Teeny Weeny Zucchinis (4 page)

“You will win a million dollars!” she said to the stuffed bear on her bed.

“You’ll go across the ocean to France,” she told her old doll, Betsy Wetsy.

She wouldn’t mind if Betsy Wetsy went to France. She was getting too old for dolls.

After a few more fortunes, she sat down at her little desk and made a list. A list of things she still had to worry about. She wrote down “badge” and crossed it off because that was one problem that was solved. She knew what she was going to do to get her badge. She was going to tell fortunes with her crystal ball.

After “2” she wrote “Costume.” The festival was this coming Sunday and she hadn’t even thought of what she would dress up in.

Then she wrote “3” and felt sad. It said, “Get Jody back.”

How was she going to do that?

The fourth thing was “Tell good deed.” She still had not gotten credit for the pork chop dinner. Well, as Mary Beth said, it would keep. She hoped she would not forget to report it, with all the excitement of the fall festival. Good deeds were not that easy to think of.

Molly looked at the list again. She erased number one, the badge project.

Then she made “Get Jody back” number one and “Costume” number two. The good deed was already done—all she had to do was report it. The main worries for Molly were only two: Jody and her costume.

Rat’s knees. She’d better get to work on both of them.

There was no time to lose.

W
hen Molly went to sleep, she took her worries with her. And her worries made her dream worrisome dreams.

In the first one, the festival came and she wasn’t ready. It was worry number two. When she got to the park, Mary Beth was wearing a white hat and apron to sell cookies. She looked like a nurse. Rachel and Jody had twin outfits on that Mrs. Stone had made.

In her dream, Sonny had a black leather jacket and goggles on and had a real motorcycle with training wheels on it. No one would let their children ride with him.

But when Molly stood behind her crystal vase, in her dream, all she had on was her underwear! Not one other stitch of clothes! She not only did not look like a gypsy, she did not even look like a Pee Wee! People were laughing and pointing. Especially Roger and Sonny.

Molly woke up shaking with fear. What if that really happened? What if she let her costume go too long, and the festival came before she had found one?

She got a drink of water and went back to bed and tried to forget about the festival. But she didn’t. Because in the next dream she was back in the park in her Pee Wee outfit and her dream was about worry number one.

“I have something to show you,” said Rachel, in her dream.

She held out her hand, and it had a ring on it. A big diamond ring.

“Jody gave it to me,” said the dream Rachel. “We are getting married in the bandstand in the park today.”

Rachel had a long white wedding dress on, and her parents and all the Pee Wees were throwing rice. Mrs. Peters was saying, “Rice is something we harvest in our state!”

An organ was playing “Here Comes the Bride,” and Mary Beth, Molly’s best friend, was a bridesmaid! She was dressed in a long pink dress and a white apron and she was eating a pumpkin cookie.

The next thing Molly knew, her dad was shaking her awake and saying, “Molly! Molly! Wake up! You must be having a bad dream. You kept shouting, ‘He likes me! My crystal ball says he likes me!’ ”

Even though she was still half asleep, Molly was embarrassed. It was embarrassing to talk in your sleep!

By morning Molly was all worn out. These dreams were warnings! She had to solve her problems right away.

“What does a gypsy look like?” asked Molly at breakfast.

“A fortune-teller gypsy has long earrings on,” said her mother. “And a scarf tied around her head. A bright, cheerful one.”

“And she has a robe on, with long sleeves,” said Mr. Duff. “And lots of shiny rings on her fingers.”

“You could borrow my bathrobe,” he added. “It has big full sleeves that would do the job.”

“And I have a bright scarf and some earrings,” said her mom. “I could even find some old rings in my jewelry box.”

Molly felt better. She gathered the things together and tried them on. The robe was just right because it came down to the floor on her, and the sleeves were big and loose. The scarf had a long fringe and looked just right
for a fortune-teller, her mom told her. With the jewelry, she’d be so real she would probably be able to tell real fortunes. People would think she was a real gypsy! But the most important thing of all was that she would have a costume and not be in her underwear!

“You’ll tell better fortunes than Rachel and Jody,” said Mary Beth when they met later in the day. “They have to make up pictures from those tea leaves. Yours is easier.”

Molly didn’t want to be competing with Jody. She wanted to be on his side.

“You need makeup,” said Mary Beth. “I’ll run home and get some.”

When Mary Beth came back, she had her sister’s bright red lipstick and eye makeup with her. She put it on Molly carefully.

“Wow!” said Molly, looking into her mirror. “I really am a fortune-teller!”

When her parents saw her, her dad swept into a low bow and said, “Oh swami, tell me what fate is to befall me, Your Highness.”

