Akeelah and the Bee - James W. Ellison [31]
Mr. Welch and Dr. Larabee were sitting close to the stage, Dr. Larabee as calm as Mr. Welch was nervous.
“So what do you think, Josh?” said the principal. “Does she stand a chance?”
Dr. Larabee took a long time to answer. “We’ll see,” he said finally, not the reassurance Mr. Welch was looking for. “She has the gift. But does she have the character to go with it? Time will determine that.”
Ten minutes later Akeelah approached the mike. She seemed calm and her hand was already tapping lightly on her upper thigh. She’s preparing herself, Dr. Larabee thought. Getting the rhythm down, almost like a jazz musician.
“A-l-f-r-e-s-c-o,” Akeelah said. “‘Alfresco.’”
Mr. Welch joined the applause. Dr. Larabee clapped twice and then put his hands on his knees. Mr. Welch sneaked a look at his friend, who showed no expression.
“Not such a hard word,” Mr. Welch said. He laughed. “If I can spell it, it’s not a hard word.”
Dr. Larabee shook his head. “Believe me, they’re all hard when you’re onstage in front of hundreds of people.”
Mr. Welch fell into silence, chastened by his friend’s implied criticism.
The spellers started dropping like flies.
“…t-i-o-u-s,” said a skinny speller. “‘Loquacious.’”
Ding went the bell.
“E-s-p-a-d-r-i-l-e,” a tall speller said.
Ding.
“S-c-o-p-a-l-a-m-i-n-e,” a cross-eyed speller said, looking at the Pronouncer with longing in his eyes, hoping that somehow he might have spelled it right.
Ding.
Twenty minutes later, Polly was at the mike for her second round. Only about a quarter of the spellers were left onstage.
“‘Malloseismic,’” said the Pronouncer.
Polly looked confused and rubbed her hands together nervously. “Could you repeat the word, please?”
“Malloseismic.”
Polly nodded. Slowly she said, “M-a-l-o-s-e-i-s-m-i-c.”
Ding.
Polly walked down to her parents, who comforted her as she started to cry into her mother’s blouse. Her father held her hand and kissed her on the cheek.
Good parents, Akeelah thought. Polly is very lucky. She looked worriedly at Javier, who shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “Them’s the breaks. What you gonna do?”
Another twenty minutes passed and now there were only a handful of contestants left, including Dylan, Javier, and an increasingly confident Akeelah. Javier took the mike and grinned at the audience, always ready to play the clown.
“The word is ‘doublure,’” said the Pronouncer.
As Javier was thinking, the rear entrance to the auditorium opened and a very unhappy Tanya Anderson entered the room. When Mr. Welch caught sight of her, he motioned with his hand for her to join him. He pointed to an empty seat on his left. She shook her head no and glared at the stage. Mr. Welch leaned over and whispered to Dr. Larabee, “I think there’s some trouble ahead.”
Akeelah, who had not yet spotted her mother, smiled at Javier as he returned to his seat. “Nice job, Javier. ‘Doublure’ is kinda tough.”
“Luckily I knew the word.”
Now it was Akeelah’s turn to take the mike.
“Your word is ‘psalmody,’” he said.
Akeelah frowned. “Definition, please?”
“The practice or art of singing psalms. ‘Psalmody.’”
There was a commotion in the back of the auditorium. Akeelah squinted in the bright lights, trying to see what was going on.
“Do you need him to repeat the word?” the Judge asked.
“No,” Akeelah said. “‘Psalmody.’ P-s-a—”
“Without my permission!” The sound of her mother’s voice sliced right through Akeelah’s brain.
Voice trembling, she said, “Uh…l-m-o…”
Mr. Welch had rushed to the back of the auditorium and was trying to calm Tanya down. People, including the Judges, strained to see what was happening. Some even stood.
“…d-y,” Akeelah said faintly. “‘Psalmody.’”
She quickly returned to her seat and kept her head down. She was too confused and disheartened to respond to Javier’s thumbs-up. It was all she could do to fight back a flood of tears.
The Judge looked hard at Akeelah and then at the ruckus in the back of the auditorium. “Um, okay…. Next contestant.”
Dylan took the mike. Akeelah glanced up and saw a very frustrated