Out to Lunch (5 page)

Katie felt guilty all over again.

“The weird thing was, Lucille
was
kinda acting like a kid,” Suzanne continued. “I heard she told Malcolm the food belonged in the garbage. She even threw a bunch of it.”

“That wasn’t any reason to fire her,” Katie interrupted her. “The food
is
really gross. We should have healthier stuff to eat.”

“I guess,” Suzanne agreed.

“And you know what else?” Katie continued. “Lucille didn’t even really start the food fight. She was throwing some food out in the garbage and it landed on George by mistake. He started the food fight.”

“How do you know that?” Suzanne asked her suddenly. “You weren’t even there.”

Oops!
Katie had forgotten that she was supposed to have been in the girls room during the food fight. “Well, that’s what I heard, anyway,” she lied. “A bunch of kids said George was the one who yelled out ‘food fight!’ Maybe Mr. Kane should have fired him instead.”

Suzanne laughed. “Mr. Kane can’t fire a kid,” she told Katie. “Kids have to go to school. It’s a law.”

“Well, anyway, it wasn’t fair of Mr. Kane to fire Lucille,” Katie continued.

“Oh who cares?” Suzanne said. “She’s just a grouchy lunch lady. Besides, it was her own fault.”

“She made a mistake,” Katie insisted. “How’d you like it if you got punished every time you made a mistake? Everyone deserves a second chance—even grouches.”

“I guess,” Suzanne finally agreed. “But what can we do about it? We’re just kids.”

Katie was quiet for a minute, thinking. Suddenly an idea exploded in her head. “Suzanne, do you think you can bring a bag lunch for school tomorrow?” she asked excitedly.

“Sure, I guess so,” Suzanne answered.

“Good. So will I,” Katie said. “We have to call everyone we know and ask them to pack their lunches, too. Let’s make sure every kid in the whole school brings a bag lunch tomorrow.”

“I don’t get it,” Suzanne admitted. “How is that going to get Lucille her job back?”

“Nobody in our school is going to buy a cafeteria lunch until Lucille is back behind the counter!” Katie explained. “We’re on a cafeteria strike!”

As soon as she hung up the phone with Suzanne, Katie called Jeremy and told him about the cafeteria strike. He had to let the boys know not to bring lunch money tomorrow.

“I don’t know, Katie. Are you sure the kids will want to help Lucille?” Jeremy asked after Katie explained the plan to him. “She
is
kind of mean.”

“Well, we’re not so nice to her, either. All we ever do is complain about the food,” Katie told him. “And she has a really hard job. It’s hot back there in the kitchen. And she’s standing up all the time. You wouldn’t believe how badly her feet hurt!”

“How do you know that?” Jeremy asked.

Katie gulped. She’d almost let Jeremy know what had happened to her today. She needed to be more careful about what she said. “I . . . um . . . I’m just guessing that’s how she feels,” she stammered nervously. “Anyway, maybe Lucille would like us better if she knew we’d tried to get her job back for her.”

“Maybe,” Jeremy agreed. “She probably wouldn’t have gotten fired if the food fight hadn’t gotten wild. I guess it’s kind of partly our fault.”

“Exactly,” Katie said. “That’s why we should do this for her.”

“It’s worth a try, anyhow,” Jeremy agreed. “What do you want me to do?”

“Just call two or three boys in our class and tell them about the strike,” Katie instructed him. “Ask them to call a few of their friends. Then those kids can tell more kids, and they can tell more kids. If we keep the chain going all afternoon, by tomorrow everyone will know about the strike.”

“I’ll try,” Jeremy assured Katie. “I hope it works.”

“This plan has got to work,” Katie answered. “It just has to!”

The next morning, Katie had a lot of trouble sitting still in class. All she could think about was the cafeteria strike. Katie wasn’t sure if all the kids in school had gotten phone calls. She wondered if everyone had agreed to bring their own lunches. If even one kid decided to buy lunch, the plan wouldn’t work. They all had to stick together.

Luckily, as soon as she walked into the cafeteria, Katie knew she had nothing to worry about. No one was buying the school lunch. The cafeteria tables were covered with brown bags and lunch boxes the kids had brought from home.

Katie looked toward the counter. There was a new lunch lady standing there. She was short and chubby, with small gray eyes and big, yellow teeth. She looked
really
mean. She also looked really bored. None of the kids were buying lunch. The new lunch lady had nothing to do.

Katie smiled happily as she opened up her lunch bag.

“I thought you said your mom didn’t have time to make you lunch in the morning,” Suzanne remarked.

“She doesn’t,” Katie answered. “I made this myself.” She took a big bite of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “It’s pretty good. What do you have?”