Then he got out the car and they loaded the crystal ball into it. Then they stopped at Mary Beth’s for boxes and boxes of her mother’s cookies. At the festival, the signs were already up in front of the booths.

“Look!” said Mary Beth. “You’re right next to Rachel and Jody!”

Rat’s knees, thought Molly. Why did they put two fortune-tellers together? All around the park, people were coming with food to sell. The rides were humming and music was playing. Loudspeakers were saying, “Get your hot dogs over here,” and Pee Wees in uniform wandered about helping people and moving into booths.

Mary Beth was right across from Molly.

Tracy’s acorns were next to Rachel and Jody.

Roger was selling his zucchini bread next to Mary Beth. Molly was glad to see
there was no organ playing the wedding march.

“No one will buy
his
bread,” Molly said with a sniff.

“Come and have a cup of herbal tea,” called Rachel to people who walked by. “Buy a cup and let us read your tea leaves free!”

As people lined up for tea, Roger called, “Eat my bread with your tea!”

He tried to drag two people to his booth! Mr. Peters had to come and release them.

Jody was sitting in his wheelchair behind the table that held Rachel’s mother’s silver teapot. He was pouring tea into cups for the customers.

“Cream or sugar?” Rachel would ask each one.

Rat’s knees, there was a long line for tea! Why wasn’t anyone at Molly’s stand? Molly stared at Roger’s stand. There was a line of people now, and his zucchini bread was almost gone!

Mrs. Duff had put her lace tablecloth on Molly’s little table and set the vase on it upside down. Then she and Mr. Duff had gone to play lawn darts. All Molly could do was wait. After a while it felt lonely. She drew little pictures of Jody on her notepad. She wrote his name with hers. Then she put a heart around it.

As she sat there, Sonny rode by. He was pulling a wagon that was decorated like a motorcycle! The wagon held two children. Sonny was making motorcycle noises. He stopped at Roger’s stand and tried to get the zucchini eaters to take a ride.

“Get out of here, Stone!” yelled Roger. “Quit stealing my customers!”

“You stole our customers!” shouted Rachel.

Sonny rode off.

“Vroooom, vrooom!” he screamed as he left.

Mary Beth was pointing for Molly to look. Sonny’s ride was worse than being on a bike with training wheels! He didn’t even have a cycle!

“At least he has customers,” grumbled Mary Beth, looking at Rachel and Jody’s long line. “I only had three people.”

“I haven’t had any,” said Molly. “One fortune is enough for people, I guess, and they get tea to drink too.”

Now Roger was shouting, “My zucchini bread is all gone! Look at all the money I made!” Roger ran his hands through the coins. They jingled. “Hey, I’m a millionaire!” he said.

As the day went on, things did not get any better for Molly. She had one customer. It was Tim Noon.

“But I don’t want to go on a boat trip,” he said. “I’m scared of water! I want my money back. You’re not really a gypsy anyway—you’re just Molly.”

“Wait,” said Molly, holding up her hand.

“I read the wrong fortune. Let me look in the ball again.”

Tim looked doubtful.

“I see, I see …,” said Molly. “I see wheels. It’s a car. A race car! No, I see two wheels, not four. It’s a motorcycle! There is a motorcycle in your future, Tim!”

Tim brightened up. Then his face fell.

“How could I buy gas?” he said. “I don’t have any money.”

“Rat’s knees! It’s got gas in it, Tim! Lots and lots of gas,” said Molly.

But Tim was drifting down to the acorn necklaces now. Tracy was saying, “Buy your Christmas presents early, folks!” After every sentence she sneezed, but that did not keep business away.

Roger now had a tray of very small, fresh zucchinis in front of him.

“Teeny weeny zucchinis!” he called out.

“Use them for jewelry, folks!” he said. “Or cook them and eat them!”

The teeny weeny zucchinis were selling as fast as the bread had.

“Rat’s knees!” said Molly. She was on the verge of tears.

Jody pushed his wheelchair away from the tea-leaf stand and rolled over to her booth.

What does he want? thought Molly.

Is he going to tell me to move somewhere else?

Is he going to tell me he wants Rachel for his girlfriend?

He didn’t have to tell her that, she thought. She could see it with her own eyes!

What in the world was Jody going to say to her?

“H
i,” said Jody. “Will you tell me my fortune?” He held out a dollar bill.

Did Jody feel sorry for her? Is that why he had come over?

Well, she couldn’t say no. He had paid, and he was entitled to a fortune.

Molly looked into the crystal ball. She looked and looked. She didn’t know what to say.

At last she blurted out, “I see a girl. A girl who likes you. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She wants to come over to your house sometime. She wants to be your girlfriend.”