“So guys, what do you want to do for dinner?”
Jonny asked his friends as he peered into the refrigerator.
“What do we have?” Jessie countered from behind
him as she casually leaned against the kitchen table next to Hadji.
“Not much,” Jonny replied, making a face. He reached
for a container and pulled it out, opening it. “There’s some limp salad
in this one. A bagel,” he stuck his arm in and grabbed the bagel from the
far back of the ‘fridge. Examining it, he smacked it smartly against
the nearby counter top several times. “That’s as hard as a rock. A container
with something that kind of looks like chicken,” he opened it and took
a whiff, “ah! Yuck! How longs that been in there?” He cringed and shut
it, replacing the tupper ware.
“You know the rule Jonny, if you don’t
see it go in, don’t eat it,” Hadji reminded him.
“There’s a good reason your father started that
rule,” Jessie piped up.
“Yeah,” Jonny said, making a gagging sound, “I can
see that.”
“Don’t you think maybe you should throw the chicken
out instead of putting it back in?” Hadji asked.
“Nah, Dad might want to use it for one of his experiments.”
Jonny went back to rummaging around. “Hmmm. There’s a half empty bottle
of tomato sauce, a quarter stick of butter, some eggs that are a really,
really strange color and a package of cheese.”
“What about in the deli drawer?”
“Just a package of green baloney. Hey, is baloney
supposed to be green?”
“Let’s check the cabinets,” Jessie suggested. She
and Hadji prowled through the cabinets, most of which were empty, looking
for possible snacks.
“Anything?” Jonny asked.
“Well,” Jessie began, “I found some baking soda,
a thing of dried chives, an empty jar labeled ‘salt’, a package of cupcake
wrappers and some sprinkles. Nothing really edible.”
“How about you, Hadji?”
“Some pans, Lipton onion soup mix, and half a box
of spaghetti.”
“Hey! We can make the spaghetti and use the sauce
from the fridge and-”
“Jonny, did you smell the sauce?” Jessie cut in.
“Um, no.”
“Check the expiration date?”
“Definitely not.” She gave him a look. “Okay,” he
sighed, “no spaghetti.”
“Well, then what are we going to do? We’ve got nothing
to cook, even if any of us could,” Jessie pointed out.
“How about take in?” Jonny suggested.
“Sure, but can we find a place that’ll deliver?”
Jessie asked.
“There is only one way to know,” Hadji cut in, cubing
the possible fight. “I’ll get the phone book.” ****************************************************************
“Well?” Jessie asked expectantly. Hadji shook his
head.
“It appears ‘We Go Everywhere Pizza’ does not really
go everywhere.” Jonny sighed.
“That’s great. That’s just great,” he said, obviously
annoyed.
“Maybe we can hold off until our dads get back.
How long are they supposed to be gone anyway?” Jessie suggested.
“Three days,” Jonny said lethargically. “I seriously
doubt we can go without eating that long.” A grumbling sound came from
Jessie. Jonny gave her a look and she blushed.
“Okay then. We’ll just have to try another place.
Hadji, what’s next?”
Hadji scanned down the phone book page. “ ‘Wong’s
Chinese Take Out’ looks all right. They’re open from six to six everyday.
They deliver too.”
“Great! Let’s try them. The worse they can say is
no.”
“Oh,” Jonny said, “is that the worst?” Jessie looked
at him in surprise.
“Grumpy, I think you’d better run home to Snow White
before one of the other Dwarves reports you missing.” Jonny opened his
mouth, but Hadji’s voice came out.
“Sh! It’s ringing.”
“Hello,” said a crisp voice. “Ow may ay elp ou?”
asked a Chinese accent in less than perfect English.
“Hello, I’d like an order delivered up to light house point.
Is that a problem?” Hadji asked politely.
“No, no problem.”
“Good. I’d like to order a large vegetable lo mein,
three egg rolls, one Buddha’s Delight, a pint of House special soup, a
large chicken and broccoli, an order of scallion pancakes and one of shrimp
toast, one vegetable platter, sweet and sour chicken, two bottles of pepsi
and chopsticks.”
“That it?”
“It is.”
“One hour.”
****************************************************************
“Thank you very, very much,” Hadji said, taking
the large box of food in his arms and retreating inside. Jonny smiled at
the deliveryman as he paid for the food.
“Have a nice night,” he called as the man ran down the driveway to
his car. Jonny shut the door behind him, locking it before heading off
to the kitchen to join his friends. “Mm.” he said as he reached into a
nearby cabinet to pull out cups. “That smells good.”
“You better believe it,” Jessie said, standing at
the counter and checking their order to make sure everything was there.
