Operation: Kids In America
Chapter 2: Bombings, Signings and Speeches, Oh My!
"You just had to leave Mr. Simmons, didn't you, Football Head? Now, thanks to you wanting to ditch, we're all stuck here for two days!" Helga screamed. Arnold sighed and glanced over at his friends. Helga wore a white shirt tied on one side and a pair of pink shorts and pink flip-flops. Her hair was down and gracefully gliding off her shoulders. Arnold wore a pair of plaid red shorts and a dark green tee with sunglasses. Lila wore a green shirt with light green shorts and green sandals with her light green hair ribbons. Brainy wore a mustard yellow pair of shorts with a white tee and yellow sandals. "No thanks to you and your stupid football headed ways, we're lost!" Arnold glared at the girl. "Who said you had to follow me?" He shouted. Helga narrowed her eyes and threw a fist at him, which he easily dodged. She scowled and threw a second punch. He easily dodged again and caught her wrist. "For someone who's supposed to be good at fighting, I'd hate to say it, Helga, but you fight like a little girl." "Don't call me little!" Helga growled deeply in her throat and she threw another punch at him, which again he easily dodged. "Arnold, Helga, please!" Lila said, stepping in-between them before they got into a huge fist fight. "This is oh so not appropriate." Helga shot Lila a look that could kill. "Back off, Ms. Goody-Too- Shoes." She hissed, her voice dripping with venom. Lila backed away and glanced over to a bunch of bushes with Hibiscus flowers on them. "Football Head and I have a score to settle." "Um, I do ever so hate to interrupt but we're actually only feet away from civilization." Arnold released Helga's wrist and the two watched as Lila parted the bushes to reveal a shipyard. Arnold snuffed at Helga and followed Lila out to the docks. Helga huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Arnold. What a dork. How I hate him." She looked around and quickly ran off to hide behind a tree. "And yet," she whispered, taking out her locket, "I love him. His perfect form as not only a child but as a teenager, the way his voice melts over my ears, the way his warm hand touched my undeserving wrist. Maybe, with our outer appearances changed, Arnold can see the true woman behind the mask and I can finally tell him how I." She stopped abruptly as she heard wheezing behind her. She sighed and threw her fist into Brainy's face, knocking him out. "Boys are so stupid." She muttered under her breath as she grabbed Brainy's wrist and dragged him towards the docks. She groaned at his weight as they approached Lila and Arnold. "Wow, Arnold, it's just ever so beautiful here. I wonder where we are." Lila sighed softly. Arnold smiled and inched closer to be near her. His smile widened and he brought a red and yellow hibiscus up to her face. She gasped and took the flower between her hands. "Oh, Arnold, it's ever so beautiful, but as I've told you a thousand times before, I don't like you like you, I just like you." Arnold sighed and slumped over, sitting on a tree trunk. Helga growled and hissed under her breath. "Arnold thinks he can get away with giving little Miss Perfect a flower and me nothing? Well, we'll just see how much Lila likes this old place when she gets herself into a ocean of trouble." Helga sneered and dropped Brainy's wrist. Quickly she walked over to Lila and pretended to lose her balance. Lila noticed her behavior and moved out of the way just as Helga tried to push her in the water. Instead of Lila going in, Helga really did lose her balance and fell into the cold water. She shrieked out loud and the remaining three teenagers ran up to the edge of the dock. "Helga?" Arnold asked as her head bobbed above the water. "You, don't say anything." She instructed to Arnold. He chuckled. "You okay, kid?" A voice called from behind Lila. The three turned around and looked at a Captain in the Navy. He smiled warmly and walked towards the edge of the pier. He kneeled down and offered a hand to Helga. "Shouldn't be playing around here." He said. "My name's Captain Warren." He hoisted Helga up onto dry land. "Thanks, Captain Warren." She said, shooting a glare at Lila. Lila smiled mischievously at Helga. Lila turned to face the Captain. "Um, I do beg your pardon, sir, but do you happen to know where we are?" Helga scowled at her attitude towards new comers. Captain Warren cocked an eyebrow. "You don't know where you are?" He asked. The four teenagers shook their heads. "You're in Hawaii's Pearl Harbor of course." He answered. "PEARL HARBOR!" Arnold, Lila and Helga screamed while Brainy fainted. Lila quickly ran towards him and tried to wake him up. Helga groaned lightly and turned to Arnold. "We got stuck with Pearl Harbor." She muttered. Arnold nodded, also groaning. Captain Warren chuckled. "Usually tourists like visiting the islands. You kids sure are unique." Lila stood up after Brainy had regained consciousness. "Sir, could you please tell us what today's date is?" She asked. Captain Warren looked curiously at her. "Don't know where you are and don't know the date? Where'd you kids come from? A parallel universe?" Arnold and Helga chuckled lightly at each other. "Today's the fifth of December, 1949." Helga squeaked in fear while Arnold's face