Chapter 4
The Lotsaluck children copied some of the nutritional advice from diet book onto a piece of scrap paper, and Johanna Strauss was kind enough to escort them to the market to buy the necessary ingredients. Count Omar had left them lots of ice cream money, and the children were able to buy everything they needed and more. From a street vendor, they purchased Swiss Chard after tasting several varieties of leafy greens and choosing their favorites. At an organic produce store they selected interestingly shaped squash and asked the woman running the store the proper amount for five people – Count Omar, the three of them, and perhaps Johanna Strauss. They would wait to put Count Omar on his diet until tomorrow, after the party with his coworkers. Then, at the supermarket, they purchase garlic, which has many immune system benefits, salmon, which has healthy fats, lemons, which add a zesty flavor to any meal, and tomatoes, which are actually fruits and not vegetables as most people believe. They thought it would be proper to buy banana splits, as Count Omar had told them to get ice cream for themselves, and Johanna Strauss had helped them. Perhaps, the children thought, if they helped Count Omar get healthy and lose weight, Johanna Strauss might notice him.
“Thank you so much for helping us today,” Laurie said as the four of them ate their banana splits on the way home. “I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
“I totally should not be eating this,” Johanna Strauss said. “But it is okay to indulge in treats every once in a while. Well, here we are. I must go inside and put my own groceries away, and probably eat a salad. I hope you children will come over soon and swim in my pool.”
“Tomorrow?” Larry said quickly. “Could we come over tomorrow?”
“I don’t see why not,” Johanna Strauss said, smiling.
“I can’t tell you how much we appreciate this,” Laurie said, happily. With their parents on a cruise, and Count Omar not quite into exercising, they were not used to someone allowing them to swim in their pool, and weren’t sure if they were expected to do anything back. “Tomorrow, before we use your pool, Larry and I would be happy to help you skim the pool. Lil’ Linda isn’t really old enough to work, but I’m sure we could find some way she could help you.Johanna Strauss smiled at the three children, and her eyes were happy. She reached out a hand and put it on Lil’ Linda’s head, and Lil’ Linda grinned a big grin.
“That won’t be necessary,” Johanna Straus said. “I always wanted a baby, and having Lil’ Linda around brings joy to my heart. You are always welcome in my home.” Then she turned and went into her home, and after a moment of staring after her, the Lotsaluck children went into theirs.
For most of the afternoon, Laurie, Larry, and Lil’ Linda worked on putting a fresh coat of paint in the upstairs bedrooms. They left the new windows wide open to let the paint smell out of the house. Laurie poured the paint into the paint tray. Larry used the long paint roller to paint the ceillings. Lil’ Linda attempted to eat the paint, but Laurie stopped her. And all three of the children felt very accomplished after a hard day’s work. The smell of paint is not a good one, but the bedrooms sure looked nice after the children painted them. The three children spoke of what they imagined their parents were doing on their cruise and about
Johanna Strauss, who they agreed was a wonderful match for Count Omar and in whose pool they planned to spend a great deal of time. As they talked, they put the finishing touches on the trim.
Just as they were cleaning out the paint trays and brushes, Laurie, Larry, and Lil’ Linda heard a quiet clicking noise as the front door was carefully opened, and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you who was home.
“Children?” Count Omar called out in his clear voice. “Where are you, children?”
“Upstairs in the spare bedroom, Count Omar,” Larry called. “We’re just finishing painting.”
“Painting?” Count Omar said, huffing and puffing as he made his way up the stairs. He gazed at all three Lotsaluck children with his twinkling eyes. “My coworkers are here with dinner. You didn’t have to do all this work today! Did you use your ice cream money?”
“Yes,” Laurie said. “Thank you, Count Omar.”
“You’re very welcome,” Count Omar said. “What sort of ice cream did you have?”
“We had banana splits,” Larry said.
Count Omar slid toward the children so that he looked even more overweight than he was. His eyes grew sad, and his eyebrows scrunched together. “Banana splits were my wife’s favorite,” he said. “I can scarcely eat a banana without thinking of her, ice cream, and hot fudge.”
“We’re sorry to have made you sad,” Laurie said. “We didn’t mean to.”
“Plop plop plop!” Lil’ Linda shouted.
Count Omar looked down at Lil’ Linda, who had spoken so suddenly. With a kind sigh he picked her up in both hands and hugged her. Needless to say, Lil’ Linda was very comforted by this gesture and began to snuggle. “That’s quite all right, children,” Count Omar said. “It is good to remember the happy times I had with her. Let’s go downstairs and have some hot chicken noodle soup, now.”
“I think Lil’ Linda likes when you hold her,” Larry commented. He looked at Lil’ Linda, snuggled into the Count’s flabby chest. Count Omar looked down at Larry and smiled a kind grin, rubbing Lil’ Linda’s back. He seemed like he might never let her go when there was a burst of laughter at the bottom of the stairs.
