As Natasha and Justin talked about their favorite places on Cape Cod, Amanda cut up her plums and wondered why Mom and Dad had never taken her to Cape Cod, and tried not to care that Justin wasn’t trying to chat her up.
Molly quietly measured her ingredients and tried not to care that Justin, a boy, was in their kitchen. She really hoped that this would be the first and last time Justin would be cooking with them. Adding a boy to Dish just wouldn’t be right!
“Okay, we’ve got the olive oil in the dish.” Amanda said to Justin. “Now coat the chicken with it, turn it over, and coat the other side...right...now, shake some of that stuff, that bottle that says ‘balsamic vinegar,’ on the chicken. And then the teriyaki sauce.”
“How am I doing?” asked Justin, carefully shaking the liquids onto the chicken.
“Good!” replied Amanda. “I’ll get the white pepper for you...” She turned away for a moment, and when she turned back, Justin was practically dumping salt on top of the chicken!
“Whoa!” she cried. “Stop!” She wanted to scream, You’re ruining it!
Everyone looked over, surprised. Justin was turning red. Even on his neck!
Amanda forced a laugh, and said gently. “You don’t need that much salt, because the teriyaki will add a salty taste.”
“Whoops,” said Justin. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay!” said Amanda, even though inside she was thinking, Now what do I do?
“Maybe we should wash it off and start over,” she suggested. She flashed Justin a big smile so that he wouldn’t feel bad. “You know, just to be on the safe side.”
“Sure.” said Justin. “No big.” He turned on the faucet and began to wash the salt off each piece of chicken.
Just then, the phone rang. Amanda grabbed the cordless, glad for a distraction. “Hello?”
“Hi.”
“Peichi?”
“Yeah, hi.” There was a pause. Peichi wasn’t being her chatty self.
“What’s up, Peichi? We’re cooking here, and kind of busy—”
“What’s going on? What are you doing? I’m grounded, and I’m bored,” whined Peichi. “My parents are mad at me.”
It’s your own fault! Amanda wanted to say. “Well, at least you’re being grounded in a country club,” she said. “How can you be bored there with your pool and your new room?”
“What do you mean?” asked Peichi, hurt.
Amanda took the phone up the stairs to her room. “Peichi, I really don’t have time to talk right now. You and Molly didn’t do Dish any favors. I had to get Justin and Natasha to help us.”
“Justin! Natasha!” cried Peichi. “Wow! How’d you do that?”
“I can’t talk now, Peichi.” Amanda practically shouted. “This day is going really fast and we still have a lot to do.”
“Fine,” said Peichi. “Bye.”
“Bye.” Amanda heard the click of Peichi hanging up. She was still holding the phone in her hand when Molly appeared. “What are you doing?” she said. “We’re really too busy for you to be talking on the phone right now.”
“I know that, Molly!” Amanda replied. Everyone was trying to drive her nuts! “I was just telling Peichi—oh, never mind...you shouldn’t be up here, Justin and Natasha will think we’re ignoring them!”
Molly turned and stomped downstairs. Amanda took a deep breath and had just put down the phone when it rang under her hand.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Amanda, it’s Peichi. I’m sorry! Do you want me to make a salad? I can’t bring it over, but you could pick it up before you deliver all the food.”
“Okay,” said Amanda. “That’ll help. Thanks. We’ll see you later. Bye!” She hurried back downstairs.
“Peichi is making a salad,” Amanda told Molly in her nicest voice. Then she walked closer to her and whispered, “Sorry!”
“Okay.” Molly whispered back. Good. She and Amanda were fine.
“We just have to pick up the salad at her house.” Amanda went on. “Hey! How are we going to deliver all this food? Mom and Dad are going to Matthew’s soccer game. Well, I guess the three of us can walk it—”
Justin spoke up. “My brother Ian can drive us,” he said. “He just got his driver’s license.” He chuckled. “It’s great for me! He’s so excited to drive that he’ll take me anywhere I want to go—when he’s allowed to use the car, that is. Can I use your phone? I’ll call him.”
“Sure, here’s the phone,” said Molly, handing Justin the cordless.
“My brother’s going out with his friends,” Justin told the girls after his phone call, “but my dad volunteered to drive.”
