Zooman Sam, Page 3

  "Is that cool, or what?" his sister asked. She wiggled her shoulders into her backpack.

  Grinning, Sam poked his legs into the suit, pulled it up over his arms, and zipped the front. It felt good. He put his sneakers back on, and pushed the Velcro fasteners closed again.

  "Zooman Sam," he said to himself. He walked around the kitchen, pretending that he was checking the cages. "Here comes Zooman Sam!" he called to the pretend animals.

  "Be a lion, please," he instructed his dad.

  Myron Krupnik looked up from his newspaper and roared fiercely. Sam carefully put a piece of bacon into his father's open mouth.

  "Sleuth?" Sam said. "Bacon?" The dog looked up eagerly. "Be a wildebeest." Sam loved the word wildebeest. At the sound of the word bacon, Sleuth jumped up and bounded over to where Sam stood. Sam fed him the bacon.

  "Giraffe, please," he said to his mother. She stretched her neck silently and leaned down toward Sam. Quickly Sam went to the windowsill where his mother kept small pots of herbs. He pulled off a mint leaf and fed it to the giraffe, who nibbled politely.

  Then the giraffe kissed the top of his head. That reminded Sam of something. He turned to his sister, who was just opening the back door.

  "Where's my hat?" he asked.

  "I have to go to school," Anastasia said.

  "You didn't forget my hat, did you?" Sam asked.

  "No, I didn't forget. Look in the hall closet. Mom will explain about the hat, Sam. I can't be late. Bye."

  Sam looked around the kitchen-zoo, where all of the animals were savoring their feedings. His lion-father licked his lips and turned a page of the paper. His wildebeest-dog stared hopefully at the zookeeper, yearning for a second helping. His giraffe-mom plucked a dead leaf off one of the pots of herbs and sneaked another bite of mint.

  Sam headed to the hall closet to see about his hat.

  6

  Pleased with his costume, excited about how his sister had solved the problem of the zookeeper's hat, Sam sat beside his mother in the car.

  "Everybody will wonder why I didn't come in the carpool car," he worried. He frowned, fooled with his seat-belt buckle, and looked at his mom as she drove.

  "No, they won't. I called Emily's mother and told her I'd be driving you to school today. Nobody even notices who comes in what car."

  "Anyway, Emily's car always smells like throw-up," Sam said, remembering.

  "Poor Emily. She gets carsick."

  "I don't get carsick," Sam said. He pushed the button that made the window go up and down.

  "Don't play with that, Sam," Mrs. Krupnik said. Sam stopped. He looked around for something else to play with. He wished it were raining. Sometimes his mom let him turn on the windshield wipers.

  Sam's mother nipped the directional signal and turned the car onto a quiet, tree-lined street. Sam's school was at the end of this street, in the basement of a church.

  Sam bent his knees and tried to fold his legs like Buddha. Anastasia had a little Buddha statue in her room, and sometimes she invited Sam to sit with her like Buddha and meditate. Sam didn't know what meditate was. But he liked sitting like Buddha.

  It was hard in the car, though, because of the seat belt. He wondered how the real Buddha, who had a very large stomach, managed to wear a seat belt. He wondered if the real Buddha ever wore red sneakers with Velcro, and a coverall that said ZOOMAN.

  Probably not, Sam decided. He poked the little button that turned on the seat warmers in wintertime. That would surprise his mother on her way home.

  His mom parked in the school parking lot. She got out of the car, helped Sam out from his side, and then she lifted a bulging dark green trash bag from the back seat.

  "I can carry it," Sam said.

  "You sure?"

  "It's not heavy." Sam lifted the bag and headed toward the school entrance.

  "Hi, Sam!"

  "Hi, Adam!" Sam called to his friend. He could see that Adam was wearing his yellow slicker and a red fireman's hat.

  "What're you, a trashman?" Adam called.

  Sam smiled but didn't answer.

  "Hi, Sam!"

  "Hi, Eli!" Sam called. Eli, too, was dressed as a fireman.

  "Hi, Zachary! Hi, Peter!" Zachary and Peter were also firemen.

  Mrs. Bennett appeared from the coatroom. "Good morning! Can I help you with that, Sam?" she asked. She took the trash bag, set it on the floor, and helped Sam unzip his jacket.

