Monday, November 3, 2008

Carrie and the Search For a Friend Pt. 4

As promised, this next segment reveals the truth about Sandra Marcus! It's really shocking. You won't at all have seen it coming.

Also, Josephine is a little ... disturbing in Chapter 8 (though not as much as in Chapter 10, which I'll post later this week). Other than Don't Hurt Laurie, I don't remember specifically any of the books that I read about abuse -- though almost everything I wrote back then was influenced by some book or TV show. Were there beatings on "Little House on the Prarie"? I don't know. Anyway, whatever I read or watched that inspired Josephine, maybe I shouldn't have been reading or watching it!

With that said...

Chapter Seven

I was at the studio now, practicing for the concert.

"I never meant to hurt you..." Lisa was singing a song from our tape out right now, In the Land of Dreams. The song was called "My Best Friend."

(It was Lisa and the Angels' "biggest hit." I'll post the lyrics when I can.)

We finished practicing for the day and I left. But my friends (?) stayed. Cyndi told me about their conversation several days later.

(Well, thanks, Carrie. If you were wondering if she made up with her friends, I guess you don't have to wonder anymore.)

"I met Carrie's new friend today," said Stacie. "I was at Tabatha's funeral. So was she. Her name is Sandra. She seems very odd to me."

"Sandra what?" Lisa asked slowly.

"Marcus. Do you know her?"

Lisa clenched her fists and took a deep breath. "Sandy Marcus is the biggest snob I have ever seen! She's a backstabber and she hardly has any friends! She's liked this boy Harvey since about May but she hasn't been able to get him. She's used tons of girls to get to him, and she's ended up hurting all of them."

(Omg! But how does Lisa know all this and not Carrie? Lisa, Carrie, and Cyndi were all supposed to be the "popular" Angels. The other three were the nerds. In case you were wondering.)

"Do you think she's using Carrie?" Kathy asked quietly.

Lisa snorted. "Probably! That girl gets on my nerves! She's in my math class. I hate her guts!"

Racquelle sniffled. "I remember when I had that huge fight with Carrie a little while ago."

(Some book I never actually wrote.)

Cyndi sighed.

"Carrie was the first human friend I ever had."

Pretty soon, Kathy, Racquelle, and Cyndi were crying, Stacie was getting ready to cry, and Lisa was giving them all dirty looks.

"Come on," she said. "Carrie's a good friend but this isn't a cry fest!"

"Okay, okay."

***

I was looking at my yearbook.

(And here, in my book, this sentence is followed by three actual "yearbook" pages full of kids that I drew. I so wish I could scan them but unfortunately I don't have a scanner. Someday I hope I can post them. A lot of the boys have "spiky" hair comprised of five little lines on top of their heads. This was 1990 so a lot of the girls had "perms", which I drew as little squiggles. And their arms are all freakishly short and only go to the middle of their chests.)

"Carrie!" I heard Josephine call.

Oh, no. I ran downstairs. "What?"

Josephine was holding a brown box with lots of tiny holes in it.

"Open this," said Josephine. She walked off.

I opened the box. Inside it was a tiny sandy-colored puppy. He peered up at me.

"Oh!" I said. I picked him up. What should I name it?

"Is it a boy or a girl?" I called.

"A boy, you stupid idiot!"

Nicky? Nah, he didn't look like a Nicky. (Nicky was one of our family dogs.) Ahtabat? Ahtabat was stupid. (Tabatha backwards.)

I know! Sandy! I'd call him Sandy!

(Sandy's his name if you please ... Did Carrie name him after Annie or her new friend? Actually, I think Sandy might also have been one of our puppies.)

I hugged Sandy to my chest. He was special, all right. But he would never take the place of Tabby.

Chapter Eight

The next day I woke up and put on baggy bell-bottom jeans and a tight white T-shirt with Big Bird on it.

I ate my breakfast, half of a chocolate chip cookie. Then I exercised for an hour.

