Saturday November 6 It’s me Celie I cried just now On my birthday I was in the kitchen eating my birthday cake and tears started dripping onto my plate Part of my cake got soggy All because of stinking rotten Lula I feel like calling her on the phone and saying something mean Like I know I said I like that wheelie thing you use instead of a backpack I lied I hate it Then I’d hang up The real truth is I did like her wheelie thing But now I can’t stand it Lula struggling
Me moving very freely Later Still My Birthday Jo helped me with my sadness Only not at first At first she annoyed me Because she kept asking why Lula hadn’t come over to celebrate my birthday the way she was supposed to But I don’t know why All I know is Lula became a VICIOUS OGRE at the beginning of the week For no reason Then yesterday she dropped a mean note on my desk I read that mean note then ripped it up But I can’t stop my brain from remembering it It said I’m not coming tomorrow I’m doing something else Lula Why is she doing something else WHAT MADE HER HATE ME
I am not talking to Jo about this It was bad enough telling Mom She kept saying I really think I should call Lula’s mom and discuss what’s happening I had to make her promise not to Because that would be so embarrassing I’m not a baby Jo did help me feel better though I have to admit When she saw how sad I was and how much I did NOT want to talk about Lula she left the room for a minute Then she came back carrying a long box of foil What are you doing I said Because our foil does not tend to leave the kitchen Just trust me she said Then she started gathering up the presents I’d opened this morning Those are mine I said I know that she said Obviously I’m trying to do something that will keep you from sitting around feeling sad on your birthday Will you please just trust me So I trusted her Except not with this journal She does not get to touch this journal She re-wrapped all of my presents in foil Then she hid them around our apartment and wrote up complicated clues for me So I could have a birthday treasure hunt Searching for foil-wrapped presents was not exactly my dream birthday activity Lula and I were supposed to rent two movies and watch them both and eat popcorn AND make ourselves sundaes with whipped cream and hot fudge and chocolate chip cookie crumbs and rainbow sprinkles Just exactly like we did last year THOSE were my dream birthday activities Still Jo’s treasure hunt was fun And I do like my presents Mom gave me a book of world records One woman in that book didn’t cut her
fingernails for 21 years So now she has the world’s longest nails They swoop and curl It’s crazy Mom also gave me a sweatshirt that says Narwhals Are Awesome Because I love narwhals I like the big horn that sticks out of their heads It’s actually a tooth It keeps growing and growing out of their mouths Like that woman’s nails Only the horn is straight
