Birthday Blues (5 page)

Rosario opens the invitation and reads it. "Ohhh," she says. She looks at Deja and raises her eyebrows. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm having my birthday party. What do you think?"

Suddenly, they hear Ms. Shelby say, "I'd like all those holding conferences at the cubbies to wrap it up and get to their desks."

They quickly put away their lunches and backpacks, scoot to their desks, and pull out their morning journals. Deja decides to write about Antonia being a copycat. On purpose.

Tuesday

The worst Tuesday ever, Antonia is having a party the same day I'm having mine. On purpose. It's called a "Just Because" party and she says she's having it just because but she's really having it to ruin my party. Because she knew I was having one and she probably didn't think that I was going to invite her but Auntie Dee was making me anyway. She's going to have a bunch of fun stuff and now I bet everyone's going to go to hers and not mine.

Deja thinks of her invitations. They looked so festive just that morning when she put them in her backpack. She remembers thinking about how much fun she was going to have as she bestowed one on each girl in her classroom. Now they seem sad and pathetic.

"Help me put my invitations in the cubbies," Deja tells Nikki after everyone has filed out to recess and Ms. Shelby has dashed out of the classroom to heat up her mug of water for tea. Deja knew this would be the best time, because Ms. Shelby heads to the teachers' lounge to heat a mug of water every recess unless she's holding kids in for not doing their homework. She hands half of the envelopes to Nikki.

After they've put one in each girl's cubby, they walk out onto the yard to survey where things
stand. Everything looks normal. Kids jumping, kids running, kids socking balls or kicking them.... But nothing's normal. A terrible wrench has been thrown into Deja's big plans.

They settle on a bench to watch some girls from their class jump rope until the freeze bell rings. Nikki knows what Deja is thinking, and Deja knows what Nikki is thinking. Of all those girls, who is going to come to Deja's party now?

After recess, Deja listens to Mr.Shelby going on and on about a field trip that's coming up. How "certain people" might not be able to participate because "certain people" haven't been doing their homework and have been getting into trouble on the yard and are having a hard time staying on task when it's time to work. Deja ticks off each thing. She does her homework, she doesn't get in trouble on the yard, and she generally stays on task. So she's definitely not "certain people."

Deja looks over at Antonia. Unfortunately, Antonia's not "certain people," either. She usually does what she's supposed to do—at least in front of the teacher's face. Now Antonia is sitting with her hands folded, staring at Ms. Shelby. She has a little, serene smile on her face, which makes her look somewhere between happy and satisfied.

Next Ms. Shelby talks about sack lunches and what they can and cannot bring on the field trip. Fruit is good, but sodas are a no-no, as are candy and gum. Also, they are to bring a pad and pencil to the boring natural history museum, because they will be expected to take notes.

Deja's mind drifts to the invitations sitting in the cubbies. Her heart sinks at the thought of them winding up at the bottom of everyone's book bag, forgotten until it is time to clean out backpacks at the end of the school year. She thinks of how carefully she'd filled them out in her best handwriting in purple, because it's close to her favorite color, lavender, and it goes so well with her second favorite color, pink.

After all that trouble, who is going to want to come to
her
party? There is no roller rink planned. No trampoline. No decorate your own cupcake. No make your own sundae. Just a cake and favors and chips and punch and vegetarian pizza and videos and double dutch and games. All she can picture, now, is her and Nikki sitting at the table with party hats on their heads—by themselves.

***

Miss Ida is in the kitchen cooking dinner when Deja comes in through the side door. Nikki follows close behind. "Hi, Miss Ida," Deja says.

"Hello, Miss Deja," she says, looking up with a smile. "And you brought your little friend, Nikki."

"Hello, Miss Ida," Nikki says.

"Is it okay if Nikki visits a while?" Deja asks.

"Why, sure, sweetie."

Deja nudges Nikki, and they both look at the bubbling pots on the stove. Nikki gives Deja a sympathetic look.

Deja leads the way to the living room. "We can watch TV, but it's in black and white."

"Black and white? Let's go out on the porch," Nikki suggests.

"Offer your little friend a piece of candy," Miss Ida calls from the kitchen.

Nikki's eyes widen, and she immediately looks at the dish of peppermints on the coffee table. She smiles broadly.

Deja can't help but giggle as she holds the dish out to Nikki.

"What's so funny?" Nikki asks, plucking a peppermint from the bowl.

"Nothing."

Nikki pops the candy in her mouth and tries to suck on it, then begins to chew slowly.

Deja bursts out laughing, watching the look on Nikki's face go from anticipation to confusion. Nikki chews and chews and finally swallows. "What's
wrong
with this candy?"

"It's kind of old." Deja's giggle turns into a laugh. "You should have seen your face! You want another piece?"

"That's not even funny," Nikki says. She wanders over to peer at the old black-and-white photographs on Miss Ida's mantle. There is a picture of a man and a woman standing in front of a barn. The woman is holding a baby in a bonnet. Babies don't wear bonnets anymore.

"That's Miss Ida's mother and father," Deja tells Nikki. "And that baby is Miss Ida."

