by

Rebecca Somoskey

Brittany stared at herself in the mirror, then giggled. "I’m a poodle!"

"Will Mrs.Yocum approve?" Her mother asked .

"She will when she sees it’s for Charity," Brittany said. "Thanks for loaning it to me, Mom."

"You’re welcome." Her mother shrugged and left the room.

Brittany touched the dark curls on her head. What if her own long blond hair was shaved and her head covered with stitches, like Charity. She shuddered. Did she really have the courage to wear a wig to school? The thought made her knees weak. But she was determined to help her friend. She dialed Amanda’s number. "Charity’s coming back to school tomorrow and she’s wearing a wig. I don’t want her to feel bad, so I promised to wear one, too. Will you wear a wig tomorrow?".

"I don’t know, Britt. I’d feel stupid."

"Please, Amanda," Brittany pleaded. "Charity needs help. And she’s our friend."

"Oh, all right," Amanda finally said. "I’ll ask Grandma if I can borrow hers."

"Everybody will laugh at us!" Jennifer moaned, after Brittany explained the plan to her.

"But it’s for Charity’s sake."

"Well, Okay," Jennifer agreed . "Maybe Mom will let me wear her new red one."

Later, as Brittany was doing her homework, her mom called, "Brittany, can you come here?"

She hurried to the kitchen.

"Brittany, we have a problem." Her mom sighed. "Mrs. Yocum called. She’s going to take the class picture tomorrow. Are you sure you want to wear that wig?"

"Class picture!" she yelled. "But what about Charity?"

"Can you handle it?"

"Sure I can," Brittany said cheerfully. But the next morning as she pulled on the wig, tears filled her eyes. What if Mrs.Yocum asked her to explain and she couldn’t think what to say?

She took a deep breath. I’ll just say, "Jesus said we are the salt of the earth and my mom says salt heals wounds. So when I see a chance to make a hurt feel better I should do it, no matter how hard it is."

Later, Brittany and her two friends eased into sixth grade home room. Charity’s seat was empty.

"Stay quiet," Brittany whispered to them.

"Hey, Brittany," Jason yelled. "Where’d you get the wigs?

"You look like a poodle." Darin curled his hands down as if they were paws and barked, "Arf, arf," then fell over in the isle and roared with laughter.

Jennifer and Amanda opened their books and stared at the pages.

"Where’s Charity?" Brittany whispered to Amanda.

"How should I know? Maybe she’s not coming back until Monday," Amanda muttered.

"Oh, no! How are we going to explain these?" Brittany pointed to her wig.

Mrs. Yocum was peering over her glasses at them.

She probably thinks we’re wearing these just to mess up the class picture, Brittany thought.

"She keeps staring at us," Amanda whispered.

Brittany wished she could shrink small enough to hide under her books.

Mrs. Yocum tapped her pencil on her desk. "As soon as everyone is quiet, I’ll call the roll."

"She should be announcing the "My Favorite Pet’ contest," Darin howled. "Brittany can be my Poodle."

Brittany stared ahead. Her face felt like fire.

"And Jennifer can be my Irish Setter." Brian jerked at Jennifer’s wig and it slid to one side.

"Stop!" she pleaded.

Everyone pointed and laughed as Amanda helped Jennifer straighten her wig.

Mrs. Yocum raised her voice. "That’s enough, class."

Brittany squirmed. If Charity wasn’t coming she should have called.

"Brittany," Mrs. Yocum continued, "will you three girls come here, please."

Very slowly Brittany slid out of her desk . She walked to the front of the room on legs of jelly. Jennifer and Amanda followed.

Twenty pairs of eyes stared.

Someone whispered, "Arf, arf."

"You knew I was going to take the class picture today, didn’t you?" Mrs. Yocum asked.

The girls nodded.

"Whose idea was this?" She pointed to the wigs.

"Mine," Brittany mumbled.

Mrs. Yocum asked, "Do you have an explanation?"

The right words came to her head but Brittany’s mouth wouldn’t open. If only Charity were here. Dear God, please let her come soon, she prayed.

Jennifer and Amanda stared at the floor.

"You know these wigs aren’t appropriate, don’t you?"

Brittany saw Jennifer’s mouth tremble. It’s my fault, she thought, so I’m the one who should explain.

She took a deep breath and looked straight into Mrs. Yocum’s eyes. "We did it for Charity."

"What does this have to do with Charity? She’s not even..." Mrs. Yocum was interrupted by the slamming of the door.

Everyone turned to look, then gasped. There stood Charity wearing a curly wig just like Brittany’s. "Sorry I’m late," she said. "I’ve been in the office."

"Charity!" Mrs. Yocum exclaimed. "We didn’t expect you until Monday." She paused, then continued, "Class, let’s welcome Charity back."

Everyone cheered..

Mrs. Yocum whispered to the three girls, "You may be seated."

As Brittany walked away, Mrs. Yocum touched her shoulder. She looked up.