Chapter 3

Hard to believe, but I've finished Chapter 3!  Now it's time to send in the first three chapters along with my outline for the rest of the book to my instructor and see what she says.  Here's to hoping I'm on the right track and there is not a lot of revision in my future!

s soon as Savannah was in sight of her house, she knew something was wrong.  Her mom’s van was parked in the driveway which was strange since her mom worked until five and didn’t get home until after that.  Stopping in front of her driveway, Savannah looked apologetically at Trudy.

            “You know, I think today might not be the best day for you to come over after all.”

            Trudy looked surprised and a little disappointed.  “Why not?”

            “Well, it’s just that my mom is home early and that never happens.  I have a feeling my brother is in trouble again.”

            “Oh.”  Trudy nodded her head in understanding.  “Well, if you want, we could meet early in the morning before school to do our homework?”

            Savannah was relieved that Trudy didn’t ask more about her brother.  And even though she knew she shouldn’t be, she was glad that Trudy still wanted to meet up with her later.  “Sure, that sounds good.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

            As Trudy headed down the street for her house, Savannah squared her shoulders, preparing for what awaited in her own. 

            When she first stepped through the door, Savannah was surprised at the quiet.  Not seeing anyone around, she thought maybe she had been wrong about her brother.  Maybe her mom had just come home sick and was sleeping?  But Savannah found that theory hard to believe.  Her brother had been in trouble at school more times than she could count in the last couple weeks, and her mom had been into the school to talk to the teacher twice already.  Not that Josh was a perfect student before her dad left.  He had his fair share of problems at school last year in Kindergarten.  But at least then her dad was here to get Josh back on track.  School just didn’t seem to be Josh’s thing.

            As Savannah passed the sliding glass door in the kitchen, she noticed movement outside.  Peering through the glass, she saw her mom and brother in the yard; her brother carrying a bucket of something that looked heavy.  He hefted the bucket with both hands and half dragged, half carried it to the back of the yard, the bucket bouncing against his legs the whole way.

            “Hey, Mom,” Savannah greeted as she came out the door.  The yard felt hot with no shade.  Even though spring had started out slow and cold, the last week had been warmer each day.  Her mom looked back at her from where she stood supervising her brother, arms crossed, and let out a huge sigh. 

            “I’m glad your home, Savannah.  I’m going to need you to take over here for a little bit.  I need to take a break in a nice dark room.”  The crease between her brows seemed deeper than usual. 

            “What happened?” Savannah asked, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.

            “Well, your brother here decided it would be okay to tell another student he would bring ‘a real gun’ to school.  Can you believe that?”  Her mom laughed, but there was no humor behind it.

            “Why would he say that?”  Savannah was truly puzzled by this.  Her brother was a troublemaker, but he wasn’t violent.

            “Oh, I don’t know.  Something about a class pet that he wanted to play with, but another student already had.  When he asked her for it, she refused so he pretended to shoot her with his finger.  When she laughed at him, he said he’d bring a real gun.”  Her mom shrugged.  “So he was suspended for the rest of the day, and tomorrow too.  It’s silly, really.  I mean he’s in first grade.  Do they really think he would bring a gun to school?”
            Savannah agreed with her mom, but she knew it was because her dad was in the Army.  She was sure her brother’s principal assumed they had guns lying all over the house that Josh could just pick up and bring to school in his backpack, which of course wasn’t true.  Her dad did have guns, but they were all locked away and only her mom and dad knew where the keys were.

            “Josh, quit playing over there and bring that bucket back for more rocks!” her mom yelled.  She turned back to Savannah.  “I’ve decided to put him on hard labor while he’s home.  Nothing like a little sweat and tired muscles to help him remember a mistake he’ll never make again.”  She brushed a stray blonde curl out of her face and her shoulders sagged a little.  “Can you please watch him for a bit while I go in and take a break?  He just needs to keep moving rocks from this pile to the back fence.”

            Savannah nodded and watched as her mom headed back into the house, shoulders slumping. 

As soon as their mom was gone, Josh dropped the bucket and came over to Savannah, dropping to sit on the ground beside her.  He wiped his head and said, “I need a break!”

Savannah knew her mom wouldn’t want him taking breaks, but she sat down next to him anyway.  “Why’d you say that at school today, Josh?” she asked.

Josh frowned and turned his body so his back was to Savannah.  He crossed his little arms and hung his head.  “I don’t want to talk about it,” he mumbled.

Savannah came around to sit in front of him.  “You were pretty mad at that girl, huh?”