Suzanne pulled a small plastic container from her brown bag. Inside the container were six evenly cut pieces of sushi. Suzanne took a pair of chopsticks from the bag and began to eat.

Katie glanced over at the next table where the boys were sitting. Ever since Suzanne and Jeremy had argued over Speedy, the boys and girls in class 3A sat at separate tables. Katie felt bad about not being able to sit near Jeremy at lunch.

Of all the lunches in the cafeteria, George’s was the most amazing. Most of the kids had brought lunch boxes or little brown bags with them to school. But not George. He was carrying a huge brown bag, the kind you got when you brought groceries home from the supermarket. Slowly, he began to empty the bag. First he unpacked a huge hero sandwich. Then he took out a pickle and a container of potato salad. Next he opened his Thermos and poured himself a cup of juice. Finally, he pulled a bag of corn chips out of the bag.

“Wow! That’s some lunch!” Kevin exclaimed loud enough for Katie and the other girls to hear. “George, you are such a pig!”

George bit off a huge hunk of his hero and began to snort. “Look at me, I’m a pig!” he shouted as he snorted.

“He’s not kidding!” Suzanne said. “Only a pig would talk with his mouth full.”

George leaned over toward the girls’ table. He opened his mouth wide so Suzanne and Katie could see his half-chewed sandwich. “Hey, Katie Kazoo, check this out. I have seafood for lunch!” he told her. “Get it?
See
food?”

Katie giggled. George was definitely gross. He was also pretty funny.

“Speaking of pigs,” George began as he swallowed his food. “What do you get when you mix a pig and an egg?”

“I don’t know,” Jeremy answered him. “What?”

“
Ham
pty Dumpty!” George exclaimed.

“Good one, George.” Jeremy laughed. “I love your jokes.”

“I’ve got a million of ’em!” George assured him. “What rescued Hampty Dumpty when he fell off the wall?”

“What?” Kevin asked.

“A
ham
bulance, of course,” George replied. He chuckled really hard at his own joke.

Katie turned toward the food counter. The new lunch lady was still standing there. Her face looked a little sweaty now—probably because there was a lot of steam coming up from the food trays.

Just then, Mr. Kane walked into the cafeteria. The principal looked around the room. He stared at all the lunch boxes and brown paper bags on the tables. Then he headed toward the lunch line. Katie watched as Mr. Kane stared at all the uneaten food.

“What’s going on in here?” Mr. Kane asked the new lunch lady.

“I don’t know,” she answered him. “Nobody’s buying lunch.”

Mr. Kane nodded his head slowly. Then he turned and faced the kids.

“Okay, kids, what’s going on in here? Why isn’t anyone buying lunch?” the principal asked.

“ ’Cause we’re on strike,” a boy from the kindergarten called out. The grown-up words sounded funny coming from such a little boy. Everyone started to laugh, even Mr. Kane.

“You are?” Mr. Kane kneeled down next to him. “Why, Joshua?”

“ ’Cause the lunch lady went away. We want her back,” Josh explained.

Katie smiled as she watched the principal stand up and look around at all the brown bags and lunch boxes in the cafeteria. Now that he understood why the kids weren’t buying lunches, Katie was sure the principal was going to tell them that Lucille could have her job back.

Katie sat up straight. She was about to be a hero.

But Katie was wrong. Mr. Kane didn’t say a word. He just walked out of the room. Katie slumped down in her seat. This was not going to be as easy as she’d thought.

 

 

The students of Cherrydale Elementary School were not quitters. The next day they all brought their own lunches to school again. Once more, the new lunch lady stood all alone behind her trays. She looked even more angry, bored, and sweaty than she had the day before.

Katie took her seat next to Suzanne at the girls’ table and opened her lunch bag.

“What do you have today?” Suzanne asked her.

“Peanut butter and jelly,” Katie answered.

“Again?” Suzanne said.

Katie shrugged. “It’s the only thing I know how to make. What have you got?”

“My mother gave me some leftover pizza with extra cheese,” Suzanne said. “I like to eat it cold.”

Katie glanced over toward the boys’ table. Jeremy had brought a big bag of jelly beans to school. He was busy sharing them with Kevin and Carlos. Katie knew that if she were sitting over there, Jeremy would have let her have some of the purple ones. But the other boys didn’t want Katie—or any of the girls—sitting at their table.

Katie sure wished that Jeremy and Suzanne would stop fighting over the hamster. Their fight was ruining the whole class. Besides, they had to decide something fast. Tomorrow was Friday. Speedy still didn’t have a home to go to for the weekend!