CHAPTER 5: January—Dawn
I arrived at school on the day after New Year's. Jeff would be flying back to California that night.
"Hi, you guys," I said to Kristy and Abby as I headed to my locker.
"Hi, Dawn," Abby answered.
"Have a nice Christmas?" Kristy asked.
"Yup," I answered as I got my math, Home Ec., and science books out of my locker, then went to homeroom.
The morning passed quickly. I had first period math with Kristy, Mary Anne, Abby, and Logan; second period Home Ec. with none of my BSC friends; third period science with Mary Anne and Jason; and fourth period study hall with Claud.
At lunch time, Claud, Stacey, Abby, and I sat at our usual table. Today's lunch was Cook's Choice, which was spaghetti, garlic bread, pear halves, and milk. Being the vegetarian/health nut that I am, and considering the fact that Abby's allergic to tomatoes, we chose not to have spaghetti sauce on ours. I had pesto on mine, and Abby had soy sauce and olive oil on the side. Blecch!
"So, did everyone have a nice holiday?" Abby asked as we sat down with our lunch trays.
"Yup," Claud said, opening her milk.
"Ditto," Stacey said, taking a bite of a pear half.
"Jeff's going back to California tonight," I told them. "Oh, you guys remember Sunny, right?"
"I think so," Claud said, taking a sip of milk.
"Well, her mom's in the hospital with cancer, and the doctors have only given her six months to live," I said.
"Oy," Abby said sympathetically.
"Yeah. Well, this summer, I'm going out to California to be with her," I said.
"That's good," Claud said as we got up to take our trays to the trash can.
The afternoon also passed quickly. I had my afternoon classes with none of my BSC friends: sixth period English, seventh period French, and eighth period World Geography.
After the last bell rang, I went to my locker, got out a couple of books, and headed to the entrance. As soon as Mary Anne joined me, we headed to the Barretts/DeWitts for a baby-sitting job.
The Barretts/DeWitts are a blended family, almost like the family in Yours, Mine & Ours. The only difference is, Mrs. Barrett had three kids, two girls and a boy, and Mr. DeWitt had four kids, two girls and two boys. The story goes that Mr. Barrett had vanished a few years go, and when I first met them, Mrs. Barrett and the kids were so disorganized (like my mom, multiplied by ten), but after I had a talk with her, Mrs. Barrett shaped up and became more organized.
The Barrett kids are Buddy (AKA Hamilton Jr.), who's ten; Suzi, who's seven; and Marnie, who's four. The DeWitt kids are Lindsey, who's Buddy's age; Taylor, who's eight; Madeline, who's six; and Ryan, who's Marnie's age.
When I first started sitting for the Barrett kids, Buddy and Suzi started to become attached to me. Buddy would tell me about bad stuff that had happened at school, and Suzi would sometimes tell on Buddy. That was another reason why I had a talk with their mother. After that, they started going to their mother with their problems, like any kid should.
"Hi," I said when Mrs. DeWitt answered the door.
"Hi, girls," she said. "Come on in."
We stepped into the living room, where Marnie and Ryan were watching Tom & Jerry on TV. They jumped up, and ran to us.
"Hi, you guys," Mary Anne said.
"Hi, Mary Anne; hi, Dawn," Marnie said.
"I've got some errands to run, so I should be back in a couple of hours, okay?" Mrs. DeWitt said. "I'll have my cell phone with me, and it will be on, so if there's a problem, the number's on the bulletin board in the kitchen."
"Okay," Mary Anne said. At that moment, the five older ones came in.
"Hi, Mary Anne! Hi, Dawn!" Buddy said.
"Oh, and there's popcorn in the kitchen for their snack," Mrs. DeWitt continued as she put on her lilac-colored hooded coat. "Franklin should be home in about an hour, okay?"
"Okay," I said.
"'Bye, kids," Mrs. DeWitt said.
As soon as Mrs. DeWitt left, we fixed the popcorn and the older ones started their homework. As promised, Mr. DeWitt came home about an hour later. After he paid us, we got on our bikes and returned home.
When we got home, we headed to the airport. We hated to miss the BSC meeting, but Abby said that she'd gladly cover for Mary Anne today. We checked Jeff's suitcase at the curbside check-in, then went into the terminal.
"I'll see you this summer, okay?" I said as I hugged my brother.
"Okay," Jeff said, "but I still wish you could live out there with us again."
"I'll think about it, okay?" I said.
As we watched Jeff's plane taxi up the runway and leave the ground, I decided to consider his proposal.
Who knows? I might just do that.