Josephine burst into my room with a belt. "You weren't supposed to have that cookie! You weren't supposed to have anything!" I flinched as she hit me with the belt on the arm. Then she hit me again, making me fall down. She kept on hitting me in different places until she hit me extra hard on the back and made me scream.

(Okay, I am so glad I didn't show this to a teacher!)

When she left, I shivered. She had been cruel before but never had beaten me with a belt!

There were some bruises forming so I decided to stay inside most of the day, but I'd go over to Sandra's and I had to practice.

***

Ding-dong. I rang Sandra Marcus's bell one hour later. Mrs. Marcus answered.

"Hello, Carrie," she said. Then she gasped and pointed to my arm. "What happened?"

Josephine had left a big belt mark on my arm, right under the finger marks she had left before.

"Oh, nothing," I said. I know I was red. Mrs. Marcus looked at me strangely but let me walk to Sandra's room.

(Okay, not that this story isn't completely ridiculous, but if it was real, Mrs. Marcus = failure.)

Sandra was wearing skintight stirrup pants and a baggy, checked cardigan-like sweater. "Oh," she said. "It's you. What happened to your arm?"

I paused and bit my lip.

"Well?" asked Sandra.

If I could tell Cyndi, I could tell Sandy. "My aunt," I said.

"Your aunt did that?" asked Sandra.

"Yes."

"Oh," said Sandra. "What are you over here for?"

I shrugged.

"Well, I've got a great idea. I want you to meet Harvey."

"Harvey?" I asked.

"Yes. The boy I love. He'll be at Woodland Park. He's in the chess club and they're meeting there today."

(Sandra = stalker.)

"Okay," I said. Sandra ran downstairs to ask her mom something. Then she came back up.

"My mom said we should walk. It's a long walk but it's worth it. The park is beautiful."

"I know," I said. The park had streams and toys and a big field for picnics. It looked just like a forest. There were lots of trees and tables and barbecues and log cabins to play in and eat in. It was wonderful.

"Well, quit daydreaming. Come on!" Sandra handed me a blue jean jacket. "Put this on. It will cover your arm."

The jacket was too big. But I put it on anyway.

We walked about two miles. Then we stopped at Burger King.

"I don't have any money," I said.

Sandra groaned and handed me some money. "Pay me back tomorrow!" she practically yelled.

We both ordered Whoppers, medium fries, and strawberry milkshakes. I was hungry. Besides that cookie, I hadn't eaten since my birthday, two days ago.

We ate in silence, then we walked the rest of the way to Woodland. (What was the point of stopping at Burger King?) Sandra and I found the table where the chess club was at. Harvey and nine other kids were watching a boy and a girl play chess. A man was standing beside the chess players. Three people I recognized from Albany Middle School were there. Harvey, Heather Muirhead, and a seventh grader named Brian Floyd.

Harvey noticed us. "Hey, Sandra," he said, grinning. "Your friend looks familiar."

(Oh, brother.)

"Yup," said Sandra, grinning back. "This is Carrie Packer from Lisa and the Angels."

"Hi, Sandy. Hi, Carrie. Sandy, do you want to play chess?"

Sandra pretended to look worried. "I'd love to. But I don't know how." She grinned at Harvey. "Maybe you could teach me."

"Oh, sure," said Harvey. He tapped the man on the shoulder. "Mr. Ament, this is Carrie and Sandra. Sandy wants to play chess."

"That's fine with me. Carrie, Sandra, my name is Paul Ament. I'm a counselor at Albany Private Academy."

"Hi," we both said.

The girl, who was going to be a freshman at A.P.A., named Margie, won. Next, Sandy and Harvey played. Harvey won.

(This is all very fascinating. Also, what's with the names. Harvey, Margie ... these are kids?)

"Um, Sandra, I've really got to get to the studio. Bye."

Sandra didn't answer.

The studio was about two miles away. I walked over there but I realized I still had Sandra's jacket on. I'd give it back to her tomorrow.