Josh looked up at her with tears in his eyes.  “She’s so mean, Savannah!  She’s always hogging Pinky and never lets anyone else hold him!”

The corner of Savannah’s mouth twitched up in a half smile.  “And Pinky is?”

Josh dashed the tears from his eyes and his face lit up.  “He’s our pet rat and he’s so cool!  We called him Pinky because he has pink eyes and this long pink tail.  It’s so soft!  Some of the kids think he’s creepy because of his eyes, but not me.  I think he’s awesome!  He even lets you hold him and he doesn’t even bite.”  Here Josh finally stopped his rapid description to take a breath, and his face fell again.  “But stupid Rosemary won’t let anyone hold him.  She’s such a boss!”

“I’m sure your teacher makes her share the rat so everyone gets a chance to hold him,” Savannah soothed.

“She tells Rosemary to share, but she never listens.  Ever since Rosemary took Pinky home last weekend she thinks he’s her rat.”  Josh’s lip jutted out and tears began filling his eyes again.

“Well, maybe your teacher will let you bring Pinky home this weekend.  Then you could hold him all you want.”  Savannah thought this idea would perk her brother up, but instead he continued to sit crossed arms and legs, pouting.

“I already asked Mom and she said no.”  Josh’s shoulders shook as a new bout of crying started.

Savannah pursed her lips.  “Well, maybe she’ll listen to me.  You’re not exactly her favorite person right now.  I’ll try asking her, okay?”

Josh’s crying quieted a little and he nodded his blond head, spiky hair unmoved by the motion.

“Okay.  Now, why don’t you get back to moving those rocks before Mom sees you sitting here?  I’ll go in and talk to her.”  Savannah retrieved the dropped bucket for her brother and watched as he started putting rocks into it before she went in to talk to her mom.

Savannah found her mom sprawled across the loveseat in the living room, feet hanging over the edge of one side and her arm thrown across her face covering her eyes.  Savannah thought maybe she was asleep because she looked so still; even breathing making her chest move up and down in a slow rhythmic way.  Her mom must have sensed her presence, and she stirred slightly, peeking from under her arm at Savannah.

“He’s still working?”  She asked this as though she were hoping she didn’t have to go back out to make him get back to work.

“Yea, he’s still working.”

“Good.”  She sighed and settled deeper into the loveseat, hiding her eyes again.

“Mom, Josh says he asked you about bringing the pet rat home for the weekend.”  Savannah started tentatively, not sure how her mom would react.  Throwing her arm off her face now, her mom hefted herself upright and looked at Savannah.

“Yes, and I told him no.  First of all, I don’t want a rat in this house.  But more importantly, I’m not going to reward him for his bad behavior.” 

“But I think it would be good for him; give him something to take his mind off Dad being gone.  He really seems to like that rat.”  Savannah knew the set of her mom’s face and expected her reasoning would not sway her mom’s decision, but it was worth a try.

“Savannah, Josh is just going to have to grow up a little quicker than he wants.  It’s time he stopped acting like a heathen because he’s mad and just accept that Dad will be gone for awhile.”  Savannah wasn’t sure her mom really believed those words.  There was little force behind them.

“I could help with the rat, and it would only be for the weekend.  Maybe it would cheer him up and help his behavior at school.  I promise you wouldn’t even have to see it.  It could stay in his room.”

At this her mom shuddered a little and her face became even more set.  “I’m sorry, Savannah, but I told your brother no and that’s the end of it.”  She stood and headed back toward the kitchen.

Savannah watched her mom leave and was angry at her.  How did she expect her to help Josh if she wouldn’t even let him do the one thing right now that seemed to cheer him up?  It was only a little rat, after all, and her mom wouldn’t even have to see it the whole weekend.  She understood that her mom wanted to punish Josh, but at the same time he also needed something positive to turn his behavior around.  Standing there in the living room by herself, Savannah crossed her arms and set her chin.  Her mom had told her to help her brother and that’s just what she would do; even if her mom didn’t like how she went about it.

Savannah walked back into the kitchen.  Her mom was busy getting dinner ready, but she was keeping an eye on Josh out the window.  Savannah passed her and headed out the sliding glass door to the back yard.  As she headed over to her brother, lugging another heavy bucket of rocks, she could feel her mom’s eyes on her back. 

“Keep going, Josh.  Mom’s watching.”  He glanced over his shoulder and his little brows creased in a frown. 

“What did she say about Pinky?”  He looked at Savannah hopefully, sweat running down both sides of his face into his ears.

