Stirring It Up! Page 5

  Molly spoke up. “So you mean, we won’t have it in the oven the whole time? We’ll put it in a pan first? This whole bird?”

  “Well, duh! That’s what he just said,” Natasha told Molly sarcastically. Freddie and Peichi looked at Natasha, startled that she would say something like that. Molly’s cheeks burned. She looked down at her cutting board.

  “Er—right, exactly well put it in a skillet first.” Freddie told Molly “If helps keep the meat moist. There’s nothing worse than dried-out chicken. Right? Now let’s preheat the oven to five hundred degrees.” He smiled and nodded reassuringly at Molly as if to say, Don’t let Natasha bother you!

  Peichi sneaked Molly a little smile. Molly tried to smile back. She suddenly gulped in air, realizing that she’d been holding her breath without knowing it.

  “Molly, why don’t you salt and pepper the chicken?” Freddie suggested. “Natasha and Peichi, you can start chopping the herbs.”

  Molly shot Freddie a look that said, Thank you for separating me from Natasha.

  CLANG! CRASH!

  “Aaqhh!” shouted some kids, startled by the sudden noise.

  A copper pot and its lid had dropped to the floor.

  Right by Natasha.

  Natasha had accidentally knocked them off the table when she’d turned around to see what the salad group was doing.

  Natasha’s neck turned red, and the color rose into her chin and up into her cheeks like the mercury in a thermometer.

  “Good going, Molly,” Natasha called out. The pot and lid remained on the floor.

  “Wha—what? gasped Molly. “I didn’t do anything!”

  A few of the boys laughed. Then the kitchen went silent.

  Molly couldn’t see. Everything was a blur, like when she tried on Dad’s glasses. Where was Amanda?

  “No harm done,” said Freddie, who was nearby. “The pot was empty.” He glanced at Natasha. He could tell that she wasn’t about to pick it up, so he did it himself.

  Molly’s eyes refocused and found Amanda across the kitchen at the sink. Amanda’s eyes said to Molly, Here I am. You’re okay.

  If you say so, Molly’s eyes replied.

  Carmen cleared her throat.

  Well! she said brightly. “Let’s keep going—you’re all doing so well!”

  “Okay, folks, move along, nothing to see here,” joked Freddie as he placed the pot and lid back on the table.

  The kids turned back into their tables and started talking and measuring and chopping again.

  Shawn happened to be nearby, so she casually approached Molly’s table. Shawn was so cool that she made it look as though she was borrowing some olive oil from Molly, but she was actually asking, in her low, calm voice, “Do you want to take a break? Outside?”

  Molly shook her head no and looked down. Suddenly she felt like she was going to cry.

  Shawn knew what to do. She knew that Molly would die if anyone knew she was upset. So Shawn walked back to her work station, cool and casual, so that Molly could pretend she was all right—and not let Natasha win.

  chapter 6

  Freddie helped Molly, Peichi, and Natasha as they chopped the herbs, some of which they put inside the chicken. Then they heated olive oil and a little butter together in a big skillet and put the chicken in to brown. Freddie held the chicken down gently with a big chefs fork.

  “We’ll brown it for just about a minute on each side.” said Freddie. “That’ll give it a nice color. Then we’ll pop it in the oven!”

  “Do we have to take it out of the skillet and put it in a different dish for the oven?” asked Peichi.

  “I’ll put it on a rack in a pan,” said Freddie. “Then we’ll baste it with the rest of the herbs, salt, pepper, and olive oil.”

  “That is easy!” said Molly. She felt better now. I’m just going to have to ignore Natasha, she told herself.

  “So, while the chicken’s browning, why don’t you all start dicing the mushrooms for the sauce,” Freddie told the girls. “I’m gonna check on the pasta group over there, and I’ll be back later.”

  “Okay!” said Molly and Peichi. Natasha nodded. Sort of.

  As soon as Freddie walked away, Natasha moved the bowl of mushrooms near herself so that Molly and Peichi couldn’t reach any. She began to dice them.

  “Um, we’ll take some, too,” said Peichi.

  “Yeah, then we can all help,” added Molly, her voice shaking. What was Natasha’s deal?