“Great!” said Amanda.
“I told him I’d give him a call right before we’re ready to leave,” Justin said. “What do you think? Another couple of hours?”
Amanda looked at her watch. “Something like that.” she said.
The girls and Justin worked hard. There was lots of cooking to do, but they finally got it all done.
When Justin’s dad pulled up in front of the house, they all helped load the food into the car. Then they all piled in—all except Molly.
“So. how’d it go today?” Mr. McElroy asked as he started the car. “How’d Justin do, girls? Did he burn anything?” His brown eyes were friendly. Justin looks a lot like him, thought Amanda.
“So, where are we going?” asked Mr. McElroy.
“First, the Cheng’s, at eighty-nine Windsor Avenue,” replied Amanda from the back seat. “We have to pick up the salad there, and then we have to go to seven sixty-two Berkley Avenue, and then 5 Whitehall Place.”
Peichi was waiting at the door when Mr. McElroy drove up. She walked quickly to the car, and Amanda rolled down her window.
“Hi, everybody! Hi, Justin! Hi, Mr. McElroy! Here’s the salad!” called Peichi. “It’s good—my mom helped me make it.”
“I’ll hold it on my lap,” offered Amanda. “Wow! What a necklace. I’ve never seen you wear it before.”
“It looks old,” said Natasha, craning her neck to see Peichi. “Where did you get that?”
Even Mr. McElroy looked closely at the necklace. Very closely.
“That’s quite a necklace, Peichi,” he said. “Does it belong in your family?”
“Oh, not really,” said Peichi. She’d put it on right before she’d gone out to the car to show it to her friends, but suddenly her stomach felt funny. Why was everyone so curious about where she’d gotten it? Why couldn’t they just say how pretty it was?
“Well, see you later!” Peichi said abruptly, and hurried into the house.
Peichi ran upstairs to her room. She stood in front of the mirror and stared at her reflection. The pendant hung from her neck. It felt too heavy.
Because it didn’t belong to her.
chapter 10
“Helloooo!” cried Ms. Brenda Barlow as she greeted the kids at the door. She was very pale, very slim, and very glamorous. She wore a sleek black cocktail dress and deep red lipstick. Her shiny chestnut hair was piled high on her head. Her long red nails matched her lipstick exactly.
“Hi, I’m Amanda—”
“Hello. Amanda! Oh, we even have a boy chef! Isn’t that cute! Well, they say that all the best chefs are men!”
Justin smiled politely, but his face was turning beet red.
“Um, this is Justin and Natasha,” continued Amanda.
“Do come in!” said Ms. Barlow, propping the door open. She led them down the hall to the kitchen, her high heels clicking and clacking on the marble floor. There stood a little girl about four years old, wearing a rhinestone crown, a frilly pink party dress, and patent-leather Mary Janes. Her hair was curled and styled exactly like her mother’s. She looked surprised to see them, and a little bit afraid.
“This is Morgan, my little precious!” announced Ms. Barlow, straightening Morgan’s dress. “Say hello, Morgan, like a little lady!”
Morgan gave a cute little wave.
“Hi, Morgan,” said
all the kids. They were still holding all the boxes.
“Oh!” said Ms. Barlow. “Just set everything right here on the counter.”
This was the fun part. “Well. here’s everything,” said Amanda. “Cupcakes with chocolate icing and sprinkles—”
“Look, Morgan, they’re for you, my precious! Don’t they look yummy?”
Morgan didn’t say anything. She just stared at the friends with her round dark eyes.
“And here’s the chicken with fresh herbs,” Amanda went on. “Just bake it at three hundred seventy-five degrees for about forty-five minutes. Here’s the salad... plum cobbler...and roasted potatoes. Just reheat the potatoes a little bit. Okay?”
“Wonderful!” said Ms. Barlow, peeking into all the containers. “It all looks delicious! Thank you very much!” She gave them a big smile.
Aren’t you going to pay us? thought Amanda.
“We need to get going,” she hinted. “We have another job to deliver.” Get it, lady? J-O-B?
“Oh, yes!” said Ms. Barlow, going to her purse. “Let me just check my pocketbook...Oh, dear. I currently have no cash!”
