Deals Between Ten Year-Olds

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

It was the day for the return of Carrie-Bri and Elizabeth from South America. It had already been fifteen days since their departure and it was time for tales of travels and adventures under the equator.

Rose sat under her bedroom window polishing her new library from the library with Windex – on only the hardcover laminated books of course. Next on her to-do list was to clean out Mark Antony’s bowl. His little world. His habitat. Yes, Mark Antony was Rose’s new Beta fish.

“I picked him out because he was trying to get into a fight with all the other fish in the tank.”

While Mark Antony swam angrily in a little purple cup on the counter (of which Collette took a mental note never to drink from again), Rose washed out his pile of black rocks in a pasta strainer and scrubbed his glass bowl sparkling clean.

“How’s Puck in there?” Collette called to Linnea in the living room.

Puck was dandy, chewing on the leg of the coffee table.

“I wish I had chompers,” Puck thought to himself.

After Mark Antony had been safely returned to his watery world, Rose put him away and dished up herself a mountain of tortilla chips and hummus.

“Don’t you touch my hummus,” Rose warned Frances as she left the kitchen.

“Your mom’s hummus,” came the predictable reply.

Frances poured himself a customary cup of milk before getting to the math.

“These are great,” he said, pointing to the milk carton. “I’m going to keep them to store my airsoft pellets. Collette, how many years till the year 3000? I want my body to be frozen until then so I can see what the world’s like then.”

“Rose!”

Mom had seen Rose’s fish mess on the kitchen counter.

“If this mess isn’t cleaned up now, your fish is going to take a ride on the toilet express.”

“No he won’t!” Rose poked her head in the doorway. “I’m a member of the SPCA and I will use them. They sent me a card in the mail.”

And then the mail did arrive. Rose had received a small package.

“Socks.”

She held up the pair of yellow socks.

“My shopping spree for the year.”

Rose had big savings to save for her masters program and trip around the world.

“I used a ten dollar gift card from American Eagle that they left at the Columns. I was hoping it would have been for a hundred bucks because it was corporate.”

Rose put away the yellow socks for another day.

“I’m going to visit every country,” she said. “Except for all the little islands everywhere.”

Frances and Linnea were in the living room deciding how to make a giant tin man robot out of discarded choir CDs. Linnea placed a forty-three minute call to Eleda to ask her for her leftover CDs.

“Alright,” said Linnea, “I’ll give you a chocolate donut and a Capri Sun for four choir CDs.”

“Well, how about two chocolate donuts,” Eleda said over the speaker phone. “Four donuts. Five.”

“Five chocolate donuts and a Capri Sun for four choir CDs. Deal or no deal?”

“Deal, deal!”

“How about one donut per CD.”

“The deal’s already been made.”

“Oh, we’re out of Capri Sun.”

“Four chocolate donuts for four choir CDs then. Are you sure there aren’t any more Capri Suns?”

Oh, wait here they are.”

Static.

Frances was on the other phone.

“Frances!” Linnea screeched at him. “Get off the phone! And stop killing Rose’s fish!”

That was all Rose needed. She flew into the kitchen on attack mode. The three ring circus had officially begun.

“What’s he doing? What’s he doing?” Eleda yelled over the loudspeaker.

“He’s getting the net and stirring Rose’s fish around in circles!”

“Let me talk to him.”

“Frances, Frances! Eleda wants to talk to you.”

“Yeah?”

“Frances, you are extremely… extremely… interesting.”

Frances laughed, “Okay, yeah, goodbye.”

“Goodbye and good riddance.”

Rose finally forced Linnea off the phone after the girls had moved onto the subject of basketball. Frances forgot about the fish and returned to his math book. Peace had momentarily returned.

Joe later returned Collette and Puck to a house which smelled of fresh bread. OLeif had been busy in the kitchen. Collette was pleased to note that he had not left a very big mess, and it was nice to have fresh bread with dinner.

The yard was blue after the setting sun, white from the cover of a thousand leaves. Nice day.