Big Bad Beans (5 page)

NINE

What a sunny Mother's Day!

Jason and his mom attended Abby's church. The pastor gave them each a small New Testament. Just like Dunkum's.

Jason crossed his fingers when Dunkum said his verses. After Dunkum was finished, Jason said, “You did it! Go, Dunkum!”

Abby clapped her hands. “Dunkum's double dabble good!”

Jason thought Abby was pretty cool, too. For a girl, of course.

“Now for the grand prize,” Abby whispered. She took her place beside Dunkum and three others.

Dunkum was up against four girls!

Jason listened to each verse. And he decided something right then. The Bible verses were much better than just wise old sayings. He looked down at his New Testament. Carefully, he held it with both hands.

Soon the first round was finished.

Whew, that was close!
thought Jason. He really hoped Dunkum would win.

Next, it was Abby's turn. She was super at saying her verses.
She oughta be,
he thought. Abby had been doing this all her life.

Things were much different for Dunkum. He was new at this.

At last, the final round came.

The girls wrinkled their noses or twisted their hair before reciting each verse.

One girl forgot the chapter and verse but said the book of the Bible. She was out.

Her mistake was catching. The other girls forgot a word, too.

Dunkum looked very relaxed. Was he thinking about basketball or the grand prize? Or both?

Squeezing his New Testament, Jason rooted for Dunkum. He felt like cheering or dancing. But he sat quietly, hard as it was.

“Dunkum Mifflin,” the teacher said. “Please say Luke 3:11.”

Dunkum paused. He glanced at the ceiling.

Jason watched and waited.
C'mon, you can do it,
he thought.

Even Jason remembered this verse. It was a real good one! About sharing junk food with a kid on a health diet.

The teacher looked at her stopwatch. “Five seconds to go.”

Jason's heart leaped up.

The air was tense. The suspense was too much.

Just as the teacher started to raise her hand, Dunkum began, “ ‘The man with two tunics should share them with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.' Luke 3:11,” he said.

Jason sighed.

Abby was next. It looked like she was holding her breath. Jason couldn't tell for sure.

The teacher said another verse. Abby had to tell where it was found. The backward approach.

Very tricky,
thought Jason.

There was a long silence.

Abby turned to Dunkum. “I don't think I know that one,” she admitted.

“You have five seconds,” the teacher said again.

Abby looked up. She looked down. She shook her folded hands.

“Time's up” came the teacher's voice.

Dunkum was the grand-prize winner! Everyone clapped for both Dunkum and Abby.

Abby was the second-place winner. Her eyes danced as she shook Dunkum's hand.

What a good sport!
thought Jason. He shot her a thumbs-up.

“Thanks, Jason,” Abby said as she sat down.

Dunkum took a seat beside him. “Abby's a winner at losing,” Dunkum whispered. “Get it?”

“She sure is. Now what?” Jason asked.

“The grand prize!” said Dunkum.

Jason stood up and did a quicky jig. He just had to!

TEN

After church, Jason opened the car door for Dunkum. He helped load Dunkum's grand prize into the van.

On the ride home, they checked out the slick new Rollerblades.

Abby and her little sister, Carly, leaned over the seat for a closer look. Her brothers, Shawn and Jimmy, looked, too.

“Wow! Your Rollerblades are double dabble terrific!” said Abby.

“How many verses total?” Abby's father asked Dunkum.

Dunkum grinned. “Twenty-five,” he said.

“Amazing,” said Jason's mom. She was holding two Mother's Day roses.

Jason's stomach was beginning to growl. He excused the rumble. “Sorry . . . I'm just hungry,” he said.

His mother's face beamed. “There's a surprise in the oven.”

“Real food, I hope?” asked Jason.

“How does meatloaf sound for a change?” said his mother.

“Ya-hoo!”

Dunkum stuffed his fancy Roller-blades back in the box. “I've been thinking, Jason. What if I just
give
you my road bike?”

Jason couldn't believe his ears. “You'd do that?” he said.

“Sure . . . why not?” Dunkum pushed the lid down. “I've got what I want right here.” He tapped on the box. “And in here.” He patted his chest.

“You've gotta be kidding,” Jason said.

“The verses aren't just in my head anymore. They're in my heart, too,” Dunkum explained.

Jason held his New Testament real tight. He was beginning to understand what Dunkum meant.

Dunkum tapped his fingers on the grand-prize box. “Luke 3:11—
my
way—says: If you have two bikes, which I do, share with Jason, who doesn't have even one.”

Abby was laughing. “Dunkum would make a good preacher,” she said.

Blossom Hill Lane came into view. The van turned the corner to the cul-de-sac.

Jason jittered, eager to get out. “This was some cool Mother's Day,” he said.

His mother smiled. “Thank you for inviting us,” she told Abby's parents.

