Into the Mix #4 Page 5

  And then it was over.

  Mr. Cummings had stopped playing, and Ms. Barlow was saying. “Thank you. Amanda! Good job.”

  “Thank you!” said Amanda to Mr. Cummings. She quickly walked off the stage, flashed Ms. Barlow a smile, and then walked back up the aisle, trying to look casual.

  “Yay, Amanda!” said Peichi.

  “Way to go, Amanda!” said Molly, raising her hand for a high-five. “You were really good!

  “Thanks, I think I did okay!” said Amanda. “Look at my hands! I’m shaking!” Amanda giggled. “Come on, let’s go home.”

  That night, as Amanda and Molly were in their own bathroom getting ready for bed, Amanda said, “You know, Molls, this play is going to be a dinner theater. Maybe Dish should cater part of the dinner.”

  “Good idea,” said Molly. “We should talk to Ms. Barlow about it.”

  While Amanda was in the shower. Molly went downstairs and sent an e-mail to all the Chef Girls.

  To: qtpie490; happyface; BrooklynNatasha

  From: mooretimes2

  Re: Hi everyone!

  It’s Molls. The audition was cool. Tomorrow’s the day that Amanda and Peichi find out if they will be big stars in My Fair Lady! Let’s meet in the main hall as soon as we get to school and check out the cast list together! See ya in the morning!

  “Wow, look at the crowd!” exclaimed Amanda the next morning.

  “I think the whole school wants to find out who made it, observed Shawn.

  Just then, the crowd parted as some students turned away. Peichi and Amanda squeezed up front.

  “Oh! Ohmygosh! There I am!” cried Amanda, pointing to her name in the second column. “Wow!” She turned to grin at Molly and her friends, giving the “thumbs-up” sign. They shrieked.

  “Ooh, Amanda, that’s great!” said Peichi. “I don’t see my name on here....” She kept looking. Amanda searched, too, but Peichi’s name was not there.

  “Oh, well,” said Peichi. She shrugged and looked down at the floor.

  Chapter 7

  Amanda put her hand on Peichi’s shoulder. “Oh, Peichi, I’m sorry! I—”

  “It’s okay, Amanda!” insisted Peichi. Her old smile came back. “It’s so exciting that you made it! You’re practically the only sixth-grader! I just auditioned for fun.” She and Amanda walked toward the girls. “It would be nice to still be involved in the play. I might do costume crew.”

  “Oh, good,” said Amanda. “Then we’ll still be in the play together.”

  That afternoon, Amanda went to the supermarket with Mom. As Molly was doing her homework in the kitchen, the phone rang.

  “Hello, my name’s Dawn Phillips. I live next door to Brenda Barlow,” said the person on the line. “She told me all about Dish. I’m an intern at the hospital, and so is my roommate. We work long hours and don’t have much time to cook. And we’re tired of all the take-out food around here. We’d like to hire you to cook about three days worth of food for us. We don’t even care what it is, or what you charge us. as long as it’s comfort food. Okay?”

  “Uh, sure,” said Molly. “No problem.” Comfort food? she wondered. What’s that? But she was too embarrassed to ask Dawn what it meant. Maybe Amanda will know she thought as she went back to her homework. Molly was writing an English essay when Amanda and Mom got home from shopping.

  “Hi,” said Amanda. She was holding a magazine.

  “What’s that?” asked Molly

  “Celebrity Hairstyles. I saw it at the store and asked Mom to buy it for me.”

  “So, guess what! We got another cooking job!” announced Molly.

  “That’s good.”

  “They want us to make comfort food. Do you know what that is?”

  “I don’t know,” Amanda replied absently. She flipped through the magazine and played with her hair. “I wonder how my hairs gonna look in the play. I guess it’ll be up, since I’ll probably be wearing a really glamorous long dress.”

  Hello, thought Molly. Do you even know I’m here?

  “So I hear you girls have another cooking job,” said Dad at dinner. “Is this for a new client?”

  “Uh-huh,” said Molly. “It’s for a couple of women who live next door to Brenda barlow. They work at the hospital. They want us to make comfort food for them. But I don’t know what that is. Do you?”

  Dad smiled, and so did Mom.