“She said no.”  Savannah saw his shoulders droop and he looked like he would drop the bucket and start crying again.  “But don’t worry.  I’ve got another plan.  Tell your teacher that you can bring Pinky home this weekend.  I’ll stop by your school Friday to help you bring it home.  We’ll hide it in the shed out here in the yard.  Mom will never know.”  She said this all quickly, before she could change her mind.  Josh’s face brightened, but there was uncertainty in his eyes.

“Are you sure, Savannah?  Mom’s already mad at me and I don’t want to haul rocks for the next week because she finds out I brought Pinky home anyway.”

“Like I said, Josh, don’t worry.  I’ve got this.  If Mom finds out I’ll take the blame.  But she won’t find out anyway.”  Savannah wasn’t sure she really had this, but she wanted to help her brother and she knew it was the right thing to do when she saw his shoulders relax and the first real smile come across his face that she seen in a while.  “Now, get back to work.  No reason to make Mom suspicious.”  Josh nodded quickly and went back to hefting the heavy bucket of rocks to the fence.

Savannah turned back toward the house and saw her mom watching them.  She wasn’t sure this plan would really work, but it was only for the weekend after all.  And maybe it would help Josh turn his behavior around.  Still, Savannah couldn’t help feeling a sense of dread as she headed toward the house, her mom watching the whole time.

Chapter 2

I can't believe it's coming together so easily!  Granted this is still a rough version.  I'm sure there will be plenty of revising to come, but I'm pretty happy with how it's coming out so far.  Now to tackle Chapter 3 so I can send this in to my instructor!  This is the last chapter that has bits and pieces of scenes I previously wrote.  From here on out it's all new.

avannah slid her lunch tray down the metal bars in front of the lunch choices that were displayed behind the clear plastic sneeze guard like so many science experiments gone bad.  Here a metal container of steaming yellow goo, here a mass of overcooked and wilted greenish-brown vegetables, here some kind of mystery meat covered in gravy, and finally the ever present fake mashed potatoes.  Savannah quickly moved past each container and finally took a small, cold roll, a banana and a carton of chocolate milk.  Savannah looked at the measly lunch on her tray and wished that she wasn’t such a picky eater. 

            Just the night before her mom had pointed out the difficulty of cooking for her. “How can I cook anything when you don’t like the main ingredients in most common meals?  Spaghetti, tacos, chili, hamburgers, you won’t eat any of them!”   

            “I eat tacos.  Remember those shrimp ones you made?”  Savannah had replied.

            Her mother sighed heavily.  “Yes, Savannah, you do have a taste for expensive food – shrimp, salmon, steak.  But you know it’s not in our budget to eat those things every night.”

            Savannah had learned that there were a lot of things “not in our budget”, but no one ever said that military families were rich.  In fact, Savannah had come to realize there were a lot of things that no one could say about military families.  Such as living in one place your whole life, or having your family together.  She remembered with disappointment all the moves her family had made.  But it was her dad’s departure to Iraq that sent a stab of worry through her. 

Just two weeks before he had filled his foot locker with all the things he would need to be away in a foreign country for a year – uniforms, boots, desert gear, a laptop, tons of movies, an IPod loaded with music, books and a few snacks he liked and knew he wouldn’t be able to find over there.  Her dad had insisted that the family not come to see him off at the departure ceremony.  He said it would only be harder to say goodbye there, so Savannah and her mom and brother had tearfully told him goodbye at their house, then watched him leave with one of the other soldiers who came to pick him up.  Those first few hours that he was gone the house seemed so quiet and empty to Savannah.  She didn’t know how it would be possible not to see her dad for an entire year.  Her mom had tried to be upbeat, and fixed a nice dinner that even Savannah liked.  After that, the days seemed to drag by until he finally called and said his company had made it to Kuwait and they would be there for a couple weeks before moving on to their base in Iraq.  This news did much to perk up Savannah’s mom, who had been teary-eyed and nervous since her dad had left.  Even Josh came out of his bad mood for a bit and played with his plastic Army figures. 

As Savannah made her way to a table in the cafeteria she thought of Josh and how hard the next year would be for him.  She remembered her promise to her mom to help him through it, but she just wasn’t sure what she could do for him.  The only thing that would really make him happy was having their dad home again. 

Finding an empty table, Savannah sat down and was just about ready to peel her banana when she heard a familiar, unpleasant voice shout to her from nearby.

