car
A photograph of someone nobody knows
A pat of butter
Last Sunday’s newspaper
A lug nut
A Coke bottle
A rubber band
A chopstick
A recording by Frank Sinatra
A hat
I wondered if Barbie and Alexis knew what a lug nut was.
Barbie said, ‘All the neighbours know us, and are never surprised by anything we do.’ In the last fifteen minutes, we could run back to the Goldmans’ house and look for what we hadn’t been able to find (but there was no guarantee that any of these things was there) or we could keep combing the neighbourhood – we had to vote which one to do. Kyle and Stella were on our team, also Billy, Maria, and Lucia. Mrs Goldman shouted, ‘One, two, three, go!’ and we ran out of the house, following either Barbie or Alexis. Alexis turned right and Barbie turned left. Almost as soon as we got into the street, Kyle bent down and plucked something. It was the sprig of rosemary. Barbie put it into her paper bag. Maria said, ‘Can we produce something ourselves, or do we have to find it?’
Barbie looked at her a moment, then said, ‘We didn’t talk about that, so either way.’
Maria reached into her pocket and brought out a safety pin. Barbie smiled and dropped it into the bag. She said, ‘Only one minute gone.’
It became my job to go to the nearest front door and ask for a Cheerio. The lady was nice – she waved to Barbie and smiled – but no Cheerios, only Rice Krispies. As we were crossing to the next house, Kyle picked up an acorn; I knew from my seventh-grade mission project that having Kyle on your team was always an advantage. The high school kid at the next house had a Cheerio. Kyle then asked him for a Kleenex, which he also had, and Kyle wrapped the Cheerio in the Kleenex and put it in his pocket.
And so we went along, asking for things and finding things. Billy and Martin Orlovsky seemed to think that trash cans were the key, and sure enough, they did find some things, including the red rose – wilted, but recognisable – and the Time magazine, last Sunday’s newspaper, the Coke bottle, and, strangely enough, the hat – a torn straw hat, but nobody said things had to be new. Barbie would not let them look for the nappy in the trash – she herself asked for that at the Barkins’ house, since they had a new baby. She promised to bring it back in the morning, and Mr Barkin said, ‘Please, not too early.’ He did look tired.
It was Kyle who found the lug nut. We were walking along, and only Kyle was looking down. As we passed one car, he said, ‘I see one.’ It was lying on the ground, between the car’s tyre and the kerb. He bent down and picked it up.
Billy said, ‘Now that wheel’s going to fall off.’
Kyle said, ‘We didn’t remove the lug nut. It was lying there. Anyway – ’ he looked at the tyre – ‘it has few more.’
Lucia said, ‘I think we should—’
‘Leave a note,’ said Barbie. She tore a piece off the paper bag and wrote, ‘Your lug nut is at #246, up the street.’ She stuck it under the windscreen wiper, and Kyle dropped the lug nut into the bag.
By 7.40, we had found everything except the Frank Sinatra recording, the toy car, and the chopstick. Barbie was not allowed by the rules to say whether those things were at her house, but it was getting cold, so I voted to go back there and take our chances – after all, we had the lug nut. I was in the majority, and we were pretty far from the house, so once we had voted, Barbie said, ‘Run!’ and we ran. It was fun. We got warm, and we were laughing by the time we got there. Alexis and her group had decided to stay out. It wasn’t quite dark, but almost. The house was bright – every room was lit up. While we were gone, Mrs Goldman and her sister, Mrs Marx, had put all kinds of food on the dining-room table, and it made me hungry just to see it.
Barbie had to sit down and stay silent while we looked for our last three things. She couldn’t even roll her head around to tell us
A photograph of someone nobody knows
A pat of butter
Last Sunday’s newspaper
A lug nut
A Coke bottle
A rubber band
A chopstick
A recording by Frank Sinatra
A hat
I wondered if Barbie and Alexis knew what a lug nut was.
Barbie said, ‘All the neighbours know us, and are never surprised by anything we do.’ In the last fifteen minutes, we could run back to the Goldmans’ house and look for what we hadn’t been able to find (but there was no guarantee that any of these things was there) or we could keep combing the neighbourhood – we had to vote which one to do. Kyle and Stella were on our team, also Billy, Maria, and Lucia. Mrs Goldman shouted, ‘One, two, three, go!’ and we ran out of the house, following either Barbie or Alexis. Alexis turned right and Barbie turned left. Almost as soon as we got into the street, Kyle bent down and plucked something. It was the sprig of rosemary. Barbie put it into her paper bag. Maria said, ‘Can we produce something ourselves, or do we have to find it?’
Barbie looked at her a moment, then said, ‘We didn’t talk about that, so either way.’
Maria reached into her pocket and brought out a safety pin. Barbie smiled and dropped it into the bag. She said, ‘Only one minute gone.’
It became my job to go to the nearest front door and ask for a Cheerio. The lady was nice – she waved to Barbie and smiled – but no Cheerios, only Rice Krispies. As we were crossing to the next house, Kyle picked up an acorn; I knew from my seventh-grade mission project that having Kyle on your team was always an advantage. The high school kid at the next house had a Cheerio. Kyle then asked him for a Kleenex, which he also had, and Kyle wrapped the Cheerio in the Kleenex and put it in his pocket.
And so we went along, asking for things and finding things. Billy and Martin Orlovsky seemed to think that trash cans were the key, and sure enough, they did find some things, including the red rose – wilted, but recognisable – and the Time magazine, last Sunday’s newspaper, the Coke bottle, and, strangely enough, the hat – a torn straw hat, but nobody said things had to be new. Barbie would not let them look for the nappy in the trash – she herself asked for that at the Barkins’ house, since they had a new baby. She promised to bring it back in the morning, and Mr Barkin said, ‘Please, not too early.’ He did look tired.
It was Kyle who found the lug nut. We were walking along, and only Kyle was looking down. As we passed one car, he said, ‘I see one.’ It was lying on the ground, between the car’s tyre and the kerb. He bent down and picked it up.
Billy said, ‘Now that wheel’s going to fall off.’
Kyle said, ‘We didn’t remove the lug nut. It was lying there. Anyway – ’ he looked at the tyre – ‘it has few more.’
Lucia said, ‘I think we should—’
‘Leave a note,’ said Barbie. She tore a piece off the paper bag and wrote, ‘Your lug nut is at #246, up the street.’ She stuck it under the windscreen wiper, and Kyle dropped the lug nut into the bag.
By 7.40, we had found everything except the Frank Sinatra recording, the toy car, and the chopstick. Barbie was not allowed by the rules to say whether those things were at her house, but it was getting cold, so I voted to go back there and take our chances – after all, we had the lug nut. I was in the majority, and we were pretty far from the house, so once we had voted, Barbie said, ‘Run!’ and we ran. It was fun. We got warm, and we were laughing by the time we got there. Alexis and her group had decided to stay out. It wasn’t quite dark, but almost. The house was bright – every room was lit up. While we were gone, Mrs Goldman and her sister, Mrs Marx, had put all kinds of food on the dining-room table, and it made me hungry just to see it.
Barbie had to sit down and stay silent while we looked for our last three things. She couldn’t even roll her head around to tell us
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