At the studio, we practiced the concert, of course. Then I went home, but my friends (?) decided to go to the Soda Shoppe instead.

"Why do they call this the Soda Shoppe?" asked Stacie on the way. "It doesn't sell just soda. It sells ice cream and soda and brownies and fruit and dessert."

They all shrugged. My friends (ugh! were they my friends or not?) walked up to the counter.

"Hmm," said Racquelle. "I'd like a pink bubblegum ice cream cone with three scoops and a waffle cone."

The waiter started to make her cone. Another waiter stepped up.

(Apparently I thought anybody who worked in some sort of eating establishment was called a "waiter.")

"What would you like, miss?" he asked Kathy. Kathy ordered a mini blueberry cheesecake. Stacie ordered a bowl of mint-chocolate chip ice cream. Cyndi ordered a vanilla fudge cone. Lisa ordered a small pistachio almond pudding cone.

(Gasp, Lisa ordered food! What the heck is a pudding cone?)

They sat down at this one booth for six. On the other side of the booth, they heard some familiar laughing and talking.

"She's so weird!" said a voice. Lisa peered over the side. When she saw who it was, she looked at the others and gagged. "Juel, Shauna, and Sandra," she said. Juel Eisenhower and Shauna Mack were two snobs, and as it turned out, they were Sandra's best friends.

"I mean," said Sandra. "She's a total space case! Carrie Packer is the weirdest girl I ever met!"

My friends (?) gasped.

"Even nerdier than On?" asked Juel.

"Nerdier than On and Bertha and Alicia or any of those other local celebrities that I used to get Harvey. But Carrie is a big celebrity. Not just local. And Harvey was really interested this time!"

"What's Carrie gonna do when Harvey and you are going out?" asked Shauna.

"Oh," said Sandra. "I'm going to play a little trick on Carrie. When Harvey and I are going out, I'll ask Mom and me to take Carrie to that one lake at the bottom of Woodland Park. Everybody's there in the summer. Then, in front of everybody, I'll push her in the deep end of the lake!"

Juel, Shauna, and Sandra left.

Cyndi bit her lip. Stacie and Kathy looked at eachother, their mouths wide open. Racquelle looked very cross. And Lisa kept shaking her head and saying, "I told you so."

Nobody knew what to do.

****

Oh, NO! Well, there's the truth about Sandra. She's just using Carrie! Can you believe it? (Never mind the question of why stupid Harvey has a thing for girls with famous friends.)

Coming up -- the dramatic conclusion! After I'm done with this story, I'm not sure what to post next. I don't have a lot of them at my apartment. In fact, Carrie and the Search For a Friend is my only COMPLETE Lisa and the Angels story. However, I do have some of Murder (where the girls witness a murder) and Kidnapped! (where Carrie and Racquelle are kidnapped by twin sisters) and a little bit of The Performance (where Lisa and the Angels go to Disneyland). I also have a story from my other "series", The Fruitville Orphanage for Girls, where the orphans put on a production of "The Little Mermaid." Does anyone have a preference?
Hopefully I can find more at my parents' house!

5 comments:

Kelly said...

More Lisa and the Angels! Disney Land specials are always awesome!

Anonymous said...

Oh man, half a cookie and beats her? The cookie is a terrible tease...half a rice cake and beats her would hurt less...

Love it :)

Sada said...

I want to know more about Bertha the Local Celebrity. BWAH.

Also, I vote more Lisa and the Angels! They witness a murder???

Sada said...

Also, are all the bell bottoms supposed to be "cool"? Or does Josephine force Carrie to dress like a cast member from the Brady Bunch as another form of abuse?

tctill said...

"Or does Josephine force Carrie to dress like a cast member from the Brady Bunch as another form of abuse?"

Yes! There were many examples of this in Me and Snobby Stacie, where Josephine made her debut, though "tragically" I'm not sure if I still have that one or not.