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andturkeys, but I, Amber Brown, have a lot on my mind.
    Tonight’s the night that my father gets back to America.
    I look over at the clock on the wall to see how many hours until his plane arrives.
    Five more hours …. and then he has to go through customs, rent a car, leave the airport, and go to the Donaldsons’ house, where he is going to stay until he finds an apartment.
    The Donaldsons used to be friends of my parents, until my parents got a divorce…. But after the divorce they were just friends of my dad’s. Mom says that in the divorce settlement, he got custody of the Donaldsons. She’s kidding, I think.
    I look at the clock again. Four hours and fifty-three minutes until he is in America…. And then, as soon as he can, he’ll come over to our house. He and I get togo out to dinner. Then we’ll come back home, and he and Mom and I will talk.
    I can’t wait.
    I look at the clock again.
    This time, Mrs. Holt is standing under the clock and looking at me.
    Quickly, I look back at the Pilgrim father and mother, Hal and Hannah.
    I use the Amber Brown technique of looking interested even when I’m not.
    I pick out something on their faces that I can stare at.

    Hal has a little scar above his left eyebrow.
    Hannah has a milk mustache.
    I am so glad that Hannah has a milk mustache and that no one told her before her report.
    I stare first at the scar and then at the mustache.
    That way I look very interested.
    Sometimes I make a little nod so that it looks like I’m thinking about what has been said.
    I only hope that Mrs. Holt doesn’t give us a quiz on this as soon as the report is over.
    She doesn’t.
    Hannah hands out a list of the real Thanksgiving Day menu, reminding us that it was cooked by four women.
    Hal hands out a list of all the known people at the first Thanksgiving Day dinner.
    It’s kind of weird.
    Mrs. Holt says that it wasn’t even called Thanksgiving Day when it first happened … and she gives us a lot of the real facts.
    This would be very interesting if I didn’t have so much on my mind.
    The only fact that I really want to know is which parent I spend Thanksgiving Day with this year.
    And no one else in the world has the answer to that but me.
    And I, Amber Brown, don’t have that answer yet.

Chapter
Twelve

    My dad is late.
    My dad is very late.
    I, Amber Brown, am going nuts because it’s almost eight o’clock and he’s still not here.
    My mom and I sit at the kitchen table, waiting for him and doing my “Book Report in a Bag.”
    Actually, I’m doing the report and she’s supervising, but I’m having trouble concentrating.
    Now it’s eight twenty-two, and my dad’s still not here.
    I’m all ready. I’ve got on my basic black leggings and one of the sweatshirts that he sent me, the one that says “I love Paris” in French. I’m also wearing a scrunchie that my Aunt Pam sent me. Some people might say it’s a little babyish, but I still love it. There are two round globes, and in each of them are all different colored jacks. It’s so “fun,” and I love the way they move when I turn my head.

    I hate that he’s late.
    It’s not his fault that he’s not here yet.
    It’s really not anyone’s fault.
    I, Amber Brown, don’t care that it’s not anyone’s fault.
    I just want him to be here.
    He called the second that he could, once he got off the plane and to a phone.
    The plane in Paris didn’t take off on time because of equipment trouble, and then there was a backup at Newark airport.
    Mom says that I should just be happy that Dad got back safely. She’s right, but I’m very disappointed that he’s not here and that the plans have changed.
    I really wanted to go out to dinner, just me and my dad. We were going to talk about everything and then come back to the house, and then Mom and Dad and Iwould talk. Now it’s just going to be THE TALK, and I’m not sure how much fun that’s going to be.
    I just wanted my dad to get back safely ….. and on