Katy Kelly_Lucy Rose 01 (11 page)

For dinner we had minestrone soup and cheese sandwiches on bread that's called whole grain and takes a lot of chewing but Madam says is good on account of it has fiber.

This morning I came down the back staircase and found Pop in the kitchen with oat flakes and skimmed milk that Madam left us for breakfast. Here's what I thought: P-U.

Madam wasn't there because she was taking her exercise with a class of ladies. It is not what I call good exercise because mostly they just stretch every which way until they are practically exhausted and have to go drink lattes.

Pop said, “We MUST have something to celebrate.”

That's what he always says when he wants
to skip healthy food and go to Jimmy T's which is an extremely excellent restaurant in our neighborhood.

“School's out. That is something to celebrate,” I said.

“Good one,” Pop said.

Even though he is a grown-up, Pop is not such a big fan of school and he is totally against worksheets.

Before we left Pop said, “Call Melonhead and tell him to meet us at Jimmy T's. We'll pick up Jonique on the way.”

Melonhead is Adam Melon. Jonique and I didn't used to like him but now we do most of the time even though he can still get on our last nerves. When I asked him he said, “Sure I'll come. I had one breakfast but I am already hungry again.”

There are 2 things Melonhead loves in this world. One is science and the other one is food. The pleasing thing about him is that he is not one to have a panic if things get what my mother calls
OUT OF HAND. Also he is a good sport about being called Melonhead which he says he doesn't mind but Madam says is not thoughtful.

On the walk to Jimmy T's Jonique asked Pop, “Can we have lemonade for breakfast?”

Pop said, “Sure,” which I knew he would.

By the time we got there I was meltingly hot so the first thing I did was put my hands on my neck like I was in the desert and say in my completely weakest voice, “Heeellllp meeeee, Mrs. T. I'm starving for lemonade.”

At the same exact second Jonique said, “Is Melonhead here yet?”

“Sorry, girls, no lemons. No Melon,” Mrs. T said.

Mrs. T is one person who can make you crack up laughing.

Right then Melonhead walked through the door and Mrs. T said, “Well, it looks like we have Melon after all.”

“Then I'll have a Melonade,” Pop said which had us all laughing our lips off.

We sat at the counter because Jonique and I
are in love with the spinney stools. And when Mrs. T wanted our order Pop said did Mr. T, who is the cooking one of the Ts, make any liver and onions because that is what Jonique loves to eat for breakfast.

“It is not,” Jonique said.

Then Pop asked, “Do you have mashed turnips and stewed prunes on the menu?”

“Yes turnips. Yes prunes,” Mrs. T said. “They're the special of the day. With pickles on the side.”

This set Melonhead off and he started making his hooty laugh and the two ladies that were eating omelets in the front booth popped their heads up to look scowly at him.

Pop is a good kidder but I think he makes Jonique nervous when he acts like that in front of the public at Jimmy T's, so I ordered quick to keep him from getting carried away with himself. “Waffles with spray-on whipped cream, please,” I said.

“Excellent choice,” Mrs. T said.

Jonique said, “May I have French toast with powdered sugar and two plastic rectangles full of grape jelly for later?”

“Another great pick,” Mrs. T said.

“I'll have orange juice, bacon, blueberry pancakes, and eggs over easy, please-y,” Melon-head said.

Pop got cheese eggs and scrapple, which is one food that makes Madam feel horrified, and decaf coffee which is the only kind he is allowed to have or he will stay awake all night long. After we made our orders Pop patted his stomach and said, “We are living large,” which we were.

While we waited for our food Mrs. T let me and Jonique and Melonhead fill up the metal napkin boxes. She would have let Pop help too but he was filling in the
New York Times
cross words puzzle which is what he has to do every day pretty much first thing. Pop is good at those puzzles because he used to be a newspaperman and he still is a magazine writer. I expect one day I will be good at cross words because I have a quick-thinking mind, according to my mom. Plus, starting this summer I am collecting a huge vocabulary which is the other thing you need. Watching Pop do cross words is how I found out that standing akimbo means standing with your
hands on your hips so your elbows poke out and that is a handy thing for me to know because I am one person that stands akimbo a lot of the time. 2 other words that came from the
New York Times
are exuberant which Madam says is exactly the kind of girl I am, and crestfallen which is when a person gets disappointed and their face goes all droopy because of it.

When our food came Pop said to all of us, “What's new?”

I told about needing some plans because of only having key chain making and apricot picking and birthday adventure on my Beauty Spot calendar. “And,” I said, “Madam says the apricots won't be ready until the end of July.”

“Jonique, do you have any plans?” Pop said.

“Pot holder weaving, family reunion, and a week at vacation Bible school at the Faith Tabernacle church,” she said. “And I want to go camping but my mom says she didn't work so hard making our house comfortable just so she could go outside and sleep on dirt.”

“Adam, do you have a summer plan?” Pop said.

Melonhead said, “To grow a mustache.” Jonique and I started laughing like 2 hyenas but

Pop just said, “Good idea. When do you think you'll start?”

“Soon,” Melonhead said. “At least by July.”

I took down the Sunset paint card because it is too crazy and my mom took down Ivory because it is too bland. Then I took down Raspberry because it is too much like my red room and my mom took down Celery the color because it is too much like celery the vegetable.

Later I e-mailed my dad which is a thing I do rather a lot, especially about palindromes, which are another kind of words I have a good way with. Madam and Pop are palindromes because they are the same backwards and forwards. Here's another one: Radar. I learned it from a NO SPEEDING sign. I wrote, “Dear Dad, I think of you morning, NOON, and night. Get it? Love, LR. PS. I wonder what the big adventure is going to be.”