Iggie's House (4 page)

But did Tina take her advice? No! She went right on talking to Clarice. “Want to come over to play?” Tina asked.

Clarice answered so softly no one understood her.

Tina continued. “It doesn't have to be today. How 'bout tomorrow?”

This time there was no mistaking Little Miss Germ-Head's reply. “My mother says I can't play with any colored kids.” Clarice ran back up the front walk, to her rocking chair and paper dolls.

Winnie felt sick. How could anybody say a thing like that?

Herbie started up the Landon's walk. “Man! I ought to give that no good lousy little kid a …”

Glenn grabbed him by the sleeve. “Cut it out Herbie. Forget it.”

“Sure … forget it! Just like that!” Herbie snapped his fingers.

“Well, I warned you about Little Miss Germ-Head.”

“I don't have any germs,” Tina whispered. “No germs at all.”

“Everybody has germs,” Herbie said.

“I don't!” Tina insisted.

“Sure you do,” Glenn told her. “We all do. Even Miss Germ-Head has germs.”

“
Especially
Miss Germ-Head!” Herbie agreed.

“No point in hanging around here,” Winnie said. “Come on Tina … I'll pull you home.”

The boys left the bikes in Iggie's driveway but Winnie pulled Tina all the way to the back of the house.

Herbie yelled through the screen door. “Hey Mom! How about some lemonade? We're beat!”

“Lemonade!” A voice shouted from inside the house. “I've got eight million things to do and you come home hollering for lemonade!”

Herbie flapped his arms and raised his eyes to the sky. Mrs. Garber came to the back door. She saw Winnie and laughed. “Oh, I didn't know you had company.” She seemed embarrassed as she wiped her hands on her slacks.

“This is Winnie, Mom. From down the street,” Glenn said.

“Hello Winnie.” Her voice was gruff, like Herbie's. She had a pretty smile. “I'm, uh, sorry about the
lemonade.” Winnie had the feeling the apology was for her benefit. “I'm just so busy trying to get unpacked. We do have some grape juice. Would you like some?”

“I'm really not too thirsty,” Winnie lied. “I wouldn't want to put you to any trouble.”

“It's no trouble. Tina will help me. Come on Tina.”

Tina and her mother disappeared into the house. They came back with a big can of juice and some paper cups. Winnie gulped down two cups of grape juice and told Mrs. Garber that she had to be going, using what she considered her very best manners and most charming voice. She forgot to take home Matthew's bike and the red wagon. She rode home slowly wondering if Tina or the boys would tell their mother about Little Miss Germ-Head.

After dinner Winnie sat in her room reading her letter to Iggie. It didn't sound right now that she'd met the Garbers. She ripped it up and threw the pieces into the waste basket. She took out a fresh piece of paper and began again.

Winnie heard the chime of the front doorbell. She wrote “to be continued” and jumped up and headed for the hall.

“I'll get it!” she hollered as she practically flew down the stairs. She liked to be the first one to the door and the phone. That irritated her father when he was expecting a business call, but she kept on doing it anyway. It was fun to be the first to know what was going on. As soon as Winnie opened the front door she was sorry she had been in such a hurry. She stood face to face with Mrs. Dorothy Landon. Germs, Incorporated!

“Good evening, Winifred. Are your parents at home?” Mrs. Landon asked.

Winnie tried to concentrate on Mrs. Landon's eyeglasses. They hung from a gold chain around her neck, and rested a few inches below her chin. That way Winnie could avoid looking directly at Mrs. Landon's face. Germs, Incorporated only wore her
glasses on her eyes when she had to see something really important. Winnie sniffed. Mrs. Landon smelled like beauty parlor. Her usual sweater was thrown over her shoulders. She always wore one … even if it was boiling hot.

“I said, are your parents at home, Winifred?”

“Oh. Wait a second and I'll see,” Winnie answered, knowing very well that her mom and dad were out on the back porch. She yelled as loud as she could (without turning away from Mrs. Landon). “MOM! DAD!… ANYBODY HOME?”