  "You're not a fireman, Sam!" Mrs. Bennett said. "Good for you! We have eleven firemen, and that's quite enough, I think. Even Josh decided to be a fireman instead of a Native American. What does this say on your chest?"

  Sam puffed out his chest so that Mrs. Bennett could read the red embroidered words.

  "ZOOMAN SAM!" she said. "That's super, Sam. You can tell us all about what a zooman does when it's your turn. Go hang up your jacket now. And where shall we put your equipment? Is that part of your costume?"

  Sam nodded. He pointed to the corner behind the piano, and Mrs. Bennett put the large trash bag there, on the floor, where it was out of the way.

  Sam's mom waved goodbye to him. Once, when he had just started nursery school, she had always kissed him goodbye. But Sam didn't like her to do that anymore. So now she kissed him goodbye at home, or in the car, but at school she just gave him a little wave. Not a great big flapping-in-the-air wave; Sam didn't want that kind in front of his friends. He liked just a small finger wiggle of a wave; it was sort of a code, one that he and his mom had agreed upon, and it meant "I love you a lot, and I will be waiting at home for you, with a grilled cheese sandwich or a hot dog. Have a wonderful morning at school."

  Every single boy except Sam was a firefighter.

  Two girls, Jessie and Kate, were carrying briefcases, and said they were going to be lawyers like their mothers.

  Leah, as she had promised, was wearing a white jacket and a stethoscope, and announced that she was going to be a doctor. In the carrying basket of her wheelchair, Leah had a lot of pill bottles filled with M&M's, but Mrs. Bennett said that no one could have any until snacktime, even if the doctor prescribed them. Leah said also that she might give shots to anybody who behaved badly, but when Mrs. Bennett said, "I don't think so," Leah made a face and said okay, she wouldn't. Sam, who hadn't planned to behave badly, was nonetheless a little relieved. Sam thought Leah's shots would probably have been pretend ones, but he wasn't certain; and he didn't want a shot, pretend or real.

  Mrs. Bennett's assistant teachers, Miss Ruth and Ben, helped the children organize themselves in a big circle. Ben, who was called Big Ben because he was very large, let two children sit on his lap every morning; today he gave Lindsay and Josh a turn. Poor Miss Ruth was so thin that her lap was uncomfortable because her knees were pointy. She was sorry about that, so sometimes she let one of the children wear her big sunglasses. Today Leah, in her doctor's uniform, was wearing Miss Ruth's glasses; she had to wrinkle her nose again and again, to keep them from falling off.

  Mrs. Bennett looked around with a smile. "Every single one of you came dressed for a Future Job," she said proudly.

  "Becky didn't!" one of the firemen called out. Calling out was not good behavior, but sometimes the children did it anyway. Sometimes even Sam did it.

  "I did too," Becky said, and pouted. Everybody looked at Becky. She was wearing a denim jumper, a red turtleneck, black tights, and white sneakers. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and tied with a piece of blue yarn.

  Mrs. Bennett smiled. "Would you stand up, Becky?" she asked.

  So Becky stood.

  "Would you like to tell the children about your Future Job?" Mrs. Bennett asked. But Becky looked at the floor, pouting still.

  "Would you like me to give them a hint?" Mrs. Bennett asked.

  Becky nodded.

  So Mrs. Bennett thought for a minute. "Becky told me what she wanted her Future Job to be," she explained, "and we tried to figure out how she should dress."

  Everybody stared at Bec
ky, who was wearing her regular clothes. Even Sam, who was pretty good at figuring things out, was puzzled.

  "We decided to ask Miss Ruth for advice," Mrs. Bennett explained.

  Everybody was looking at Miss Ruth, who was sitting on the floor with the children. Miss Ruth smiled. Sam was still puzzled. So were the others.

  "Miss Ruth," Mrs. Bennett suggested, "why don't you stand up with Becky?"

  So the assistant teacher unfolded her legs, rose, and went to stand beside Becky. Miss Ruth was wearing a blue denim jumper, a red turtleneck, black tights, and white sneakers. Her hair, pulled back into a ponytail, was tied with a piece of blue yarn.

