“Oh, thank you, Mr. Moore. “Mommie, do you think maybe we could have a wiener roast here tonight? Please.” | sure apprecicte it,’ she said pushin’ her glasses up on her nose. “Let's go then,” | said giggling to myself, “I’m really thirsty.” “Me, too,” Marilyn and Gary “Well, and Katherine said. “Mommie,” “No, | called walkin’ I liked our table, ‘cause said really nice Ann,” she said puttin’ “But, | said, is “I am not lower your voice, or she’t! Mother.” “| mean it, Ann,” she said pickin’ up her book and puttin’ her readin’ Gary glasses back on. “All right,” | said stickin’ my lower lip out. | walked batck in the kitchen and said, “Marilyn, come like me down stairs with for a minute.” “What's the matter? Can’t we have it?’ she asked, sunny following blue sewing “Oh, me into the room. sure, we can have it. There’s only one problem.” | said. “What is it?” “Mother said we have to witch-face up there.” invite “Oh, no! What are we going to do, Ann?” “1 don’t know,” | said. “We gotta have it now we said we were. Hey, wait a minute, I’ve got “What?” Marilyn her eyes real big. down the book she was readin’ on the coffee table an takin’ off her readin’ glasses. It bring ‘cause she’s so stupid lookin’. Besides she stole our field by buildin’ an old house there.” “Ann, | will let you and your friends have a wiener roast only if Katherine is invited.” as | walked into the bright living room. | knew she woa's in a good mood ‘cause she had just had her hair done. | liked her hair when she had it done. | guess | liked it all the time, whether she had it done or not, ‘cause she is so pretty. Most all of my friends’ mommies are kinda fat or ugly. But not my mommie. She’s pretty. My friends think I’m lucky to have such a pretty mommie. Her black shiny hair is always combed, and she has the best shape. Crumb, she could pass for bein’ twenty. That's pretty good when your nearly thirty. “Yes, Ann. would to ask her thoygh.” “But, Mother,” | said in a loud whisper, “we don’t want to ask her, said wrinkling his nose. “I'll go ask Mommie if we can have it,” | said jumpin’ up and walkin’ into the livin’ room. “Just beg her,’ Marilyn called. “Mommie,” know, be able to hear you,” Mommie said sharply. “I definitely think you ought it was no more,” Mommie,” no!’ “Ann, yellow like the sun. We talked about baseball and football and cowboys and things. We didn’t want Katherine to suspect anything. Then we started talking about what fun we always had at our wiener roasts. We said wouldn’t it be neat if we could have one tonight. So | said I'd ask Mommie if we could have it here. “Who would we invite though?” “Just the regulars, don’t bringing a thing. Please let us have itl!” “Well, | guess it’s all right. You’re asking little Katherine, aren’t you?” “Ask her?” | said surprised. “Crumb in the back door. “Is it ok if me and Marilyn and Gary and Katherine have some grape Kool-aid?” She said sure, so | poured it in four colored Dixie cups. We sat down at our yellow kitchen table to drink it. | such short notice. Who the food, you? — (34) “Sure, we'll let her it.” whined, come. openin’ That is, only if she brings all the wieners and buns. Enough for fifteen kids.” “Course, we will all have to have at least three hot dogs apiece.” Marilyn said catchin’ on fo my ideas. “Sure, Marilyn, her dad won't let her bring all that stuff no matter how bad she wants to come.” “What are we waitin’ for?” Marilyn said excitedly, grabbin’ my arm. “Let's go tell her.” We ran upstairs an’ told her that she was invited. You shoulda seen her face light up. It looked like my Dad's on New Years Eve. We told her that she would have to bring the wieners and the buns. She was so excited she didn’t think about how much they’d cost. | Marilyn and | started laughin’ when she went to ask her daddy if she could bring the stuff. “Hey, what's the big idea of askin’ her? We weren’t goin’ to, remember?” Gary shouted scratchin’ his nose really hard. “Gary, | know,” | says. “But my Mother said we had to. An’ we figured her Dad won't let her bring all that stuff.” “So she won’t be able to come,” Marilyn whined. Then we all started to laugh. We laughed really hard until she came back an’ said she could bring it. | about died right there in our kitchen. Everybody came to my back yard at six. It was just startin’ to get dark. | guess they were kinda mad at me, and | was kinda mad at my Mommie. Nobody said too much, we just sat on the logs around the fire and roasted our weiners until they split up the side and sizzled. Then we’d put them in the buns and put mustard and stuff on them. | was eatin’ my second wiener when Gary came up and told me that he heard Katherine’s Daddy tell her to be in at seven. So | said that maybe we could give her a really bad time about it. Maybe that would work. Maybe then we'd get our vacant lot back. (35) After we all ate our wieners, we ran around the lawn playin’ like we were soldiers with marshmallow torches, when up walks Katherines’ Dad. He told her to come on’ cause it was time to go. Then he went back to their house on our lot. Gary said, just as she started to say good-bye. “What's a matter, Kathy, er, excuse me Katherine, is it nighty time?” “Do you have to get your beauty rest?” Tim asked. | didn’t say nothin’ | just laughed and said, “Yea, Katherine.” She just stood there starin’ at ail of us. “She has to go beddy-bye,” Nick said in a sing-songy voice. “Yea, do you use beauty cream?” Gary his nose. “Too bad your mother’s said scratchin’ it doesn’t work,” | said watching her wipe the tears from her face. “| hate you guys, and | hope we never move in this rotten neighborhood!” she screamed as she ran into her own yard. “We did it. We did it,” Gary yelled, jumpin’ up and down. “Now we can tear down that old house and have our football and baseball field back.” “Yeah,” shouted Marilyn and the fellas. “Yeah,” to force throat. “What's | said the gulpin’ lump back hard down the matter, Ann?” tryin’ my Marilyn asked. “Nothin’, I’m glad,” | said lookin’ over in the next yard. | saw Katherine and her Daddy get in their car and drive off. “Katherine was a nice girl,” | thought. “Even if she had a big mouth and thick glasses.” | looked at Marilyn and the fellas runnin’ around the yard with their marshmallow torches. “Maybe we aren’t so good lookin’ either,”