When Life Gives You O.J. (13 page)

“Hi,” said Allie, doing this little hair-twirling thing she sometimes does around boys.

“It’s okay,” said Jeremy, turning back to me. “I thought you meant next Friday. But it’s no big deal. I just practiced my backhand against the wall.” He dribbled a ball on the ground with his racket but ended up missing the ball and having to chase it down the sidewalk.

“Oops!” he said, laughing with his mouth open wide. “Do you play?” he asked Allie.

“Nuh-uh,” said Allie, shaking her head.

Jeremy pushed his glasses up his nose and looked serious again. “Yeah, well, I can’t play tomorrow morning because my mom wants us to go check out some synagogue in South Burlington.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “Maybe we can play the next day.”

“Yeah, okay,” said Jeremy happily.

Just then, an older boy, who I figured had to be Jeremy’s brother Seth, stuck his head out their front door.

“Yo, Germ,” he yelled. “Mom says she needs to ask you something.”

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Hey, is that the pooch?” called Seth.

“You told him?” I asked Jeremy.

“No, honest,” promised Jeremy. “I just told my mom, back when I thought it was a psychology experiment, and he must have overheard. Just ignore him.”

“Germ-y, NOW!” yelled Seth.

“I said, in a minute.”

“Oh, so you want me to come out there and GET you?”

“Okay, fine! I’ll be right there!” Then, dropping his voice to a whisper, he added, “Listen, I want to apologize for last night.”

“For what? It wasn’t your fault.”

“No, I mean, for lecturing you.” He looked embarrassed. “I get a little carried away sometimes.”

Just like Ace
, I thought. “It’s really okay,” I said.

“Plus it was my idea to play at night.”

“Yeah, well, it could’ve happened anytime. He’s a jerk 24-7.”

“We should go,” said Allie. “Later,” she said to Jeremy, hooking her arm in mine and pulling me away.

“Bye,” called Jeremy. “Nice to meet you, Allie.”

We headed off toward the dead end. This time, Allie walked faster than me, and I had to really march to keep up. O.J. bounced gracelessly against the uneven sidewalk,
SKRIT-BOMP, SKRIT-BOMP
.

“What was that all about?” asked Allie.

“You’re not going to believe this,” I said.

“Believe what?”

And I told her all about what had happened at the tennis courts the night before. Allie’s eyes got really wide when I told her about Jeremy standing up to Nicky and then Nicky throwing pennies at him.

“Wow,” she said. “He must really like you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re kidding, right? Jeremy! He’s like a puppy dog for you.”

Puppy?
Oops. We’d made it down to the dead end, but I had almost forgotten about O.J. I looked around to make sure no one was watching, then spread out a bag and let O.J. do his business on it. Then I gathered it up, knotted it, and tossed it in a garbage can. I had become a pro at this. Allie shook her head, watching me.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she said.

“What else am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know. Quit, I guess. I mean, you don’t think this is actually going to work, do you?”

I sighed. “No,” I said. “Although Jeremy thinks it could.”

I was about to tell Allie what Jeremy had said about upping the ante when Allie said, “See! You can’t stop talking about him! You
do
like him. Just admit it.”

“Shut up! I do not,” I told her.

“Zelly and Jeremy, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

“Shut UP!”

I turned and began to stride back toward my house, dragging O.J. behind me.

“Zelly! Zelly, wait.”

I ignored her.

“Zelly, please! I was kidding. Come on, I’m sorry!”

I turned around.

“Take it back,” I demanded.

“I take it back,” she said.

“The whole thing.”

“The whole thing,” she agreed, nodding.

“Okay,” I said finally. “But no more teasing about Jeremy.
I
don’t
like him. I mean, whatever, he’s okay, but I don’t
like him
like him.”

“Okay, okay, I believe you,” said Allie. “Now, his brother, on the other hand …”

“What about his brother?”

“Don’t you think he looks a little like Chaz Parker?” she asked hopefully. Chaz Parker played the older brother on the TV show
The Brothers Sleuth
. He was one of Allie’s favorite celebrities.

“Uh, no,” I told her. “I think Seth looks like one of those baboons with the blue butts you see at the zoo.”

“Harsh,” said Allie.

“And speaking of the zoo,” I continued, “I think Nicky Benoit looks like one of those naked mole rats.”

“Yes!” said Allie, laughing. “But with beadier eyes and uglier teeth.”

We both wrapped our top teeth over our lower lips and did Naked Mole Rat Nicky imitations the whole way home. O.J. bounced along behind us, happy as always to be included.

“I’ve got it!” I yelled, flying down the stairs to answer the phone. Allie had just left, so when the phone rang five minutes later, I knew she was probably calling with something she had forgotten to tell me. It was so good to have Allie home from camp!

“Hellooooo?” I said.

“Zelly?”

“Oh. Hey, Jeremy.”

“I hope it’s okay to call right now. My mom said your family might be in the middle of dinner.”

“It’s okay. What’s up?”

“I wanted to see if you could volley a little earlier than usual on Sunday. My mom wants me to meet with a new clarinet teacher at ten.”

“Yeah, sure, I—Oh, wait.” I suddenly remembered that I was planning to sleep over at Allie’s house on Saturday night. “Actually, I can’t play Sunday morning after all.”

“Oh … okay.”

