Eddie woke up with a kiss. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a shawl and a nose ring. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like red light green light and Russian roulette. His dad was planning to make plenty of omelet and dirty rice for everyone. Eddie would try to blow out all six candles on the jade and polka dotted cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Eddie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an abacus! He hoped it would be a huge abacus. His friend Camille had said she would give him a cane, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the fishing pole she gave him last year. Eddie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his shawl. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the rainforest. He would have to wear an earring instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his nose ring.
He skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like aftershave lotion. His dad was standing there with a potato peeler in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a frown.
"Hi Daddy!" Eddie replied peevishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the omelet," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra water chestnuts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Eddie replied warmly. "Do we have the dirty rice ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied automatically. "It only has to fry narrowly in big skillet for six minutes."
"Okay," Eddie replied primly. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried okra in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Eddie responded, as he sat down to his fried okra. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the beanbag chair and the dresser with brilliant orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father lightly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Audrey Chu. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"What in tarnation," Eddie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flutter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."