paled. Lila began to tremble and Brainy fainted again. "Anyway, I'd better get back to my ship. You kids be careful." He said and left the four shocked teenagers. Brainy groaned as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. Helga scowled. "Well, if we're going to be for two measly days we might as well book a hotel room or something so we don't die of heat stroke around here." "I agree." Helga's harsh scowl turned into a secret smile as Arnold agreed with her for the first time since she could remember. Arnold sighed and swung his backpack from off his shoulder and looked inside for as much money as possible. "What the f-?" "Arnold!" Lila shouted causing Arnold to stop in mid sentence. "I was going to say 'fudge', Lila!" Arnold answered, scornfully. "What is it, Arnold?" Helga asked, kneeling down next to him. "All my school supplies are missing." Helga grabbed his backpack from him and looked inside. Instead of his average school supplies, she found four yellow notebooks, four yellow pens, four yellow pencils, and a yellow wallet with a ton of money inside. "What's in there, Helga?" Arnold asked, snapping Helga's attention away from all the money. "See for yourself." She answered, shoving the backpack in the others' directions. The remaining three gasped at how much money was in the wallet. Arnold sighed and took out a sheet of yellow paper and handed it over to Helga. "Fine, I'll read it!" She snapped, snatching the paper away from him. "Arnold, Helga, Lila and Brainy, you are to use this money for food, clothing, other necessary items, and to rent a four person cabin. I know how much everything costs so I have given you exactly that amount. You are to not use this money for anything else. Professor Emit." Helga blew her hair from her eyes. "What else does he think we're going to do with this money?" "Helga!" Lila shouted. "You pervert!" Arnold narrowed an eye at Helga, scanning her. She blushed furiously. "I meant like the movies or something else like that! Sheesh, talk about perverts!" Arnold and Brainy chuckled softly, which made both girls glare at them. Helga turned her back on the group. "Stupid Libra." She muttered under her breath but loud enough for Lila to hear. "Stupid Aries." She growled. Arnold and Brainy sighed, shaking their heads. Arnold didn't know why, but Helga hated Lila and Lila hated Helga. "Girls are so weird." He said, turning to Brainy. Suddenly a rock zoomed by his head, just barely getting his ear. He turned and saw Helga, picking up another rock, ready to throw it.
Phoebe screeched and jumped into Gerald's arms as a car zoomed by, nearly hitting her. Gerald held her tightly and looked after the car as Iggy shook his fist. "Stupid! Come back here and try that again!" He screamed, running after the car until he reached the end of the block. He sighed as the car drove out of sight and he walked back to the group. "New Yorkers." He groaned. Lorenzo cried out, agitated. "Damn cell phone." "Lorenzo! There is a lady present." Iggy shouted to his friend. "It's okay, Iggy." Phoebe said. "Not like I haven't heard Helga saying that before. What's the problem, Lorenzo?" "Stupid cell phone went dead. It must be some kind of weird connection." He said, and turned to face Phoebe and Gerald, who were still embraced in each other's arms. "And speaking of weird connections." Gerald and Phoebe looked at each other and blushed, breaking away. "Something you two haven't told us?" Gerald shook his head and Phoebe looked away, blushing. "Uh, guys. Did anyone happen to notice what we're wearing." Iggy asked. Phoebe wore a light blue skirt with a red sweater that said "American Pride" and white shoes with flags on the ankles. Gerald wore a pair of light blue jeans, and a red shirt that said "Proud to be An American" with white sneakers with eagles on the side in front of a flag. Iggy wore a blue shirt that says "America - Home of the Free" in front of a huge American flag and blue jeans and white sneakers with fireworks on the ankles. Lorenzo wore a white shirt with a red vest over it that says, "Land that I Love" across the pockets and blue jeans and white sneakers with a flag on the ankles. "Assuming we're actually in New York, and considering our clothes, I'd say we're doing our report on the September 11th bombings. And from what Professor Emit told us about how we'd be in the area for two days, I'd think it's safe to say today's September 9th." Phoebe concluded. "Great, so we got the 9/11 bombings. Now what do we do for room and board, clothes, and food?" Iggy answered. "That's my department." Lorenzo said and reached for his backpack, only to realize it disappeared. In fact, all the kids' backpacks were gone, with the exception of Phoebe's. Phoebe reached down and picked up her backpack. "Um, guys, apparently, all my school supplies have disappeared and been replaced with these." She said and showed the boys: four blue notebooks, four blue pens and four blue pencils. Lorenzo opened a side pocket and pulled out a blue wallet with a ton of money inside. "Guess we gotta find a hotel or something." Gerald said and opened a notebook, finding about ten suggestions for hotels on the inside cover. "Well," he said plainly, "that takes care of that." The group nodded and called a cab to take them to the hotel.
