Free Amber Brown Is Green with Envy by Paula Danziger Page B

It’s Soap-Making Time.
    I wonder if the pioneers made soap the same way we will be making it.
    We’ve got everything out….. the Gross Soap kit, the molds and extra supplies that my dad and Steve bought for Savannah.
    Polly reads the instructions. “This looks simple enough. First melt the wax in a container.”
    I, Amber Brown, hold up a plastic measuring cup. “Container ready.”
    Polly continues. “Once it’s melted in the microwave, the wax is to go into the molds.”
    “Molds.” Savannah holds up some of the plastic molds.
    “Choose objects to put into the hot wax once it is in the molds.”
    “Gross stuff.” Savannah and I both hold up some of the creepy crawly things that came with the kit.
    She’s got a worm and a spider in her hands.
    I’ve got a beetle and a cockroach in mine.
    I’m glad that they are plastic.
    Polly laughs. “I’m putting in some of the other things that the dads bought.” She picks up a little rubber ducky and a mini mermaid.
    Somehow I don’t think that the pioneers made soap the way that we are.

    I don’t think that they had microwaves in their cabins.
    The phone rings. Polly rushes over to pick it up.
    I hope that it is Brenda, who is her best friend and my Ambersitter.
    It’s not.
    I can tell because Polly listens for a minute and then hangs up the phone without saying a word.
    She shakes her head. “It’s Dylan, trying to disguise his voice. He just asked if our refrigerator is running and if it is, he thinks that it’s running down the street.”
    The phone rings again.
    Polly answers it again.
    Again, she says nothing and just listens.
    Finally she says, “Yes…. I have seen a lamb chop, but not at a karate exhibit…. No, I have not seen salad dressing…. and trying on new clothes…. Dylan, would you juststop calling? If you want to make soap, come in now…and stop being such a Goofbrain.”
    “Doofus,” I say. “He’s a Doofus Goofbrain.”
    She hangs up and looks at us. “I’m going downstairs. I bet he’s using the phone in your house, Amber.”
    Polly leaves the kitchen.
    The phone rings again.
    I look at Savannah, who sighs.
    I make a face and pick it up. “That’s enough, you Doofusbrain. I don’t want you calling here anymore.”
    I stop to hear what Dylan has to say for himself.
    “Amber? What’s going on there?” It’s my mother’s voice.
    Oooooooops.
    “Hi, Mom,” I say. “Are you having fun with Aunt Pam in California?”
    “Yes,” she says, “a wonderful time…. BUT…have you been getting bad calls?”

    She sounds worried.
    “No, Mom,” I tell her. “Dylan’s just been calling and telling dumb jokes…. and he’s driving us crazy.”
    “Using your phone?” she asks.
    I nod.
    “Using your phone?” she repeats. “I tried calling there, but the line is busy.”
    I guess she didn’t hear my nod.
    “I guess,” I say. “Polly’s gone downstairs to check.”
    My mom knows about how it is here at “The Zoo.”
    One day, she brought me over to Dad’s house.

    She said that she just did it because shewas running some errands in that neighborhood and it would save him the trip to pick me up.
    I know that she just did it so that she could check out what my other house was like.
    My dad knew too, I think, because he gave her a tour of the two places and introduced her to everyone.
    Now I think that she feels a little better about me being at Dad’s house. I mean Dad’s and my house.
    And she knows that it is okay to call the Marshalls’ number if no one answers Dad’s phone.
    “I just called to say hello,” she says. “I miss you lots.”
    “So you are having a wonderful time at Aunt Pam’s?” I ask.
    “I am,” she says. “Tomorrow we are going to Disneyland. I really wish that you could be with us….. but I know that you are having fun with your dad.”
    My mom. My aunt Pam. Disneyland. California.
    I feel bad that I am not there.
    I miss her.
    I miss seeing Max.
    I wonder if he is missing her.
    I wonder