Nikki's eyes get big. "
That's
Miss Ida?" The baby looks happy and plump. She looks as if she's just getting ready to laugh out loud. Miss Ida is like her baby self, Deja realizes. She is still happy and plump. Her old black-and-white TV and funny telephone are just fine with her. She's never had any kids, and that seems to be just fine as well.

Out on the porch, after Nikki has gone home, Deja's mood changes. Now she feels stuck at Miss Ida's, and no one is going to come to her party, not even her "far-away" daddy, probably. And she has to worry if Miss Ida is making those nasty beets for dinner.

Deja goes back into the kitchen to watch Miss Ida cook.

"You gonna spoil my surprise," Miss Ida says as Deja sits down at the kitchen table. "I'm making you a before-the-birthday birthday cake. Something to hold you over until you can eat your real birthday cake."

"You're making me a cake?"

"If that's all right with you. We'll have it when it's closer to your birthday."

Deja is quiet for a moment. Then, before she knows it, she blurts, "This girl—at school—she's having a party on the same day as my birthday party."

"Oh? You two have the same birthday?"

"No, Miss Ida. She's having a 'just because' party."

"Well, what on earth is that?" Miss Ida is stirring the cake batter by hand. The fat under her upper arm jiggles with each stroke.

"It's a party just because. That's why she's calling it a 'just because' party."

Miss Ida stops stirring and squints her eyes. "Is this little girl your friend?"

"Not really," Deja says.

"Did she know about your party?"

"Everybody knew. They were just waiting for me to give out the invitations."

"Hmm. Sounds like this girl might be your nemesis."

"What's a
nemesissis?
"

"Nemesis. Kind of like a competitor. Someone who competes with you. Now, there are other meanings—stronger meanings—but I think the one I'm thinking of is the one for you."

"Nemesissis," Deja says.

"No, nem-e-sis," Miss Ida says. "Don't worry. They usually get what they deserve."

Again, when Deja wakes up the next morning, it takes a minute to realize where she is. Then she remembers. Miss Ida's. She sits up and looks around. It's different from her own bedroom at home. The furniture is dark and heavy. On top of the dresser there's a white lace runner, and more pictures. Someone in a cap and gown, someone leaning against an old-fashioned-looking car with pointy fenders. Someone sitting on a porch, waving at the camera. These are all Miss Ida's people.

I have people, too, Deja thinks. I don't have a mama anymore, since she died and went to heaven, but there is Auntie Dee and my daddy (Auntie's baby brother), and there is Great-Aunt Minerva, and my granddad Paw Paw (Auntie Dee's daddy), and Uncle Bill and Aunt Mildred. There are cousins, some close to Deja's age, some far from Deja's age. She has plenty of people.

"Plenty of people," Deja says, standing on the bed so she can see most of herself in the mirror.

Miss Ida is stirring oatmeal when Deja enters the kitchen. The birthday cake is hidden. "Well, there you are," Miss Ida says. "Did you sleep well?"

Deja thinks about this. She doesn't know if she slept
well,
because she was asleep when she was sleeping. "I might have slept well, Miss Ida."

"I certainly hope you did, because we got work to do today."

"Work?"

"After school. Wednesday is my dinner-delivery day. I make dinners for the shut-ins."

"What's a shut-in, Miss Ida?"

"Someone who just can't get out. Maybe they're too sick or handicapped or too old. I could use an extra set of hands this day. When you get back here, I'm gonna dish my chili into these Styrofoam containers." She points at the stack of containers and plastic lids on the table. "And you're gonna snap those plastic lids on top."

Assembly line,
Deja thinks. They'd learned about that in Social Studies. She remembers how Ms. Shelby had them line up in three groups of eight. Then she gave each team captain a plain piece of cardboard. Everyone had a task to do when the card came to them. Each person had stuff to decorate their team's card. Those cards looked so funny when they reached the end of the line. Glitter, sequins, bits of ribbon, clumps of confetti. Deja liked that. She's looking forward to coming back to Miss Ida's and getting started.

Later, when she heads down the front porch steps to join Nikki for the walk to school, she thinks of what Miss Ida told her:
Nemesissis.
She's got a nemesissis.

"Guess what Antonia is?" Deja says to Nikki as they walk down Fulton Street.

"What?" Nikki asks.

"Miss Ida says she's my nemesissis."

"What's that?"

"Someone who's super jealous of another person."

"Really?" Nikki says.

Deja nods her head, and thinks,
Well, it kind of means that.

As soon as Deja and Nikki get to school, they discover that the whole class—the girls, at least—is abuzz over Antonia's "just because" party. Ms. Shelby has to squelch excited whispers that keep popping up during Spelling Wizard activities.

Then, during silent reading, a note gets passed to Deja. Each girl has written down her name and what she's planning to wear to the party. It's at just that moment that Ms. Shelby walks over to Deja, plucks the note off her desk, and holds it up to the class. She reads each name and what that person plans to wear, then says, as she tears the paper neatly in half, "If I come across any more of this during class time, the girls in this room will be spending their recess on the bench." She looks around. "All week."