“Omar! Where’s Omar?” voices called up. Count Omar made it to the bottom of the stairs, still holding Lil’ Linda as he entered the kitchen where the members of his practice were.
Soon they were crowding around Count Omar – an assortment of normal-looking characters of few shapes and sizes. There was a man with a full head of hair and a normal sized nose, dressed in a sharp, black suit. There were two women who wore no make-up, making them look completely natural. Behind the women was a man with average length arms, at the end of which were two hands instead of hooks, like a pirate might have. There was a person who was rather skinny, and who definitely looked like a man and would not be mistaken for a woman. And behind this person, standing in the kitchen, were an assortment of people the children could see who were just as normal looking.
“There you are, Omar,” said one of the normal-faced women. “Oh, look, a baby!”
“This is Lil’ Linda,” Count Omar said, “And these are the other two children who are staying with me, Laurie and Larry. Children, please help yourself to some soup.”
“What wonderful children,” the man with the normal hands said. “Helping Count Omar fix up his house.”
The man with the full head of hair looked at the youngsters. “Are these,” he said to Count Omar, “those children whose parents’ went on a cruise?”
“Yes,” Count Omar said. “They are so wonderful to have around. Everyone loves to hold a baby.” With that, he passed Lil’ Linda, who was still giggling, to one of the normal-faced women. Laurie and Larry smiled as Lil’ Linda snuggled with the woman.
“What a cutie pie,” said one of the other workers.
Count Omar gestured two the large pots of soup sitting on the table. “Well, enough talk,” he said. “Children, please go first and have some soup. It is from my favorite restaurant, and it is delightful. Everyone, please let the children go first, and Iwill pour us some wine. I bought a couple bottles of chardonnay for this occasion.”
“Yippee!” cried several members of the medical team, and they cleared the way for the children. Laurie and Larry each scooped themselves a bowl of soup, and Laurie scooped a small bowl of soup for Lil’ Linda as well. The man with the nice hair stopped and looked Laurie in the eye.
“You look like you have your hands full,” he said, putting his hands out. “Let me carry one of those out to the dining room for you.” Laurie smiled and allowed the man with the nice hair to help her.
Once everyone had their soup, they sat at the dining room table, which Laurie had recently sanded and Count Omar had then refinished. Lil’ Linda continued to sit with one of thewomen, and the other woman, who might have been her twin sister, helped feed Lil’ Linda. Larry smiled at everyone, and Laurie made conversation, a phrase which here means “spoke with everyone at the table with a pleasant mixture of thoughtfulness and kind tone.”
“This is wonderful, wonderful,” Larry said finally.
“I know,” Laurie said. “I’m so happy we live here.”
“Me too,” Larry said.
“Hootah!” Lil’ Linda said, her mouth full of soup.
“Let’s dig into this soup!” someone suggested using a normal tone of voice, which is polite when one is inside.
“We’d better eat,” Larry said, “before the soup gets cold.”
Laurie thought of the man with the nice hair who had helped her bring the two bowls of soup to the table. Her bowl in front of her looked like the most delicious soup she would ever eat. Everyone dug in, a phrase which here means “ate their soup.” The medical team took small sips of their wine, asking the children all sorts of questions about themselves.
Laurie’s left hand was getting tired from all the soup-eating. She thought of switching to her right hand, but because she was left-handed she was afraid she might spill soup with her right hand, which would ruin the lovely finish Count Omar had put on the table. She looked at Count Omar happily and found herself wishing they had bought an extra banana spilt and put it into the freezer for Count Omar to enjoy later.
Finally, when they were through eating, everyone took their dishes to the kitchen. Everyone was so busy laughing and telling stories that it seemed to take no time at all for everyone to wash all the dishes. Count Omar looked at the refrigerator.
“I have a surprise for you,” he said to the children, “and for everyone. On the top shelf of the refrigerator is a large bowl of chocolate pudding. But what were all those vegetables doing in the fridge?”
Larry had been looking at the floor, hoping Count Omar would not have noticed the vegetables. But at this he could not remain silent. “We’ll tell you about it tomorrow!” he said excitedly. “It’s a surprise!”
Members of the medical team stopped in their tracks at this outburst, and glanced from Larry to Count Omar to see what would happen next. Count Omar shrugged his shoulders, and his eyes twinkled as he spoke calmly.
“I think I know what you’re up to,” he said, “but tomorrow I will let you tell me more.”
“Tomorrow is going to be a great day,” Larry said hopefully.
“Of course it will be,” Count Omar said, and his voice began to get a little quieter. “You children are always doing wonderful things around here.”
“Well,” Larry said, remembering suddenly what Mr. Foe had said about how they would be visiting many relatives this summer, “we only have so much time here, and we want to make the most of it.”
Count Omar’s face grew very white. Then, in one sudden movement, he reached down and hugged Larry. The medical team all joined in, and so did Laurie and Lil’ Linda, and if anyone had looked into the kitchen window, they would have seen a large group hug.