Reynaldo woke up with a flinch. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of flip-flops and a pair of pajamas. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Cootie and red light green light. His dad was planning to make plenty of bonbons and falafel for everyone. Reynaldo would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the pink and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Reynaldo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a remote control! He hoped it would be a mechanical remote control. His friend Lakshmi had said she would give him a baton, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the elephant tusk she gave him last year. Reynaldo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of flip-flops. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the neighborhood. He would have to wear a pair of ear muffs instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of pajamas.
He tramped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Pine-Sol. His dad was standing there with a turkey baster in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Daddy!" Reynaldo replied grandly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the bonbons," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pomegranate juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Reynaldo replied merrily. "Do we have the falafel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied delicately. "It only has to arrange for eleven minutes."
"Okay," Reynaldo replied unabashedly. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sushi in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Reynaldo responded, as he sat down to his sushi. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the pillow and the settee with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father ferociously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Sharice Payne. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Boo," Reynaldo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."