Amanda, Justin, and Natasha stared at her. Then they smiled weakly.
“Why don’t you come back tomorrow, Amanda, I’ll pay you then,” said Ms. Barlow. “Thanks so much. I’ll show you out. Thanks again. Bye-bye!”
The kids walked back to the car.
“I can’t believe she didn’t pay us!” exclaimed Natasha.
“ ‘Come back tomorrow, Amanda,’ ” said Amanda, imitating Ms. Barlow’s high-pitched voice. “Why should I go back to her? Why can’t she come to me?”
“‘Cause you’re a kid, that’s why,” said Justin, opening the car door. “It’s not fair, but that’s always the way it is.”
“What’s the matter?” asked Mr. McElroy, noticing their upset expressions.
“She didn’t pay us!” said Justin.
“I’m really sorry, Justin.” said Amanda. “I’m so embarrassed. I’ll pay you so you don’t have to wait. You, too, Natasha.”
“No big,” said Justin as Mr. McElroy headed toward the Jamisons’ house. “I snarfed down two of those cupcakes earlier. Consider me paid!”
What! thought Amanda. Oh, no! I hope there’s enough. What if Ms. Barlow notices?
“Right”, added Natasha. “It’s not a big deal.”
“I’m sure she’ll have the money tomorrow,” Mr. McElroy assured Amanda. “Maybe she got too busy to go to the bank machine. It’s probably an honest mistake.”
“Yeah. she was too busy—getting her nails painted!” snickered Justin. That made everyone laugh, but it didn’t really make Amanda feel better. She just felt like a dumb, ripped-off kid.
“Well, at least Mrs. Jamison paid us,” said Amanda a little later. “And tipped us.” Amanda was counting the money as she, Justin, and Natasha walked back to the car. “Here you go, Natasha, and here you go, Justin.”
“Hey, this is too much,” said Natasha. “This doesn’t leave you with anything. Here, take some money back. You can give us the rest after Brenda Barlow pays you. Really, Amanda—it’s okay.”
“Yeah, we’ll wait for Ms. Brenda Tightwad to pay you,” said Justin with a laugh, handing her back some money.
“Okay,” said Amanda, grateful that both Justin and Natasha were trying to make her feel better.
Mr. McElroy dropped off Natasha, then drove towards Amanda’s house.
Justin didn’t say much after that, though he’d been pretty chatty while Natasha had been in the car.
Amanda had run out of things to say.
Mr. McElroy cleared his throat a few times.
Amanda was never so glad to see her house.
“Thanks a lot, Mr. McElroy,” she said as he pulled up in front of the Moore’s house.
“You’re welcome, Amanda. Glad I could help.”
“Well. thanks, Justin,” said Amanda. “I hope you had fun, anyway.”
“I did! I’ll see ya later,” said Justin.
Amanda gave a little wave and shut the car door.
As she walked up the steps, she saw Molly waiting for her at the front door.
“Hi,” said Amanda.
“Look at this e-mail from Shawn!” exclaimed Molly, thrusting a printout at Amanda.
“You’re not grounded from the computer anymore?”
“I guess not. I helped Mom weed the garden after you left, and she said I could check our e-mail.”
Amanda took the paper from Molly and read:
You know where to find me if you decide you ever want to get in touch with me.
Shawn
“That’s just great,” said Amanda, looking up at Molly. “Shawn’s mad at us.”
“I can’t blame her,” said Molly with a sigh. “We have to write her back fast!”
Amanda sighed.
“So, how did it go, anyway?” said Molly.
“Ms. Brenda Broke didn’t pay us.”
“What!”
“Yeah, she’s broke! She didn’t have any cash! ‘Why don’t you come back tomorrow, Amanda?’ ” said Amanda, imitating Ms. Barlow again. She and Molly walked down the hallway and through the kitchen, out to the garden.
“Hi, honey!” called Mr. and Mrs. Moore as Amanda came out to join them and Matthew. They were relaxing before dinner.
“Hi.”
“How are you, sweetie?” asked Mr. Moore. He was lying on the chaise lounge.