  Natasha didn’t look up or move the bowl. Peichi shot Molly a glance that said, Can you believe this? Then Peichi just reached over and pushed the bowl into the middle of the table. Molly smiled at Peichi, and Natasha saw it.

  “Watch it, Molly,” she said between her teeth. “Or I’ll tell Carmen.”

  Molly and Peichi looked at each other and began to laugh nervously.

  “Tell her what?” Molly asked Natasha.

  Natasha stared back. Then she said, “I’ll tell her that you guys aren’t giving me a chance to do anything.”

  “Well,” said Peichi, who for once was not smiling, “That would be a lie, wouldn’t it?” Natasha didn’t say anything.

  Molly didn’t say anything, either, though she was grateful to Peichi for sticking up for her. By now Molly just wanted to get through the class. She’d given up on having a lot of fun.

  Molly sighed and looked over at Amanda’s and Shawn’s table. Their group was laughing and talking. They were getting along as they cooked carrots, celery, garlic, and an onion in chicken stock to make the base for the soup.

  About an hour later, class was rocking.

  By then the pasta group, which turned out to have all boys in it, had gotten too rowdy.

  Carmen made a time-out signal with her hands, and called out, “Girls, listen up!” She looked right at Molly.

  “Who would like to switch groups with one of the pasta boys?”

  Molly’s hand went up like a shot. “I will!” she practically shouted. Across the room, Freddie smiled at her.

  “See ya later, Peichi,” whispered Molly as she left the table. “Um, thanks for, you know.”

  “Don’t forget to write!” joked Peichi.

  Natasha, of course, looked the other way and didn’t say anything.

  “Guys, say hi to Molly,” ordered Carmen.

  “Hi,” said the boys, rolling their eyes at each other.

  They looked bummed out to lose one of their guys and inherit a girl.

  Whatever, thought Molly. They’ve got to be better than Natasha, anyway.

  “So, what are we doing?” asked Molly.

  Carmen patted some dough that was sitting on a cutting board. “We’ve just made the dough for the pasta.” she explained. “It’s very simple. All it takes is semolina flour, salt, and eggs. The flour and salt are combined in a little mound, and the eggs go in the middle of that. Each of the guys took a turn kneading the dough. See how it’s slightly sticky? That’s good.”

  Carmen looked up at the group. “Okay,” she said. “We’re going to cut the pasta now.” She clamped a metal pasta-rolling machine to the counter. Then she sprinkled the work surface with flour. She gave Molly and the other kids each some dough, and wrapped the rest of it in plastic wrap so that it wouldn’t dry out.

  “Now roll the dough in flour, not too much, and flatten it a little,” she said, showing them. Then she cranked the dough through the machine. Out came a wide strip of flattened dough. She passed it back through the machine several times, and when she was finished, she had long, thin strips of pasta.

  It was fun to make the pasta. Everyone took turns doing two things: cranking the pasta machine to make the strips of pasta come out, and holding the pasta strips to keep them from breaking as they came through the machine.

  The sauce was quick to make, so the group didn’t make it until shortly before it was time to eat. Carmen showed how to core a tomato by cutting a wedge around the core, then just taking it out. Then she cut an “X” into the bottom of the tomato. “
Now everyone try.” she said.

  Once everyone had prepared their tomatoes, they put them in boiling water.

  “We’ll keep them in there for only thirty seconds,” said Carmen. “This is to loosen the skins. Then we’ll put them under cold water, which will make it easier to take the skins off. Skins and seeds can sometimes taste bitter.”

  Next, she showed how to remove the seeds. She cut the tomatoes in half and squeezed out the seeds and liquid into a strainer that was set over a bowl. “We’ll keep the liquid,” she said. “Now all we do is crush the tomatoes, cook them in the olive oil and garlic that we are heating, add the tomato liquid, salt, pepper, and basil, and soon it will be a delicious sauce!”

  Amanda’s and Shawn’s group thought making the carrot soup was easy. After they’d boiled down the carrots, celery, garlic and onion. Carmen brought out a tool called a hand blender. “I love this thing,” she said, as she held it in the pot and turned it on. It quickly blended the vegetables into a thick liquid called a purée. “And now we’ll add the fresh ginger, and that’s it! Carrot soup!”

