The twins and I worked our way to the park with the rest of the crowds, and when we got to the stage, we stood looking around.
My heart sank as I saw Natalie and another majorette heading toward us. I could tell they were swaggering a bit to show off their new uniforms, and they were laughing and twirling their batons casually, just to draw attention to themselves. I knew from school how mean they could be.
“Well, if it isn’t old Truly,” said Natalie. She swished her blond hair from her shoulder and twirled her baton. I hated to admit it to myself, but she did look real pretty in that short, blue majorette skirt with a swirl of sequins running up the side.
“What are you doing with these girls?” said Penny, the other girl. She looked Agnes and Linda up and down, and from the disagreeable expression on her face I could tell that as far as she was concerned, Agnes and Linda were far beneath her. The twins both saw her look, and both of them got silent. They froze and just stared at the ground, looking like they wanted to disappear.
“Don’t you know they’re — different?” said Natalie, in a condescending voice. “Can’t you get any real friends?”
“Yeah,” said Penny, “I mean, hanging out with Indians! God, Truly, is that the best you can do?”
I looked at Natalie and Penny, and all they represented: being popular, having a real mom and dad, going to summer camps, taking swimming lessons, living in a real home with a real family. Everything I wished I had. Everything I had been so jealous of on the last day of school, on that bus ride home where I’d listened to them all and felt like such an outsider.
After a few seconds I said thoughtfully, “Yeah, you know, you’re right, they sure are different from you two.” Natalie and Penny both smirked triumphantly, but then their smiles faded as I added, “Linda and Agnes are both fun to be with, and generous and kind. They don’t say mean stuff about people, or give people nasty looks, or worry about what people think. And if those are qualities that you need to have in a friend, well then you can keep yours. I’ll just stick to my own, thanks.”
Natalie got mad at that, but Penny grabbed her arm and started to pull her away. “Forget about them, Natalie. They’re just jealous they can’t be majorettes, too.”
That’s when Elvis walked up, smiling at all of us. He had changed and was now wearing bell-bottom jeans and a studded denim jacket. He still wore a belt with a huge buckle with the initials TCB on it, although this one wasn’t nearly as big as the one on his costume.
“Hey, Truly, so how was that for a surprise?” He grinned me. Then his smile took in Linda and Agnes as well, and he added, “I gotta say, it sure felt good to look out and see some friendly faces in that crowd! I love to perform, but it sure feels good to have some folks you know out there.”
Then he turned to Natalie and Penny, who were smiling eagerly at Elvis. He glanced at their majorette outfits and said, “Take it from me, girls, you’re gonna want to get out of those costumes right away. It’s easy to get a stain or tear some sequins, and you don’t want that to happen.”
I smiled to myself as their eager smiles faded.
And then, the bottom dropped out of my stomach. Mrs. Bateman came marching up to our group, and when she saw me, she glared and pinched her nostrils even more than usual.
“Truly, where the dickens were you this morning? The one day a year I actually could use you, and you weren’t there to help me out! I had to hand out all of the batons myself, on top of everything else I had to do!”
Her eyes swept over Agnes and Linda, and her mouth went into an even thinner line.
Then she noticed Elvis, looked him up and down, and said, “So you’re what all the fuss has been about? Your performance is all everyone’s been talking about since the parade ended. It seems it was all anyone saw. Certainly not all the hard work my girls put in this year on their twirling, not the new routines, nor all my efforts.”
She glared at him as though he had gone in the parade deliberately to spite her.
Elvis just smiled calmly at her and said, “Oh, you must be Truly’s grandmother. I’ve heard all about you. You must be real proud of this fine girl.”
I could see Mrs. Bateman’s back get even stiffer. I could tell she was even madder.
And then Elvis added, “From what I saw, your troupe did a real fine job. You got some real talented majorettes there. Of course, no one really appreciates all the hard work and practice that goes into a show.”
That seemed to calm her down some, because she could only nod stiffly at Elvis. Then she turned to Natalie and Penny and said, “Now, what the devil are you girls doing still in your costumes! Those are brand new, and I will not allow you to wear them around this dirty old fair. We still have our competitions to think of! Now go get changed at once!”
We watched as Mrs. Bateman marched Natalie and Penny off to get changed. Then Elvis turned to the three of us and said, “How ’bout I treat you girls to some lunch?”