Sparrow by Sherri L. Smith

Author:Sherri L. Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780375849114
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2008-01-08T00:00:00+00:00

12

“But just until the test,” I add.

Evie shakes her head, that old wry smile back on her face. “What’s that?”

She nods toward the lease in my hand. I hadn’t realized I was still holding it.

“Oh. I took your advice.” I show her the lease. “It’s due at the end of the week.”

Evie smiles slowly. “I’ve got a stamp and I know where the mailbox is.”

I smile back. “Hey, can I use your computer to write a letter to my school?”

“Sure.”

Fifteen minutes later, signing Janet’s name is starting to feel natural. Evie hands me an envelope. Is this the same girl who ripped into me yesterday like I was the worst traitor in the world?

“Thanks again,” I say. “I’ll be back soon.”

“No, we’ll be back soon,” she says. “I’m coming with you.”

If I hesitate at all, it’s only for a second. It’s better to be with someone than completely alone, even if that someone is Evie Morreal. We leave a note for Miss Clare, just in case, and roll out the back door.

Turns out the nearest mailbox is on the corner near Maisy Dae’s Beauty Parlor. The place sounds the same as it did that first day—radio blaring, and women shouting back and forth at one another. It seems like another world from the one that Evie and I are in, on the cracked sidewalk outside. Evie sees me check out the shop through the window.

“Want to go in?” she asks me.

For some reason, I don’t. It just seems like too much of a celebration in there. And maybe I don’t want to hear any more comments about my featherbed hair, or see the sympathetic looks I got last time.

“No.” I drop my letters into the mailbox. Goodbye lease, goodbye dropout letter. Godspeed. “That’s it.”

“Hey, hey,” a woman says from behind us. “Ain’t you that girl been looking for Janet Wright?” She’s tall, with unshaven legs and brightly painted toenails peeking out of her flip-flops. By the size and intricacy of her hair, it’s clear she’s the latest creation of Maisy Dae’s Beauty Parlor.

She comes up behind us, sucking her teeth. I nod. “Yes. My name is Kendall.”

“You her niece or something, huh? The ladies told me about you last week.” She nods back toward the beauty parlor.

Evie and I stay silent. The woman doesn’t seem to be waiting for an answer.

“Yeah, well, I seen her. I seen her just about a week ago. At the Cabbage Rose, that bar up on Napoleon. They play blues some nights, and she’s there for that.”

I stand there stunned. “Uh…thanks. Thank you very much.”

The woman breaks into a dazzling smile. “Sure, honey. Be good, now.” She flip-flops off down the street, swinging her legs in the air like she’s trying to dry her toenails faster.

“The Cabbage Rose.” I repeat the words like I can taste them.

“What are we waiting for?” Evie asks.

“You know where it is?”

“No, but a cabdriver would.”

I do a mental count of my cash. “How much is a cab?” Before Evie can answer, I shake my head.

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