Green Gravy (5 page)

“Hey, you're eating all green foods,” she said.

“Green as a bean!” Jason chanted. He poked his pointer fingers in the air and jerked his head around.

The kids at the table laughed. So did Carly.

“Green as a bean!” they joined in.

Kids were looking at them. Mostly Miss Hartman's class, on the other side of the cafeteria.

Carly didn't mind.

She opened her sack lunch. She stopped long enough to glance across at her younger brother.

Jimmy had just set his lunch tray down.

Carly could see his plate. There was brown meat and gravy and some white mashed potatoes. The other vegetable was orange. Carrots!

Nice colors, but the wrong ones!

Stacy was right. The school cook wasn't very creative. Or maybe she wasn't Irish.

“There isn't a scrap of hot green food anywhere!” Carly said.

Stacy and Abby nodded. “That's true,” said Stacy.

“Isn't anybody else remembering St.Patrick's Day?” Carly asked.

Abby teased, “Looks like part Β of your wish isn't working.”

“Hey!” Carly turned to her sister. “Do ya have to tell the whole world?”

Abby just smiled. “It's kinda cute, that's all.”

“Not
cute
,” Carly said. “Cute's for babies.” And she slid off her seat.

“Hey, don't forget your green lunch,” Abby called.

“Forget you!” Carly snapped.

She picked up her lunch sack. Then she marched to the other side of the cafeteria.

TEN

Carly went to Jimmy's table and sat down. She glanced around at the lunches.

Everyone in her class was having green stuff for lunch. There was split pea soup and lots of celery sticks. One girl even had some raw spinach!

No one at their table was having hot lunch.

No one except Jimmy.

He didn't seem to care about her wish. Part A or part B. Nope. He sprinkled some salt and pepper on his gravy. And he dug right in.

“How's it taste?” Carly asked him.

“Very good.” It sounded like
velly
good.

Carly stared at his tray. “Nothing's green on your plate,” she whined.

Jimmy nodded. “I not eat green. I NOT Irish.”

“Where are your friendly freckles?” she asked.

“Not like green dot face,” he said.

The boy next to Jimmy laughed.

Jimmy joined in.

That did it!

Carly leaped up. She flew across the cafeteria to Abby's table.

Jason's tube of cake icing was in plain view.

“Mind if I squeeze this?” she asked.

Jason didn't have a chance to answer. She was gone before he could say “St. Patrick's Day.”

At Jimmy's table, Carly hid the icing behind her. She hurried around to Jimmy. “I get my wish!” she said.

She leaned over Jimmy's shoulder.

And . . .

Squeeeeeeze!

Out came the gooey, green icing.

Plop!

It landed in Jimmy's gravy.

“Eew!” The kids at the table groaned.

“Happy St. Patrick's Day!” she singsang to her brother.

Jimmy's eyes were big now. Not angry, just big.

Slowly, he picked up his fork and took a bite.

The kids watched. They leaned toward him.

Dee Dee moved over to their table. She wanted to see what was going on.

“How's it taste
now
?” teased Carly.

“Green gravy not bad,” Jimmy said.

He took another bite.

Dee Dee said, “I can't believe he's eating it.”

“Green gravy good stuff,” Jimmy said.
“I not Irish, but I eat green gravy!”

Miss Hartman's kids chanted, “Green gravy . . . green gravy . . .”

Across the cafeteria, Abby and her friends were staring.

Carly didn't mind.

She went around and squeezed green icing on pickles, Jell-O, and spinach. She squeezed it on lettuce and green pears.

It was a “double dabble” lunchtime. That's exactly what Abby would say.

Jason Birchall came running over. “Hey, don't use it all,” he hollered.

“Thanks for the big squeeze,” Carly said. She gave him the smashed-up tube. “You made my green wish come true.”

Jason jigged around and acted silly. Then he trailed a string of icing onto his tongue.

Now
all
the kids were looking at Jason.

The lunchroom teacher blew a whistle.

Yikes.
Carly hurried to sit down.

“Quiet!” the teacher called.

Everyone tried to settle down. It wasn't easy.

The kids at Jimmy's table were holding in the giggles.