Matthew barely looked up. He was too busy making Kitty wear Mom’s big sunglasses. As usual, Kitty was putting up with it.
“You look tired, punkin,” said Mrs. Moore soothingly. She smiled her understanding “Mom” smile.
That’s what did it.
“Punkin.”
And the sound of Mom’s gentle voice.
Mom and Dad and Matthew looked so relaxed and happy, and Amanda suddenly felt so tired and hungry and mad, that she began to sniffle, then really cry. Standing up, in front of everyone.
Amanda glanced at Molly, who was looking at her pityingly. That made Amanda cry harder.
“Amanda, honey, did you have lunch?” asked Mom, suddenly worried. She quickly handed Amanda a cracker with some cheese on it.
“No. And I’ve been running around and finding people to help us and m-making sure everything’s o-k-kay for Dish and Justin and Natasha got along better than Justin and I did and we had to do so much today and Shawn is, like, so mad at us now and—and—Brenda Barlow didn’t even pay us!” She began to cry again, in between gobbling down the cracker.
“Didn’t pay you!” thundered Dad.
“What!” cried Mom.
“She told Amanda to come back tomorrow,” Molly explained.
“She should have paid you upon delivery of all the food!” exclaimed Mom.
Well, duh, thought Molly. Everybody knows that. Even Brenda Barlow.
“Ms. Brenda Butthead is more like it,” Matthew giggled.
“Save it, Matthew,” said Mom. She patted her chair. “Sit down, sweetie,” she told Amanda. “We’re going to make dinner right now. Have another cracker.” She hurried into the kitchen.
Amanda felt a little better after she’d had about twelve crackers with cheese.
She sat at the big picnic table in the backyard with Matthew and watched Mom, Dad, and Molly bring out dinner.
Dad’s blue eyes twinkled as he set down a platter of tuna, fresh off the grill.
“You’ve finally reached the boiling point!” he told Amanda. “Get it? Boiling point? You’re cooks—?”
The twins rolled their eyes and giggled.
“Yeah. I get it, Dad,” said Amanda. She smiled at him. Dad could be so corny sometimes, but she knew he was just trying to make her feel better.
“It’s not easy being a working girl, is it?” he asked Amanda.
“No, I guess it isn’t.” She was still sniffling a little.
“You’re not just a working girl: you’re a business owner,” stated Mom as she set down a
plate of corn on the cob. “Even adults find it difficult to run their own businesses.”
Dad poured iced tea into tall glasses for Mom and himself. “You’ve done so well today, sweetie,” he said.
“You sure have!” exclaimed Mom. “Think about it—you took the calls and accepted the jobs. You dealt with a demanding and difficult customer who changed the dates on you. You worked out a strategy for cooking food for two jobs. You hired two cooks, bought the supplies, and then had to handle this lady who didn’t pay you.
Plus, I had to handle Justin, thought Amanda, and Molly didn’t even want him here. And I had tohandle Peichi.
“Wow! I rock!” she said in a perky voice, which made Mom and Dad chuckle.
Molly squirmed. All of Amandas wonderfulness was making her look bad. She felt as if the word SLACKER were stamped on her forehead.
She cleared her throat. “I cooked, too,” she said. “And I did all the cleanup after everybody left.”
“And she broke something,” Matthew blurted out. He grinned wickedly. “There was glass all over the floor!”
“What did you break?” asked Mom, looking alarmed.
Molly’s cheeks burned.
“A measuring cup,” she said, glaring at Matthew. “Nothing valuable. Sorry.”
She felt the word SLACKER change to LOSER. She pretended to scratch her forehead, to make sure it wasn’t really there. Molly sighed. Why did I go to Chinatown with Peichi? she wondered for the hundredth time.
As the twins brought the dishes into the kitchen after dinner, Amanda fold Molly, “I want to go to bed. Right now. And I want to stay there all day tomorrow.”
“We really need to write Shawn,” Molly reminded her.
Amanda sighed dramatically. “Oh, yeah. Okay.”
The twins headed info the den, turned on the computer, and began to type.
chapter 11
The next morning, Molly and Amanda were awakened by the squeaking, scraping sounds of Matthew practicing his violin.
Boiling Point Page 6