فصل سی و ششم

Chapter 36

Bradley giggled as he walked to Carla’s office for his regularly scheduled appointment. He couldn’t wait to tell her all that had happened to him. She’ll be so happy! he thought.

She was waiting for him in the hall, just outside her office. But before she could say anything, he beat her to it. “Hello, Carla,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to see you today. I appreciate coming to see you.” She smiled. “The pleasure is mine,” she replied.

He laughed. He got a kick out of being polite.

They shook hands, then went inside to the round table. She was wearing a dark blue shirt, almost black, with little white stars on it. She looked like nighttime.

“So what’s new?” she asked.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He didn’t know why, but for some reason he didn’t want to tell her. “What’s new with you?” he asked.

“With me?” asked Carla. “Nobody’s ever asked me that before.” “You’re always asking me what’s new,” he said. “Why can’t I ask you?” “You can!” she replied. “You can ask me anything you want. Let me see. What’s new? I bought a new shower curtain yesterday. But that doesn’t sound like very interesting news, does it?” “What color?”

“Oh, sort of beige, I don’t know, it doesn’t really have a color.” “That’s a good color,” said Bradley. “It sounds beautiful.” “It’s okay,” said Carla.

“What happened to your old shower curtain?” he asked.

“It started getting a little rotten,” said Carla.

“Was it also beige?”

“Um, no,” said Carla. “I think it was yellow when it was new, but it was sort of a greenish brown when—” “Colleen invited me to her birthday party!” he blurted. Then it all came pouring out of him.

“Jeff’s invited too. We’ll be the only boys. Everyone else will be girls. Jeff and I are friends now. The other guys like me too. We play basketball together. At first I was afraid to shoot the ball, but then everybody said, ‘Shoot, Bradley, shoot,’ so I shot and made it! Everyone was amazed. So was I. I still miss a lot more than I make, but I’m getting better. Everyone says so. My father taught me how to dribble. He’s going to put a basket over the garage. At first they wanted to beat me up, but I said, ‘Hello, Jeff,’ and he said, ‘Hello, Bradley,’ and then Andy asked me if I wanted to play basketball. Then Colleen asked me to her birthday party and I said, ‘Yes,’ and she said, ‘Good.’ She would have asked me sooner except she just found out when she was born.” Fortunately, Carla had heard most of it already, otherwise she wouldn’t have understood a thing he said.

“It’s all because of you,” said Bradley.

“You did it, Bradley, not me.”

“It was your magic book!”

“My book? What’s that got to do with—Bradley, what’s wrong?” He was crying. One second he was beaming about her magic book, and the next he was sobbing and shaking all over.

“Bradley?”

He covered his face with his hands. Tears spilled out of his eyes.

“What is it?” asked Carla. “What happened?”

He shook his head.

Carla rose from the table, got a box of tissues, and placed it in front of him.

He pulled out a tissue, but didn’t use it. “I’ve never been to a birthday party,” he blubbered. Then he hiccupped. “Not a real one, where other kids are there.” He hiccupped again, then blew his nose. “A long time ago, when I was in the third grade I went to one, but then they made me go home because I sat on the cake.” “Well, you’re a lot smarter now than you were when you were in the third grade,” said Carla.

“But I don’t remember what to do!” Bradley whined. “Do I have to bring my own chair?” “Why would you have to bring your own chair?” “For musical chairs. That’s why I sat on the cake. I got mad because there was no place else to sit.” He sniffled. “Will there be ice cream?” “Don’t you like ice cream?”

“What if they don’t have enough for me? What if they only have enough for everybody else? And what about pin the tail on the donkey?” “You don’t have to bring your own donkey,” said Carla.

He laughed through his tears. “But what if I stick it in a bad place?” “You want to know what I think?” asked Carla. “I think you’re a little overwhelmed by all that has happened to you. It’s scared you. You think you’re Cinderella.” “Cinderella?” he repeated, and laughed again.

“You’re Cinderella and you’ve just been invited to the ball and now you’re afraid that right in the middle of Colleen’s birthday party, everything will suddenly turn into a pumpkin!” He wiped his eyes on his tissue.

“You’re afraid all the good things that happened will suddenly disappear. You’re afraid everyone will suddenly stop liking you. But this isn’t a fairy tale, Bradley. Your friends like you for who you are. My book wasn’t magic. The magic is in you.” “Do I have to bring her a present?” he asked.

“You don’t have to do anything,” said Carla. “But it’s a nice thing to do, don’t you think? Colleen invited you to her birthday party because she likes you, and you give her a present because you like her and because you want to help celebrate her birthday.” “What should I get her? Should I get her a doll? Is that what girls like?” “I don’t know. Everyone likes different things. Give her something you like. If you like it, then she probably will too. Give her a gift from the heart.” “How about a shower curtain?” he asked.

“If it comes from the heart,” said Carla.

He smiled.

When it was time for him to return to class, Carla said, “I enjoyed our visit very much. Thank you for sharing so much with me.” “The pleasure was mine,” he replied. He had been waiting to say that.