Lorenzo woke up with a kiss. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a uniform and a toga. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Russian roulette and Clue. His dad was planning to make plenty of cornbread and roast turkey for everyone. Lorenzo would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the jade and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lorenzo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pail! He hoped it would be a flaky pail. His friend Maggie had said she would give him a paper airplane, and his aunt always gave him cool stuff like the peace pipe she gave him last year. Lorenzo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his uniform. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the ridge. He would have to wear a pith helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his toga.
He darted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like basil. His dad was standing there with a sharp knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a twitch.
"Hi Daddy!" Lorenzo replied diligently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cornbread," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra dark beer. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lorenzo replied dolorously. "Do we have the roast turkey ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his father replied grandly. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for eighty-three minutes."
"Okay," Lorenzo replied softly. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lime sherbet in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Lorenzo responded, as he sat down to his lime sherbet. "Let's hang lots of golden balloons and cover the bathtub and the bath mat with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father recklessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ruth Comstad. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Hell's bells," Lorenzo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a belly laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."