Loretta woke up with a chortle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bra and a bulletproof vest. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like jump rope and Mother May I. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pizza and egg rolls for everyone. Loretta would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the green and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Loretta would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a banana! She hoped it would be an imported banana. Her friend Andrew had said he would give her a stamp, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the box she gave her last year. Loretta could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bra. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the island. She would have to wear a headscarf instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bulletproof vest.
She tramped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mint. Her mom was standing there with a knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a flinch.
"Hi Mommy!" Loretta replied firmly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pizza," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra onion. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Loretta replied narrowly. "Do we have the egg rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied briskly. "It only has to smoke for eighty-four minutes."
"Okay," Loretta replied impatiently. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken soup 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," Loretta responded, as she sat down to her chicken soup. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the carpet and the sofa with magenta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother cleverly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Hazel Flowers. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"@#%#^@%$@!," Loretta responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a grimace. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."