CHAPTER 2

GUESS WHAT?

After school I ran straight to Mama’s car. I couldn’t wait to tell her about our field trip. And now I had the chance to earn extra credit too. That was almost as exciting as the zoo.

My little sister, Tiana, was in her car seat in the back. When I opened the door she yelled, “Hi, Azaleah! Guess what? Auntie Sam took me and Kevin to the park today!”

I smiled at Tiana. Auntie Sam was my mom’s younger sister. She babysat us all the time. We always did fun things with her.

“I got to go to the zoo today,” I told Tiana. “It was awesome!”

Mama laughed. “Sounds like everyone had a good day.”

“That’s not all!” I shouted. “I get to make a diorama this weekend for extra credit.”

“Azaleah, strap in so we can go pick up Nia from school,” said Mama. “I need to get to work to prep for the dinner rush.”

I fastened my seat belt. Mama always worked on Friday nights. Her restaurant, Avec Amour, was jam-packed on weekends. On Fridays, she had different musicians perform. People loved Mama’s cooking, and Avec Amour had won a “Favorite Local Restaurant” prize. Even famous people ate there!

Usually Friday nights were Daddy nights. He would meet us at the restaurant after school and take us home so that Mama could work. Sometimes we got to eat at the restaurant and listen to the music for a little while before we left.

Tonight wasn’t going to be a Daddy night, though. He’d told us at breakfast that he had to work late tonight too.

Daddy is a very good lawyer. Everybody says so. He was working on a big case right now, helping some old people sue a big medicine company. The medicine had made people sicker instead of better. My dad was trying to make the company pay the sick people money.

“Mama, which do you like better? Pandas or tigers?” I asked.

Before Mama could answer, Tiana chimed in. “Today me and Kevin dug a great big hole in the dirt,” she said.

“Kevin and I,” I corrected. “And stop interrupting!”

“I like them both,” said Mama. I was glad she’d ignored Tiana.

A few minutes later, we pulled up to my big sister Nia’s middle school. Nia was already outside waiting. She was smiling and waving her arms all around while she talked to some other girls. As soon as she saw us, she ran to the car.

Nia jumped into the front seat and threw her backpack on the floor. Her eyes looked like they were about to pop right out of her head.

“Guess what?” she said. “I got the lead! I get to be Dorothy in The Wiz!” She held up a plastic bag. “Mr. Guidi already gave me my costume!”

“Oh, Nia!” cried Mama. She leaned across the seat and gave Nia a big hug.

“Bravo!” I clapped for Nia. Tiana quickly copied me.

I was proud of Nia. She had been in the mirror for two weeks getting ready to audition for the musical. I knew she wanted to be Dorothy more than anything. Nia worked hard. She deserved to be the main character.

“Nia, today I slid backwards down the slide,” said Tiana.

I asked, “Should I make a diorama about the pandas or something else?”

“I’m definitely going to be famous one day,” said Nia.

Mama shook her head. “So much excitement!”

When we got to Avec Amour, Auntie Sam was already there waiting for us. “How are my favorite nieces?” she asked.

Nia laughed. Auntie Sam always said that when she picked us up.

“We’re your only nieces,” Nia pointed out, like always.

“Thanks for picking them up, Sam,” said Mama. She kissed all four of us goodbye and rushed back to the kitchen.

We had to walk five blocks just to get to Auntie Sam’s car. Avec Amour was on a busy street with lots of shops and restaurants but not a lot of parking spaces.

“There’s too much traffic in this part of town,” said Auntie Sam. She always said that too.

We finally got to her car, but the drive home took forever. We had to stop at a million stoplights to let a bunch of people cross the street. Finally we got closer to our nice, quiet neighborhood.

Auntie Sam sighed. “I love your street.” She always said that too.

Our neighborhood was all houses, so the only people who drove on it were the ones who lived there. The houses weren’t all squished together like in Auntie Sam’s neighborhood. They were big. Some of them were enormous. Ours was huge and white, so I called it the White House.

It wasn’t the real White House, of course. We had driven past that lots of times. I thought our house was even better.

Auntie Sam parked in the driveway. As we walked into the house, she asked, “What do you guys want to do tonight?”

“Play!” yelled Tiana.

“Diorama!” I yelled. I ran to my room to get started.

My room was the best one in the house. Auntie Sam had painted it light green with one lavender wall. Daddy had filled my bookshelf with science books, gems, and a microscope. Mama had created an art corner next to my bed complete with glitter and paint and clay and glue.

And my room always smelled good, because Mama made me sachets. They were little pouches filled with things like cinnamon or lavender or rosemary.

I heard Nia running to her room on the third floor. I knew she was about to rehearse in the mirror, as usual. Nia could dance and sing and act. Daddy called her a triple threat.

Maybe she really will be famous one day, I thought.

I reached under my bed to pull out a shoebox. I needed it for my diorama.

“Azaleah?”

I recognized Tiana’s voice without looking. Tiana was an interrupter. “Yes?” I said.

Tiana stood in front of me and frowned. “Did you take Greenie?” she asked.

“No,” I said. Greenie was Tiana’s favorite stuffed animal. She took him practically everywhere.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t take Greenie,” I said. I didn’t think anyone would take Greenie. He was a speckled frog with bulging eyes, and he was very dirty.

Tiana’s eyes got so big she looked like Greenie. “Then guess what? Somebody stealed him!”

“Nobody stole him,” I corrected her.

Tiana nodded her head really fast. “Uh-huh,” she said. “Somebody did! He was here earlier. And now he’s gone!”