Lorenzo woke up with a roar. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a kilt and a swimsuit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the nursery was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Parcheesi and old maid. His mom was planning to make plenty of chopped liver and tofu for everyone. Lorenzo would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the teal and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lorenzo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a roll of toilet paper! He hoped it would be a delicate roll of toilet paper. His friend Oliver had said he would give him a telephone, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the gun she gave him last year. Lorenzo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his kilt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the plain. He would have to wear a tarboosh instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his swimsuit.
He flounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like coconut. His mom was standing there with a foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a snarl.
"Hi Mommy!" Lorenzo replied stealthily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chopped liver," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped broccoli. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lorenzo replied stealthily. "Do we have the tofu ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied trustingly. "It only has to age for fifty minutes."
"Okay," Lorenzo replied wildly. "I'm gonna go to the nursery."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some squash blossom soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the nursery 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," Lorenzo responded, as he sat down to his squash blossom soup. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the settee and the umbrella stand with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother wearily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Marisa Nakamura. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Like fun," Lorenzo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wink. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."