Free The Jumbee by Pamela Keyes

interest from the cast as it moved from seat to seat. Just as it fixed her in its piercing beam, Esti felt a tickle on the top of her head. With a disgusted sound, Carmen yanked something away from Esti and flung it toward the back. “Steve, what are you doing here?” she snapped. “Is this one of Danielle’s tricks?”
    Esti spun around in time to see an evil-looking carnival mask land on the ground, made of black foam and glitter. As Steve ducked behind a row of seats, the main lights came on again, and the spotlight went dead. Onstage, Danielle didn’t bother to hide her growing laughter.
    A sharp cracking sound cut the laughter short. One of the thin plywood sets was slowly tipping over, and with a shriek, Danielle scrabbled away from it on her hands and knees. She rolled off the edge of the stage, falling to the floor as the wall landed with a heavy thump where she’d been sitting an instant before.
    “Who put these sets together?” she exploded, rising to her knees.
    “Check Esti’s locker,” Steve yelled from his hiding place. “She’s got voodoo dolls in there. Who’s next on her list?”
    Stunned, Esti felt her mouth drop open as Carmen jumped to her feet.
    “Where’s Steve?” Carmen ground out. Striding to the aisle behind them, she stopped with her hands on her hips, glaring down between the seats. “Get off the floor, Stoner. I can’t believe you would dare accuse Esti.”
    The shocked silence was broken by Mr. Niles’s steely voice. “Steve, I want you out of here, now. My theater department is not Carnival, and if the rest of you can’t keep your private lives off the stage, you will follow Steve out the door.” His eyes moved back and forth between Esti and Danielle. “No matter who you are.”
    As whispers from the cast accompanied Steve’s sauntering exit, Lucia’s quiet voice startled Esti. “Don’ worry, gal.”
    Esti spun around to look at her.
    “Even if the jumbee he don’ like Danielle,” Lucia said softly, “he take care of you, mon.”
    A chill crawled down Esti’s spine.
    “Danielle, she have live on Cariba all her life.” Lucia didn’t bother hiding her amusement. “She need more respect for the West Indian way.”
    “I want to see Act Three, Scene Five,” Mr. Niles snapped, “starting the moment Romeo leaves Juliet’s bedroom. Lance will play Lord Capulet, now that Steve is gone.”
    “See?” Carmen crowed softly.
    The sound of shuffling paper filled the theater, Lance studying his script more frantically than the others. As Danielle led the way, Esti followed Carmen toward the stage, wondering if her life could become any more surreal.
    “You’re the one in control, Esti,” a deep voice murmured. “No one else.”
    She stopped in shock, halfway up the first step. Alan sounded like he was right beside her, whispering her dad’s famous mantra into her ear.
    “If you believe you’re in control,” he added, “people will believe you.”
    It took every ounce of control she had to keep from spinning around to see if anyone else had heard him.
    “Esti,” Mr. Niles said. “We’re waiting for you.”
    Esti forced her legs to move, raising one knee, then the other, until she reached the level of the stage. Her eyes searched the steps as she climbed. Alan wouldn’t do this to her, she thought, if she didn’t already know he had hiding places. He obviously had the theater rigged so she could hear his voice. But why did no one else notice anything?
    Her shivering grew stronger.
    “Let your emotions build,” Alan said softly as she crossed the stage. “Work up the confusion and the anger. Use that frustration you’ve stored for so long. And stop walking before you come so close that the others might hear me.”
    She came to an abrupt halt ten feet away from Danielle, relief sweeping over her in huge waves at his warning. If there was a chance that others could hear him, then maybe Esti wasn’t going insane.
    “Look at Juliet,” Alan whispered.