Juan woke up with a fist bump. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tattoo and a ring. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like pool and Candy Land. His dad was planning to make plenty of macaroni and cookies for everyone. Juan would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the mauve and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Juan would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an umbrella! He hoped it would be a sleek umbrella. His friend Minnie had said she would give him a bedpan, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the tote bag she gave him last year. Juan could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tattoo. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hillside. He would have to wear a set of football pads instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his ring.
He skipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like freshly baked cookies. His dad was standing there with a meat tenderizer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a guffaw.
"Hi Daddy!" Juan replied narrowly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the macaroni," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh garlic. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Juan replied oddly. "Do we have the cookies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied impatiently. "It only has to age for fifty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Juan replied oddly. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni and cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec room 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," Juan responded, as he sat down to his macaroni and cheese. "Let's hang lots of red balloons and cover the file cabinet and the billiard table with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father trustingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kelley Gare. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Unreal," Juan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smile. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."