give back the wig

by Sunday March 16

under the big rock that leans

3pm or else

or else what Annie asks as

she bends down for a ball

I don’t know

I shrug

I’ve never threatened

anyone before

at school

I write up the note twice

and we slip it

into Josh’s and Steve’s desks

then we wait

Deadline

Our deadline

comes and

goes we check every day

for a week after, too

they’re not scared of us at all

sighs Annie

I know

I say

we have nothing they want

that’s it she says

what if we give them something

they want

like a trade

MONEY

we both say

when I get home I collect all

the money I have and add it up

it totals $6

the following day

Annie gives me $10

I write another note

this time remembering to

add Laurel Park

I wonder if they didn’t know

which rock we were talking about

leave the wig under the big rock

in front of the school where people talk

by Sunday March 30 midnight

and for doing it right

you will find a ton

of money with a 6 and a 1

we hope they’ll think it’s

$61

not $16

Light

We both regret saying

midnight because we can’t

sneak out of the house

but midnight rhymes

with right

so Annie asks to

sleep over and our moms

actually say yes

it’s our first sleepover

the other kids at school

have had tons of

sleepovers by now

but not us

we stay up and look out

the window with my

binoculars

around 11:30 I feel

a hand shove my shoulder

it’s Annie

a small cone

of light outside

skitters across Josh’s yard

then the light moves down the

street suspended

as if someone is riding a bike

we are so excited

we no longer

feel sleepy

Money

On Monday Annie hands me

a clump of blond hair in

a clear sandwich bag

the money’s gone

I touch the hair

hold it up

look at it

this is Barbie’s hair

I say a little too loudly

now what

Annie says

we don’t hear the closing and

opening of the metal lockers

all around us

someone bumps into me so

hard that I drop the hair

it scatters all

over the floor as if

we are at a hair salon

except our hair

would be

black

Deflated

Annie and I don’t talk

about the wig anymore

all our excitement

all our hope

leaked out like hot air out

of an old window in

the winter

how are we ever going

to find the wig

if only we could see

the bunnies again

collect the happiness

wrap the happiness in a blanket

bring the happiness home

open the blanket when

we need the happiness

when people say

happiness is

within us

maybe they mean

memory

like the memory of

the bunnies

and the soft fur that

brushed my hand

maybe

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