Elaine Orr - Jolie Gentil 04 - Any Port in a Storm by Elaine Orr Read Free Book Online Page B

“I never smell it on you.”
    She stared at him, wide-eyed again.
    “But breaking into houses will get you sent to Juvie really fast,” Scoobie said. When he saw her puzzled expression he added, “Live-in juvenile detention. The court’ll say your mom can’t handle you, and they’ll send you to people they think can.”
    Alicia said nothing, but she had begun to look sullen again.
    “So, here’s what,” Scoobie said. “In exchange for not telling your mom Jolie found you in that house this afternoon, you and your friends are going to run a game at Talk Like a Pirate Day.
    “We are not!” she said.
    “Did I mention there is no air conditioning at Juvie?” Scoobie asked.
    He really gets her. I nodded to Alicia.
    She slumped back in her space in our booth. “What do we have to do?”
    “You know what we’re doing, right?” he asked.
    “Kinda. Raising money for food by making people pay to be pirates. I saw the signs.”
    “Yeah, and Madge made me a great pirate costume,” he said.
    “What are you going to do?” Alicia asked him.
    “Secret,” he said. “You and your friends will think of a game, and run it. People pay to play. We’ll give you the prizes to give out.”
    “I can’t think of a game by Saturday,” she said.
    “Alicia. You know how to break into houses, you can think of a game,” Scoobie said.
    We talked for another twenty minutes. I told Alicia about Jennifer’s plywood pirate ship with holes for bean bags, and suggested she think about birthday party games when she was little. “Maybe you can adapt Pin the Tail on the Donkey or something.”
    Alicia’s eyes lit up just as Scoobie said, “Are you saying we need someone to play a horse’s ass?”
     
    WE HAD PROMISED Alicia we wouldn’t tell Megan about her being in the house. I wasn’t really comfortable with that, but I rationalized that after a successful Talk Like a Pirate Day the four of us would sit down and talk about what a good job Alicia did and how she was going to change her behavior. Pie-in-the-sky thinking.
    Aunt Madge was furious. “You absolutely cannot keep something like that from Megan!”
    We were in her great room, her sitting room as she calls it, and I was going through the two-page to-do list that somehow had to get done before Saturday. “It was Scoobie’s idea,” I said.
    “And you stopped thinking for yourself?” she asked.
    “Just last…” I stopped myself. “Alicia trusts us, and she knows we’ll talk to Megan in a heartbeat if she messes up. This gives her a chance to do something constructive and talk to her mom herself.” Aunt Madge started to say something, and I continued, “And she promised not to go in any more houses.”
    There was a bark from the back porch and I saw Mister Rogers and Miss Piggy looking in with hopeful expressions. I walked from the couch to the door and slid it open. “No more chewing my lists,” I said sternly.
    “I’m sure you’ve learned your lesson,” Aunt Madge said as she went back to a page in a home repair magazine.
    I love Aunt Madge with all my heart, but there are times when she tries my patience. As if you’ve never tried hers. “No eating papers on the floor beside the love seat,” I said, scratching Mister Rogers’ head.
    Lance Wilson was to join us for a light supper and go over the to-do lists with me to be sure everything was either done or would be by Saturday. All the Harvest for All Committee members at least try to be helpful, even Sylvia, but Lance is the one I count on most for quiet advice.
    The front doorbell rang and Miss Piggy and I went to let him in. I looked around for Jazz as we walked through the guest breakfast area to get to the door. When she stays out of sight for more than a few minutes she’s either chasing a mouse in the huge cellar, because Aunt Madge hates traps with poison and the little rodents stay away from the spring traps, or trying to get into any nook or cranny she is supposed to stay out of.
    “Me