  Finally it was time to eat everything. As the class watched, Freddie carved the chicken.

  “Yo, I’m starving!” said a kid named Thomas.

  “Then help me get all the food out to the table, man,” said Freddie.

  Thomas, Amanda, and Shawn helped Freddie bring the plates of food out to a big table in a room behind the kitchen. The table had been set earlier with a tablecloth, pretty plates and glasses, and even cloth napkins.

  Everyone sat down. Molly, Amanda, Shawn, and Peichi sat next to each other. Shawn and Amanda were the first ones to remember to put their napkins on their laps. Everyone copied them.

  “Go ahead and start,” Carmen told the class as she took off her apron. “Freddie and I will join you in a minute.”

  Suddenly, everyone became quiet as they passed the food around. Everyone felt kind of shy eating together at the big table.

  Then Peichi tried the carrot soup and exclaimed, “Wow! This is great!’

  Everyone laughed.

  Pretty soon everyone was eating and talking and laughing.

  “We rocked when we made this salad!”

  “Hey, don’t you wish the school cafeteria was like this?”

  “The chicken is really juicy!”

  “Pass the mushroom sauce!”

  “Yo, man, say please!”

  chapter 7

  “That was fun!” exclaimed Shawn as the girls walked out of Park Terrace Cookware.

  “Except for the Natasha part,” Molly pointed out.

  “I hope she isn’t in my group next time,” said Amanda.

  “I’m not going to let Natasha spoil class for me,” declared Shawn. She stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. “Even if she is in my group. Who cares? It’s my class, too, and I’m gonna have fun.”

  The twins’ eyes opened wide. “You’re right!” said Molly.

  “You go, Shawn,” added Amanda. “So what do you want to do now? Get some ice cream from the Mr. Freezy truck?” She looked longingly at the big blue truck that had a picture of a man made out of an ice-cream cone. Carnival music from the truck echoed through the street.

  “How can you eat again?” shrieked Shawn.

  “Let’s just go home and have something cold to drink,” suggested Molly. “It’s really hot out here. We don’t have any money, anyway, Amanda. You coming, Shawn?”

  “No, I can’t,” said Shawn. “I have to baby-sit a kid in my building, and then I have to do my summer reading.”

  “We have to do our summer reading, too,” Amanda said, looking at Molly. “Actually, Molly does. I’ve finished all my required summer reading.” Amanda loved to read.

  “Goody two-shoes for you, Princess,” retorted Molly. “I have plenty of time to finish my summer reading.” Molly rarely read anything that wasn’t required of her in school.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow,” said Shawn with a wave. “‘Bye.”

  “Call us tonight,” said Molly, “because we’re going to our grandpa’s house tomorrow, for the weekend.”

  “Oh, yeah!” exclaimed Shawn. “I forgot! Lucky you—I wish I were going to the beach this weekend.”

  Molly and Amanda walked home, past the Mr. Freezy truck, down shady, free-lined Third Street with its fall, one hundred year-old townhouses, across Seventh Avenue and past their favorite pizza parlor.

  They couldn’t wait to tell Mom about their class.

  But she was busy with Matthew, listening to him practice his violin, which they could hear screeching outside before they even reached the house. So the twins hung out in the garden, which was shady and cool. Molly finally started her required reading, and Amanda read a mystery book that she’d borrowed from Shawn.

  “Hi! You’re home!” called Mom later, from the kitchen window.

  She came outside and brought three glasses of lemonade with her. She was wearing her new outfit that the girls had picked out: a black-and-white polka-dotted halter top with flared white capris.

  “So, how was it?” she asked. “What did you make?”

  “What didn’t we make, is the question,” Amanda replied with a laugh. “We made a huge meal! It was great!”

  “What about you, Molls? Didn’t you have fun?” asked Mom.

  “It was fun, but it could’ve been a lot funner,” answered Molly.

  “You mean more fun, not funner,” said Mom.

  Molly sighed impatiently. “Okay, more fun.”

  Mom nestled into the chaise lounge. “So, tell me all about it. What happened? Didn’t your dish turn out well?”