“I’m sorry. I just totally forgot that I’m going to a sleepover tomorrow night.”
And usually the morning after a sleepover is the best part
, I thought to myself. There’s almost always a yummy late breakfast and lots of talking and joking about the night before. I pictured Allie and me sitting at the table in her kitchen, her mom passing us a tall stack of pancakes and a pitcher of orange ju—

Oh no.

O.J
. I had totally forgotten about him. Allie had said she was inviting two other girls. There was no way I was going to try to explain O.J. to them. But I couldn’t leave him at home, or else I’d be in big trouble with Ace. And my parents, for that matter. That
when
would turn back to an
if
in a heartbeat.

“Yeah, sure. No problem,” said Jeremy. “I guess I’ll just see you a—”

“Actually,” I interrupted, “can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Is there any chance you can watch O.J. for me?”

Jeremy was silent for a minute. “I guess,” he answered.

“Really? Wow, thanks!”

“Sure, what are friends for?”

I felt a rush of happiness. Everything was going to work out great. I’d show my parents that I could stick with Ace’s
plan no matter what. I’d get to go to Allie’s sleepover. And best of all, no one else would have to find out about O.J.

“When do you need me to do it?” asked Jeremy.

“Saturday night to Sunday morning,” I said.

“Wait a second,” said Jeremy. “Why aren’t you bringing O.J. with you?”

“Um, one of the other girls is allergic to orange juice?” I joked.

“Or …,” said Jeremy.

“Or what?”

“
Or
you’re embarrassed about the plan you made with your grandfather. You want me to watch O.J. so no one at the sleepover teases you about it.”

“Yeah. So?” I asked. It seemed reasonable to me.

“So, I don’t want to be a part of that.”

“Don’t want to be a part of
what
?”

“It’s like lying to your grandpa,” said Jeremy.

“No, it’s not! Plus my grandpa doesn’t care who walks O.J.!”

“Oh, really? Did he say so?”

“Jeremy!” I was getting really frustrated. “It doesn’t matter!”

“Well, if it doesn’t matter, why don’t you just bring him along? Or tell your grandpa you’re leaving him home.”

“Fine, you want me to say it? I don’t want people to make fun of me! Or tease me, or call me names, or throw pennies and pudding at me! Okay? Maybe you’re okay with that, but I’m not!”

“Who says I’m okay with that?” asked Jeremy.

“You did!” I could hear my voice getting louder as I got more frustrated with Jeremy. “ ‘Just let them know they don’t bother you,’ isn’t that what you said?”

I suddenly wondered if the rest of my family was listening. The house seemed very still all of a sudden. And there was silence on Jeremy’s end as well. Then he said quietly, “That doesn’t mean I like it.”

“Okay. So?”

“So, what?”

“So, are you going to help me or what?”

“No,” said Jeremy. “I’m sorry. It just wouldn’t be right.”

“Great,” I said. “Thanks a lot.”

“Look, if they’re really your friends, they won’t make fun of you!”

“Like you would know anything about that,” I snapped before hanging up on him.

When I didn’t come down for dinner that night, I was surprised to hear a knock at my door. I was more surprised to open it and find my mom standing there with a tray. She even carried up one of these folding TV tables we have that we only take out when the World Series is on or the ball is dropping on New Year’s Eve.

“I brought O.J.’s dinner too,” she told me, setting up the table next to my bed. And, sure enough, there was a small bowl of dry dog food on the tray next to my plate of spaghetti and salad and my glass of milk.

“Thanks,” I told her.

She was halfway out the door when I said, “Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“Is there any chance I can leave O.J. here tomorrow night when I sleep over at Allie’s?”

“Is that what you and Jeremy were arguing about?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe,”
she suggested, “you could see if Ace would watch him?”

“Mommm …”

“Zelly, you want to know what I think about all this?” asked my mom. Before I could answer, she repeated one of her favorite sayings: “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Well, it means to take what might seem like a challenging situation—”

“Mom, I know,” I interrupted. “But what does that have to do with this?
Life
didn’t ‘give me lemons.’
Ace
did. And unlike lemons-into-lemonade, an old plastic jug can’t be turned into something wonderful, like a real dog. No matter what Ace says. You said so yourself.”

My mom was quiet for a moment. “Maybe not,” she said. “But think about it. If it hadn’t been for Ace giving you O.J., you might have moped around the house the whole time Allie was away. You never would have walked down past the corner and met Jeremy.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I admitted. Although it kind of seemed like we might not still be friends anymore.

“And if you hadn’t learned to play tennis from Jeremy, you never would’ve become the Venus Williams of Vermont.”

“Jeremy thinks I should just do what Ace says and drag
O.J. wherever I have to, no matter who laughs or how long it takes, until you guys agree to get me a dog.”

My mom smiled. “And what do you think?”

“I think Jeremy’s even crazier than Ace.”

“Zelly,” my mom said lightly, “why don’t you tell Ace how you feel about all this? I know how he can be sometimes,
believe me
. But I still think it might help if he knew how you feel.”

I looked at her. “Was Ace … always like this?” I asked. “I mean, when you were growing up?”

My mom did a perfect eye roll, which she must have learned from me. “Can you imagine Ace any other way?”

“But … how could you take it? He’s so bossy and he thinks he knows everything and he doesn’t listen to anyone and—”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret, Zelly. You know who ran the show in my house, growing up? You know who was the real boss?”

I shook my head.

“Your grandma.”

“Bubbles?” I looked at her, confused. “But Bubbles never bossed anyone around.”

“And Ace adored her and would do anything for her. Just like he adores you.”