  “Comfort food is, well, food that makes you think of homey, comforting things,” Mom tried to explain.

  “It’s food that you grew up with. that Mom or Grandma used to make,” added Dad.

  “You know what comfort food is to me? Mashed potatoes and gravy” Mom said with a laugh,

  “Mmm, right,” said Dad. “And fried chicken. Macaroni and cheese. Chocolate layer cake!”

  “Shawn’s grandma makes awesome fried chicken and mashed potatoes,” Amanda suggested. “Maybe she could help us!”

  “Girls, do you even have time to keep Dish running?” asked Dad. “I’m concerned about your schedules. You have homework and piano lessons. And now Amanda will be busy with the play.”

  Molly rolled her eyes.

  “Remember, we said that Dish would just be a summer job, and then we’d see about it,” added Mom.

  “We talked about it with the Chef Girls,” Amanda spoke up. “We’re only going to do, like, one job a month. So this will be our one job.”

  Dad nodded.

  “Okay,” said Mom. “Just remember, your schoolwork has to come first.”

  “I can’t wait to ask Shawn if Grandma Ruthie can help!” said Molly.

  On Saturday, the twins, Natasha. Shawn, and Peichi all met up at Choice Foods, the local grocery store. Shawn brought the shopping list that Grandma Ruthie had written up, and Peichi brought money from the treasury to pay for it.

  One of the things on Grandma Ruthie’s shopping list was brisket of beef.

  “I’ve never heard of brisket,” admitted Molly.

  “That’s sad!” exclaimed Shawn. “You’ve been missing out your whole life! I ask her to make it for my birthday every year.

  The next afternoon, everyone met at Shawn’s apartment.

  “Hello, hello”, said Grandma Ruthie as the girls streamed in. “How are ya’ll doing? Ready to cook?”

  “Hel-lo! I’m Peichi!”

  Shawn introduced Peichi and Natasha.

  “Hi,” said Natasha. “This is such a nice apartment.” She looked around at the African tribal masks and a tall wooden giraffe that Shawn’s parents had brought back from Africa before she was born.

  “Wow! Look at this view!” cried Peichi. She ran to the window, which overlooked Prospect Park. “Oops! I almost forgot! I have something very exciting to show you!”

  “What is it?” asked Molly. “Our business cards?”

  Peichi just smiled and pulled a package out of her backpack. It contained the cards, hundreds of them.

  “Oooh!” cried everyone, gathering around.

  “Wow! They look so good!”

  “Ohmygosh! We’re a real business now.”

  “It’s so cool! Your mom did a great job, Peichi.”

  After everyone had inspected the cards and took some for themselves, Shawn announced happily, “My dad just called. Guess what! He’s coming home early! He’ll be here in a couple of days! I can’t wait till he gets home.”

  “That’s great, Shawn,” said Amanda. She turned to Grandma Ruthie. “Are you going to stay for a while, or—”

  “No, no, I’m going back to South Carolina, said Grandma Ruthie. ”I like visiting New York for a bit, but it’s always nice to go back home. Now step on into the kitchen, and let’s get cooking. We’ve got a lot of work to do. Those young ladies want comfort food, and we’re gonna give it to em. Southern style!

  The kitchen was a little crowded with six people in it, but the girls had a great time as they talked and laughed with Grandma Ruthie. The girls watched her fix the brisket that she’d marinated the night before. They hel
ped make small buttermilk biscuits that she used as a topping for a chicken pot pie. They made the icing for yummy red velvet cake. They stirred the black-eyed peas.

  “Not too much, now,” Grandma Ruthie warned Peichi, as she reached for the wooden spoon. You only need to stir these beans occasionally.”

  She smiled at the girls. ”You know what comfort food means to me? Corn bread. With butter and honey on it. Mmm, mmm. Shawn, you’ve made corn bread with me before. Reach down in that cupboard for the corn-meal, and measure two cups of it into a bowl. Peichi, see how much buttermilk’s left. Natasha, please beat two eggs for me.”

  Hours later, the girls carefully packed all the food and put it into boxes. Then they proudly taped their business cards on all of them.

  “Dad said he’d drive us over to the client’s house,” said Amanda. “I’ll call him to tell him we’re ready.”

