EllRay Jakes Rocks the Holidays! by Sally Warner

Author:Sally Warner [Warner, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-10-15T16:00:00+00:00

10

OFFICIALLY BROWN

“Knock, knock,” I say, pausing outside Alfie’s room. Her door is open, but I’m trying to teach her not to barge into my room without knocking. See, I’m setting an example.

So far, so bad.

Alfie looks up from a row of six or seven Barbies lying on her fluffy carpet. Three of them have Beyoncé-brown skin. They are all wearing fancy dresses. Their feet are all touching a yardstick, which is a long ruler that I guess Alfie is pretending is the ground. “Is this gonna be a knock-knock joke?” she asks, getting ready to not laugh.

“Nope,” I tell her. “I’m supposed to tell you that you have to take a bath in ten minutes. So, ten-minute warning. What are you doing?” I say, already half sorry I asked, because her explanation might be a real brain-frazzler.

“We’re having a beauty contest,” she informs me. “First prize is a brand-new darling outfit. Right now they’re telling their hobbies,” she adds. “This one likes horseback widing,” she says, pointing.

That’s Alfie-speak for “riding.”

“And this one likes shopping,” she continues. “Actually, all of them like shopping.”

I go closer to take a look. “Who’s winning so far?” I ask, plopping down next to her.

“She is,” Alfie says, pointing to her newest doll, one with long, blonde hair. “Because her hobby is collecting stuffed animals. I wish they made little stuffed animals for Barbies,” she adds, forgetting about the contest for a minute. “I’d buy a whole lot of them! Tons.”

“I know you would,” I say, picturing it. “But what about this doll?” I ask, pointing at one of the brown-skinned dolls. “She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

Because—Alfie’s pretty, too. And she has brown skin.

“Yeah,” Alfie says. “Vanessa. But she’s stuck-up and mean. Like Suzette Monahan,” she explains, naming her secret enemy—sometimes, anyway—at Kreative Learning and Playtime Day Care. “Mom and Dad were talking about you yesterday, EllWay,” she says, jumping to another subject like she always does.

“You were listening in?” I ask, frowning.

“Not on purpose,” Alfie says. “I was hiding under the dining table, behind the tablecloth. Pwetending to be a mouse. And they just started talking.”

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