Read Online Election Madness by Karen English - Free Book Online
Authors: Karen English
another class delivered a piece of birthday cake to her and the other teachers.
This is kind of the same,
Deja thinks,
only they're cookies.
"Let me check with Mr. Brown," Ms. Shelby says finally, "and I'll let you know tomorrow."
Deja stands there a moment, thinking past Ms. Shelby's words. They can't wait for permission tomorrow. They'll have to make the cookies without knowing. They'll have to get those big, fat refrigerator dough thingsâa lot of them. The ones where you only have to slice the dough. And those tubes of icing, the kind you write with. Lots of those. Auntie Dee will have to go to the store as soon as possible because they have to get started tonight.
But when Deja gets home and tells her plans to Auntie, who's on the treadmill, she pulls out one of her earphones and says skeptically, "You want to do
what?
"I need to make cookies so I can pass them out tomorrow. Auntie, I need you to go to the store and get those refrigerator dough things."
Â
Auntie Dee turns off the treadmill. "How many cookies do you have to make?"
"One hundred and forty," Deja says in a small voice, hoping that will make it go over better.
"One hundred and forty! And you tell me this
now?
"
"Puhleeze, Auntie. This is my last chance before the election on Friday. Puhleeze..."
Deja is careful not to put too much whine in her voice. She doesn't want to annoy Auntie Dee so much that she'll say no.
"Let me tell you something, Miss Priss. I'm going to show you how to make one batch and then you're on your own. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Auntie, you're clear."
Auntie Dee's lesson on preheating the oven and oven safety and how to use a potholder and how to use the icing tubes to write takes forever. Nikki is showing more patience than Deja. She sits at the table, listening politely. When the first batch of cookies comes out of the oven, Deja paces the floor as they cool. She keeps touching them with the knuckle of her forefinger to see if they're ready for the icing.
Luckily, Nikki's mom has let them use her oven as well. She brings two batches over as soon as they have cooled. In the first go-around, Nikki and Deja have forty-eight cookies to decorate with V O T E 4 D E J A ! Auntie shows them how, and then lets them start writing on their own.
Of course, it's harder than it seems. Nikki's better at writing with icing than Deja is, and her cookies look much better. Until she gets the hang of it, Deja's letters are either too squished or too big. But because there are extra cookies, they just eat the ones she's messed up.
It isn't long before Nikki is flopping down in a kitchen chair and saying, "My hand's tired. I need to rest."
"My hand's tired, too, but we still have thirty-one more cookies to do."
Auntie peeks in just then to remind them that bedtime is right around the corner.
Deja and Nikki sigh heavily at the same time.
Then, Auntie says the most wonderful thing that Deja has heard during her whole campaign: "Don't worry, I'll finish up."
Deja smiles happily and high-fives Nikki, just as Nikki is turning to high-five her.
Auntie has put the cookies in shoeboxes. They sit on Nikki's and Deja's laps as she drives them to school. "I'll talk to Ms. Shelby, and what she says goes. If we have to take the cookies back home, we'll just put them in the freezer." Deja lifts up a shoebox lid. Auntie put the cookies in the refrigerator overnight and now the icing is nice and hard. She's layered them between sheets of wax paper. Deja is quite proud of her cookies. She can't wait to give them out.
If
she can give them out.
"You two go get in line," Auntie says, parking a little bit down the street from the school and taking the boxes from Nikki and Deja. "I'll go talk to Ms. Shelby."
Â
The girls head to the Room Ten line and before they know it, Auntie is walking toward them empty-handed, giving them the thumbs-up. Ms. Shelby must have said yes!
All day, Deja watches the clock, waiting for the moment when Ms. Shelby gives
This is kind of the same,
Deja thinks,
only they're cookies.
"Let me check with Mr. Brown," Ms. Shelby says finally, "and I'll let you know tomorrow."
Deja stands there a moment, thinking past Ms. Shelby's words. They can't wait for permission tomorrow. They'll have to make the cookies without knowing. They'll have to get those big, fat refrigerator dough thingsâa lot of them. The ones where you only have to slice the dough. And those tubes of icing, the kind you write with. Lots of those. Auntie Dee will have to go to the store as soon as possible because they have to get started tonight.
But when Deja gets home and tells her plans to Auntie, who's on the treadmill, she pulls out one of her earphones and says skeptically, "You want to do
what?
"I need to make cookies so I can pass them out tomorrow. Auntie, I need you to go to the store and get those refrigerator dough things."
Â
Auntie Dee turns off the treadmill. "How many cookies do you have to make?"
"One hundred and forty," Deja says in a small voice, hoping that will make it go over better.
"One hundred and forty! And you tell me this
now?
"
"Puhleeze, Auntie. This is my last chance before the election on Friday. Puhleeze..."
Deja is careful not to put too much whine in her voice. She doesn't want to annoy Auntie Dee so much that she'll say no.
"Let me tell you something, Miss Priss. I'm going to show you how to make one batch and then you're on your own. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Auntie, you're clear."
Auntie Dee's lesson on preheating the oven and oven safety and how to use a potholder and how to use the icing tubes to write takes forever. Nikki is showing more patience than Deja. She sits at the table, listening politely. When the first batch of cookies comes out of the oven, Deja paces the floor as they cool. She keeps touching them with the knuckle of her forefinger to see if they're ready for the icing.
Luckily, Nikki's mom has let them use her oven as well. She brings two batches over as soon as they have cooled. In the first go-around, Nikki and Deja have forty-eight cookies to decorate with V O T E 4 D E J A ! Auntie shows them how, and then lets them start writing on their own.
Of course, it's harder than it seems. Nikki's better at writing with icing than Deja is, and her cookies look much better. Until she gets the hang of it, Deja's letters are either too squished or too big. But because there are extra cookies, they just eat the ones she's messed up.
It isn't long before Nikki is flopping down in a kitchen chair and saying, "My hand's tired. I need to rest."
"My hand's tired, too, but we still have thirty-one more cookies to do."
Auntie peeks in just then to remind them that bedtime is right around the corner.
Deja and Nikki sigh heavily at the same time.
Then, Auntie says the most wonderful thing that Deja has heard during her whole campaign: "Don't worry, I'll finish up."
Deja smiles happily and high-fives Nikki, just as Nikki is turning to high-five her.
Auntie has put the cookies in shoeboxes. They sit on Nikki's and Deja's laps as she drives them to school. "I'll talk to Ms. Shelby, and what she says goes. If we have to take the cookies back home, we'll just put them in the freezer." Deja lifts up a shoebox lid. Auntie put the cookies in the refrigerator overnight and now the icing is nice and hard. She's layered them between sheets of wax paper. Deja is quite proud of her cookies. She can't wait to give them out.
If
she can give them out.
"You two go get in line," Auntie says, parking a little bit down the street from the school and taking the boxes from Nikki and Deja. "I'll go talk to Ms. Shelby."
Â
The girls head to the Room Ten line and before they know it, Auntie is walking toward them empty-handed, giving them the thumbs-up. Ms. Shelby must have said yes!
All day, Deja watches the clock, waiting for the moment when Ms. Shelby gives
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