Wow, thought Dyamonde, stepping into the classroom. I’ll bet this is what a beehive sounds like.
Everybody in the room was buzzing.
“Man! Did you see that?”
“What’s wrong with Amberline?”
“She’s got diabetes.”
“What’s that?”
“I thought that was an old folks’ disease.”
“Don’t you have to be super fat to get that?”
“Yeah. That’s what I thought.”
“Amberline isn’t even chubby.”
“My grandma has that, and she’s older than dirt.”
“My uncle too. Plus he’s all roly-poly.”
“All right!” said Mrs. Cordell. “That’s enough! Please take your seats.”
The buzzing died down, but only a little.
Everyone was full of questions, including Dyamonde.
How come kids can get diabetes? What if I have it? How would I know? I sure don’t want to fall over in the street one day, like Amberline.
The very thought of the possibility made Dyamonde’s heart beat faster.
“Okay, class,” said Mrs. Cordell. “Simmer down.”
Dyamonde took a deep breath. Everyone else did too.
“Obviously, you all have questions about what just happened,” said Mrs. Cordell, “so let’s talk about it.”
Finally, the class got quiet.
“For those of you who haven’t already heard, Amberline has a condition called diabetes. Diabetes has something to do with the sugar inside your body.
“When your body is healthy, it breaks down the sugar and sends it out to all the cells so that they can use it for energy. But when you have diabetes, your body can’t break down the sugar. Instead, all the sugar stays in the plasma stream and doesn’t get into the cells, and that causes all kinds of problems throughout the body. Does that make sense?” asked Mrs. Cordell.
“Sort of,” said Dyamonde, speaking for everyone.
“But what does that have to do with fainting?” asked Damaris.
“Yeah,” said another student.
Mrs. Cordell pursed her lips, thinking.
“Fainting is one of the things that happens when you have too much or too little sugar in your blood. That’s why a person with diabetes has to be careful about what they eat, and they can’t skip meals.”
Dyamonde and Damaris traded glances.
That’s what the nurse said, thought Damaris. Amberline skipped breakfast.
“They also have to remember to take their insulin.”
Several hands shot up around the room. It seemed everybody had more questions.
“That’s it for now,” announced Mrs. Cordell.
Free groaned, and he wasn’t the only one.
“I need you to open your readers. If you have any more questions about diabetes, see me after school. Okay? Readers open.”
Dyamonde wanted to know more, and so did Damaris. They looked at each other and mouthed the word library.
After school that day, they waved good-bye to Free, who jogged home alone.
“Let me know what you find,” he said before taking off. “I have to get home and help my gram with the laundry. My mom said she was going to call and check.”
The girls headed for the public library. As soon as they got there, they went straight to the information desk.
“We need to read about diabetes,” said Dyamonde.
“It’s important,” said Damaris. “Can you help us?”
The librarian gave them a serious nod. “Yes, I can. But there are different types of diabetes, so it would help if I knew what made you interested.”
Dyamonde nodded to her friend.
“Okay,” said Damaris. “Well, it all started this morning…”