Mrs. Landon backed away from Winnie. “My, my,” she said, talking through her teeth and turning on the smile. “Don't we have healthy lungs this evening.”

Mr. Barringer walked in from the porch and Winnie raced up the stairs, with her tongue stuck out. No one noticed, but it made her feel better about being polite (well, almost polite) to Mrs. Landon.

At the top of the stairs Winnie crouched behind the big potted plant. She peeked out through the openings in the wooden bannister. She didn't want to miss a thing. Mrs. Landon never “just dropped in.” There was
always
a reason.

Mrs. Barringer came in from the porch too. “Dorothy … hello. I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?”

“Yick!” Winnie whispered to herself.

“I'm upset, Helen,” Mrs. Landon told Winnie's mother.

“Well, what can we do to help, Dorothy?” Mr. Barringer asked.

Mrs. Landon's smile disappeared and Winnie thought her face looked like she had just finished sucking a lemon.

“I have a petition with me, Paul. I hope that you and Helen will be sensible and sign it immediately. Every minute counts.”

Winnie had to strain to hear. Mrs. Landon's voice was so low.

Mr. Barringer laughed good naturedly. “And what are we petitioning for
this
week, Dorothy?”

“I'm afraid it's rather unpleasant,” Mrs. Landon answered. “But someone has to do something.”

“About what, Dorothy?”

“About the Garber family.”

“Oh,” Mr. Barringer said. “I just don't know, Dorothy. I just don't know …” Mr. Barringer confessed.

Winnie whispered from the top of the stairs, “Tell her off, Daddy. Come on … tell her what she really is.…”

Mrs. Landon put on her glasses. “Look Paul, if we sit around and talk about it, nothing is going to be
accomplished. What we need is a little action.” She flashed the smile and her voice cooed. “Now, I have nothing against the Garbers personally. I just want our
lovely
neighborhood to stay the way it is. As I'm sure you do.”

Winnie's dad coughed, but Mrs. Landon continued. “Face it Paul … things won't stay the same if the Garbers live here. You know as well as I what will happen to our schools … our community … to everything! Once
that
element takes over, forget it! We've got to act now.”

“What do you have in mind, Dorothy?” Mr. Barringer asked.

“For a start … this petition. Let the Garbers know that they won't be happy here. People rarely stay where they aren't wanted.”

Winnie groaned softly to herself. “Oh Daddy! Don't be nice to her. Please don't even let her think you might sign that thing. Please Daddy!
Please
.”

“Of course I'll be pleasant about it,” Mrs. Landon promised. “We don't want any headlines.”

“Naturally!” Winnie practically spat. “Good old Germs! Always pleasant!”

“I see,” Mr. Barringer said. “And if your petition doesn't work … then what?”

“Well …” Mrs. Landon tapped her petition with a red marking pen. “Then we'll have to put on
the pressure, Paul. We'll have to let them know that we
really
mean business. I'm sure they'll understand.”

“What does Fred think about all of this?” Mr. Barringer asked.

“Fred Landon is behind me one hundred per cent!”

Winnie muttered, “Yes dear. Of
course
dear. Whatever you
say
dear.”

“Well, Dorothy … Helen and I haven't had a chance to talk this over yet. But I'll think about it. And I'll be in touch with you when I reach a decision.”

Winnie whispered. “Tell her you'll never reach that kind of decision, Daddy. Go ahead and tell her.”

Mrs. Landon carefully removed her glasses and let them hang around her neck again. “Fine Paul. I knew I could count on you and Helen. You're sensible people.”

“We'll see, Dorothy,” Mr. Barringer said, walking Mrs. Landon to the door. “Good night.”

“Good night, Helen. Good night, Paul,” Germs called.

Mr. Barringer closed the door quietly.

“Why didn't you sign it?” Mrs. Barringer asked angrily.

“I don't know if I want to,” Mr. Barringer said.

