Part 8 (1/2)

”I was just thinking about the time I took Margo and Claire to watch a girl getting her ears pierced. When the woman squeezed the trigger on the ear-piercing gun, Claire screamed as though she'd been shot. Then Margo announced to everyone within a hundred-mile radius that she was going to barf!”

Jessi laughed, too. ”I wonder if those two will ever get their ears pierced?”

”Margo might. She likes putting on makeup and playing dress up. But Claire thinks it's too painful-looking.” A pair of tiny pink bow earrings in a shop's display window caught my eye, and I added, ”Although I bet she'd think those were really cute.”

Just thinking about my sisters at home made me feel a little funny inside. Almost sad. I know they would have loved a trip to the mall.

As Jessi and I walked through the main concourse, we could hear music pounding from one of the center hubs. A small crowd was gathered around a stage where a pudgy boy was playing an electronic keyboard. A tall guy stood nearby at a microphone. In front of them was a cute blond boy demonstrating what looked like a board balanced on a ball.

”Look, Jessi.” I pulled her to the front of the crowd. ”It's like a skateboard. Boy, Nicky would practically pa.s.s out if he saw this.”

Jessi nudged me with her elbow. ”Listen, they're going to sing.”

The tall guy took the microphone off its stand and dropped dramatically to one knee, as if he were going to sing something really great. Instead, this is what came out: ”The Teeter Streeter is really cool; you can play with it at home, or take it to school.”

”Teeter Streeter?” Jessi and I repeated, then burst out laughing. The singer heard us and gave us a dirty look, which made Jessi laugh even harder.

”Cut it out,” I said, poking her in the ribs. ”He's staring at us.”

”I can't help it,” she gasped. ”Teeter Streeter is such a dorky name.”

As the singer shouted, ”You can hop, you can bop on the Teeter Streeter,” the boy demonstrating the toy performed a few dance moves in response to the lyrics. Then he fell to his knees as the singer crooned, ”Do the flop and drop, no, it couldn't be sweeter.”

Jessi was laughing so hard, she gave herself the hiccups. I hustled her along the concourse away from the stage. She stopped hiccupping as soon as we were out of sight of the band. But from then on, every few minutes one of us would sing, ”The Teeter Streeter is really cool,” and then the other would make up a silly rhyme, like, ”You'll look like a geek and act like a fool.” Then we would start giggling all over again.

We finally reached Stuff 'n' Nonsense and headed straight for the earrings. ”I've always wanted little pearl studs,” I said, twirling the rack.

”Giraffes and elephants,” Jessi cried in delight. She held up tiny carved animals that dangled on a gold hoop. ”These are too cute.”

I hurried to her side and found a pair of pink flamingos that I thought were adorable. ”Should we both get animal earrings?” I asked, holding them up to my ear and studying my reflection in the mirror.

”Yes!” Jessi cried.

We asked the saleswoman to ring up our purchases before we could change our minds. She handed us each a bright pink bag, and we moved on to the next store, which was called Eastern Standard. An hour flew by as we tried on sweaters and jeans and skirts. Jessi finally settled on a sweater, and I found a checked vest I liked. I have to admit, splurging on myself was fun. But it was time to put a stop to it. I was quickly running out of my hard-earned baby-sitting money.

”Where should we go next?” Jessi asked as we left the store.

I looked up and down the concourse. It almost made me dizzy. Music stores, restaurants, shoe stores, candy stores, card shops - you name it, Was.h.i.+ngton Mall has it. A shop caught my eye on the next level.

”Let's check out Zingy's,” I said.

Zingy's is this really cool place that sells punk clothing. Not only are the clothes outrageous but the salespeople are bizarre. The guy who greeted us at the door was no exception. His black hair was dyed bright red on top, and a peace symbol had been shaved into the side of his head.

”Anything I can help you with?” he asked, resting a foot on the fender of a bright red convertible that sat in the center of the store. (It wasn't a whole car, just the front of one.) I was feeling pretty goofy, so I said, ”My friend is looking for some leather boots. The really clunky kind.”

”No problem.” He motioned for us to follow him toward the back of the shop.

”What?” Jessi exclaimed.

I put my finger to my lips and shushed her.

”Look at those!” I pointed to a pair of heavy black leather work boots with metal-tipped toes. ”They must weigh a ton.”

”Nah, they just ^ok that way,” the fellow answered.

”My friend would like to try on a pair/' I said with a straight face. ”Size six.”

The salesman disappeared behind a fake brick wall, and Jessi turned to me and hissed, ”Mal, what are you doing? I don't want any boots.”

”I know you don't,” I said. ”But I've always wondered what those shoes feel like.”

”Then why don't you try them on?”

I was about to answer when my eye caught sight of the giant alarm clock hanging over the cash register. It said five minutes to twelve.

”Oh, no!” I shouted. ”We've only got five minutes to get to Casa Grande and it's way up on the fifth level.”

”What about the shoes?” Jessi asked, as I pulled her by the arm toward the front of the store.

”We'll come back another time,” I replied. ”Maybe ...”

We raced for the escalators and rode up to the fifth floor, the food circus, which was brightly decorated with mirrors and neon lights. My parents were waiting patiently by the Mexican food restaurant.

”It looks like you bought out the mall,” my father remarked, smiling at the shopping bags we were hauling along.

”Yeah, it's a good thing it's lunchtime,” Jessi said, ”or we'd be broke.”

While we ate our burritos, I told my parents all about our adventure at Zingy's and the Teeter Streeter demonstration, which gave Jessi and me the giggles all over again. I was sipping my c.o.ke when I started laughing and the soda fizzed up my nose and everybody laughed.

”That's something Jordan would do,” my mother said as she handed me a paper napkin.

”You know, I feel really strange being here without everyone else,” I said as I dabbed at my chin. ”First, I found these cute earrings that I know Margo would just love. And then when we walked by the bookstore window, I saw this display of Emily d.i.c.kinson's poems and I thought about Vanessa. Do you think she'd like a copy of an Emily d.i.c.kinson book?”

My mother smiled, ”I'm sure she would/'

I took the final bite of my burrito and a (careful) sip of my c.o.ke. ”I've got a little money left. Maybe I'll get it for her. As a gift for surviving my grumpiness.”

I saw the look on Jessi's face and added, ”I know, I know. I should probably give everyone a present since I've been such a grouch lately.” Then a light went on in my head. ”Hey, that gives me an idea!”

”What?” Jessi asked as we followed my parents out of Casa Grande and toward the escalators.

”I need to think about it a little more,” I replied. ”I'll tell you tonight.”

I did think about it, all the way back to Stoneybrook. And all the way through the movie we went to, and even while we were eating triple-decker sundaes at the ice cream parlor afterward. I realized that having my own special day was truly wonderful, but something important was missing. The rest of my family.

I know Margo and Claire would have liked to look at Zoo Animals, the toy store, and Nicky would have loved watching the Teeter Streeter demonstration, and the triplets would have had a blast at the video arcade. I realized that life may get pretty crazy doing things with ten people, but it's always different and fun.