Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 By three o'clock that afternoon, I was so tired, all I wanted was to lie down and take a nap. I snuck over to one of the empty booths and flopped down. I was all curled up on the leather, ready to drop off into dreamland, when I felt someone shaking my shoulder. It was Frankie and Ashley. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" I yawned. "My dad dropped us off so we could see how your day is going," Frankie said. "We could even help out, if you want, and then all walk home together." "Looks like you could use some help," Ashley said. "You look pooped." "I worked hard," I said. "How about you guys?"

"I had such a fun day," Frankie said. "I did a magic trick for my dad's students." "Did you pull a washcloth out of the top hat?" I asked him. "Yes I did. But the biggest hit of the day was when I pulled a scarf out of my nose." "Eww, that sounds painful," Ashley said. We all cracked up. "My day was really fun, too," Ashley told us. "I passed out lunch trays and apple juice to so many nice people. Mrs. Ruiz in Room 227 taught me how to make a red-and-white fairy wand out of a plastic straw. I hope she gets better soon." "Me too," I said. "Now can I go back to sleep?" "No you can't," a voice said. It was my mom, who had come out from the kitchen. "I really need your help, Hank," she went on. "And I'm glad you two showed up, too. We're going to need all the help we can get to finish the platters in time so your teachers can have a good dinner."

"That sounds exciting," Ashley said. "I'm in," Frankie agreed. "Great. Go into my office and call your parents. Tell them Papa Pete will bring you home after we drop off the food at school. Hank, let's get you busy with the potato salad." "I'm on it, Mom. Just one thing. I have no idea how to make potato salad." "It's already made," she said. "You just have to scoop it into a big bowl and sprinkle some parsley on top." "I'm on it, Mom. Oh, by the way, what's parsley?" My mom sighed.

"Come on, let's go find Papa Pete in the back room," she said. "He'll explain it all to you." The back room was as busy as a beehive. Everybody was working as fast as they could. Papa Pete was stacking the meat platters. Vlady was in charge of the cheese. Carlos was arranging different kinds of bread in a circle on the tray. "Papa Pete," my mom called out. "Please show Hank how to add the finishing touches to the potato salad. Frankie and Ashley will be in to help as soon as they're off the phone. I'll take

care of any customers out front while you guys load the minivan." Papa Pete gave me an ice-cream scooper. "This is what we use to scoop the potato salad into the serving bowl," he explained. "Make sure the bowl is nice and full, then sprinkle some chopped parsley on top. That's the green stuff in this baggie." I looked at the baggie and saw little bunches of a leafy green thing. I recognized it right away. "Ohhhhhh, so that's parsley," I said. "I thought it was just called 'the green stuff on the side of the plate that no one eats.'" Papa Pete burst out laughing and gave me a big hug. "That's my Hankie," he said. "You always see things your own way!" Frankie and Ashley hurried in and got busy. Ashley put the pickles around the meat platter. She loves

to do art projects, so she arranged the pickles to look like the meat was wearing a skirt. Frankie was put in charge of squirting mustard and ketchup from big bottles into smaller serving bowls. Every time he squirted one of the bottles, it made a farting sound. And every time it did that, we burst out laughing. "Hey, people," Carlos said. "One day you'll learn that laughing at fart sounds is definitely uncool." "But it's so funny," we told him. "Maybe when you're nine," he said. "But you better grow out of that, or you're going to have trouble getting a date on Saturday nights."