Sarah-Lisa.”
“Look! Again they show that crazy marriage. Look, look, look, they get married like on a shtetl even though they live in Beverly Hills. I bet that Elvis Presley isn’t even certified. What is so wrong with a priest? Or a rabbi or a justice of the peace? Nothing is sacred.”
When Veronica had imagined Cadbury and Fitzy’s wedding it was very old-fashioned. It would be something Mary would approve of. She looked up from her beans. “Mary, you’re a genius! I’m going to marry Fitzy and Cadbury for Halloween,” Veronica said. “I’ll be the priest.”
“Now you’re talking, my baby.” Mary kissed Veronica on the head three times.
They spent the rest of the afternoon gathering what they could find to make Veronica’s costume. Mary pulled an old black shirt from the donation pile.
“You wear this buttoned in the back and we make a white collar?”
“Yes!” Veronica said. They cut a collar out of the cardboard from one of Mr. Morgan’s freshly laundered shirts. Mary found an old white mesh sack she used for washing delicates.
“A veil,” she said. “For Fitzy!”
Mary claimed to be scared of dogs, but she sure seemed to care a lot about Fitzy’s costume and Veronica had caught her cooking chicken livers for Cadbury more than once. In the rag bin under the sink, Veronica found an old black T-shirt.
“Mary, could we turn this into a jacket for Cadbury? Like, we cut it down the middle maybe and put some buttons or something on it to make it fancy?”
“Perfect,” Mary said. “Come, let’s look in the button box.”
Mary’s cardboard button box was a wondrous thing. It was long and thin and instead of having flaps for a top, it slid open. Inside were hundreds of buttons of all different sizes, shapes, and colors. Mary had been collecting them her whole life. When Veronica was little they had spent hours playing games with the buttons. The gold ones had always been Veronica’s favorite.
Mary sifted through the contents and handed Veronica five very special gold buttons with raised towers embossed on them.
“Here, my baby, will these work?”
Veronica threw her arms around Mary. “Yes!” she said.
Double Booked
Veronica took one of the gold buttons to school the next day because making little outfits for dogs was so fun that she didn’t want to stop thinking about it. Plus she could scratch her itchy finger with the raised tower.
While Ms. Padgett demonstrated the magic of cross multiplication, Veronica thought about what color carnation to pin on Cadbury’s jacket and the best way to attach Fitzy’s veil.
As soon as the bell rang, Athena asked about the button.
“It’s for my Halloween costume.”
“Ooh, it’s pretty!” Athena said. “Is it antique?”
“Probably,” Veronica said. “It is from my babysitter’s collection.” Veronica always felt weird referring to Mary as her babysitter. She was so much more than that.
“Are you making your costume? I was going to ask you if you wanted to make costumes.”
“You and me?” Veronica said.
“And Sarah-Lisa, silly. But it seems like you already made yours,” Athena said.
“It’s not finished yet,” Veronica said.
“Oh well, next year. Won’t that be fun? We should make superhero costumes with the letter A on them. You’re coming trick-or-treating with us, right?”
Sarah-Lisa appeared from behind her locker door.
“What are you talking about?” Sarah-Lisa wanted to know. She kicked her locker shut, and Veronica jumped.
“Halloween,” Athena said. “The three of us are trick-or-treating together, remember?”
“Oh. Yeah,” Sarah-Lisa said. “That’ll be fun. Athena, we have to go.”
“Slavery is no longer legal,” Sylvie announced from a few lockers away. She closed her door for punctuation. “Athena is a free person. You don’t own her, you know.”
Sylvie headed off to French as if the aftermath of her little speech was of no interest whatsoever.
“What was that?”
“Look! Again they show that crazy marriage. Look, look, look, they get married like on a shtetl even though they live in Beverly Hills. I bet that Elvis Presley isn’t even certified. What is so wrong with a priest? Or a rabbi or a justice of the peace? Nothing is sacred.”
When Veronica had imagined Cadbury and Fitzy’s wedding it was very old-fashioned. It would be something Mary would approve of. She looked up from her beans. “Mary, you’re a genius! I’m going to marry Fitzy and Cadbury for Halloween,” Veronica said. “I’ll be the priest.”
“Now you’re talking, my baby.” Mary kissed Veronica on the head three times.
They spent the rest of the afternoon gathering what they could find to make Veronica’s costume. Mary pulled an old black shirt from the donation pile.
“You wear this buttoned in the back and we make a white collar?”
“Yes!” Veronica said. They cut a collar out of the cardboard from one of Mr. Morgan’s freshly laundered shirts. Mary found an old white mesh sack she used for washing delicates.
“A veil,” she said. “For Fitzy!”
Mary claimed to be scared of dogs, but she sure seemed to care a lot about Fitzy’s costume and Veronica had caught her cooking chicken livers for Cadbury more than once. In the rag bin under the sink, Veronica found an old black T-shirt.
“Mary, could we turn this into a jacket for Cadbury? Like, we cut it down the middle maybe and put some buttons or something on it to make it fancy?”
“Perfect,” Mary said. “Come, let’s look in the button box.”
Mary’s cardboard button box was a wondrous thing. It was long and thin and instead of having flaps for a top, it slid open. Inside were hundreds of buttons of all different sizes, shapes, and colors. Mary had been collecting them her whole life. When Veronica was little they had spent hours playing games with the buttons. The gold ones had always been Veronica’s favorite.
Mary sifted through the contents and handed Veronica five very special gold buttons with raised towers embossed on them.
“Here, my baby, will these work?”
Veronica threw her arms around Mary. “Yes!” she said.
Double Booked
Veronica took one of the gold buttons to school the next day because making little outfits for dogs was so fun that she didn’t want to stop thinking about it. Plus she could scratch her itchy finger with the raised tower.
While Ms. Padgett demonstrated the magic of cross multiplication, Veronica thought about what color carnation to pin on Cadbury’s jacket and the best way to attach Fitzy’s veil.
As soon as the bell rang, Athena asked about the button.
“It’s for my Halloween costume.”
“Ooh, it’s pretty!” Athena said. “Is it antique?”
“Probably,” Veronica said. “It is from my babysitter’s collection.” Veronica always felt weird referring to Mary as her babysitter. She was so much more than that.
“Are you making your costume? I was going to ask you if you wanted to make costumes.”
“You and me?” Veronica said.
“And Sarah-Lisa, silly. But it seems like you already made yours,” Athena said.
“It’s not finished yet,” Veronica said.
“Oh well, next year. Won’t that be fun? We should make superhero costumes with the letter A on them. You’re coming trick-or-treating with us, right?”
Sarah-Lisa appeared from behind her locker door.
“What are you talking about?” Sarah-Lisa wanted to know. She kicked her locker shut, and Veronica jumped.
“Halloween,” Athena said. “The three of us are trick-or-treating together, remember?”
“Oh. Yeah,” Sarah-Lisa said. “That’ll be fun. Athena, we have to go.”
“Slavery is no longer legal,” Sylvie announced from a few lockers away. She closed her door for punctuation. “Athena is a free person. You don’t own her, you know.”
Sylvie headed off to French as if the aftermath of her little speech was of no interest whatsoever.
“What was that?”
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