Monday's Not Coming

The morning after the party, the news reports that the body of a young girl has been found in the woods in Baltimore. Claudia burns with embarrassment, replaying her first kiss over and over. She was sick twice in the taxi on the way back and only slept a few minutes before Megan’s mom turned on the news.

Michael calls Megan’s phone to check up on Claudia since she wasn’t in church. Ma has invited him to dinner; he asks if Claudia wants him there. She does. The mood lightens, and Claudia apologizes for last night. Michael reassures her but then says, “We’re friends, right?” (315). Claudia worries that she ruined things with him by moving too fast, like Monday. The other girls insist that Michael really likes her.

In search of Monday, Claudia went to Ed Borough and found April. April called a boy named Darrell over to them, claiming that Darrell had sex with Monday. He confirmed this was true, although he seemed embarrassed. Claudia couldn’t believe that Monday hadn’t told her. April responded, “Monday told me how all you wanted to do was stay in the house with your bougie parents, coloring and playing with dolls like some little kid. If she’d told you, all you would have done is judged her” (319). 

Undeterred, Claudia said she was determined to find Monday. April finally agreed to take Claudia to her house. Mrs. Charles was away, babysitting. The house smelled awful and was a mess. A large, loud freezer blocked half the door. Black trash bags covered the windows. Piles of eviction notices and letters from the school covered the kitchen counters. April took Claudia upstairs to their room. Instead of the bunk bed Monday had described, three twin beds took up almost the entire room. Monday’s bed was dusty, as if it hadn’t been used in a long time. 

When Claudia asked where Monday was, April said, “She’s all over the place” (322), and she asked if Claudia wanted something to remember her by. Claudia began to cry, asking if Monday was really not coming back. She pulled Monday’s journal out from under her pillow. April said the key was still with her. 

Just then, they heard Mrs. Charles come home, yelling for April.

As they drove to drop Monday off at home one day, Claudia’s dad told them he was almost recruited by a very famous go-go band from Ed Borough. He went to college on a football scholarship instead, only returning to music later in life.

When they reached Ed Borough, they saw a big protest. April was there with Tuesday and August. She told them white people were buying up the neighborhood. Monday got scared, asking if they’d lose their house. April comforted her sister, and Claudia felt jealous. 

Claudia offered to let Monday live with her, but April snapped at her. Monday told Claudia to go home, hurting Claudia’s feelings. They noticed a group of boys nearby, and something unsaid passed between Monday and April, inspiring more jealousy in Claudia. April told Monday to take their little siblings home, and Monday tried to tell April not to do something. April commented on how much she spent on the kids’ school uniforms that year and then walked toward the boys. Monday took the stroller, sighing with disappointment.

Panicking, April told Claudia to hide under the bed, or else Mrs. Charles would kill them both. She told Claudia the last time she saw Monday alive was with Claudia’s mother, last summer. 

Claudia crawled under the reeking mattress, hiding amongst mouse feces. In the corner, she saw Monday’s old library book, Flowers in the Attic. Claudia hid there for hours. Tuesday came upstairs looking for her cup. She jumped on Monday’s bed a few times, almost making Claudia cry out, but then went back downstairs. 

Claudia remembered that Monday once said she snuck out to be with Jacob by jumping out of the bathroom window. Claudia hadn’t left breadcrumbs for her mother, and she knew Ma was probably worried sick. 

She crept out from beneath the bed and into the bathroom. Monday’s hair dye box from a year ago was still in the trash can. Claudia tried to open the window but it was stuck. She heard April shout at Mrs. Charles, who was coming up the stairs to use the bathroom. Claudia hid in the bathtub. Mrs. Charles yelled for April to bring her toilet paper. When April responded, she saw Claudia in the tub, but couldn’t help.

Mrs. Charles finished. Claudia’s sneaker squeaked against the tub as Mrs. Charles washed her hands, but Mrs. Charles didn’t investigate. Instead, Mrs. Charles shoved the window open and left. Claudia climbed out, taking in the long drop beneath her. Tuesday came upstairs and knocked on the closet door, looking for Monday. April and Mrs. Charles called for Tuesday, startling her.

Claudia finally jumped out of the window onto the trash cans beneath.