Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 I woke up early the next morning, all excited. I brushed my teeth. I brushed my hair and even put some goop in it like a grown-up. I looked in the mirror to make sure that all the hairs on my head were lying down. They were cooperating. Then I picked out a pair of socks that actually matched. And to finish off the grown-up look, I chose a shirt that had no trace of yesterday's taco lunch on it. When I came out for breakfast, Emily laughed. "You look like a mini-Dad," she said. "Except more dorky." "You look like a maxi-lizard," I shot back. "Except more slimy." "For your information, Hank, lizards aren't slimy," Emily replied. "They are shiny because

第4章第二天早上，我很早就醒了，非常兴奋。 我刷了牙。我梳了梳头发，甚至像个大人一样在头发上涂了一些浆糊。 我照了照镜子，以确保我头上的头发都落下来了。 他们很合作。然后我挑了一双真正相配的袜子。 为了让自己看起来更成熟，我选择了一件没有昨天玉米饼午餐痕迹的衬衫。 当我出来吃早餐时，艾米丽笑了。 “你看起来像个迷你版的爸爸，”她说。 “除了更傻。”“你看起来像只巨蜥，”我反驳道。 “只不过更黏。”“告诉你，汉克，蜥蜴不是黏糊糊的，”艾米丽回答。 “它们闪闪发光是因为

they have natural oil in their scales." "No breakfast for me, Mom," I called out. "I just lost my appetite." My mom handed me a slice of toast with peanut butter, anyway. "You've got to have something," she said. "You need energy for the busy day ahead." My dad came rushing into the living room, pulling on his jacket. "Let's move, folks," he said. "We're running late." We all gathered our things, headed out the door, and got into the elevator. When we got outside, my dad and Emily headed right to school. My mom and I went the opposite way, toward the Crunchy Pickle. The place was already buzzing when we got there. Lots of people were sitting in the

它们的鳞片里有天然的油。” “妈妈，我不吃早餐。”我喊道。 “我没胃口了。” 不管怎样，我妈递给我一片涂了花生酱的吐司。 “你总得有些东西，”她说。 “你需要精力迎接忙碌的一天。” 爸爸冲进客厅，穿上夹克。 “我们走吧，伙计们，”他说。 “我们要迟到了。”我们都收拾好东西，出了门，进了电梯。 我们一出门，爸爸和艾米丽就直奔学校。 我和妈妈反其道而行之，走向脆皮泡菜店。 我们到那里时，那里已经很热闹了。 很多人坐在

booths, having breakfast. Some people were waiting in line for an empty table. There was even a crowd at the counter where people were ordering a roll and coffee to take to their offices. My mom looked around the deli. I could see that she was feeling great that we had so many customers. When she first took over the Crunchy Pickle from Papa Pete, she wasn't sure she would be good at running a deli. But wow, was she wrong. "We've got to get busy, Hank," she said. "It's the breakfast rush."

摊位，吃早餐。有些人在排队等空桌。 甚至柜台前也挤满了人，人们点了卷饼和咖啡，准备带到办公室去。 我妈妈看了看熟食店。 我看得出来，我们有这么多顾客，她很高兴。 当她第一次从皮特爸爸手中接手脆皮泡菜店时，她不确定自己是否擅长经营一家熟食店。 但是，她错了吗？“我们得忙起来了，汉克，”她说。 “现在是早餐高峰。”

"Okay, Mom. I'm ready. What do we do first?" "I'm going to go wait on the customers at the counter. I'll put Carlos in charge of you. Come on, he's over at the grill." My mom took my hand, and we made our way across the crowd, saying good morning to everyone as we passed. We found Carlos at the grill, flipping turkey sausages. They sizzled on the grill and smelled delicious. I wanted one, but I knew it wasn't right to eat the customers' food. Carlos, who has worked at the deli since he was a teenager, turned around to say hi. He had a lot of goop in his hair, too. He used it to make his hair stand up in tall spikes, which poked through his hairnet. He must have seen me checking out his hair.

“好的,妈妈。我准备好了。我们首先要做什么？”“我要去柜台招待顾客。 我会让卡洛斯负责你的。 来吧，他在烤架那边呢。” 妈妈拉着我的手，我们穿过人群，走过时向每个人问好。 我们发现卡洛斯在烤架旁煎火鸡香肠。 它们在烤架上滋滋作响，闻起来很香。 我想要一个，但我知道吃顾客的食物是不对的。 卡洛斯从十几岁起就在这家熟食店工作，他转过身来打了个招呼。 他的头发上也有很多黏糊糊的东西。 他用它让他的头发竖起高高的尖刺，刺穿了他的发网。 他肯定看到我在看他的头发。

"I know what you're thinking, Little Man," he said, turning around so I could see the back of his hair, too. "You're thinking my hair is as cool as an iceberg in winter. I couldn't agree more. The reason it's so cool is that I have a hot date with my girl tonight." "Oh no," I said. "If it's going to be hot, you should take off your sweater." Carlos stared at me, then burst out laughing. "You have a lot to learn, Little Man," he said. "Speaking of which," my mom said, "Hank is going to be spending the day with us. I'd like you to put him to work." "Sure thing, Mrs. Z.," Carlos said. "It's hopping in here, and we can sure use extra help." "Good, then I'll leave Hank in your hands." She gave me a quick kiss, which I hoped no one saw, and hurried off into the crowd of people.

“我知道你在想什么，小家伙，”他说着，转过身来，让我也看看他的后发。 “你认为我的头发像冬天的冰山一样凉爽。 我完全同意。这么酷的原因是我今晚和我女朋友有个火热的约会。” “哦，不，”我说。“如果天要热的话，你应该把毛衣脱掉。” 卡洛斯盯着我，然后突然大笑起来。 “你还有很多要学的，小家伙，”他说。 “说到这里，”妈妈说，“汉克今天要和我们在一起。 我希望你能让他去工作。” “没问题，Z太太，”卡洛斯说。 “它在这里跳来跳去，我们肯定需要额外的帮助。” “很好，那我就把汉克交给你了” 她匆匆地吻了我一下，我希望没人看见，然后就匆匆跑进人群中去了。

"My mom still kisses me every time I leave the house," Carlos said. "I ask her not to kiss me in public," I said. "Moms are like that," Carlos said, taking the turkey sausages off the grill and sliding them onto a plate. "Come on, Little Man, we've got a lot of breakfast orders to fill." "What's first?" I asked him with a big smile. "I'm going to scramble up a pile of eggs to go with these sausages," he said. "Why don't you head over to Table Seven and take their order? They've been waiting a long time. They look hungry." Carlos handed me a pad of paper and a pencil, and hurried off into the kitchen. The second he was gone, the smile disappeared from my face. I stared at the pad and pencil, and sighed.

卡洛斯说：“每次我离开家，我妈妈都会吻我。” “我要求她不要在公共场合吻我，”我说。 “妈妈们就是这样，”卡洛斯说着，把烤架上的火鸡香肠拿下来，放到盘子里。 “走吧，小家伙，我们还有很多早餐要做呢。” “什么第一次?”我笑着问他。 “我要炒一堆鸡蛋来配这些香肠，”他说。 “你为什么不去七号桌帮他们点餐呢？” 他们已经等了很久了。 他们看起来很饿。”卡洛斯递给我一叠纸和一支铅笔，然后匆匆走进厨房。 他一走，我脸上的笑容就消失了。 我盯着记事本和铅笔，叹了口气。