The Magic at the End of the World (Do You Remember, Book 5)

Tuesday, February 6, 2001

OK, so I have less than 24 hours before my fourteenth birthday, and to think that I wouldn’t have any problems to deal with.

But I do.

This morning, Mary told me that the past year, she had had her Bat Mitzvah on the day BEFORE her thirteenth birthday, yet Anthony’s family ended up footing the bill. (I bet that Anthony was going out of his way to not only impress Mary and pretend to show his support for her Jewish heritage, but he also took the money that was meant for Craig’s special services to pay for the party. No wonder why Craig had killed him!) Mary also said that she was the main thing almost everyone at Lochland Middle School talked about for several weeks (save for my and Jem’s Bar Mitzvahs, which was ignored because it was marred by tragedy).

Not to be boasting or anything like that, I told her that while I was at my Bar Mitzvah, Emilia had destroyed everything in my room because Jem had gotten angry that I was no longer pretending to be her twin sister. Mary laughed for a moment, then said, “Well, I never knew she could be like that.”

“You’d be surprised,” I said. “But to be honest, though, I hope that Jem can at least stay out of the way tomorrow. I’m not about to have my birthday being ruined by her just because she happens to be a spoiled brat.”

Well, that’s my birthday wish. I’m going to wish that Jem would get over herself, stop being a spoiled brat, and be alone. I know it’s selfish, but I would be much happier if she would just go away.

Not that I care if she’s no longer a part of my life.

Anyway, I’m sitting in the shed working on another set of fake diary entries when I hear sounds coming from the house down the street. I looked up and saw a huge moving van parked in front of said empty house, which was two houses away from the house where the king cobra and the Burmese python had gotten into that fight last year, prompting the family living there to take their cats and leave. (The family and the cats are still living in that house.)

Not to be outdone, another moving truck was spotted leaving the house that was three houses down from where Old Lulu White lived. Two families had moved into my neighborhood, and as luck would have it, those families might have people my age who would inevitably attend Lochland High School.

Just my luck!

Anyway, I complete yet another fake diary entry and put the book away, as I had filled all the pages in that book. (I would have to start another fake diary soon.) I then leave the shed and head to the living room, where I had arranged a meeting with Chelsea, Claire, and Mariah regarding my birthday tomorrow. (Mary was spending the day with some friends at the art museum and who knows what Jem is up to these days.) Chelsea was in favor of watching another movie, but as of late, there were no good movies playing in the theaters. Claire and Mariah debated the possibility of us going to a basketball game, but since when were any of us interested in sports in general?

As I walked into the room, Chelsea said, “I’m not sure if there’s anything for us to do tomorrow, to be honest. There’s not that many good movies playing in theaters right now and going to a basketball game is seemingly out of the question.”

“Let’s not write basketball off the page just yet,” said Mariah. “I’m sure there’s a way we can get tickets to the next game quickly.”

I said, “Well, I heard that the Charles City Playhouse is doing a rendition of the Shakespearean play “As You Like It” tomorrow night, so why don’t we try that?”

“I never knew you liked Shakespeare,” said Claire.

“Not really,” I said, “but at least going to a play gets us out of the house and away from Jem and her collection of Barbie Dolls.”

“Well, I don’t know what that means, but if it means getting away from Jem, then I’m all for it,” said Chelsea. “Besides, we can go watch some of the smaller plays before the big show.”

“Indeed,” said Mariah. “Besides, the Charles City Playhouse is notorious for twisting up the plays it hosts; last year, my parents took me there to see “Othello”, where Othello was played by a White man and the other characters were played by Black people. A small number of people raised a stink over that, yet the general audience loved it. You’ll love what the actors working there do to the plays they receive.”

“I hope so,” I said with a frown on my face. I couldn’t help but wonder if what I was planning to do for my birthday tomorrow was going to conflict with everything that my parents had taught me about becoming a man. As far as I knew, boys aren’t supposed to be interested in Shakespeare and plays and other things that are remotely “girly”. Yet growing up with Jem meant that I had missed out on so many opportunities to “man up”, so to speak.

That issue came up at dinner, where mom said, “I know you’re at the age where you’re starting to worry about what the other boys will think about you, Jed, but believe me, you’re doing the right thing.”

“And that’s being yourself,” said dad. “Right now, you’re starting to form your own identity and your own opinions. Sometimes, your opinions won’t be that of ours, but we won’t think less of you for that.”

I said, “Well, I can’t help but wonder if I should have taken up basketball instead of theater when I had the chance.”

“We all go through that at some point in our lives, mostly when we're between our mid-thirties and mid-forties, but it’s nothing to worry about,” said mom. “Right now, you should concentrate on doing what you’re doing and never mind the rest. You’ve reached a higher grade level, and with that, you’ll be bogged down with more homework and obligations that come with being in the tenth grade.”

I nodded, knowing that I would have to put aside my anxiety about starting the tenth grade a year earlier than expected. There was nothing else for it. I would have to put aside everything that once held meaning in my life and grow up.

But that’s not all, because later that night, Joanna and Toby came to visit me while I was preparing for bed. Jimmy had Hadley for the day, so the room was unusually quiet. Joanna said to me, “I hear that you have some new neighbors who just moved in.”

“I know,” I said. “But so far, I don’t know who they are.”

Joanna: “Oh, I’m sure you will, Jed.”

Toby: “Aren’t you going to tell him, Jo?”

Joanna: “Tell him what?”

Toby: “Zach left a huge package for Jed; he needs to open it tomorrow.”

Joanna: “You’re just now telling me this? I can’t believe you, Tobias! Why would you keep something like this from me??”

Toby: "I'm sorry, Jo, but the person in charge of Zachary's will has stipulated that Jed gets that particular package on his 14th birthday and not a second before. Even Javier was in on this plot; I don't think he trusted anyone else with this, except for me."

Joanna: "I see. But I’m still mad at you for not telling me about the package in the first place.”

Toby: "OK, fair enough. But Jed needs his package as soon as right now."

Jed: "What package? No one told me that I was getting a package in the mail! What is going on here?"

Joanna: "Well, in case you haven't noticed, there have been rumors about your two little sisters Spenser Clarke and Brianna Johnson, and there are also rumors about you..."

Jed: "But the chief already gave my family a package that he claimed came from Uncle Zach..."

Toby: "Well, that was a package full of fake diaries and props; Zachary knew exactly what he was doing when he was concocting his schemes. If he wasn't planning to escape from Barlean and go underground, why would he go through all this trouble to set up his fake diaries and whatnot?"

After 15 minutes of Joanna arguing with Toby, I said, “What is really going on here?”

Joanna said, "Well, tomorrow, you'll have your answer. But you will not like it."

I frowned, knowing that she was right. I was going to get all the answers tomorrow; but I wasn't going to like it.