  “Hey, Savannarexic, I think that’s more than you had for lunch yesterday.  Careful, you might get fat!”  Eileen was smirking at her from a few tables over.  Eileen’s friends Jonetta, Shelley and Lisa, better known as the “Brat Pack” by Savannah, giggled approvingly into their lunches.  “A banana, and a roll?  Are you sure you can finish all that?”  Eileen laughed loudly at her own joke and turned back to her own lunch. 

Savannah was determined not to let the Brat Pack get to her.  They had been bothering her ever since she moved to the school in the fall, although she wasn’t sure why she was the target of their meanness.  She had enough to worry about with her dad being gone and her brother upset over him leaving.  Eileen’s mean comments didn’t deserve to register a blip on her screen right now.  That decided, Savannah ate her lunch as quickly as she could.  When she rose to take the tray back to the kitchen, she was suddenly surprised by the sound of clapping.  Confused, she looked around and saw Eileen and the Brat Pack standing up and applauding.  Soon, other students stood and began clapping too.  They hooted and whistled.  One boy shouted “Look!  She finished all her food!”

Savannah felt her face go hot.  The tears pushed behind her eyes, threatening to spill, but she refused to let them.  Instead, she stiffened her back, stared down the other students, and then turned to leave her tray at the kitchen and get out of the cafeteria as quickly as possible.  The sound of applause followed her all the way out and down the hall. 

#

Head bent low over the math assignment on her desk, Savannah looked up through the brown curtain of her bangs to steal a glance at the new girl.  Well, she technically wasn’t new anymore since she’d moved to the school a month ago.  The girl, Trudy, sat at her desk with a concentrated expression as her pencil hovered just over her math paper.  Her long blonde hair draped over her shoulders and her straight bangs hung just to the middle of her green eyes.  Blowing the bangs out of her eyes, Trudy appeared to attack the next math problem with her pencil, jabbing and scraping the lead over the paper, the concentrated look on her face getting even deeper and creasing her brow.  Breathing out a huge sigh, Trudy flipped the pencil over in her fist and began furiously erasing then quickly began writing again without even wiping away the bits of used eraser. 

Savannah looked back down at her own math paper and saw rows of neat numbers, each problem carefully numerated and the answers circled with heavy pencil mark.  Math had always been Savannah’s favorite subject, mostly because it was easy for her.  She liked the way that numbers didn’t surprise you.  They were so predictable with their patterns and formulas.  It didn’t matter which way you wrote 4 + 4, the answer would always be 8, and that certainty was comfortable.  Savannah glanced up through her bangs again at Trudy who had taken to chewing the end of her pencil as she looked down unblinking at her math paper, as if winning a staring contest with it would reveal the answers she needed. 

The girl sitting just in front of Trudy turned around, took one look at Trudy’s paper and smirked.  Eileen’s shiny black hair hung in perfect waves down to her shoulders, a hint of eye shadow on her eyes and gloss on her lips gave her the appearance of being older than the 12 she was.  She pointed one pink tipped fingernail at Trudy’s paper.

“Here’s your problem,” she said in a voice loud enough for everyone in the nearby seats to hear.  “You forgot to ROUND the numbers before you multiplied them.” 

The word round rolled out of her mouth and hung in the air like the echo of a fireworks shell after it explodes.  Muffled laughter broke out nearby and Eileen settled her face into a self-satisfied smile.  She looked from side to side to acknowledge the laughter coming from her friends. 

Encouraged, Eileen continued her lecture.  “Of course, we learned how to do that over a month ago, but you weren’t here then.  I guess your last school never taught you that?” 

Trudy’s cheeks bloomed pink, but from embarrassment or anger Savannah wasn’t sure.  “Oh sure, they taught us that,” Trudy said, eyes narrowed at Eileen.  “They also taught us how to be respectful, which it seems your teacher hasn’t gotten to yet.”  Savannah recognized a slight drawl in her voice; the kind that you get after spending just enough time in a southern state to pick up the habit. 

Eileen’s glossy lips turned down in a little frown.  “Well, I was only trying to help,” she muttered and quickly turned back around to her own work.  Savannah couldn’t hear Trudy’s mumbled response as she returned to chewing on the end of her pencil and staring down the math problems on her page. 

A slow smile began to spread across Savannah’s face.  She had never seen anyone put Eileen in her place so neatly before.  After the scene in the cafeteria that Eileen had instigated, Savannah was glad to see someone who could stop her in her tracks.  Before she could stop it, a small giggle escaped from Savannah.  The look on Eileen’s face from Trudy’s comeback had been truly funny.  Savannah smothered her laugh and glanced over at Trudy only to see her staring back.  Trudy smiled at her, and then turned her attention back to her math paper.

