Angelo woke up with an evil eye. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tattoo and a set of football pads. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like follow the leader and hide and seek. His dad was planning to make plenty of brownies and beef bouillon for everyone. Angelo would try to blow out all six candles on the pea green and olive green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Angelo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a painting! He hoped it would be an imitation painting. His friend Laurie had said she would give him a baseball bat, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the candy bar she gave him last year. Angelo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning 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 countryside. He would have to wear a pair of gloves instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of football pads.
He sprinted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wine. His dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a smack.
"Hi Daddy!" Angelo replied frantically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the brownies," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pretzels. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Angelo replied sheepishly. "Do we have the beef bouillon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his father replied flightily. "It only has to simmer for twenty-two minutes."
"Okay," Angelo replied grimly. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the patio 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," Angelo responded, as he sat down to his candy. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the beanbag chair and the beanbag chair with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father tenderly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Gladys MacGibbon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"Turn blue," Angelo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pucker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."