  “These ladies are going to be ve-ry happy!” predicted Peichi.

  “I know,” said Molly, “I wish this was going to be my dinner tonight!”

  Shawn stopped and looked at her grandmother. “Grandma, what are we having for dinner tonight?”

  “Chinese take-out! ‘Cause Grandma’s kitchen is closed for the evening,” said Grandma Ruthie, and everyone laughed. “Girls, it was just great to see ya’ll. I’ll be leaving in a few days, so I think this is good-bye.”

  Fifteen minutes later, the girls filed up the steps of 126 Carroll Place and rang the bell. A petite young woman opened the door.

  “Hi, I’m Dawn!” she said. “Come on in! I can’t wait to see what you made for us!”

  “I think you’re going to like it,” said Shawn, who was the first in the door.

  “Something smells awesome!” said Dawn, leading the way down the hall.

  “Oh, that’s the barbecued brisket!” said Shawn. “And we have chicken pot pie—just bake it when you’re ready to eat it. And black-eyed peas. And corn bread-”

  “Wow!” exclaimed Dawn, as she greeted each of the girls coming down the hall. “You girls are amazing! My roommate is not going to believe this! We’re from the South, and this is going to make us feel like we’re back home! This is comfort food, all right. Let me just get my pocketbook....”

  Dawn disappeared into another room, and all the girls looked at one another. “We’re good,” said Shawn proudly.

  “Here you go,” said Dawn, reappearing. She handed Shawn a large bill.

  “Oops,” said Shawn, turning to look at the other girls. “We don’t have any change.”

  “Keep the change,” said Dawn. “You deserve it! How old are you girls, anyway?”

  “Eleven,” Molly spoke up.

  “Eleven?” echoed Dawn, surprised. “I’m impressed.”

  “My grandma helped us a lot,” said Shawn. “Well, thank you very much.”

  “Bye!” said all the girls, and they walked out the door.

  “Good-bye,” said Dawn with a wave. “I wish you could cook for us every week!”

  Inside the car, Shawn flashed the big bill at Mr. Moore and the girls. “This is a lot of money!” she said. “Those ladies must be rich!” She handed the money to Peichi.

  “I don’t think they’re rich,” said Mr. Moore. “But they work really hard at the hospital, and they’re probably just so grateful for some home-cooked food. Good job, girls!”

  “Anyway, we’re rich now.” joked Peichi. “I’ll break up this bill when I get home, divide the money, and bring it back out to the car.”

  “That job went pretty well. Didn’t it?” Molly asked the girls as they waited for Peichi.

  “It sure did,” said Shawn.

  “Well, I was just thinking,” Molly began. “Maybe we can take on another job. I know we said just one job a month, but...”

  “No way,” Amanda interrupted. “I’m going to be too busy. Rehearsals start tomorrow.”

  “And cheerleading practice takes up a lot of time,” added Shawn.

  “And I’m swamped, too,” Natasha agreed.

  Molly didn’t say anything. She just sat there staring out the window, waiting for Peichi to come back downstairs.

  Chapter 8

  The next day was the first rehearsal for My Fair Lady.

  After school, Amanda was on her way to Ms. Barlow’s clasroom, when she passed Peichi in the hall.

  “Hi!” said Peichi. “Have a good rehearsal!”

  “I can’t wait to see what character I get to play!” said Amanda.

  “I signed up for costume crew!” said Peichi. “And I’m going to our first meeting! We’re going to find out what kinds of costumes we’re going to make. See you later!”

  Amanda waved, then turned down the hall to Room 23. It was a large classroom that had a small stage in it.

  Cool, thought Amanda. Soon she’d be up there, rehearsing with the whole cast. She saw herself onstage, saying some clever line from the play, making everyone laugh. It felt so great to be involved in something. Why wouldn’t Molly want to do something like this? she wondered, as she watched the other kids coming in. A pretty girl with long, curly, reddish-gold hair walked toward her. Amanda remembered her from the audition, and knew she was also a sixth-grader.

  “Hi!” she said. “This is My Fair Lady, righf?”

  “Right,” said Amanda. “I’m Amanda.”

  “I’m Tessa! You’re in my third-period gym class, remember?”