  “Yeah, it turned out. It was delicious, actually. Mushroom sauce is really easy to make.”

  “Oh. Didn’t you like the teacher?”

  Molly didn’t answer, so Amanda spoke up. “Natasha was in Molly’s chicken-with-mushroom-sauce group,” she explained.

  Mom sat forward in her chair. “You mean Natasha Ross? The one that gave you all that trouble last year?”

  “Yup, the one and only,” replied Molly

  “So what happened?” asked Mom.

  “She was mean to me in front of Peichi, and Freddie, the assistant! She dropped a pot on the floor and it made a loud noise and then she said I did it! She hogged the mushrooms and then said she’d tell our teacher that I wasn’t letting her work on them, even though it wasn’t even true! She’s a big fat liar and she’s so incredibly mean and I don’t know why!” ranted Molly.

  “She was pretty rude to me, too, Mom,” added Amanda.

  “Oh.” said Mom. She set her glass down on the table.

  “Mom,” said Amanda, “Why is Natasha so mean to us? We never did anything to her. Really!”

  Mom sighed. “I don’t know why Natasha is mean to you,” she replied. “Maybe she’s a very unhappy girl. We don’t know what her home life is like. Maybe she’s angry about something, and she needs someone to take it out on.

  “Why us?” asked Molly. “What did we ever do to her?”

  “What should we do about if?” asked Amanda.

  Mom smiled and said, “Be as nice to her as you can.”

  Molly’s jaw dropped. “What for?” she asked.

  “Look, girls,” began Mom. “This world already has a lot of hatred in it. I want you both to be as forgiving as possible. I want you to accept people the way they are. I know that Natasha isn’t your favorite person. But I don’t want you to be mean to Natasha or to feel that you need to get back at her.”

  “Hmmm,” said Molly. She wasn’t so sure.

  “I want you to promise me that the next time you see her, you’ll smile at her and say hi,” added Mom. “That’s all. You might be surprised—maybe she’ll be nice to you.”

  “And what if she isn’t?” asked Amanda.

  “At least you’ll know that you did all you could. Okay? Will you do that for me?”

  “Okay,” replied the twins in a mopey voice.

  “But that’s gonna be h
ard, Mom,” added Molly. “‘Cause I’m really mad.”

  “I know,” stated Mom, nodding her head.

  That night, Molly asked, “Amanda? Are you asleep?”

  “Mmmpphh,” was Amanda’s reply from her bed across the twin’s big room.

  “I can’t sleep. I’m still so mad at Natasha. How could she do that to me?”

  “I-da-knowpphh.”

  “What did you think of what Mom said today?” Molly asked. “About Natasha? I mean, I guess she’s right. But maybe l1atasha just likes to be mean.

  “Mmmmm.”

  Molly stared up at the ceiling that had glow-in-the-dark stars on it. “Hey, Amanda? Are you nervous about starting middle school in September? We’re gonna be the low girls on the totem pole again...Amanda?”

  Amanda was sound asleep.

  Molly turned onto her side and watched the night sky through the large window, the one above the cushioned window seat. She saw a plane climb high into the sky and thought about gigantic Windsor Middle School with sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders. Long, winding halls crowded with faces...so many classrooms...so many stairs...

  Molly slept.

  chapter 8

  The next morning was Saturday. the day the Moores were going to the New Jersey shore to visit Poppy. Molly was awakened by the thumping sounds of Matthew hopping, running, and jumping down the stairs.

  “Can’t Matthew just walk downstairs like a normal person?” murmured Molly. She sat up in bed and saw that it was a sunny day. “Yes!” she said. “For the first time all summer, the perfect beach day” She looked over at Amanda, whose eyes were still tightly closed. “And Surf Point boardwalk, here we come!”

  Amanda opened her eyes. “Is Jillian taking us there tonight?” she asked. Jillian was their cousin. She was fourteen and lived near Poppy. Jillian’s little brother, John, was about Matthew’s age. “She said she’d take us,” replied Molly. “Girls, it’s time to get up,” called Dad from the bottom of the stairs. “I’m making pancakes.”