Horrible Harry and the Holidaze (2 page)

BOOK: Horrible Harry and the Holidaze
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As soon as we heard footsteps coming down the hall, we all looked over at the doorway. Even Harry. I was hopeful he might snap out of his daze.
Two Surprises for Three Kings' Day
T
he tall man who entered our room was carrying a huge cake and had a bag over his shoulders. I noticed he was wearing a T-shirt that had a guitar on it. Now I know why Dexter is such an Elvis fan.
“Boys and girls,” the teacher said, “this is Mr. Sanchez, Dexter's father. He's going to tell us about a holiday his family celebrates.”
“Three Kings' Day!” Dexter shouted out.
“That's right!” his father replied, setting his things down on the long table. “Three Kings' Day is celebrated all over Latin America, Spain, and other parts of Europe. Dex, why don't you tell the class about the things I brought.”
We all watched Mr. Sanchez empty the contents of his bag: one shoe, six walnuts, a piece of coal, a bucket, and a framed picture.
Dexter picked up the framed picture first. “Actually, my family celebrates both Christmas and Three Kings' Day. This is a picture of the three wise men who visited the stable when Jesus was born. On January sixth, the twelfth day after Christmas, we believe they visit our house and bring gifts like Santa Claus does. Only they don't leave them in Christmas stockings by the fireplace. They leave them in shoes. Some people leave their shoes by their bed. We leave them by the door.”
“Man,” Sidney said. “You get presents
twice
?”
Dexter beamed. “Yeah!”
“What if the present is Tinker Toys?” Sid asked. “How would it fit in a shoe?”
“It happens a lot,” Dexter answered. “Last year the wise men left me an Elvis video,
Fun in Acapulco,
by the door. It was too big for my shoe.”
“What about the walnuts?” Sid asked.
“Oh, we leave nuts and a bucket of water for the wise men's camels,” Dexter explained.
“Do you leave them coal, too?” Mary asked.
“No,” Dexter groaned. “That's what you get in your shoe if you've been bad all year.”
Mary laughed. “That's like Christmas. I bet Harry finds coal in his stocking!”
When Harry didn't raise his fist or say anything, ZuZu did. “Mary, that's a mean thing to say.”
“Yeah,” Sid said with a big grin. He liked it when Mary got zapped. It didn't happen very often. Slowly she sank down in her seat. Room 3B had a new judge. ZuZu.
Miss Mackle's next announcement made things fun again. “Please take off one of your shoes and put it next to the doorway.”
“Neat-o,” Sid said. “We get to go barefoot.”
“Not barefoot,” the teacher objected. “Leave your socks on.”
As soon as all the shoes were near the door, Mary held her nose. “It smells in here.”
It didn't bother Song Lee. She giggled. She doesn't mind slimy or smelly things. That's one reason why Harry likes her.
“Close your eyes,” the teacher said. “The Three Wise Men are coming!”
“But Miss Mackle, it's not January sixth,” ZuZu objected.
“Good listening,” the teacher replied. “I mean let's
pretend
that it's January sixth.”
Everyone put their heads down on their desk and closed their eyes except me. I wanted to see if Harry was peeking. He wasn't. Harry wasn't being horrible at all.
A few minutes later, Miss Mackle called, “Come and see the surprise in your shoe.”
Sidney made a beeline for his sneaker. Mary was behind him holding her nose with two fingers.
“Crayons!”
she exclaimed in a nasal voice.
“These are flashy ones,” I said.
Harry was the last one to walk over and empty his shoe.
“Did you see what kind they are, Harry?” Miss Mackle asked. “They're fluorescent.”
“Yeah,” Harry replied. “But I like my old crayon stubs better.”
Miss Mackle lowered her voice. “Are you okay, Harry?” she asked. “You seem a little out of sorts.”
Before Harry could answer, Sidney blurted out, “Hey, can we leave our shoes off all day?”
