Ann Martin - Claudia And The Sad Goodbye

We crowded around the Spiers' kitchen table with the open boxes of pizzas in the middle and started grabbing slices, the cheese stringing out from each slice, still attached to the pies. We didn't bother with plates. A pile of napkins was good enough for us.

In the middle of a big bite of pizza, Kristy began to laugh.

"What?" said the rest of us.

Kristy managed to swallow before she answered. "Remember the time Mimi tasted her first pizza?"

No one seemed aghast that Kristy had brought up the subject of Mimi. In fact, it seemed sort of appropriate, especially since this was a particularly good story.

"I do!" I cried. "That was so funny."

"Let's tell Mimi stories!" exclaimed Kristy.

"Okay," my friends and I agreed.

"What about the pizza?'' asked Mallory.

I looked at Kristy. "You tell," I said. "You were there."

"Okay," she replied. "Well, it was Claudia's eighth birthday, and Mimi's present to her was going to be a meal at a real Japanese restaurant in Stamford. She wanted to take Claudia, her family, and Mary Anne and me. Mary Anne and I were so excited. We'd never had Japanese food before. We'd barely even been in a fancy restaurant. So we got all dressed up in, like, birthday party clothes — so did you, Claud — and everyone else was dressed up, and Mimi was wearing an actual Japanese outfit —"

"Authentic," I said importantly.

"You know, the kimono and the sandals and everything."

"We were fascinated," Mary Anne added.

"So,”Kristy continued, "we drive all the way to Stamford and the restaurant is closed. No one can believe it. So we begin driving around looking for other places to eat."

"Oh, and remember," said Mary Anne, "we passed a Howard Johnson's and Mr. Kishi said we could go in there to eat because he knew the manager personally, and I thought he meant he knew Howard Johnson. I was so impressed."

Everyone giggled at that.

"Well," said Kristy, "we couldn't find a place where Claud and Mary Anne and I wanted to eat. I mean, they were all, like, French places with these frou-frou names, and it was Claud's birthday, so when she finally said she wanted pizza, Mr. Kishi stopped at the first pizza place he saw. It was kind of sleazy — dark, with a lot of high school kids being loud — and a miniature juke box playing at every booth. But we went in anyway."

"And everyone stared," I said, "because Mimi looked like she was on her way to a costume party, but we ordered two pies anyway, and Mimi ate one slice very bravely."

"And,”said Kristy, "as we were finally leaving that awful place where everyone had been

staring at us, Mimi turned around, faced the people in the restaurant, and announced, "Best Japanese food I have ever eaten!"

Us club members were hysterical. Jessi even dropped a whole slice of pizza on the floor.

"Tell everyone about Russ and Peaches," Mary Anne suddenly said to me.

"Russ and Peaches?" repeated Dawn.

"My aunt and uncle," I replied.

"Mimi had a son and she named him Russ?" said Dawn incredulously. "That just sounds so.. unconventional. I mean, for Mimi… Russ."

"Well, his real name is Russell," I told her, "but he isn't Mimi's son. And he's American. I mean, American American."

"So you're saying Mimi named your mother's sister Peaches?" squeaked Mallory. "That's even weir — even more unconventional."

"Oh, no," I said quickly. "My aunt has a Japanese name, but Russ started calling her Peaches and she just called him Russ, so everyone else calls them Russ and Peaches, too. Janine and I never even call them 'Aunt' and 'Uncle.'"

"I remember them," said Kristy.

"Yeah, they used to live in Stoneybrook, right?" added Mary Anne.

I nodded. "Until I was about seven. You'll see them at the, um—the funeral tomorrow."

"They were really wild," said Kristy. "It's hard to believe Peaches is Mimi's daughter."

"It's even harder to believe she married Russ," I said. "Remember the time we had that huge storm?" I said to Kristy and Mary Anne. "It was practically a hurricane. It closed school, and Stoneybrook didn't have any electricity for two days, and all the phone lines were down."

"Yeah. We were in, what? First grade?" asked Kristy.

"I think so," I replied. "Anyway, Russ wanted to make sure Mimi and our family were okay, only he couldn't drive to our house because trees were down everywhere, and he couldn't walk because he'd broken his ankle in a shelving accident. (Don't ask.) So he rode over in a golf cart!"

Everyone burst out laughing.

"I remember another time," I said, "when Mimi could still drive, and she was on her way to the grocery store and an ambulance pulled out in front of her, and suddenly Mimi decided she was going to be an ambulance chaser. So she puts on the speed and follows

the ambulance, and where do you think it goes?"

"Where?" asked my friends.

"To Russ and Peaches' house! Peaches had fallen down the stairs. Mimi never chased another ambulance."

More giggling.

"I also remember when we realized that Mimi couldn't be allowed to drive anymore," I went on. "It wasn't so long ago. She was pulling up to an intersection and she slowed down, peered at the stoplight, glanced at Mom, and said, 'Honey, tell me. That light — is it red or is it green?' "

"Tell about the chicken dinner!" Mallory suddenly cried. "I like that story."

"Oh, yeah," I said slowly, remembering. "We were having a dinner party — Mal's parents were there — and all the guests were seated in the dining room and Dad very proudly carries in this platter with a beautiful roast chicken on it. But he trips and the chicken slides off the platter and falls on the floor. Mom is turning beet-red, but you know what Mimi does? She just says very calmly, That is all right. Bring in other chicken, son.' Well, of course there was no other chicken,

but Dad got the message. He scooped the spilled chicken back onto the platter, took it into the kitchen, fixed it up, and returned it to the dining room."

"Mimi saved the day!" said Jessi, grinning.

The phone rang then and Mary Anne answered. She listened for a moment, said, "Okay, just a sec," then cupped her hand over the receiver and whispered, "Claud, it's for you. It's Corrie. She called your house first and found out you were here."

I nodded. When I took the phone from Mary Anne, I said cheerfully to Corrie, "Hi, kid. How are you doing?"

"Fine," said Corrie, not sounding fine at all. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too. But I'll see you on Sunday. Remember? We'll be having our art class on Sunday this weekend instead of Saturday."

"I remember."

"What are you doing?"

"Staying away from our baby-sitter. Mommy and Daddy are at a party. They got this old lady to come over because they didn't want to bother you. I don't like the lady. Neither does Sean. She smells funny."

"Tell her you're tired and that you're going to bed," I suggested. "Then you can just play in your room! That's what I used to do when I didn't like my baby-sitters."

"Oh, good idea!"