knee bends and stretches, side bends and leg lifts. The boys tried to be cool, almost break-dancing, it seemed like. Everybody was grinning. Even laughing. Ms. Devine sat on a picnic table just kind of smiling in the sunlight. It wasn’t her turn to work them yet. She was too big to move fast. Once in a great while, she would do the exercises.
They were all breathing hard after a half an hour. But, oh, the fresh air! thought Cammy.
“Did you see how Patty Ann had to set down not even halfway through?” asked Elodie. They were sitting in the shade at a picnic table. They rested while finishing up the cornhusk dolls they’d learned to make last week.
“I don’t care,” Cammy said. “She gets tired quick, I guess,” she said.
“And wearing those shorts,” Elodie went on. “They look about to fall off to her feet—no hips.”
“L-O-D, I don’t care . Let’s just forget her,” Cammy said.
They did forget Patty Ann, or tried to. But she always caught their attention. There she was, she and Larry with some kids at the next picnic table. All of them in shade but Patty Ann. She was in light and shade. The light caught strands of her hair. Her hair framed her face in waves rippling into that perfect French braid down her back. The waves shone like copper. So did her lashes. She looked like a princess.
And the whole park must be her daddy’s kingdom, Cammy thought. Oh, I don’t care!
Until Ms. Devine had to go and use Patty Ann to show them stuff.
“Students,” said Ms. Devine. “If you will stop a moment and see what Patty Ann is doing. Children! Patty Ann, stand up and show your doll. Now some of you are having trouble with the arms. Show them, dear, how to take the shuck and wrap it around one arm. See, she forms the sleeve starting somewhere around a fourth inch from the hand of the arm. She wraps it up toward the head—see? Now some of you have had trouble with getting the head tight enough. Patty Ann will go around and show you all who are having trouble. Some of you boys with your boy dolls need to pay attention.”
Cammy liked Ms. Devine fine, until she had to let Patty Ann show them stuff. Andrew once told Cammy that what Patty Ann was about was some “self-filling profit,” it sounded like he said. Since everybody knew Patty Ann was good in school, she got to be the leader of things just on general principles. And because she was made the leader, she thought she was one, too, and would be good in school because it was expected of her.
But what was wrong with making the kind of doll you wanted? Cammy thought suddenly. I mean, I wet the husk for five minutes like Ms. Devine says to. But I want my doll to be like I want it and not the way she says it ought to be.
Cammy stuck her lip out and did it her way. She liked her doll’s head to look more round than square. She wanted the arms to be longer and clasped in front, not sticking out to the sides. The whole thing made her fed up with Patty Ann.
When she came around to their table, Patty Ann acted real nice. She didn’t look at Cammy. But she smiled down at Elodie. She took Elodie’s doll into her hands. You could hardly see her hands work over it, but you could see the doll change into something really good. Right before Cammy’s eyes, too.
“Well, I’ll be,” said Elodie. She looked up at Patty Ann as if Patty Ann were some kind of queen. “Can I come sit beside you to do her hair?” Elodie asked.
“I know how to do the hair, look at mine,” Cammy told her. She had her doll’s hair almost done. She tied the dampened cornsilks around her dolly’s forehead with the string, then flipped back the cornsilks so the face would show and the string would be hidden under the hairline. It was nice that cornsilk hair could be blond, or reddish or dark brown, depending on when it was stripped off the corn.
But Elodie pretended she didn’t hear Cammy.
“Sure, you can come sit by me,” Patty Ann told Elodie.
Elodie got up, left
They were all breathing hard after a half an hour. But, oh, the fresh air! thought Cammy.
“Did you see how Patty Ann had to set down not even halfway through?” asked Elodie. They were sitting in the shade at a picnic table. They rested while finishing up the cornhusk dolls they’d learned to make last week.
“I don’t care,” Cammy said. “She gets tired quick, I guess,” she said.
“And wearing those shorts,” Elodie went on. “They look about to fall off to her feet—no hips.”
“L-O-D, I don’t care . Let’s just forget her,” Cammy said.
They did forget Patty Ann, or tried to. But she always caught their attention. There she was, she and Larry with some kids at the next picnic table. All of them in shade but Patty Ann. She was in light and shade. The light caught strands of her hair. Her hair framed her face in waves rippling into that perfect French braid down her back. The waves shone like copper. So did her lashes. She looked like a princess.
And the whole park must be her daddy’s kingdom, Cammy thought. Oh, I don’t care!
Until Ms. Devine had to go and use Patty Ann to show them stuff.
“Students,” said Ms. Devine. “If you will stop a moment and see what Patty Ann is doing. Children! Patty Ann, stand up and show your doll. Now some of you are having trouble with the arms. Show them, dear, how to take the shuck and wrap it around one arm. See, she forms the sleeve starting somewhere around a fourth inch from the hand of the arm. She wraps it up toward the head—see? Now some of you have had trouble with getting the head tight enough. Patty Ann will go around and show you all who are having trouble. Some of you boys with your boy dolls need to pay attention.”
Cammy liked Ms. Devine fine, until she had to let Patty Ann show them stuff. Andrew once told Cammy that what Patty Ann was about was some “self-filling profit,” it sounded like he said. Since everybody knew Patty Ann was good in school, she got to be the leader of things just on general principles. And because she was made the leader, she thought she was one, too, and would be good in school because it was expected of her.
But what was wrong with making the kind of doll you wanted? Cammy thought suddenly. I mean, I wet the husk for five minutes like Ms. Devine says to. But I want my doll to be like I want it and not the way she says it ought to be.
Cammy stuck her lip out and did it her way. She liked her doll’s head to look more round than square. She wanted the arms to be longer and clasped in front, not sticking out to the sides. The whole thing made her fed up with Patty Ann.
When she came around to their table, Patty Ann acted real nice. She didn’t look at Cammy. But she smiled down at Elodie. She took Elodie’s doll into her hands. You could hardly see her hands work over it, but you could see the doll change into something really good. Right before Cammy’s eyes, too.
“Well, I’ll be,” said Elodie. She looked up at Patty Ann as if Patty Ann were some kind of queen. “Can I come sit beside you to do her hair?” Elodie asked.
“I know how to do the hair, look at mine,” Cammy told her. She had her doll’s hair almost done. She tied the dampened cornsilks around her dolly’s forehead with the string, then flipped back the cornsilks so the face would show and the string would be hidden under the hairline. It was nice that cornsilk hair could be blond, or reddish or dark brown, depending on when it was stripped off the corn.
But Elodie pretended she didn’t hear Cammy.
“Sure, you can come sit by me,” Patty Ann told Elodie.
Elodie got up, left
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