“No,” the teacher replied firmly.
Sid made a face as he slipped on his shoe. He didn't bother tying the long shoelaces.
“Thank goodness!” Mary gasped, unplugging her nose. “I can breathe again.”
“Thank you for my crayons,” Song Lee said softly.
“Thank you, Wise Men,” ZuZu pretended.
“Thank you!”
we all chimed in.
“Okay, boys and girls,” Mr. Sanchez said. “Now it's time for the second surprise, the crown cake!”
Everyone watched Dexter's father lift the lid off the cake carrier.
“Look what's on top of the snowy icing!” Mary said. “Cherries and pineapples ! They look like shimmering jewels.”
“Look at the hole in the middle of the cake,” I said. “It looks like a crown.”
“I bet it would fit my head perfectly.” Sid chuckled. “I think I'll try it on.”
“Sidney, you don't wear cake,” ZuZu corrected. “You eat it.”
“Lighten up, Zu. I was just kidding,” Sid replied.
Dexter tapped his dad on the shoulder. “Can I tell them now? Can I?”
“Yes!” Mr. Sanchez said.
“There is something really special about the crown cake we eat on Three Kings' Day. It has one surprise baked inside. Whoever finds it will have a lucky year.”
Many of us crossed our fingers.
But Harry? I couldn't believe it. He made prayer hands. He
really
wanted that surprise.
After everyone took a bite of the delicious creamy cake, we looked around to see who had it.
“I got it! I got it!”
Sidney screamed as he jumped out of his seat, tripped on his long shoelace, and tumbled to the floor.
“Are you okay, Sid?” Miss Mackle asked.
“Of course I am,” Sid replied as he stood tall holding the little surprise. “I'm gonna have a lucky year! I've got this!”
We all stared at the tiny clay doll. “You lucky dog!” Dexter cried out.
Harry made a fist, thumped it on his desk, and gritted his teeth. “If I had gotten that doll,” he said, “it might have changed things.”
Miss Mackle and Mr. Sanchez looked at Harry, then at each other. I wasn't the only one who wanted to know,
What was going on with Harry?
Heads Up for Kwanzaa
A
t the end of that day, Miss Mackle called Harry up to her desk. Although I couldn't hear what they were saying, I noticed Harry's eyebrows. They kept sinking lower and lower as he was talking to the teacher. It made him look mad, then sad. When it was Miss Mackle's turn to talk, Harry listened. Slowly he lifted his eyebrows higher and higher. None of us found out until later what it was all about.
The next day, Ida was really excited because her mom was coming to school.
At one o'clock, Miss Mackle introduced her. “Boys and girls, welcome Mrs. Burrell!”
Everyone looked at Ida's mom. She was holding a large basket and wearing a turban, big gold earrings, and a long dress. “Hi, boys and girls,” she said cheerfully.
Ida popped out of her seat and proudly stood next to her mom. “Kwanzaa is a celebration of our African American heritage and our future,” Mrs. Burrell explained. “Dr. Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966.”
“This is going to be fun,” Ida said. “Can I start now, Mom?”
“Yes,” her mother answered.
Ida pulled a flag out of the basket. “This is our African American flag. The red band stands for our struggle for freedom. The black stands for the color of our people, and the green represents the land of Africa and our hope for the future.”
Ida reached in the basket again. This time she pulled out a mat. “This is a
mkeka
(mm-KEH-kah). That's a Swahili word for a handwoven mat. It is an example of things we make by hand.”
Mrs. Burrell nodded, then added, “It also shows that who we are and what we do are woven together.”
When Ida pulled out a large candleholder, her mother said, “Kwanzaa starts on December twenty-sixth and lasts seven days, through January first. Each night we light a candle. This candleholder is called a
kinara.
It symbolizes our ancestors. See, it has seven candles in Kwanzaa colors: three red, three green, and one black one in the middle.”
BOOK: Horrible Harry and the Holidaze
3.51Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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