The Challege 

A Piece of Cake

“She didn’t even say good bye.”  Albert lay on the grass, chin in hand and glared at the house where Kristen used to live.  Moving men had been hauling furniture out to a huge van all morning. 
“Maybe her mom and dad wouldn’t let her.  Maybe they were in a hurry,” Myles said.  He sat in the swing that hung from the big branch in Kristen’s front yard.
“She probably took her Cal Ripken baseball with her.”
“Cal Ripken, Junior?  Autographed?” Myles asked in surprise.
“Yeah.  Girls aren’t supposed to care about autographed baseballs.”  Albert stood up and grabbed the ropes of the swing to twist Myles around.  “She was the best catcher on our team.”
“How did she ever get it?”
“She was at a game when she was two with her father.  He asked for it for her.”
Myles frowned in thought.  “But, that doesn’t count.  She was only two?”
“You’re right.  It’s not like if we went now.  When you’re ten, you know what you want.  You don’t when you’re two.”
“That’s enough!  I’ll get sick if you turn me any more.  Let go now.” 
As Myles spun with the unwinding ropes, Albert saw the moving men climb into a smaller black pick-up.  They drove down the long driveway and turned right.  “I’ll bet they’re going out to lunch!  Let’s go see if she left the ball behind.”
Myles staggered from the swing.  “You mean go in the house?  We can’t.  Nobody’s home.”
“But Kristen is our best friend.  We always go in her house.  They won’t mind.  Come on.”  Albert headed across the lawn to the front door.
Myles lagged behind.  As he caught up to Albert, Albert was already heading toward the back of the house.  “The front door’s locked, but their house is almost exactly like ours.  There should be a window in the laundry room with a fan in it.”
“You can’t mean you’re going to break in?”
“Nah.  I know how to get in without breaking anything.  Piece of cake.”  Albert grinned as he remembered sneaking late into his own house one afternoon.  When his mother came downstairs to the family room she found him asleep on the sofa in front of the television.  Actually, he was pretending to be asleep.  She never knew he climbed in through the laundry room window. 
Just as he figured the laundry room window was low to the ground and had a small exhaust fan installed in it.  This time, Myles did stay back.  He leaned against a post that supported the deck above.  “I don’t think you should be doing that.”
Albert ignored his little brother as he worked the fan out of the opening.  “You’re just a scaredy-cat.  Stay out here if you want.  But, don’t you dare tell anyone about this, you understand?”  He held a fist up to his brother’s face.
“What if the movers come back?”
“Bang on the window.”  Albert heaved himself over the window sill onto the top of the clothes dryer, then turned around to replace the fan and shut the window over it.  No one would be able to tell it had ever been opened.  He slid down and then listened at the slotted door that would lead to the family room on the ground floor.  No noises.  He knew the family had already sent their dogs to stay in a kennel until they finished their move.  And now, it seemed like the family was completely gone, too.  He opened the door slowly and then jumped back when he saw a boy with short dark hair, freckles across his nose, wearing a Dolphins t-shirt and denim shorts staring at him.  His heart raced.  “Geez!” 
He peeked again and realized he was only looking at himself in a mirror.  The two houses might look a lot alike, but his sure didn’t have a full length mirror outside the laundry room.  Must be because girls lived in this house.  He stepped out into the hallway to the family room.  With more confidence he walked into the large room only to find that it was completely empty of any furniture.  Ridges in the carpeting showed where the entertainment center and other furniture had been.  He felt a lump in his throat knowing that Kristen would never be in this house again.  They’d never play video games together again. 
“Stupid girls,” he grumbled as he went up the stairs to the main floor of the house.  Boxes and large cartons stood all around the living room.  He wandered through them feeling like he was in a fun house maze.  They were all sealed and marked, “Living room, girl 1 bedroom, girl 2 bedroom” and so on.  He wondered which number girl Kristen was. As he neared the picture window at the front of the house he saw Myles out on the sidewalk and a police cruiser slowing to turn into the driveway.
Police cruiser?  He looked again then whirled around in a panic.  There must be an alarm system.  He never knew that.  His family didn’t have one in their house.  What could he do?  Would the police actually come inside and find him?  He looked at all the sealed boxes.  No.  It would take too long to open one and then he couldn’t reseal it once inside.  The fireplace!  He bounded across the room to the fireplace and then dragged several boxes across the hardwood floor so that once he tucked himself in the fireplace, he could pull the cartons close and be hidden from view.  He had positioned the third carton when he heard the voice at the front door.
“Mr. Green?  Mrs. Green?  It’s Jim from the alarm company.  Are you there?”
Not the police.  He took a deep breath and hoped the man would go away without coming inside the house.  The man knocked and rang the doorbell several times.  Albert waited.  Then he heard Jim testing the other outside doors.  Then one downstairs near the garage and then he could hear him climbing the stairs up to the deck and checking that door.  Albert didn’t dare peek until he heard him going back down the steps. 
When he heard the car door slam and the engine start, he pushed the boxes away with his feet.  Limp from fear, he rested against the charred brick wall of the firebox for a few minutes before crawling out.  On hands and knees, he went to the front window and peered out over the edge.  He didn’t see Myles. 
Like a Marine in the movies, he belly crawled to the stairs and slithered down to the family room.  Once down there, he ventured to stand, and walk to the laundry room.  As he passed the mirror he stopped to see himself covered with soot!  He looked like he’d been in a fire.  His face was black, though he didn’t remember touching it.  He must have.