“But there can't be any doubt, Paul. You
should
have signed it right away. Dorothy Landon always
knows what she's talking about when it comes to community affairs.”

“I'm not so sure,” Mr. Barringer said.

“But Paul, you've always valued her opinion.”

“I supported her when she fought for higher teachers' salaries, yes. I voted for her three times for the board of education, yes! But I'm not so sure about this. Everything she had to say was a lot of double talk.”

“I got her point,” Mrs. Barringer said.

“I'm sure you did, Helen.”

“Well, I hope Winnie didn't hear anything. Children shouldn't have to know about these problems.”

“Ha!” Winnie said as she crawled along the floor, back to her own room. Why didn't parents ever do what you wanted them to do? She felt like screaming, but then they would know she had been listening and she wasn't in the mood for a lecture. She took off her shoes and flung them across her room. Then she flopped onto her bed, punching her fists into the pillow.

Finally she calmed down enough to go back to her desk. She picked up her pen and wrote after “to be continued”:

Guess what? A minute ago Germs, Inc. left our house. She came here with a petition to get rid of the
new people. I wanted to kick her in the guts!!! I'm so mad I don't know what to do
.

Winnie folded the letter and put it in the middle of the world atlas. She didn't know how to finish it.

She undressed and climbed into bed. She didn't bother brushing her teeth or washing her face. She put out the light and tried to sleep. Maybe things would seem better in the morning.

Winnie sat at the kitchen table and pretended to eat her breakfast. She used her “moving around” method to make her mother think she was eating. Actually she had taken only two mouthfuls of scrambled eggs. The rest she had moved around and around on her plate.

“Are you finished moving those eggs around Winnie?” Mom asked.

Winnie looked up. So her special, secret trick was not going to work this morning. It figured! “You really aren't supposed to eat much when it's hot, you know, Mom. I read that someplace.”

Mrs. Barringer smiled. “You certainly do use any and every excuse for not eating.” She was interrupted by a loud bark. Mrs. Barringer looked out the kitchen window. “That's funny. There's nothing there! I was sure I heard a dog barking. I don't want any dogs around my rose bushes.”

Winnie paid no attention to what her mother was saying. She continued to move the eggs around, making little yellow designs on her plate. The barking began again.

“Winnie, don't you hear that?” her mother asked.

“Sure Mom.”

“Check out front Winnie, will you?”

“Okay … okay.” Winnie went to the front door and looked out. She didn't see a thing, so she headed for the garage and her bike. She might as well ride around. She was still confused about last night. But at least she had reached one decision. She would never mention that awful petition to the Garbers. Maybe no one would sign it and they would never have to know. Suddenly Winnie heard a loud “WOOF.” It startled her and she spun around looking for the dog. Then she heard somebody laughing. It sounded like it was coming from inside the garage. Winnie ran over to the side window and peeked into the dark garage. She couldn't really see anything. So she opened the garage door, very slowly and very carefully. She wasn't quite sure what she might find inside. “Oh no!” she hollered when the door was opened. “How did you get in here?”

A loud “WOOF … WOOF” was the only reply. The red wagon that she forgot to take home yesterday was in the middle of the garage. Sitting in
the middle of the red wagon was a dog. It looked like a huge stuffed Panda bear with shaggy white fur (except for one black eye and one black ear). “Okay, I know somebody's in here. Come on out! Right now!” she commanded.

Somebody giggled. Then somebody else giggled. And finally Tina, Herbie and Glenn jumped out from behind Mr. Barringer's gardening supplies, where they were hiding.

“Hi Winnie,” they yelled.

“How do you like our furry friend?” laughed Glenn.

Herbie jumped up and down. “I told you Winnie. I told you we were going to get him last night. Isn't he something?” Herbie seemed excited about the dog. Yesterday he'd acted so
blah
.

“Is he ever!” Winnie agreed. “He's really neat! But he's so big!”

“You think this is BIG?” Glenn asked. “He's only a puppy now. 'Course he already weighs forty pounds. How about that!”