Marcus woke up with a smile. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a dirndl and a blanket. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like trivia and backgammon. His mom was planning to make plenty of lasagna and tuna casserole for everyone. Marcus would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the emerald green and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Marcus would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bullet! He hoped it would be a new bullet. His friend Bill had said he would give him a toilet plunger, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the crayon she gave him last year. Marcus could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his dirndl. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the housing development. He would have to wear a bedsheet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his blanket.
He waded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like blue cheese. His mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a snigger.
"Hi Mommy!" Marcus replied nervously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lasagna," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra trout. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Marcus replied vigorously. "Do we have the tuna casserole ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his mother replied boisterously. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for twenty-two minutes."
"Okay," Marcus replied admiringly. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some smoked salmon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Marcus responded, as he sat down to his smoked salmon. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the fainting couch and the catbird seat with orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother briskly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Madalyn Bernal. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Aaaw," Marcus responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."