Chapter 13

Sneaking Out

That night I sat at home in my bedroom and poured over the bus schedule. It looked like I would have to walk three blocks from the big house to 92nd Street West and catch the Route 5 bus to downtown Stoneybrook. In downtown Stoneybrook, I would need to catch the Route 200 to the mall in Stamford. That sounded easy enough to do.

Of course I had yet another road block in my path to Club G. I could sneak out of the house without being noticed fairly easily but there was the problem of my stupid family leaving food for me to eat. I could say I had a tummy ache and did not want to eat but then they might get concerned and want to check on me. Or things could get even worse and my family would decide I needed some kind of yucky medicine to make my tummy better and come in my room. I would be in a gigundo amount of trouble if they discovered I was gone. I had hope though that my genius brain would think up a wonderful plan.

As it turned out I did not have to think of a plan. My family decided to go to the zoo without me on Saturday. I was beginning to think that they were planning fun outings without me deliberately to make me feel sad. Well I did not feel sad this time. It was the chance I was waiting for. I listened outside the door to Daddy talking to Kristy's friend Claudia who was obviously getting stuck with me for the day.

"Today, my plan is to put Karen up in the attic. There is air-conditioning and a bathroom up there so she will be fine. It will minimize any chance that she will wreak havoc on the rest of the house like she did last time we were gone. Nannie cleaned up one of the bedrooms up there and we will let Karen bring up her homework and some books or toys to entertain herself. I put a mini-fridge up there with food in it because I did not think it would be fair to make a babysitter climb all the stairs to feed Karen. It is just a safety hazard to have her roaming free when only you are here. I would lock her bedroom but then she would not be able to get to the bathroom. In the attic I can lock the attic door and she will be able to use the bathroom up there." Daddy opened the door as he said this.

"What's going on?" I did not want Daddy to know I had been eavesdropping on his conversation with Claudia. I waved at Claudia but she did not wave back. I guess we would not be playing Let's All Come In or using her kid-kit today. Oh well. I had plans of my own.

"Bring whatever you want from your room. I am locking you in the attic for the day. I have put food up there and there is toilet paper in the bathroom." Daddy looked impatient so I quickly grabbed my backpack. I had stuffed my purse inside it while I was eavesdropping.

"I have a lot of homework." I informed Daddy and Claudia cheerfully. I did not know how I was going to get down from the attic but I would figure out a way.

Daddy marched me up there and locked the door behind me. I opened the fridge and found a bowl of cut fruit and another of cottage cheese. It was labeled "breakfast". I ate it while thinking hard about what to do. I wished we had a hidden staircase like at Kristy's friend Dawn's house. I looked out the window. We did not have a hidden staircase but we did have a fire escape. Daddy had had it built since the house is so many stories tall and he did not want anyone to get hurt falling off a ladder if there was a fire. Daddy had locked all the attic windows. I guess he had thought about me escaping down the fire escape before I did. Boo and bullfrogs.

I was pretty sure I might be able to jimmy the lock open if I tried really hard. I do not have the best lock picking skills in the world but my stepbrother Sam had been teaching me before my punishment. When I asked him why he wanted to pick locks he rather cryptically told me that it was a skill he thought he might need someday. I do not know why but I did not ask him too many questions because he told me that I would never see Emily Junior again if I did. What a meanie mo!

I found a screwdriver and went to work on opening the window. It took me awhile but I was finally successful. I grabbed my backpack and slid out the window. I tiptoed down the fire escape and kept a close lookout for neighbors and Morbidda Destiny. I sure did not want caught. I got down the fire escape without anyone seeing me. Claudia, the junk-food eating lard was nowhere to be seen in any of the windows I peeked into. That meant she was probably in the kitchen stuffing her face with twinkies and ho-hos. I got out of the yard and ran stealthily down the street. I ducked behind cars and trees just in case anyone was looking out the window.

Finally I made it to the bus stop. The bus schedule said that kid's fare was exactly $1.00. I pulled the money out of my backpack. An old man using a cane arrived at the bus stop and smiled at me. Soon the bus arrived. The driver did not seem suspicious about me getting on the bus by myself. Maybe he thought I was with the old man who had been waiting with me. I handed him my money and accepted a transfer. I sat in the seat behind the old man just in case the driver did think we were together.

The bus ride to downtown Stoneybrook was uneventful. No one spoke to me. I was wearing what I hoped was a very grown up outfit. I had on a denim pleated skirt in dark navy blue paired with a light blue cotton sweater over a white blouse with a Peter Pan collar. I wore white knee socks and navy blue Mary Jane shoes. I had put my hair in a half pony tail held with a dark blue barrette.

The bus arrived at the transit center in downtown Stoneybrook. I looked at all the bus route signs until I found the one I needed. The bus was already there waiting so I just got on and showed my transfer. There were so many people going on that the bus driver on this bus probably just assumed I was with a grown up just like the driver on the last bus.

I sat down in a seat and smiled. I was on my way to Club G at last. This time no one had caught me sneaking out or anything else. I had finally succeeded. Well it was not quite success yet. I still had to get what I wanted from Club G and escape from the store without being caught but I was on my way. I took my lucky penny out of my backpack and squeezed it. I needed all the luck I could get. Still, I was sure my plan would work this time. It just had to.