#

            When the bell rang signaling the end of school, Savannah couldn’t be happier to pack up her things and head home.  The scene in the cafeteria had put her on edge, just waiting for Eileen’s next cutting comments.  Even though Eileen had been strangely quiet since her run in with Trudy during math, Savannah didn’t feel like waiting around for her to come out of her stupor.  Shoving her English book into her backpack and zipping it closed, Savannah turned to head for the classroom door, and almost ran into Trudy.

            “Hi,” Trudy said.  She smiled and cocked her head to the side like she was trying to figure out how Savannah would respond, or if she would just run out the door instead.  When Savannah didn’t immediately reply Trudy kept talking like there had been no uncomfortable silence between them.  “I saw what happened with Eileen in the cafeteria today.  She can be such a brat.”

            At that, Savannah smiled.  “I couldn’t agree with you more,” she said. 

            Trudy’s smile widened.  “Has she always been that mean to you?” she asked. 

            “Well, yes, since I started in the fall.”

            Trudy looked surprised.  “Oh, I didn’t know you were new here too.”

            Savannah’s smile faltered a little.  “Yea, I’m always the new kid.  But I’m used to it.”  She shrugged on the last words.

            Trudy glanced at Savannah’s Army backpack slung over her shoulder.  “Oh, so you’re in the Army too?  I thought maybe you were just one of those kids that liked Army stuff.  You know, living in a base town it’s pretty easy to get those things.”

            Savannah only heard the first part of what Trudy said because she was stuck on the words ‘you’re in the Army too?’  She wasn’t sure why she’d never realized it, but she hadn’t thought about Trudy being an Army kid.  “Yea, my dad works on helicopters,” Savannah finally said. 

            “Oh, cool!  My dad flies around in helicopters a lot.  He’s a medic.”  She turned to look around the classroom, but it was empty.  “Looks like Eileen took off before we could chat more.”  She grinned.  “Hey, are you walking home?  Maybe we could walk together.”

            Savannah hesitated.  Trudy seemed nice, and she had managed to shut Eileen up for the afternoon.  But Savannah remembered her promise to herself not to get too attached.  She knew once her dad came home they would probably be moving to a new town.  And she doubted she’d have time for anything now with her brother needing her to help him while their dad was gone.  “I don’t know,” she looked apologetically up through her brown bangs at Trudy.  “I’m kind of busy.”

            Disappointment flashed briefly across Trudy’s face.  Then seeing Savannah’s backpack again, she bit her lip thinking.  “No, I understand.  It’s just that, you’re pretty good at math, right?  I’m pretty horrible at math and I wondered if maybe you could help me with my homework tonight?  I saw you’re bringing your English book home.  I can help you with the questions to the story if you want.  We already read that story at my last school before I left.”

            Savannah considered for a moment.  It would be easy to help Trudy with her math, and she did need help with those story questions.  One night of homework together wasn’t really committing to a friendship anyway.  Savannah adjusted her backpack on her shoulder and said, “Sure, I can do that.  You want to come over to my house?”

            “That sounds great!”  Trudy smiled widely at her.  “I just have to be home by five for dinner.”  She turned to head out the classroom door.

            Savannah heard that slight drawl in Trudy’s voice again on the word five.  “Where did you live before here?” she asked, falling into step behind Trudy.

            “Oh, we lived on Ft. Bragg.  You know, in North Carolina?  We were there for about three years.  The last six months we were there my dad was in Iraq, so when my dad told us we would be moving here to Tennessee when he gets back, my mom decided we would get here early and look for a place to live.”

            Savannah was stunned.  “You’re dad’s been in Iraq for six months?”

            “Well, almost eight now.  He’ll be home around the time school gets out.  It’s been pretty hard having him gone, but now that we’re past the halfway point it’s finally going faster.”  She looked sideways at Savannah before asking, “How long has your dad been gone?”

            Savannah’s eyebrows shot up.  She wasn’t sure how Trudy had guessed that her dad was in Iraq also.  “Only two weeks.  He just left.”

            “Oh, wow.  Sorry.  That’s got to be the hardest part, when they first leave.  But trust me, it does get better.” 

            Savannah nodded, looking hopeful.

            As if she sensed it was time to change the subject, Trudy said, “Now, tell me all about Eileen and those friends of hers.  What’s their problem?”

            Savannah rolled her eyes.  “You mean what’s not their problem?” 

            Trudy laughed, listening as Savannah filled her in on the Brat Pack.