Queen of the Toilet Bowl Read Free Page B

Cheryl finished. “We may find a spot for you in the show after all.”
    Then Ms. Watson turned to the rest of us. “I’ll post the parts on the bulletin board outside the office tomorrow morning. Thanks for trying out.”
    Ms. Watson gathered her music and left. Karin and her two friends followed her out.
    â€œSee,” said Liz as we walked out. “Karin knows the score now. She’ll have to live with it. You’re bound to get a great part,maybe even the part of Maria. Think of it, Renata, you might get the lead!”
    I knew I had a crack at the part of Maria and I knew Karin was going to hate it.
    All evening at home, my stomach knotted so tightly I could hardly eat.
    â€œCan I have your rice?” asked Lucas.
    â€œSure,” I said. “I’m not hungry.”
    â€œHow about your apple pie?” asked Lucas.
    â€œFine,” I said. “Take the whole thing.”
    â€œRenata, you have to eat something,” said Mom.
    â€œI have no appetite,” I said. “Tomorrow they announce the people who have parts in
The Sound of Music
.”
    â€œI don’t know why you want to be in a dumb musical anyway,” said Lucas. “I hate movies where people sing. Now if you were doing a car chase that would be cool.”
    â€œMusicals can be very beautiful,” said Mom. “If Renata gets a part, it will be a great honor. I will be very proud.”
    I tossed and turned for hours that night. I kept checking the time. Twelve AM. One AM. I have to get some sleep I kept thinking, but the more I thought about sleep, the slower it came. Images of me as Maria in
The Sound of Music
danced through my head. Images of Karin laughing at me danced alongside them.
    I tried my new mantra a dozen times.
Don’t let her bother you. Don’t let her bother you
. And finally it must have worked because the next thing I knew it was morning.
    I caught the bus and ran the two blocks to school. I wanted to get to the bulletin board before a big crowd gathered. I wanted to see the posting before Karin and her friends arrived. But I was too late. Karin was in the front row.

chapter six
    â€œHurrah. I’m a nun!” shouted Cheryl.
    There were so many kids huddled around the bulletin board, I couldn’t see a thing.
    â€œHey, you’re a nun too and you’re also the lead’s understudy,” Cheryl told Karin.
    â€œGreat,” said Karin, sarcastically.
    Cheryl ignored the acid in Karin’s voice.
    â€œI always liked the nuns’ parts. It’sgoing to be so much fun acting in the play,” said Cheryl.
    â€œMaybe for you,” said Karin. “Ms. Watson is
so
ridiculous. I hear she often gives out good parts to people she feels sorry for. Who does she think she is, some kind of saint? It’s so stupid to ruin the play with mediocre talent.”
    I knew then, as if it had been announced over a loud speaker or lit up in blazing neon, that I had the part of Maria. I wanted to leap up and dance, but there was no room in the thick crowd to even wiggle.
    â€œHey, Liz’s friend Renata is Maria,” said Cheryl. “That’s cool.”
    â€œCool?” said Karin. “It’s pathetic.” Then Karin pushed her way out of the crowd and stomped off.
    â€œDid you hear that Renata?” said Liz, elbowing me excitedly. “You’re Maria! You got the part!”
    â€œCome on,” I said as kids drifted to class and the crowd thinned out. “I want to see this with my own eyes.”
    We still had to tiptoe to see over Pat Pomeroy and Lenore White’s heads, but at least I could read the first line and that’s where it was.
Renata Nunes – Maria von Trapp
    â€œYes!” I shouted, high-fiving Liz.
    â€œHey congratulations,” said Lenore and Pat in front of me.
    â€œThanks,” I said.
    I couldn’t wait to tell Mom, but I couldn’t call her at work. She was at Ms. Powell’s