usually come to school. And as far as I knew, they certainly weren’t allowed to paint on the playground. This looked strange.
“She’s part of the PTA. Gettin’ ready for the cakewalk,” Keith said.
“What’s a cakewalk?”
“One of the carnival games. It’s a big deal. You walk around the oval while music plays. When it stops, you have to stand on a square. Then they draw a number. If you’re standing on it, you win a cake.”
“As in birthday cakes?” Peewee asked, the Halloween birthday girl.
“As in all kinds of cakes,” Addie said.
That explained why Mrs. Shapiro, the PTA chair, had asked Mama and Chich if they could each bake a cake.
Hammering echoed throughout the playground. Other parents built plywood booths near the school cafeteria.
“Did you have a Halloween carnival at your old school?” asked Addie.
“Nope,” Peewee said. “But I’m excited for this one!”
“We never celebrated Halloween on our reservation,” I said.
More parents arrived to decorate already-constructed booths with black-and-orange crepe paper and signs.
Even though I still couldn’t figure out the real source of the excitement, I had noticed all any of the kids seemed to care about was their Halloween costumes and finding out what everyone else was going to wear.
“I’m going to dress up as the Lone Ranger,” Keith said. “Why don’t you come as Tonto?”
Keith had told me The Lone Ranger was one of his favorite television shows. I wasn’t familiar with the Lone Ranger or Tonto, seeing as we didn’t own a television. But I said okay. Tonto was supposed to be an Indian on the show. I was an Indian. Easiest costume ever.
Wrong.
◉ ◉ ◉
“I told you I wanted to be Tonto — an Indian,” I said later that afternoon as Chich wound my long braids into a bun.
“No,” she replied. Mama had asked Chich to create costumes for Peewee and me to wear for the carnival. She’d made us each red yarn wigs to wear on our heads with white aprons to wear over dresses we already had, so we’d look like these Raggedy Ann dolls we’d seen at the store.
“But Keith wants me to be Tonto. He’s dressing up as the Lone Ranger. I can’t be Tonto if I go as a doll.”
“Is that so? Still no.”
“Why not?” I huffed.
“Because you’re already an Indian,” she said. “You don’t need to parade as one.”
Ouch. I remembered Chich’s story about her grandmother and the white people staring at her like a circus act. But this was different. I would be dressing up as a TV character, not a real Indian.
But it wasn’t different to Chich.
“Just like those white people who watched my grandmother dance and knew nothing about her culture or traditional dress, people around here don’t know anything about Umpquas or any other tribes. They only see white actors dressed up to play ‘Indians’ in movies or TV shows. None of that is real.” She paused and looked at me. “I want you to enjoy the carnival with your friends, but I want you to respect your family and culture too.” Then she nodded for Peewee and me to get ready.
We put on our dresses and the aprons Chich had made. Then she put the yarn wigs on our heads. Mama followed her with makeup, drawing a few dark brown lines under our eyes to make large eyelashes. Next, she put some red rouge on our cheeks. Finally, she painted our lips with her “Blue Flame” red lipstick.
Reluctantly, I trailed behind as my family entered the playground that afternoon. The gray skies and winds that had hung around that morning gave way to sun and a light breeze. Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up” blasted from tall black speakers. Tons of bright crepe paper waved from colorful booths full of activities.
My classmate Richard, dressed as Superman, threw darts at balloons attached to a plywood booth. Each balloon held a strip of paper that listed what prize you won. He received a little sawdust-filled stuffed elephant.
Keith appeared in front of me in his white cowboy hat, black mask, and a black scarf around his neck. He folded his arms. “You told me you were coming as Tonto.”
“I wanted to, but Chich said no.”
“Raggedy Ann?”
“Mama made me.” I sighed.
Keith turned and headed over to the fishbowl booth. I saw him try to toss ping-pong balls into glass bowls to win a goldfish. But my nose led me to the table filled with sacks of buttery popcorn, where I picked up one each for Peewee and me.
Peewee then followed Mama and Daddy to the auction booth. Mama picked up a semi-new table lamp for fifty cents. Daddy found a brand-new lock wrench for the bargain price of two dollars.
The four of us gathered together when Chich took her chance at the cakewalk. Chich gave her ticket to one of the PTA moms and stepped onto a square. Kids and parents stood on the remaining squares. Then the music started, and everyone walked around the oval. When the music stopped, Chich ended up on the square marked “three.” The woman dipped her hand inside a box and pulled out . . . number three!
Peewee and I cheered. Mama clapped. And Chich received her prize. Only it was the very cake that she made the day before!
Daddy laughed. “At least we know it’ll taste good.”
After Peewee and I played some games ourselves, our family headed home for dinner and to have Chich’s prize as Peewee’s birthday cake. I munched on a caramel-covered apple on a stick as we walked. Keith had given me the goldfish in a bag he’d won to say he understood about the costume. It was the best time of my life since moving to 58th Place.
Then came Halloween night.
17 Trick or Treat
“I still don’t like the girls trick-or-treating,” Mama said to Daddy over dinner. “Why on Earth would people start a custom of teaching their
