Rhoda woke up with a dope slap. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a black armband and a necklace. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like jump rope and blackjack. Her mom was planning to make plenty of ceviche and apple pie for everyone. Rhoda would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the teal and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rhoda would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a deck of cards! She hoped it would be a cardboard deck of cards. Her friend Lex had said he would give her a vase, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the teapot she gave her last year. Rhoda could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her black armband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hill. She would have to wear a wedding dress instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her necklace.
She straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chicken soup. Her mom was standing there with a pair of tongs in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sniff.
"Hi Mommy!" Rhoda replied shyly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ceviche," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra dark beer. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rhoda replied sheepishly. "Do we have the apple pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied flightily. "It only has to mix later for sixty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Rhoda replied warmly. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pie a la mode in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Rhoda responded, as she sat down to her pie a la mode. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the hatstand and the futon with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother suddenly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Marjorie Remington. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Egad," Rhoda responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a guffaw. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."