“You're welcome anytime.” Abby had a sparkle in her eye.

“How about next Sunday?” asked Jason.

“Hoo-ray!” cheered Dunkum, climbing out of the van. “Hey, come over after dinner and pick up your new bike.”

Jason's mother smiled. “Better check with your parents first,” she said.

“I will,” Dunkum said and hurried home.

Jason crossed the street with his mother. “Happy Mother's Day, Mom,” he said.

“Thanks, Jason.” She smelled the roses, then handed him one. “Is there a reason why we got
two
roses?” she asked. There was a twinkle in her eye.

Jason held the front door open. He smelled the oven dinner waiting inside. “No big, bad beans today?” he asked.

His mother smiled. “It's time for another change.”

“Yes!” Jason shouted and headed for Eric's house.

Next door, the house was noisy. Eric's grandpa was mowing the lawn.

Eric was in the garage, shining the spokes on his new bike.

Jason felt uneasy. He held out a long-stemmed rose. “Hi, Eric,” he said.

“What's the rose for?” Eric asked.

“Give it to your mom for Mother's Day,” Jason said.

“Hey, thanks.” Eric looked surprised. Really surprised. “Where'd it come from?”

“Abby's church gave roses to all the mothers,” he said.

“That's cool,” Eric said.

Jason was dying to ask Eric something. Finally he did. “How do you like your new bike?”

Eric shrugged his shoulders. “It's OK, but I miss my old one.”

“You do?”

“I wish I'd kept it. Or sold it to
you,”
Eric said. “It's already a piece of junk. You would have taken better care of it.”

Jason didn't know what to say. Before today he might've felt secretly glad. Glad that Eric messed up by selling his bike to someone else.

Not today. Things were different.

“Well, I gotta go,” Jason said.

“What's your hurry?” Eric asked, getting up.

“Got a lunch date with my mother,” Jason told him.

“For Mother's Day?” asked Eric. He held the rose stem carefully between two thorns.

“Yep. She makes a mean meatloaf,” he said.

“Sounds like total yuck,” Eric muttered.

Jason didn't mind. Meatloaf sure did beat out garbanzo beans any day.

And bikes? Dunkum owned two of
them. And thanks to Luke 3:11, one would be his.

Ya-hoo!

THE CUL-DE-SAC KIDS SERIES
Don't Miss #23!
THE UPSIDE-DOWN DAY

It's school spirit day at Blossom Hill School, and everyone's enjoying the fun. Especially Abby Hunter's teacher, Miss Hershey. She wears her clothes backward and does other wacky things.

And there's a new girl at school with a BIG secret. Bethanne DeWitt—with bright red pigtails—dares Abby's class to guess her secret. In just one school day!

Can the Cul-de-sac Kids do it? Or will spunky Bethanne outsmart all of them? Who does this new kid think she is, anyway?

About the Author

Beverly Lewis loved two dogs while growing up in Pennsylvania. One was a white Eskimo spitz named Maxie. The other was a tiny brown cocker spaniel named Trixie. Later, Beverly and her husband and their three children made a home for a white cockapoo called Cuddles. And they loved him for seven happy years.

Maxie, Trixie, and Cuddles were never caught eating garbanzo beans or chewing up dollar bills. So . . . where did the idea for this story come from? “My husband went on a health-food diet for one month,” says Beverly. “He made LOTS of salads with garbanzo beans in them.” Jonathan, their son, sneaked his big, bad beans (garbanzo beans) to Cuddles. And the dog quickly spit them out!

Each Cul-de-sac Kids book features pets that belong to the kids on Blossom Hill Lane. Which is a real place in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Be sure to collect all the books. You never know what you might be missing!

Also by Beverly Lewis

Amish Prayers
The Beverly Lewis Amish Heritage Cookbook

G
IRLS
O
NLY
(GO!)†
Youth Fiction
Girls Only! Volume One
·
Girls Only! Volume Two

S
UMMER
H
LL
S
ECRETS
‡
Youth Fiction
SummerHill Secrets: Volume One
·
SummerHill Secrets: Volume Two

H
OLLY'S
H
EART
Youth Fiction
Holly's Heart: Collection One
‡ ·
Holly's Heart: Collection Two
‡
Holly's Heart: Collection Three
†

S
EASONS OF
G
RACE
Adult Fiction
The Secret
·
The Missing
·
The Telling

A
BRAM'S
D
AUGHTERS
Adult Fiction
The Covenant
·
The Betrayal
·
The Sacrifice
The Prodigal
·
The Revelation

A
NNIE'S
P
EOPLE
Adult Fiction
The Preacher's Daughter
·
The Englisher
·
The Brethren

T
HE
R
OSE
T
RILOGY
Adult Fiction
The Thorn
·
The Judgment