Lawrence woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of galoshes and a cummerbund. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Candy Land and Russian roulette. His mom was planning to make plenty of pot roast and ice cream for everyone. Lawrence would try to blow out all eleven candles on the chocolate brown and mauve cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lawrence would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a knitting needle! He hoped it would be a musty knitting needle. His friend Cliff had said he would give him a rope, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the whoopee cushion she gave him last year. Lawrence could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of galoshes. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the veld. He would have to wear a midi skirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his cummerbund.
He blundered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rain. His mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a belly laugh.
"Hi Mommy!" Lawrence replied solemnly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pot roast," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bacon fat. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lawrence replied crankily. "Do we have the ice cream ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied gleefully. "It only has to sear for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Lawrence replied delicately. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast beef in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pantry first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Lawrence responded, as he sat down to his roast beef. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the table and the ironing board with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother intensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Veronica Kelly. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Cock-a-doodle-doo," Lawrence responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pound of the chest. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."