The Infinite Questions of Dottie Bing: Chapters 35–58

Dottie, Sam, and Miles dragged the platform around the
house to the tree—accidentally pulling off the railing along
the way.
Sam looked at it and then said, “Better to find out it wasn’t sturdy now than up in the tree.”

Sam smiled back and ran home, leaving Dottie worried
that if a day couldn’t get any better, did that mean it could only
get worse?
Dottie shivered. The idea was unbearable.

When it
came time to get it into the tree, all three of them realized that
as much as they didn’t want it, they needed help.
Dottie’s dad obliged, which they all agreed was a good
thing because he actually knew about nuts and bolts and safety.

And best of all, there wasn’t a writhing alligator, a poking
porcupine, a squeezing octopus, or a shuddering kangaroo in
sight.

“What’s all the racket? We can’t nap with all this noise.”

“I need your
help!”
It sounded urgent, so Dottie raced over and flung open the
door.

A loud humming
sound emanated from the lump as Grandpa Walter petted it. Emanated was the word Sam used when he described the smell
after being skunked once. It was a beautiful word for something incredibly stinky.

After Jazzy left to help with dinner, Dottie, Sam, and Miles
stayed, dangling their legs through the slats of the railings.

And the
rain pelted down in buckets, but Dottie laughed through it all.

And once they started, their giggles
turned into guffaws and hee-haws until all three toppled over,
doubled up in hysterics as the rain poured down, drenching
them to their very bones.

Out
of sight. Out of mind. Really, I’m glad my parents took it away.
Now I don’t obsess over it. I can play and stop when I want.

With the
zipper broken, the Chock full o’Nuts can tumbled out of her
backpack. Dottie fumbled with the can, looking for somewhere
else to store it.

Dottie
had so many wishes (to banish her animals, to find a really
good hiding spot, for Grandpa Walter to be happy, to finish
the tree house) and some of them were top secret (the Chock
full o’Nuts can), but most of all her biggest wish was to have
Ima again.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Miles said that afternoon while
he, Sam, and Dottie were hunched over their bug posters, putting the final touches on the illustrations.

“My brain hurts from too much thinking. I
need a distraction.”

Sam said, “You don’t have any other place for it. It’s safe
here. At least for the weekend.”
“I concur,” Miles said. Dottie and Sam looked at him in
total confusion. “Concur means to agree,” Miles explained.

“Really, Dottie,” Grandpa Walter prodded. “I want to
know what you think.”

“Transformative?” Grandpa Walter asked.
“It means we change from one form to another,” Dottie
said. Sam had taught her that years ago when they watched a
caterpillar emerge from a chrysalis.

I
don’t know what got into me, but without Ima, I needed to do something. I couldn’t sit around, pining for her.

“Without Ima, I have to play solitaire. Some
people call it patience. Did you know that?” he asked. “That’s
because it takes a lot of patience to play it and you usually lose.”

It infuriated her (Sam’s word for super
mad) that Grandpa Walter was so happy. But why? Wasn’t
that good? She had hoped when she took the can away that
he would be happy too. But he was supposed to go away when
he was happy, not stay and take over the tree house.

She was in the middle of a dilemma (Sam’s word). Usually
the word made her giggle, but this problem was too serious to
giggle about.

Dottie woke up feeling exuberant. Exuberant was the word
Sam used to describe feeling really, really happy.

Dottie was over the moon when she found the Chock full
o’Nuts can right where she left it on Friday. Hidden under
the hat. Being over the moon meant that she was happy. She
liked that expression and was glad that Sam had taught it to
her.

Sam frantically shook his head back and forth.

Dottie looked on in horror as Mr. Shark started to pull
off the plastic lid. How could there be such a flimsy lid
on such an important can? She had never thought about
this before. It should be much harder to get into a can of
someone’s ashes.

Dottie reached up and grabbed the can as Mr. Shark jerked
the can back and pulled off the lid.
For one second, he looked triumphant, but then he stepped in a small puddle of Miles’s spilled soup, and that’s when he
lost all control, his foot slipped out from under him, and he
crashed to the ground as the Chock full o’Nuts can tumbled
out of his hands and flipped over in the air twice.

“It was a mistake, a big mistake. I’d even call it a blunder.”

“I think Mr. Park was a bit overzealous in his duty.”

“But your dad—” He broke off and slumped his head.