Malibu Carmie

Carmie Hoffman closed her notebook and looked around her street with a sigh. Then she dialed 818-555-6865 and kept walking. "Behold genius," Carmie said into her cell phone. She tried to smooth her bushy dark hair away from her ear so that the phone would have a clear patch for landing. "Can you hear me now?" "Yes." Jenny laughed into the phone. Her laugh was big and deep, so Carmie knew she really meant it. "Are you going to read to me from your latest movie script?" "I said, 'Behold genius,' " Carmie repeated as she opened the door to her house. "My movie is, behold, Star of the Century. But what you are about to see is real genius. Live entertainment!" "Oh, goody!" Jenny laughed as if she'd never had any entertainment in her life. Carmie liked that nobody could make Jenny laugh as hard as she could. "What is it?" Carmie walked into the living room. Fluff Bucket, Carmie's fourteen-year-old cat, was on the sofa with her leg straight up like a ballerina. She was one year older than Carmie. Carmie called Fluff Bucket her big sister. There was the clacking, tap-tap sound of her mother typing at the computer. Her eyes were closed. Her thin, sandy-blond hair was piled up in a sloppy bun. Her skin looked old and a little yellow. A headset covered her ears. Carmie felt a little relieved. At least this time her mother was typing and not just asleep next to Fluff Bucket on the sofa. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Carmie's mother worked for a doctor's office in Studio City. She had to drive about ten minutes to pick up a stack of tapes and files, take it home, type all the words on the tapes and then take them back. Carmie watched her mother for a few seconds. "Is your mom home? Can she hear you now?" Jenny asked, laughing. "I don't know," Carmie said. "Let's test this out. Earth to Elaine." She tried to laugh. "Planet Earth phoning for Elaine Hoffman. If your name is Elaine, press the pound key now." Carmie's mother's eyes opened slightly. Then they closed again. Carmie watched her mother's long, thin fingers gently hitting each key and thought her mother really should have been a famous piano player. Or a TV host, tapping her fingers on the coffee mug on her desk. Carmie let her yellow backpack slide off her shoulder and onto the hardwood floor. Fluff Bucket jumped and gave Carmie a cold eye. "Okay, bye, Mom," Carmie said. "I'm going to Hawaii now." Carmie's mother kept typing. "Okay," Carmie said into her cell. "Now here comes the genius you've been waiting for." "Maybe you shouldn't." Jenny's voice sounded nervous. "Maybe your mom's just really tired again. She can't help it that something's the matter with her. Or she's probably just on one of those big doctor deadlines." "Or maybe she's just dead." Carmie laughed. She was proud of how funny she was. Then all of a sudden she felt as if she might cry. Why couldn't her mom just be normal like everybody else's mother? Still holding her cell phone, Carmie went into her bedroom and picked up the old Princess phone on her nightstand. She punched in 818-555-6169. That was the number for the phone right next to the computer. "One ringy-dingy." Carmie laughed. "Two ringy-dingys." Carmie could hear the phone ringing in the other room. She felt her heart tying in knots. "I'm hearing three lines," Jenny said. "I don't know if I want to do this again." "Three ringy-dingys," Carmie said more loudly. "If she answers, Jenny, this time I'm just going to say I'm in Hawaii. It's absolutely hilarious when she's like this." "Don't." Jenny laughed. "Just come over. She can't help it. I'm warning you," she said. "I'm hanging up." Carmie heard a click and thenKomaiko, Leah is the author of 'Malibu Carmie', published 0000 under ISBN 9780385731720 and ISBN 0385731728.