes into her own house through the side door that leads into the kitchen. Nikki is back just as she's putting the plate with two slices on it into the microwave. Nikki watches with Deja as it goes around and around on the carousel. While they wait, Deja hums a little tune. Then, as if she just remembered, she goes to the sink to wash her hands.

"Here," Deja says, putting Nikki's slice on a paper towel.

"I'm really hungry," Nikki says.

Deja puts her own slice on a paper towel, then gets back to her tune while she carries it to the table.

"When we're done eating, let's play jacks," Nikki says. "On your porch. We haven't played in a while." Jacks is a game Auntie Dee insisted on teaching Nikki and Deja. They're the only two girls at school who know how to play.

"Okay by me," Deja agrees.

They are just about to dig in when Auntie Dee appears in the doorway. She has their newsletter in her hand, and her head is cocked strangely to the side. She isn't saying anything. She's just staring at Deja with an angry face.

"What have you girls done?" she says finally.

"Our newsletter?" Deja's voice is strong on the word "our," but "newsletter" comes out in a near whisper.

"Where'd you get this—this
news?
"

Deja doesn't answer. Nikki thinks there's something in her auntie's voice that's making her be super careful.

"We just got it from all around," Deja finally says.

Nikki looks from Deja to her aunt and back to Deja again, happy she isn't the one being questioned.

"I'm very disappointed." Auntie begins to read the headlines out loud. Coming out of her mouth with her angry voice, they do seem a tiny bit wild.

"'Bug Problem at the Denvers'? Overpriced Food at Simply Delicious Health Food Store?' I am so
embarrassed
" She stares at the document in her hand as if words have temporarily failed her. "And you have that little Antonia child moved away and now at a new school, when Jo Markham, who baby-sits for them from time to time, told me Antonia's been in the hospital recovering from an operation. What's that about?"

Deja is busy studying a corner of the kitchen floor.

"I'm talking to you, young lady."