Kenneth woke up with a jeer. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a body shirt and a hair net. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Russian roulette and bridge. His mom was planning to make plenty of fried okra and pretzels for everyone. Kenneth would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the beige and golden cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kenneth would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bullet! He hoped it would be a fluffy bullet. His friend Nate had said he would give him a nail, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the ingot of plutonium she gave him last year. Kenneth could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his body shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the marsh. He would have to wear a heavy layer of makeup instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his hair net.
He bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like nachos. His mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a power fist.
"Hi Mommy!" Kenneth replied noisily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried okra," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra canned milk. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kenneth replied needlessly. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied delicately. "It only has to heat for twenty minutes."
"Okay," Kenneth replied testily. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young man, 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 solarium 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," Kenneth responded, as he sat down to his chicken soup. "Let's hang lots of forest green balloons and cover the bunk bed and the china cabinet with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother sheepishly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Yvonne Flanagan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Kazow," Kenneth responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a face palm. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."