What I Meant... by Marie Lamba

Author:Marie Lamba [Lamba, Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-49866-3
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2007-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

step into my house expecting the unexpected. Even though the enemy is, according to my datebook, at Super Fresh until 8:30 p.m., she might have planted a bomb of sorts.

I see Dad having a cup of tea at the table and thumbing through the newspaper.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Sangeet,” he says, and turns the page. I stand there, waiting for him to say more. He doesn't.

Whatever. I walk toward the stairs, but stop and march back to him. “Okay, here's the thing. I didn't do anything wrong, but even if I did, couldn't we still have our Diwali?”

He opens his mouth, but before he can speak, I say, “For Doodles? I mean, why punish her?”

His expression softens for a moment, but in a blink it turns hard and cold. “Diwali is over.”

“But that's so unfair.”

He turns to his newspaper, and I close my mouth tight. I go to my room and try hard not to scream. How can he possibly think these things about me? How? I try to calm myself, remembering that soon everything is going to change. Soon he'll be all, I'm so sorry, Sang. And all, How can I ever make it up to you?

I set up the video camera's battery in the recharger. If it charges fast enough, I should be able to film all the stolen things in Chachi's drawers tonight. It's a good thing I asked Jason about the camera, because it turns out he's really into moviemaking, which is why he got the job at the County Theater. Sort of a small stepping-stone in his career. After he told me this, he kissed my hand, sending little shock waves up my arm. And I thought, This is it. The real kiss is coming. The one where he initiates and I don't run away and we linger.… Only the real kiss never came, which was kind of awkward. You know, just waiting for something to happen, and then it doesn't. But it's okay. One step at a time, right? I mean, what's the rush?

I WANT HIM TO KISS ME!!!!!

Right. So anyway, while I was waiting for the kiss that never came, Jason showed me how to work Dalton's camera, which is almost as old as our camera, but different enough to make it confusing. Okay, so all I've got to do now is wait for the battery to charge. But for some reason, I feel uneasy. I decide I need to take a quick peek into Chachi's room. I take off my sneakers and slip into the hallway. Doodles is on her bed, sorting through her candy orders and putting money she's collected in neat piles. Fortunately, she doesn't look up as I pass. And I don't have to worry about her hearing me, because her headphones are on and she's blasting her Freaky Friday sound-track CD so loud, I can hear it buzzing.

Past Doodles's door, I stop and listen. Dad's still rustling the paper downstairs. I don't hear Mom anywhere, so she must be out saving the world.

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