Cheng woke up with a sneer. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a thong and a class ring. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like roulette and old maid. His dad was planning to make plenty of fried okra and crumb cake for everyone. Cheng would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the striped and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cheng would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a calling card! He hoped it would be an important calling card. His friend Bonita had said she would give him a horseshoe, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the paperweight she gave him last year. Cheng could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his thong. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the dumpster. He would have to wear a set of vampire fangs instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his class ring.
He paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rose petals. His dad was standing there with a turkey baster in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a hiccup.
"Hi Daddy!" Cheng replied flightily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried okra," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra wine vinegar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cheng replied sourly. "Do we have the crumb cake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied admiringly. "It only has to arrange for forty-five minutes."
"Okay," Cheng replied lickety-split. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Cheerios in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Cheng responded, as he sat down to his Cheerios. "Let's hang lots of red balloons and cover the couch and the carpet with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father gruffly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kimberly Eaton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Golly whiz," Cheng responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a squint. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."