  Suddenly Sam got it. Even though it was not good behavior, he called out. "Becky's going to be a nursery school teacher!" Sam shouted.

  "Assistant," Becky corrected.

  "Do you want to tell us a little about what you'll be doing in that job, Becky?"

  "Uh, help children do stuff," she said.

  "That's right," said Mrs. Bennett. "You'll be a good helper, and—what else?"

  "Teacher. I'll teach them to do scissors," Becky said.

  "Good for you. Okay, you can sit down now, Becky." Miss Ruth, the assistant, went back over to her place and sat on the floor again, near Sam. Becky continued to stand.

  "And paste," she said.

  "That's right. We do a lot of pasting in school, don't we? Okay, now—" Mrs. Bennett looked around the circle.

  "And pour juice," Becky said.

  "Right. Who wants—"

  "And take children to the bathroom," Becky said.

  Mrs. Bennett looked at the big clock on the wall. "Good for you, Beck. Sit down now."

  "And I would drive one of the cars on field trips," Becky said, still standing. "And read stories," she added.

  "Sit down!" Adam yelled. "It's time for firemen!"

  "And play the piano!" Becky yelled back.

  Sam sighed. He wanted to tell about zookeeping. He wanted to open the big bag behind the piano. But he was afraid it was going to be a long wait.

  7

  Finally. Finally.

  It was about to be Sam's turn at last.

  He could tell that Mrs. Bennett was getting a little impatient. Becky had been crying, over on the time-out chair, for a long time, sometimes so loudly that you could hardly hear the other children telling about their Future Jobs. Finally Big Ben had taken her to the little kitchen for a glass of water and then brought her back, sniffling, and let her sit on his huge lap; and now Becky was okay, just grouchy, and her face looked all messed up from crying.

  Becky cried every single day at school, about something, so they were all used to it. But it was boring, listening to her cry. Sam leaned toward her and made a goofy face, to cheer her up, but she buried her own face in Big Ben's shirt and wouldn't look up.

  And all of the firemen were mad now. Each of the eleven had wanted to talk about firefighting by themselves, one after another, but Mrs. Bennett said they didn't have time. She had suggested that they all stand together as a group.

  "Suppose you all lived in the fire station together," Mrs. Bennett had explained. "You'd be a team."

  "I'm not going to stay at a firehouse with dumb Tucker," Adam had said.

  "Your boots are stupid anyway," Tucker replied. "Mine are real fireman boots, but yours are just stupid baby rain boots."

  "Yeah," my sister has boots like that," Zachary said, pointing at Adam's red rubber boots.

  "I bet your sister can't kick like this," Adam said, and he kicked Zachary hard.

  Even Becky, still sulking on Big Ben's lap, looked over with interest. In a moment, all eleven firemen were yelling and punching one another.

  Finally Mrs. Bennett went to the piano and played a chord very loudly. "Only firefighters sing," she announced, and she began to play the familiar melody of a fireman song that all the children knew.

  Still looking mad, all eleven firemen—Adam, Zachary, Eli, Peter, Josh, Stephen with a PH, Steven with a V, Tucker, Will, Max, and Noah—began to sing. Their voices were grouchy, but they knew the words and the song seemed to cheer them a little.

  Clang! Clang! Down the street!

  Firefighters can't be beat!

  Lights are flashing, sirens scream;

  All the firemen in a team!

  There was more to the song, other verses about hoses and ladders. But Mrs. Bennett stopped after the first verse and allowed the eleven boys to clang like bells and scream like sirens for a minute. They liked that. Sam felt a little jealous.

  But he felt glad when they sat down at last. Now would be his turn.

  "Who's next?" Mrs. Bennett asked, looking around the circle.

  "Me! Me!" Sam was calling out. So were Leah and several other girls.

  Learning not to be first every time was the very hardest part of nursery school, Sam thought. He waved his arm in the air.

  "Sam?" Mrs. Bennett said, and pointed at him.

  Proudly he stood up and walked to the front of the room.

  "Sam's wearing pajamas!" Adam shouted. All of the firefighters laughed. Sam thought they were very rude. But he didn't get mad. He just waited, standing silently, until the children were so curious that they became quiet.

  "This isn't pajamas," Sam explained. "This is a coverall. And see the special writing?" He pointed to the red letters on the left side of his chest.

