Joe's Mistake

Linnea was losing a best friend that morning. Cherry was moving to Iowa City with the rest of her family, minus Scott (who would join them later that season).
After church, Puck was busy with a thin Swedish cookie given to him by his Aunt Carrie.
“He doesn’t know what to do with it,” said Collette, “He’s never had a whole cookie before.”
Carrie laughed. “He’s like, ‘Shall I frame it?’”
Mom had returned from Texas and Louisiana, bearing gifts. An old book of poetry and pictures for Collette from 1890 and a package of blue bonnet seeds, a Texas cookbook for OLeif, a picture book for Puck about a burro and tortillas, two boxes of Alamo shortbread cookies, and a stuffed Longhorn. Puck happily took the creature and squished his face into it. Later, while Puck drank his sippy on the couch in OLeif’s lap, OLeif did a floor show between Hobbes and the Longhorn.
“Watch, Puck, it’s Animal Kingdom,” he said, tossing the animals around in the air in a tangle of fury.
At the lunch table, the usual things were being discussed: the particle smasher in Switzerland, Theodore’s infamous reaction to SpongeBob Squarepants, and how Joe had a little difficulty in class two weeks ago.
“Yeah, it wasn’t the best time,” he said.
Collette was already laughing. “He didn’t know he was in the wrong class for the first two days,” she said, almost crying from laughter.
“How is that possible?” everyone asked.
“Yeah, I was supposed to be in American Government and I went to Anthropology.”
“When did it occur to you that you were in the wrong class?” Carrie asked from behind a pair of giant shades.
“Well, they started talking about women in the Amazon… and I was just looking at my textbook thinking that there was something wrong.”
“So then he goes to the right class and starts talking about hippopotamuses,” said Dad, laughing.
“Yes, I was trying to explain that hippopotamuses eat people in Egypt or somewhere, because, well, it’s a long story. And my teacher didn’t believe it, so she told me to research it and write a paper about it.”
“She was probably joking.”
“I’m gonna do it anyway,” said Joe with a big grin.
Then the dark chocolate Ghirardelli brownies came out.
“Everyone gets one but Carrie,” said Collette.
Carrie protested. “I too get one. I was just sampling before.”
“There’s a whole brownie missing.”
“Is not. I see twelve brownies there. There are twelve brownies.”
And Carrie got her brownie after catching the plate as it passed.