"Supermodels 3 - Having It All - Calhoun, B.B." - читать интересную книгу автора (Calhoun B.B)

Just then there was a knock on my bedroom door.
"Naira," called Paige's voice through the door. "Telephone for you."
"Okay, here I come," I said, sitting up on my bed.
The door opened, and Paige stuck her head in. "I think it's your dad."
"Thanks," I said, standing up.
I hurried down the hall, past the dining table, where Cassandra was sitting leafing through a magazine. I stepped over Kerri, who was doing pushups on the living room rug, and made my way to the telephone table by the white couch.
"Hello?" I said, picking up the receiver.
"Jewel, is that you?" Jewel is my dad's pet name for me. He says he started calling me that when I was little because I was so bright.
"Hi, Dad, how are you?" I said.
"Fine, just fine," he said. "I just got in from
work, and I thought I'd give you a call and see how you were doing."
"You just got home?" I said. My dad owns and manages a video arcade. I looked at my watch. Nine thirty, which made it eight thirty Chicago time.
"I know, I know," he said. "But a lot of the summer help is gone now, and I've got some new employees to train."
"Well, maybe you could let someone else train them," I said. "You know, so you could be home to eat dinner with Jameel, Yusef, and Kyra."
"Oh, the kids already ate," he said. "Josephine made them something."
I shook my head. My cousin Josephine was baby-sitting my brothers and sister in the afternoons now that I was away. She was a student at Northwestern University and needed to make a little money. My brothers and sister love her, but I know they'd have preferred eating with my dad.
"Yeah," he went on. "They all had spaghetti or something."
"Lasagna!" I heard Kyra's voice correct him in the background.
"Is Kyra there too?" I asked, a little con-
cerned. When I'd lived at home, I always made sure that on school nights Kyra was in her bath by eight thirty so she could be ready for bed by nine.
"She sure is," said my father. I could tell that he'd completely misunderstood why I was asking. "She's dying to say hello. Hold on
a sec."
"Hi, Naira." My sister's excited voice came over the phone lines.
"Hi, Kyra, sweetie. How are you?"
"Okay," she said. "Naira, are you still in New York City?"
I felt a little ache in my heart. I missed Kyra, and I knew she missed me, too.
"Yeah, I am." I said. "Remember, Kyra, I told you I was going to be here for a while, right? But I'm going to try to come back and visit soon. And maybe someday Dad'11 even bring you and the boys to visit me."
"Yeah, I remember," she said, sounding a little sad. Then she brightened. "Hey, Naira, is there maybe going to be a postcard tomorrow? 'Cause me and Jameel and Yusef are putting them all up on the wall near the kitchen table." She giggled. "That way we can pretend we're eating breakfast in New York."
I thought a moment. The last postcard I'd sent them was of a man walking about fifteen dogs of all different sizes and colors on a city street. I'd mailed it four days ago, two days before school started.
"Did you get the one with the dogs?" I asked.
"Yeah, that was funny," said Kyra, giggling again. "We got it yesterday. Is there going to be one tomorrow, do you think, Naira?"
My heart sunk a little. I'd been sending postcards just about every other day. But the last couple of days had been busier than usual, what with school starting and everything.
"No, I don't think so," I said to Kyra. "But I'll try to send you another one real soon, I promise. Now, why don't you let me say hi to Jameel and Yusef."
"But they're not here," she said. "They're playing ball."
"Still?" I asked, incredulous. There was this really nice courtyard in our building with a playground and a basketball court. After dinner my brothers liked to play basketball there with the other kids in the building. But I'd always made sure they were upstairs before
dark. "Kyra, let me talk to Daddy."
"I think he's in the shower now" she said. "I can hear the water."
I sighed. I was getting the feeling that things were not running very smoothly there without me.
"Okay, Kyra, listen to me," I sa^id. "Have you had your bath yet?"
"No," she answered.
"Okay, well, you can skip it tonight," I said. "But I want you to go change into your pajamas right away. And then go and knock on the bathroom door and tell Daddy that it's time for the boys to come inside and for you to go to bed, all right?"
"Okay," said Kyra.
"Now, don't forget," I said. "Do it as soon as we hang up the phone."
"Okay," said Kyra again. "But don't you forget either, Naira, okay?"
"Forget what, honey?"
"The postcard?' she said.
"Oh, right," I said. "Of course. You got it. Now, you take care, Kyra, and give Daddy and the boys big hugs for me."
"Okay, Naira," she said. "Bye-bye."
"Bye."
I hung up the telephone and let out a sigh.