  “Oh,” replied Amanda, “no, that’s my twin. Molly. She has gym third period.”

  “You’re a twin? That’s so cool!”

  Just then, the girls heard footsteps clicking down the hall, and Ms. Barlow made her entrance. “Hel-lo, everyone!” she called. “Welcome to the first day of rehearsal!” She patted a tall stack of paper. “Come get your scripts!”

  “She looks like a movie star,” whispered Tessa. Ms. Barlow was wearing high-heeled boots, a plum-colored skirt, and a black silk turtleneck. Her shiny dark hair looked beautiful against her pale skin, which was brightened with deep red lipstick.

  Ms. Barlow passed around a cast list while everyone picked up a copy of the fat script.

  “Wow!” said Amanda to Tessa. “My very own script. I feel like a movie star!” The girls giggled.

  Someone handed Amanda the cast list, and she found her name. The list said:AMANDA MOORE ....... flower seller #4.

  Flower seller number four? thought Amanda. I don’t even have a name? She handed Tessa the list, then quickly flipped through the script. I don’t see any lines for the flower sellers. What if I don’t even gel to say anything?

  By the end of the week, Molly was having problems of her own. She was walking home from school on Friday with something in her backpack. It was only a few pieces of paper stapled together, but she could feel it weighing her down.

  It was one of Miss Spontaks quizzes. Red pencil marks slashed through the numbers Molly had printed as she’d desperately tried to figure out the answers.

  She’d barely gotten any of them right.

  “Hi, sweetie, how was school?” asked Mom as Molly came in the door.

  “Fine.”

  “Are you sure? Come out to the garden with me. We’ll have a snack and take a look at your schoolwork together.”

  Molly forced a smile. “I—I’m just going upstairs to change my clothes.” She headed upstairs to her bedroom and zipped open her backpack. She could barely look at the quiz with all those red marks.

  She hesitated for a moment, then stuffed it under her bed. As soon as Amanda got home from rehearsal, she’d corner her.

  “Amanda, will you help me with my math? It’s so hard!” Molly asked.

  “Mmm-hmm,” said Amanda in a faraway voice, flipping through her script. She looked up at Molly and sighed. “I’m only in a couple of scenes, she said. ”I sing a few songs with everybody else, but I don’t get to speak. Do you think Ms. Barlow would write me in a line if I asked her?”

  “You’d really do that?” exclaimed Molly. She had to laugh. That would take a lot of g
uts!”

  Amanda giggled. “I know. Oh, I’d never do it.”

  Matthew suddenly appeared at the door.

  “Yipes! You scared me,” cried Molly.

  “You’re sneaking around again, Matthew,” scolded Amanda.

  “No, I’m not,” insisted Matthew. “Guess what! We’re going to Luigi’s Restaurant for dinner! Mom says she doesn’t feel like cooking tonight.”

  “Yay!” cried the twins. They loved the big plates of spaghetti and meatballs at Luigi’s. The twins grabbed their coats for the quick walk to the restaurant.

  Just as the Moores began eating their dinner, Molly suddenly noticed a familiar figure sitting at a table for two in a far corner of the restaurant.

  “Hey” said Molly, nudging Amanda, “there’s Mr. Jordan. Way over there in the corner.”

  Amanda looked up from her plate. Mr. and Mrs. Moore glanced behind them.

  “When did he get back from Australia? asked Mom. She’d been friends with Shawn’s dad since they had gone to high school together.

  “Just a few days ago,” replied Amanda. “Who’s that lady with him? I’ve never seen her before.”

  “Is he on a date?” gasped Molly.

  “Molly,” said Dad in his low “warning” voice. Mom shot her “the look.”

  “Molly, stop shouting,” said Matthew. “He’ll hear you.”

  “You stop shouting,” hissed Molly. “Is he on a date?” she repeated in a whisper.

  Mom and Dad looked at each other and smiled. Their expressions seemed to say, How about that!

  Mom looked at the twins. “Maybe he is, or maybe it’s just a business dinner.”

  “Do people go on business dinners on Friday nights?” asked Amanda.

  “Sometimes,” said Dad. “Either way, it’s not really our business, is it?” He smiled at the twins.