The kids at Abby's table were tasting Jason's icing.

Carly was having too much fun.

She forgot all about the Lunch Rule.

ELEVEN

Carly carried her shoe box to Miss Hartman's desk.

She set down her bag of green cookies.

The teacher said, “There are fifteen stars beside Carly's name. She has earned the good citizenship award.”

Carly took a deep breath. She hoped she hadn't let her teacher down. Or her classmates.

“Everyone listen carefully,” said Miss Hartman. She nodded for Carly to begin.

“My name is Carly Anne Hunter,” Carly said. “My middle name is
always
spelled with an ‘e' on the end. I was born seven years ago. And I'm Irish on my mother's side.”

She showed a picture of a fluffy white puppy. “This is Snow White. She's the color of clean snow.”

Next, Carly held up a drawing of her duck. “This is Quacker,” she said. “Her brother's name is Jack. Quacker and Jack are brother and sister.”

The girls giggled.

The boys tried not to.

Someone asked, “Do your ducks fight?”

Carly nodded her head. “Like cats and dogs,” she said.

She was ready to talk about her favorite foods. “I like sweets best.” The clover cookies got passed around.

She noticed that Jimmy took two.

At last, she showed her family picture. “This is the whole Hunter family,” she said.

She pointed to each person, starting
with her parents. “My father's English and my mother's Irish. But they learned to like Korean food in four months.”

Next she pointed to Abby. “This is my big sister. She's the president of the Cul-de-sac Kids. It's a club. Abby makes up words like ‘double dabble.'”

Carly pointed to a tall, skinny boy. “Shawn's nine years old. He plays soccer and the violin. His Korean name is Li Sung Jin, and he's my adopted big brother. Snow White is really
his
pet.”

She picked up the dog's picture again.

Miss Hartman asked a question. “Is Snow White a Shih Tzu dog?”

“Yes,” Carly answered. “Her doggie family tree goes back to ancient China.”

“Do you know what Shih Tzu means?” asked the teacher.

“My father told me,” Carly said. “It means
Lion Dog.
These pets were watchdogs in the Chinese royal courts.”

“Wow,” someone whispered.

“Cool,” someone else said.

Carly spoke up. “But better than all that is someone in this class. Someone very special.” She pointed to Jimmy and asked him to stand up.

“You all know Jimmy. He's my adopted brother. He's Shawn's birth brother.”

Jimmy was smiling.

“Will you come stand with me?” she asked him.

Her brother nodded. “I come.”

Carly smiled at Jimmy. “Here is the best citizen I know,” she said. “And a good sport.”

She told about the green gravy. For Miss Hartman's sake.

Then she turned to Jimmy. “I'm sorry for being selfish. A good citizen is NOT selfish.”

She took off her
Student of the Week
pin.

She put it on Jimmy.

Miss Hartman was smiling the biggest smile.

Everyone else was clapping.

Except Jimmy.

He pulled out his marker and stood on tippy-toes.

“What are you gonna do?” Carly asked.

“I draw green Irish heart on sister face,” he said. “Happy Carly Day!”

Carly felt like crying.

Happy, happy tears. Capital H!

And she never ever said Sour-Pie Jimmy again.

THE CUL-DE-SAC KIDS SERIES
Don't miss #15!
BACKYARD BANDIT MYSTERY

Stacy Henry wants to earn extra money for the Cul-de-sac Kids club. But she can't get permission from Abby, the club president, who is out of town.

The rest of the kids vote to go ahead with the yard sale. But some of their treasures disappear one night.

Is there a bandit in the neighborhood?

Who is stealing from the Cul-de-sac Kids? And why?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beverly Lewis is part Irish, but only a wee bit. The idea for this story came from her children, Julie, Janie, and Jonathan. Each of them received the honor of Student of the Week during grade school.

Now they are teenagers and help create cover ideas for the Cul-de-sac Kids books.

Beverly likes her mashed potatoes with
brown
gravy. (Capital B!) She tried eating cake icing on top, and it made her write this funny book.

If you like humor and mystery, watch for more Cul-de-sac Kids books. You just might discover a new food group!

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
ILL
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
†