Fudge-A-Mania by Judy Blume Page B

Sheila said. "We eat breakfast and dinner together every day."
    Jimmy looked at me. "I don't get it."
    "It's like two houses in one," I told him. "It's like... they're connected."
    "Connected?" Jimmy said.
    "Yeah... joined together," I said. I looked over at Sheila. She was enjoying this.
    "Joined together?" Jimmy said.
    Sheila laughed out loud. I glared at her. "See... our family lives over there..." I explained, pointing to our side of the house.
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    "And her family lives over here... and the living room and kitchen are sort of in the middle."
    Jimmy just stood there with his mouth half open. Sheila picked Jake up and started kissing her. "Isn't my dog adorable?" she asked Jimmy, between smooches.
    "I thought you're afraid of dogs," Jimmy said.
    "She is," I told him.
    "That's not true!" Sheila said. "I just don't like big, smelly dogs."
    Turtle, who was asleep in the corner, raised his head. Attack! I told him mentally. But he didn't get my message. He just scratched himself and went back to sleep. Sheila carried Jake over to Jimmy and put her in his arms. "Rub her belly. She loves that."
    Jimmy held Jake like a baby. "She's so soft."
    This was too much! I was glad when Dad called, "Dinner's almost ready. Pasta with Anne's special sauce."
    Mr. Fargo suddenly came to life and said, "Better get our things inside, Jimmy."
    When Jimmy and his father went out to the car, Mom said, "Did he say our things?"
    "He meant Jimmy's things," I told her.
    "I hope so," Mom said, looking worried.
    But then Jimmy carried one duffel bag into the house and Mr. Fargo carried another.
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    "I don't have much," Mr. Fargo said. "Just this and my art supplies." "You're planning to stay with us?" Mom asked. "No point in trying to camp out in this weather," Mr. Fargo told her. From the look on Mom's face I thought she might faint. There was a long, awkward silence. Finally Dad said, "You can have the sofa in here, Frank. It's the only available space left." "Unless Grandma sleeps with Buzzy Senior," Fudge said. "Then I can sleep in Grandma's bed and Mr. Fargo can have the rollaway." Everyone looked at Fudge, including Mr. Fargo. "Don't go to any trouble," he said. "This sofa looks mighty good to me."
    Later, when Jimmy and I were in the bathroom getting ready for bed, he said, "I'm really embarrassed about my father. Anybody can see you've already got too many people in this house."
    "It's no big deal." I handed him a clean towel.
    "Yeah, right... that's how come your mother almost fainted."
    "Only because we're out of beds," I said.
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    "You think my father cares about beds? He likes to sleep on the floor."
    "It's okay. Forget it."
    Jimmy spit out toothpaste. "You know he's weird. He doesn't mean to be... but he is."
    "He's not that weird." I flushed the toilet, which reminded me of my poison-gas story. "Look..." I said, "I'm embarrassed too. I should have told you about sharing a house with the Tubmans. But I didn't find out until we got up here and then... well... I was afraid if I told you, you wouldn't come."
    "I probably wouldn't have," Jimmy said. "But now that I'm here, it doesn't seem that bad."
    I was glad I wouldn't have to lie to Jimmy after all. And telling him the truth wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Still, I couldn't help wondering how he would have reacted to my story.
    I decided to find out. As soon as we were in bed I said, "Did you hear about the poison gas?"
    "What poison gas?"
    "The poison gas in the toilets?"
    "What toilets?"
    "Some guy up here... he had poison gas in all his toilets."
    "What do you mean, poison gas?" Jimmy faced me and propped himself up on his elbow.
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    "It was this green, steamy, gurgling stuff that bubbled up every time he flushed."
    "Green... steamy... gurgling stuff..." Jimmy started to laugh.
    "It's not funny," I said. "It's an environmental disaster!"
    "An environmental disaster?" Jimmy said.
    "Where'd you read that, in the National Enquirer?" "You don't think it's possible?"
    "Yeah, I think