“I hope you didn’t…” Sally sees her name. “Why did you do that? I don’t want to be on anyone’s double Dutch team.” She scratches her name from the list.
“What’s wrong with you?” I ask. “I know you know how to jump double Dutch. It’s like riding a bike—you never forget.”
“It’s not that!” Sally is upset. “I’m just not into it anymore!”
Suddenly four girls, three white and one Asian, roll up on us like they own the place. They’re wearing their own member jackets that read BOUNCING BELLES.
“Is little Sally Walker signing up for double Dutch?” The group laughs. Sally’s light brown skin turns pale, as if she’s seen a ghost. She’s obviously intimidated.
“Who’s asking?” I step in front of Sally to get this girl out of her face. This girl doesn’t know—I’m from Brooklyn, and Brooklyn girls don’t let anyone intimidate us.
“The name is Ivy, and I don’t know who you are, but your friend here shouldn’t even be thinking about signing up for anything double Dutch,” she says with a lot of attitude.
I get in her face. “For your information, Sally is my cousin, and she can do whatever she pleases. If she wants to jump double Dutch, she can.”
They all bust up laughing.
“Are you sure about that?” says a blond girl.
“Forget them, Kayla.” Sally tries to cover. “Let’s just go.” She grabs my arm, but I don’t budge.
“If you know what’s good for you, um…?” Ivy pauses.
“Kayla,” I say.
“Yeah, whatever,” Ivy disses. This poison Ivy girl is lucky I don’t want to get in trouble on my first day in Charlotte, because she surely would be my first reason. “If she knows what’s good for her, she better stay away from any competition against us. She will never win.” I can’t believe she just said that! I just stare her down. “Let’s go, girls.”
“Yeah, you better,” I say, holding back. Once they’re gone, Sally jumps in my face.
“Why did you do that?” She’s shaking and fuming, with watery eyes. “I knew you were going to start trouble!”
“Looks like the trouble started before I got here,” I say defensively. But then I realize something. “Who are they, and why are you letting those white girls bully you?”
“White, black, yellow, brown, none of that matters.” Sally tries to school me. “Those girls are the Bouncing Belles, and they used to be my friends, my best friends. Just stay out of my business!” Sally rushes away.
“Ooooh, they’re the reason why you didn’t want to come to camp,” I say. Sally doesn’t answer as she disappears out of the gym. Something is definitely wrong, and I’m going to find out what. Nobody pushes me or my princess cousin around.
“Hey, kid, are you guys in or out?” An older lady with a scratchy voice asks as she collects sign-up sheets. I grab the one for double Dutch and sign my name and Sally’s again, but this time as a team.
“We’re in,” I answer confidently as I hand the woman the paper. She looks it over.
“You’re going to need two more jumpers to make a double Dutch team, sweetie. I don’t make ’em, but those’re the rules,” says the lady. “Teams shut down end of the day tomorrow. If you don’t find a pair, you’ll be placed elsewhere. Got it?”
I nod. There’s no way I’m going to be at this camp and not jump double Dutch. Little Sally Walker is going to stand up to those Bouncing Bullies if it’s the last thing she does this summer. I am going to see to it.
Since Sally and I are a week late to camp, we’ve missed tons of “getting to know you” games and have to spend the rest of the day in a crash orientation and tour to learn the rules and regulations, safety measures, blah, blah, blah, but I can’t seem to stop smiling. I’m going to be jumping double Dutch again! Wait until I tell my girls back home. They are going to flip. Sally, on the other hand, doesn’t speak to me the whole time after our run-in with the Bouncing Belles. When my uncle Larry comes to pick us up, he asks how our day was, and Sally immediately tells him that I am starting trouble. We argue all the way through the doors of the house, but once we’re inside, Sally runs up to her room and slams the door.
“What is wrong with Sally?” Aunt Jeanie asks, concerned. I shrug out of frustration. Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin—her attitude, the fact that she’s a party pooper, those bullies—it’s all a total mess.
“Something about her old buddies, but I tell you what,” Uncle Larry says as he tosses his keys into a basket in the foyer. “She keeps slamming them doors, she can kiss that pool good-bye.” He moves away to the backyard as if he knows what’s coming next.
“Kayla, you go and get washed up for dinner,” Aunt Jeanie orders.
“Yes, Auntie.” I was hoping she’d be cooking. I am starving!
“Sally Walker!” Aunt Jeanie calls. “You come down here right now.”
Quickly I wash my hands and face and rush back into the kitchen. I don’t want to miss Sally getting in trouble after she said I’m the one who started it. Sally slowly steps down the stairs and sits, pouting like a six-year-old.
“Young lady,” Aunt Jeanie begins, “you have guests until the end of the summer, and I will not have you carrying on like this.”
“Mom, Kayla is the one who started it!” Sally says, pointing at me. See? “She signed me up for double Dutch and I don’t want to be on any stupid double Dutch team!”
Wait a minute, hold the ropes! Did she just call double Dutch stupid?
“It’s because of those white girls you let push you around,” I say, very matter-of-fact.
“Kayla, honey.” Aunt Jeanie turns to me. “We don’t refer to people by color around this house.