“Hm.”
“What’s ‘hm’?” Hadji asked, pouring soda into the
cups Jonny was holding.
“Wha, oh. The restaurant just packed a lot of fortune
cookies. Guess they thought there were more people.” She shrugged. Not
a big deal.”
“Come on,” Jonny said. “Let’s go.” Jessie nodded
and grabbed the box, Hadji grabbed the extra soda bottle, and Jonny carried
the full cups into the living room. Jessie plopped the box down on the
floor, then positioned herself next to it so as to distribute the food
and chopsticks.
When all the food had been handed out, the kids
dove in. Passing containers, they shared food, eating straight from the
cartons with their chopsticks.
“Oh,” Jonny groaned, “I’m stuffed.
“I can’t believe I ate that much,” Jessie said in
agreement, putting down the carton in hand.
“Me either,” Hadji said.
“So,” Jonny asked, “now what? I mean, we’re alone
for the better part of the weekend. The parents are in Colombia and Mrs.
Evans is on vacation…any suggestions?” Hadji shook his head, but Jessie
looked thoughtful.
“Why don’t we take turn reading the fortune’s in
the cookies? We have enough.” Jonny looked at Hadji and the two nodded
simultaneously.
“Sure. But why don’t we make it a little more interesting,”
Jonny said as Jessie passed him the box so he could take a cookie.
“How would we do that?” Hadji asked suspiciously.
“The guys on the school baseball team used to take
the fortune’s we’d get with our food after an away game and add a catch
phrase to the end. Something to make it funny.”
“Something perverted and sexually oriented I’m sure,”
Jessie added.
“Not so,” Jonny said defensively. Jessie gave Hadji
a look.
“Oh yeah? Well then, tell us this catch phrase.”
“Gladly. After you read your fortune add the phrase
‘in bed’ to the end.”
“Not perverted at all,” Jessie said, rolling her
eyes. Hadji gave his brother a look.
“Oh come on! It’ll be fun.”
“All right,” Jessie conceded with a laugh. “I’m
in.”
Hadji sighed. “I suppose I am as well.”
“Great! Who wants to go first?” Hadji and Jessie
both looked at Jonny. “Hey, here’s an idea. Why don’t I go first?”
“Good suggestion, Hot Shot,” Jessie said with a
grin.
“Here goes. My fortune reads: Good luck is the result
of good planning…in bed. There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Me next,” Jessie volunteered. “Here’s mine: You
are talented in many ways in bed. Hey!” Jessie shouted. Jonny grinned.
She tossed the little slip of paper at him.
“You act like this is my fault,” he said, throwing
his at her in defense. “Your turn, Hadj.”
“There are many unexpected and thrilling surprises
in store for you in bed. Oh dear.” Jonny chuckled and Jessie’s jaw dropped.
“Jonny!” she cried. He laughed.
“Oh lighten up, Jess. It’s my turn again.” He cleared
his throat. “Everyone has ambitions in bed.” Jessie snickered. “Your turn
tomato top.”
She laughed again. “You have a curious smile and
a mysterious nature in bed.”
“Opportunities surround you if you know where to
look…in bed,” Hadji read, but instead of blushing he laughed and turned
to see Jonny’s.
“Now is the time to try something new in bed.”
“Can you imagine if my dad walked in?” Jessie cried
in mock horror before continuing. “Mine: Explore your own world by working
together with your friends in bed.”
“Going to make a move on us Jessie?” Jonny
asked as he snickered.
“Not you, blondie,” she said making a face. Hadji
laughed and pointed. “Hadji…maybe.” An awkward pause ensued and the three
looked at each other. “Yeah right!” The three burst
into laughter. “Oh…go Hadj.”
“You are never selfish with your advice or help
in bed.”
“Ah! Hadji’s been holding out on us Jonny!”
“Your smile makes everyone realize that the world
is a lovely and beautiful place in bed.”
“That way they can not see you, right Jessie?” Jessie
nodded, unable to speak, her face beet red from laughing.
“You show your true face to the people who really
matter in bed.”
“All your hard work will soon be paid off in bed.”
Jessie doubled over.
“I can’t…read…mine,” she laughed, gasping for air.
“Just…breathe,” Jonny advised, also unable to breathe.
“Speak for yourself…my friend,” Hadji told him.
“All right,” Jessie said, under control. “Someone
is speaking well of you in bed.”
“Last one,” Hadji said, holding up his cookie. The
other two nodded. Catching their breath, the leaned back to back.
“Go ahead Hadj,” Jonny said.
“Failure is the mother of success…in bed.”
************************************************************
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