CHAPTER 3: A DIFFICULT QUESTION

When the bus stopped and Lizzie and Gordo got off, they were greeted by Mrs. McGuire.

"So, Gordo," she said, after she'd kissed Lizzie and marveled over the glittery paper snowflakes made during Arts & Crafts Time, "would you like to come over and help me and Lizzie in the kitchen? We're baking Christmas cookies, and I have cutouts in all different shapes: reindeer, snowmen, Santa Claus—"

"No!" Lizzie exclaimed. "He can't come over! I don't want him to!"

"Lizzie!"

"It's okay, Mrs. McGuire," Gordo said glumly. "I have a lot of homework to do."

"Gordo," Mrs. McGuire sighed. "You're in second grade. How much homework can you have? Besides, I hate to think of you spending the entire afternoon all alone in that big house…"

"I'll be okay," Gordo said, beginning to walk away. "I'm quite self-sufficient," he added, using another phrase he had often heard from his father. "Thank you anyway, Mrs. McGuire."

"Well…okay…" Jo McGuire agreed hesitantly. Then "Lizzie, say goodbye to Gordo."

"No!" Lizzie shot back, still angry with him.

"Lizzie! Don't be rude! Don't be mean!"

"I'm not the one being mean, Mommy. HE IS."

Mrs. McGuire could tell something had happened between them, and that Lizzie was not going to be rational until Gordo was out of her sight. So they watched little Gordo take off in the other direction, eyes to the ground, a huge sack of books weighing down his backpack.

When they were finally alone, Jo turned to her daughter and began, pleasantly enough, "So…how was school today, Lizzikins?"

"It was okay," Lizzie answered, without much enthusiasm.

"And how was the ride home on the bus?"

"It was…okay…" she answered tentatively, a tiny sniffle in her voice.

Jo took a deep breath. "Did something happen on the bus?" she asked gently. "Did something happen between you and Gordo?"

Lizzie was quiet a long time as she walked, sniffling now and then, rubbing her nose, her mind all a jumble. Then suddenly she spit out, "Do you know what Gordo said, Mommy? Can you believe what he said?"

"I don't know," Jo answered carefully. "What did he say?"

"He said there's no Santa Claus!"

Jo caught her breath. "Oh!" she said shortly. "Did he? Did he really?" She caught her breath again and asked, "It's not because of that movie, is it?"

"No. He hasn't seen that movie. Kate said it's because he's Jewish, that's why he doesn't believe in Santa. But Santa leaves presents for Jewish kids, doesn't he?"

"I'm sure he does, Lizzie."

"Well, maybe he just doesn't leave presents for Gordo because Gordo's such a doody head!"

"Lizzie! There's no need for name-calling!" Jo said in shock, wondering where in the world she could have picked up the phrase "doody head."

"Well, I'm not the only one calling names!" Lizzie replied indignantly. "Do you know what else Gordo called Santa Claus, besides calling him not real? He called him…he called him…" and here she blushed a little, before she continued quietly, "he called him a sex symbol."

"WHAT?" Jo exploded.

""Yeah!" Lizzie continued with gusto. "He said Santa Claus was a sexual symbol!"

Now Jo laughed. "Lizzie, I'm sure that's not what he said."

"Yes, it is! He said Santa was not a Christian symbol, he was a sex symbol!"

Baffled, Jo wondered what kind of nonsense Roberta and Howard were feeding their child. She of course knew of their decision to not allow their son to believe in Santa Claus, but she couldn't imagine they were somehow getting…Freudian about it!

"But that doesn't matter," Lizzie went on, taking the conversation where Jo hoped it would not go. "None of that matters anyway. The only thing that matters is that Gordo says Santa is not real. I hate him for that!"

"Lizzie…"

"Cos Santa is real, right, Mommy?"

"Welllll…Oh look!" she exclaimed suddenly. "Here we are, home already! And what a surprise! Daddy's car is in the driveway! Do you think he'd like to help us make cookies?"

Momentarily distracted, Lizzie asked, "Do you have pink sprinkles?"

"Yes! Yes!" Jo answered enthusiastically as she led her young daughter into the house. "I have pink, and red, and green and—"

"Cos I want to make one of the reindeer cookies look like My Little Pony! Would that be okay, Mommy?"

"Sure! Sure!" Jo answered, breathing a sigh of relief that the Santa Claus issue seemed to have been tabled.