  Mrs. Bennett leaned over to look closely. She smiled. "Would you like me to read it aloud to the children, Sam?" she asked.

  Sam shook his head. "I want to," he said. "But first I have to show them something." He went to the bag behind the piano and took out his book. He turned to the page with the picture of the zookeeper and the lion. He held it up, facing the children. He turned slowly, the way Mrs. Bennett or Miss Ruth or Big Ben did, when they were reading stories, so that each child would have a chance to look at the picture.

  All the children peered intently. Leah took off her huge sunglasses so that she could see better.

  "This man is wearing a coverall, like me," Sam explained. "His name is Zookeeper Jake."

  "My dad read me that book," Emily said.

  "My dad read me Officer Buckle and Gloria," Noah said. "A hundred times."

  "My dad read me Miss Nelson Is Missing," Steven with a V said. "A thousand times."

  Sam could see why sometimes Mrs. Bennett became a tiny bit impatient. It was hard, being a teacher. "Shhhhh," he said loudly. "We're not talking about that now. We're talking about zookeepers.

  "I'm going to be a zookeeper when I grow up," he announced.

  He could tell, looking at them, that all eleven firemen were mad because they hadn't thought of zookeeper.

  "The guy in the book has a hat," Adam said. "But Sam doesn't. All of us firemen have hats. Don't we?" Adam looked around at the other firemen, and they all nodded. Eleven fireman hats nodded up and down.

  "Well," Sam explained, "I'm about to show you my hat."

  He went to the big plastic bag. Carefully he reached in and took out the baseball cap that was on top. He looked at it carefully to be certain he had the one he wanted. Then he put it on his head. It was a little large, and made his ears fold over, but Sam didn't care about that.

  Wearing the hat, he went and stood in front of the circle of children again.

  "That doesn't say 'Zoo!'" Leah called. "Zoo has a Z!"

  Sam tried to sound like a teacher. "Correct," he said. "Good for you, Leah. My coverall has a Z. See?" He pointed. "This says 'Zooman Sam.'"

  "Zooman Sam! Zooman Sam!" All of the children shouted it, and Sam waited patiently. He liked the sound of so many voices shouting his special name.

  "But zoomen, like me, have to take care of lots of different kinds of animals. So we have lots of different hats.

  "Who can guess what this hat says? It begins with C."

  All of the children were silent, staring at Sam's hat and the letters on it. "Vitamin C?" Max asked, at last.

  "Nope," Sam said. "I'll tell you." He too
k the hat off and looked carefully at its letters. "C," he said. "U. B. S. That spells 'Cubs.' My mom told me."

  "Cubs," all of the children repeated.

  "I wear this when I take care of cubs. Lion cubs, or bear cubs," Sam explained.

  "Cool," Adam said.

  "What if you're taking care of something else, though?" Emily asked in a serious voice. "You can't wear a Cubs hat if you're taking care of a hippo, can you?"

  Sam was actually glad that she had asked because it gave him a chance to use his teacher voice again. "Good question, Emily," he said. "You're really thinking.

  "Let me show you," he said, and he reached into the big green plastic bag.

  8

  Sam rummaged in the bag. There were so many hats, and most of them had long words that he didn't recognize. His mother had assured him that every one was a different animal, but tonight he would have to ask for her help.

  Sam felt so lucky.

  He was lucky to have thought of being a zookeeper instead of a fireman.

  He was lucky to have a mom who could make him a zooman coverall.

  And he was certainly lucky to have a sister who was good at thinking of solutions to problems.

  Anastasia's boyfriend, Steve—well, he wasn't really her boyfriend, and if she heard Sam say "boyfriend," she would yell at him to stop because Steve was just her friend (but if Steve Harvey was her friend, and he was a boy, Sam thought it was okay to call him a boyfriend)—

  Anyway, Steve's father, Harry Harvey, was a sportscaster. He was famous, actually, his picture was in the November 1992 Sports Illustrated, and Anastasia had it on the bulletin board in her bedroom, even though Steve was not her boyfriend.

  Steve's father appeared on TV and sometimes in commercials and once or twice he was on talk shows, which Anastasia always taped even though Steve was not her boyfriend.