When he opened the door to the laundry room, he hesitated.  If he crawled out the window, he’d set off the alarm again.  How could he get out of the house?
Remembering his reason for coming in, he headed to the back room where Kristen’s dad kept his golf trophies and Kristen and Megan’s dance and baseball awards.  And the Cal Ripken, Jr. baseball.  With not much hope of finding anything he went past the laundry room into Mr. Green’s den.  Now he felt like a thief as he entered a room he’d only been invited into once before.  Usually he and Kristen and their friends played in the family room or ate in the kitchen.  But, when he opened the door, it was as he suspected, empty.  The ledge that ran along the two outside walls showed dust patches where the trophies stood; the walls had pale patches on the blue paint where pictures had hung.  Kristen and her baseball were really and truly gone.
Dejected he wandered back to the laundry room and looked out the window to the backyard.  They’d left a jungle gym and sand box behind.  How could you move a sandbox anyway?  He wondered if the people who bought the house had any kids. 
His stomach grumbled.  It was way past his lunchtime.  He had threatened Myles so he wouldn’t tell where he was.  Now what could he do?  He climbed onto the dryer and sat cross legged staring out the window.  He’d have to confess to the movers when they came back to finish loading the van.
With a sigh, he went into the family room and lay down on the carpet to wait, and as he lay there his eyelids grew heavy.  Next thing he knew, he was waking up in a dark room.  Something had disturbed him.  He leapt up and looked around.  The street lamp created enough light for him to see his way around the room and he headed for the stairs and the front door.  He’d had enough of hiding.  Where could those movers be?
Just as he was about to open the door a bright light flashed through the window above the door.  From the landing, halfway between the main floor and the family room, he watched the light travel across the front of the house.  Then he heard voices.  His parents and Myles.  And other men. 
He ducked into the closet next to the front door.  There were no coats to hide behind but he hoped no one would even come into the house, like the alarm man this afternoon. 
Then he heard a key in the front door and knew he was sunk.  Mr. Green said, “Let’s check all the rooms.  He might have hurt himself.”
Footsteps tramped in.  Lots of footsteps.  Then he heard Myles’ voice.  “Albert!  It’s okay to come out now.  Everybody knows you’re in here.”
“Albert,” everyone called.  His father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Green, Kristen and Megan and Myles spread out through the house calling his name.  He stepped out of the closet, ashamed and embarrassed.  He stood there for several minutes before anyone saw him.  They were so busy looking everyplace else in the house.  He could see Megan up in the kitchen checking in the cabinets for him.
Finally, he said, “I’m here!  By the front door.”  And then he burst into tears.
His parents drove him back to their house and when they arrived, he was surprised to see that the Greens had followed.  When he walked inside, he saw the table set for eight people.  And he smelled spaghetti.  Wondering if they would let him eat supper with them, he remained quiet, hoping no one would holler at him for his stupid trick. 
“So, son, what were you thinking?”
Albert looked around at all the faces staring at him and then looked down at the floor as he answered.  “I was thinking about Cal Ripken’s baseball.  I didn’t want Kristen to take it away with her.  I was mad at her because she didn’t come to say goodbye.”
“Come into the dining room, Albert,” his mother said.
He followed her and they all took their places around the table.  His mother and Mrs. Green brought in spaghetti and salad and garlic bread.  No one mentioned his misadventure during the dinner.  Mr. Green talked about Virginia and the new house they would be living in.  He explained how the movers would be back in the morning to finish loading up the van and take their things away for them.  Kristen and Megan sounded excited and happy to be going to the new house and a new school.  Albert ate just enough to stop the starved feeling, then set his knife and fork on his plate.
“Can I be excused?  I don’t feel very well,” he said as he pushed away from the table.
“No, you may not,” his father answered, surprising him.  His father always said, “Yes.”
He pulled his chair back in place and waited to see what would happen next.
When the rest of them finished the main course, the women cleared the table while the men left the room.  The other children waited at their places, none of them asked to leave. 
Finally, the mothers came back in.  Mom had a box of ice cream.  Mrs. Green carried dessert plates and the two fathers carried a large sheet cake with a tower on it.  On top of the tower stood a small gift wrapped box.  Albert craned his neck to see better.  The cake had a baseball diamond on it and writing.  “Goodbye to all the Greens.  We’ll miss you.” 
He slumped back in his chair.  Big deal. 
Then Kristen leaned over and plucked the package from the top of the tower and handed it to Albert.  “This is for you, Albert.  I know you like it and my father said I could give it to you.  But, you have to promise to keep it safe.  I wanted to tell you about it, but everyone said it would make a good surprise.”
He looked around the room.  Once again he was the center of attention, but no one looked angry at him this time.  He tore open the wrapping paper to find clear plastic box holding the Cal Ripken, Jr. autographed baseball.
Now, he really wanted to cry.  He didn’t know if he was happy or sad.  Kristen planned to say goodbye to him all along.  He should have trusted his friend.  And then to part with her favorite baseball.  He felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment as he said, “Thank you,” in a soft voice.
“Now it’s time for a piece of cake.”

Veronica H. Hart