45

VIOLET THE DIAMOND

The next morning, Poppy was in the kitchen as usual. Bacon was frying on the stove. “Eggs and bacon coming right up,” he said.

“I was wishing for eggs and bacon just a few minutes ago,” I told him.

“Still wishing, huh?” Poppy asked.

“Wishes are okay, but they’re for stuff that’s not serious. For serious things, prayers are better.”

“You learned that in your travels, I presume?” Poppy asked as he whisked the eggs.

“And other things,” I told him.

“Like?”

I glanced over at his cookbooks. “Like how to make grits pie, and short ribs, and Bibi’s special-ingredient mashed potatoes. I can even teach you.”

“I’d like that,” Poppy said, and he broke out into a huge smile. “Nice to have you home, V.”

After breakfast, because I was a little tired, I lounged around the house in my pajamas. Mom and Daisy had gone to work and Poppy was practicing on his putting green. “Want to go to the golf course with me?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Maybe tomorrow.”

From upstairs, I heard Gam on the phone, working. Nothing has really changed, I thought, except me.

Lots of stuff was whirling around in my brain. Maybe, like Bibi said, I would be a writer someday. I pictured myself in a room filled with books, all written by me, Violet Diamond. And I’d travel all over the world and become a bohemian and have an exciting life. Thinking about that made me smile.

I headed to my room with Hazel, who refused to leave my side and mewed loudly every time I put her down. “Spoiled kitty,” I said.

After I plopped into bed, I stared at the ceiling, picturing the candles glowing on the birthday cake Bibi had bought me. I remembered placing sunflowers on my daddy’s grave, dancing the Mashed Potatoes, and listening to Nina Simone. I thought about the trip to Hollywood, the orchestra of wind chimes, sitting around the table enjoying the noisy Diamond Family Feast, Ahmed reaching out and saving me from falling into the water, and the twins, Lorna and Laura, talking like an echo. I hoped being with them was going to become a usually always thing. And though I was glad to be back in Moon Lake, I missed Bibi. I looked forward to seeing her soon and promised myself to call her tonight.

And as I nodded off into a nap, the sound of the doorbell and loud knocking startled me, and the next thing I knew, Athena was standing in my doorway. Early this morning, she’d called and said she’d be over around two because she had to go with her mom and grandma to Dio’s doctor’s appointment. I glanced at my clock. It was eleven thirty, still morning.

She held out her arms like a superstar. “I’m here,” she proclaimed. “His appointment got canceled until tomorrow.”

I bolted up out of bed and we hugged.

“Thank you for being back!” Athena said, and plopped down. “The summer was only getting worse and worse without you. My grandma’s still making me cook all day and Dio is still getting every ounce of attention from my parents. It’s like I disappeared. I’m still here, I kept telling them, but they didn’t hear me—or at least they pretended not to. I’ve gone from being the one and only family star to being nobody. Dio, Dio, Dio. That’s all I hear, morning, noon, and night.” Athena finally took a deep breath and asked two questions. “What was it like? Did you have a good time?”

Ponder, that’s a word I like, and it’s what I needed to do before I could answer her. I didn’t know where to start. There was so much to tell her.

Athena didn’t wait for an answer. “You look the same . . . Do you feel the same? I mean, now that you met your other family.”

“I still feel like me . . . only more,” I told her.

“More?” she asked.

“More me.” There was really no other way to explain it.

When I think about it, it’s an odd name, Violet Diamond—almost antonyms—a tiny, delicate flower versus the hardest mineral on Earth. Mostly I’ve been like a violet, small and shy, but lately I’d begun to feel like a diamond. It was as if the sparkly part of me was growing inside. I liked the way it felt and hoped it would stay there forever.

Finally, my name, Violet Diamond, was beginning to fit me.

“Are you glad to be home?”

“Yep, but my wanderlust is worse than ever now,” I replied.

“What’s that?”

“A desire to travel around and see every part of the world.”

“When we grow up, that’s exactly what we’ll do, promise?”

“Promise,” I said.

“Did you meet any famous people in Hollywood?” she asked.

“Not,” I replied.

“For real?” Athena frowned.

“Hey, want to go ice skating?” I asked her.

“Are you kidding? Anything is better than what I’ve been doing the past couple of weeks.”

I went to my door and yelled out, “Poppy! Can you take us to the rink?”