I wished that I could ask Matilda what she thought about Leah and her sparkling white kitchen, which at one time had been more colorful than an entire box of crayons, but Matilda was not here and I had no idea how long it would take for her to make good on her promise of coming back for me.

So instead I turned to Eveyln. I had never had a friend before but with Evelyn, it was easy because she did all the work. She told me where to sit, what to say, and even invited herself over after school. One afternoon, as Evelyn and I sat on the porch waiting for her mother to pick her up, I decided to try and ask her about Leah’s kitchen, but the words just jumbled up inside of my head, so instead I stared at the birds singing in the trees and started spelling what I heard—Twee Too Twee Too Twee.

“Leah’s nice, Franny. You’re lucky to live here,” Evelyn said as if she was reading my mind.

Her backpack was propped between her legs and she made a pleasing clicking sound every time she ran her finger along the teeth of the zipper.

I nodded, focusing on the new song the birds were attempting. Cha Cha Cha Weeo Weeo Weeo.

“Is she an artist?” Evelyn asked as she pulled at a stray thread that clung to her pants.

“She teaches art at the college. Leah told me my mom used to be a secretary there. That’s how they met.”

“That’s cool.”

“I’ve seen some of her pictures. They’re nice. Big.”

“Oh yeah? I meant it’s cool that your mom was a secretary. That’s what I want to be when I grow up.”

My mother had never complained about her work, but she always made it clear that it wasn’t very exciting. I couldn’t imagine someone would dream about growing up to become my mother. “Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why would you want to be a secretary?”

“Oh, that. I guess I like the idea of being able to organize all day long. I think I would be good at it. But more than that, I like the secret part of being a secretary.”

I turned to her. “Secret? What do you mean?”

“The word ‘secret’ in the beginning of the word secretary. You know, like secret business.”

My eyebrows were frozen in place. “That’s what you want to do when you grow up? Be involved in people’s secret business?”

“Yes. That and also make sure that everything is always put away in its right place.”

The sunlight was strong but laced with chill. I brought my knees in closer, hugging them. “What kind of secrets do you think a person who is a secretary would be able to uncover?”