“Well!” Mrs. Ellis
exclaimed. “I don’t suppose this meeting will have improved
Susie’s chances of doing well in school this year.”
I had to agree with her, but neither Susie nor Miss Carswell reacted to
Mrs. Ellis’ remark. They were too busy figuring out what fractions
of Millie’s waking hours were spent eating, doing homework, washing
dishes, and cleaning her room.
Mrs. Ellis and I exchanged amused glances. She left the room and I wished
I could leave too, but I needed a ride from Miss Carswell. After about
ten minutes, Susie suddenly squealed, “Ha! She only spends about
three hours a day playing with the puppy. That’s much less than half
of her waking hours!”
When Susie stopped squealing, Miss Carswell asked, “Are you sure?”
Susie looked slightly offended. “Of course I’m sure. She’s
awake for fifteen hours and she plays with the dog only three. Fifteen
minus three is twelve. One of the first things Buzz taught me was that
halves have to be two equal parts. Three and twelve aren’t equal!” She
folded her arms across her chest and stared at Miss Carswell as if she
wanted to say, “Put that in your pipe and smoke it!”
Miss Carswell glanced over at me and grinned before returning her gaze
to Susie. “You’re right about that, Susie. But how could Millie
put that into a form that would convince her mother?”
Susie twisted her face into a contemptuous grimace. “Doesn’t
her mother know anything about fractions?” she demanded.
Miss Carswell laughed. “I don’t think knowing about fractions
is the issue. The issue is being able to see clearly how Millie spends
her day and what fraction is spent playing with the dog.”
Susie grunted and chewed her fingernail for a few seconds. Then she grinned
triumphantly and said, “I got it!”
“
We could make a picture.”
“
What kind of picture?” Miss Carswell asked in a neutral tone of voice.
“
A circle like a pie with fractions like slices,” Susie suggested.
Miss Carswell was obviously very pleased, but she kept her tone even. “If
I gave you some paper, could you draw it with Buzz’s pencil? I’m
not sure I know exactly what you mean.”
Susie nodded vigorously. “Sure I can draw it. But you have to give
me the piece of paper where you wrote down all the things Millie does and
how long they take.”
Miss Carswell complied and soon Susie was busily drawing an enormous circle. “Let’s
see,” she mumbled, “should it have twenty-four pieces or only
fifteen?” She sneaked a glance at Miss Carswell, but the old woman
kept her face blank. Then Susie looked at me. I just smiled encouragingly.
“
I think I’ll try both ways,” she decided. “I need another
piece of paper.”
Miss Carswell handed her a second piece of paper, and Susie drew another
enormous circle and started dividing it into sections.
It took a while, but Susie got the pie chart finished. She was very proud
of herself. “Millie only spends one out of every five hours and that
means one-fifth of her time playing with Hershey. That’s less than
a half and that means the puppy stays. Yay!” Susie grinned a huge,
infectious grin.
Miss Carswell smiled. “Very good, Susie!” she said. But Susie’s
face suddenly got serious. “Oh no,” she said. “You know
what we forgot? We forgot to figure out what happens on weekends. That
could change everything.”
Miss Carswell kept smiling because Susie’s face expressed none of
the dismay one might have expected. In fact, she sounded and looked almost
gleeful. “I guess we’ll have to figure it out all over again,” Susie
said, “and then I’ll make another picture.”
I shifted nervously. It was a little after six in the evening, and I had
to be home by seven or my father would be waiting at the door with his
belt out. I was in no condition to fight him off.
Miss Carswell didn’t seem to notice my anxiety, but Mrs. Ellis had
had enough. “It’s late, Susie,” she said. “Miss
Carswell and Buzz have to go home for dinner.”
“
But what will Millie do?” Susie protested. She sounded quite upset. “If
we don’t finish, she might lose her dog!”
“
Remember that we’re just making a model for her, Susie,” Miss
Carswell said gently. “She can finish it up for herself.”
Susie looked dubious. “I don’t know,” she mused. “Maybe
she’s not good at fractions. Buzz isn’t her tutor.”
She sighed and didn’t look at me, which was a good thing because
I was grinning like a fool. Miss Carswell shot me an amused look, and I
tried to get my face under control.
“
And she might not realize about needing to figure out the weekend. I better
finish this for her,” Susie said firmly, staring from her mother
to Miss Carswell, to me, and then back to her mother again.
Miss Carswell made a suggestion: “Susie, why don’t you finish
it over the weekend. Millie’s mother didn’t give her a firm
deadline.”
Susie cocked her head to one side and regarded Miss Carswell as if trying
to decide if her judgment could be trusted. Then she shook her head. “You
never know with mothers,” she announced. “I think I better
finish this now.”
“
Susie,” Mrs. Ellis said firmly, “you have a math test tomorrow.
You need to study. Give the pencil back to Buzz and wash your hands. I
need you to set the table for dinner.”
I could tell Susie was getting angry because the tip of her nose was red.
She took a deep breath and hissed, “Okay, I’ll work on this
after dinner.” She stood up,put my pencil in her pocket, and stalked
out of the room.
“
Well?” Mrs. Ellis inquired
Miss Carswell raised her eyebrows. “I enjoyed working with her on
the math problem. She showed considerable ability. As Buzz noted, Susie
likes to have a reason for what she is doing. I don’t know what your
sense is, but I have a feeling she has benefited greatly from the tutoring
sessions with Buzz, and those ought to continue.”
Mrs. Ellis nodded and reached for her purse. She handed me two twenties
and a ten.
“
But this is too much money,” I blurted out. “I only tutored
Susie twice for two hours each time.”
“And you have been here today for over three, Buzz. Don’t
you think you deserve to be paid for your time?” she asked.
I didn’t, but that was something I would have to think about. I
shrugged and said, “Thanks.”
Miss Carswell stood up to leave, but before I could gather up my stuff,
Susie came back into the room. “I’m really worried about
Millie,” she said a little sadly. “If I finish this on Friday
or Saturday, can you come and get it?”
Miss Carswell smiled at her. “I have a better idea. If you finish
it on Friday or Saturday, maybe your mother would bring you to tea at
my house. I don’t have a dog, but I have two kitties.”
Susie brightened. She turned to her mother. “Can I go, Mommy? Please!”
Mrs. Ellis cast a grateful glance at Miss Carswell and replied, “I
don’t see why not.”
Susie started to dance wildly around the room. Then she stopped just
as suddenly as she’d begun and looked from her mother to Miss Carswell. “Well?” she
demanded.
“
Well, what?” her mother replied.
“
Are you going to let me keep being tutored by Buzz?” Her face had
taken on its familiar belligerent expression. She was ready to defend
her rights.
“
Miss Carswell thinks it’s a good idea,” Mrs. Ellis replied. “And
so do I.”
“Good!” Suzie said emphatically. “I like Buzz.” She threw
a dazzling smile at Miss Carswell. “And he’s almost as good at helping
me with math as you are.”
Mrs. Ellis took hold of my arm and said, “I hope I can count on you to
keep working with Susie?” She phrased it like a question, as if I were
doing her a big favor.
“
You sure can,” I said.
Susie started to dance around again. To my surprise, she ran over to Miss Carswell,
jumped up, and hugged her. Miss Carswell patted Susie on the back, and returned
her to the floor. She looked over at Mrs. Ellis. “See you on Sunday then,
for tea.”
Mrs. Ellis nodded. We left, and when I looked back I could see Susie waving
at us through the big window at the side of the house. She was still wearing
that big, radiant smile.
|