"Oh God, Eugene. Can't you go one minute without tripping over a rock?" Rhonda yelled. "Rhonda, it's not Eugene's fault he didn't see that rock." Sheena said gently, helping Eugene to stand up. "Oh shut up! This whole thing is a big pain in the -" "Rhonda!" Nadine cried. "You shut up too!" She screamed at her best friend. "I hate this place! The dirt! The dust! Our screwed up costumes." She cried, showing the other three teenagers her clothes. Rhonda wore a long red dress with puffy sleeves and a matching red bonnet. Her feet occupied black boots. Nadine and Sheena wore identical outfits to Rhonda, only Nadine's was brown and Sheena's was a sea green. Eugene wore a tan two-piece suit with a white shirt underneath and a tan necktie. His shoes were black hiking boots. "I want to go home!" She shouted, stomping her foot in the ground, accidentally missing the ground and placing it in horse droppings. She lifted her foot and made a disgusted face. "Eww!" She screamed, quickly stamping her foot in the dirt. "Oh, relax, Rhonda. We have the easiest assignment of all. We have the Declaration of Independence." Sheena said. "How do you know that, Sheena?" Nadine asked, looking around. "Personally I feel like we're in a real western movie, like one of those movies with the Duke in them or something." "It's obvious, Nadine." Eugene answered. "Professor Emit said the green team would be doing the Declaration and if you look in your backpack you'll see everything in there is green." Nadine opened her backpack. Sure enough there were four green notebooks, four green pens, four green pencils, and enough money to last them for two days. "I'd say we book a motel over there." Sheena said, pointing to a motel across the street next to a Salon. "Eww! It probably has bugs and dirt and ghosts in there." Rhonda said. The others groaned and pulled her towards the motel. "Come on, Rhonda." They all answered, dragging her to the motel.
Harold's stomach growled. "Oh, I'm starving." He complained. Curly and Stinky immediately agreed. "Well, we could go to the local diner and get something to eat. Apparently, we're in the past where five dollars went pretty far." Sid said and handed each boy five dollars from his backpack. The four boys ran towards the nearest diner and sat in a booth. "What can I do ya for, gentlemen?" A pretty waitress asked. She had long brown hair and a deep southern accent, close to that of Stinky's. Stinky smiled flirtingly. "Well, howdy there, m'lady." He said, leaning on his forearm. She smiled back at him, staring at him with a look in her eyes. "Hi." She said in a singsong voice. "I'll have a double deluxe cheeseburger with a side of fries, not too hot, and a giant chocolate milkshake." The girl, who looked like a teenager herself, smiled, taking Harold's order. "Chicken strips and a coke for me." Sid said, putting down the menu. "Same here, only make mine a Pepsi." Curly answered. The waitress quickly took down their orders. "How bout you, handsome?" She asked, directing the order to Stinky. "Just a hamburger and a strawberry shake and some of your finest lemon pudding." "On the way, sugar." She smiled and turned, flaunting her skirt around her hips. Stinky followed her movements with his eyes, blushing as she disappeared behind a door. "Stinky's got a crush on someone." Harold mocked. Stinky sighed, and nodded. "Get outta here, Nigga!" A man's voice called as the door to the diner opened and an old black man walked inside. The four boys turned and saw a big white man throw a beer bottle at the poor old black man. Another white man approached the black man and started punching him. The black man grunted and started to cry as he was thrown to the floor. Stinky narrowed his eyes. "Hey!" He cried out loud, standing up. From behind the counter, the waitress watched intently as Stinky walked over to the black man. "You okay there, mister?" He asked, helping the old man stand up. The huge white man approached Stinky and grabbed him by the collar. Stinky's eyes narrowed. "Who do ya'll think ya'll are?" He asked. "I'm the here owner of this diner, and anyone who sticks up for a nigger oughtta be roasted alive by the KKK." The man answered, throwing Stinky into the floor. Stinky slid across the tiles and banged his head on the table. "That whole Klu Klux Klan is a bunch of horse shit!" Stinky cried, which made Harold, Sid and Curly gasp. "What's your name, boy?" "Stinky Peterson." Stinky bravely answered. The man picked up Stinky by the collar again and threw him against the wall, nearly knocking Stinky out. Suddenly the waitress ran up to the owner and gripped his arm. "Daddy, don't hurt 'im. He don't mean no harm." Stinky's heart sank in his chest. The girl he had just fallen for was the daughter of someone who was racist. "Back off, girl." The man said, slapping his daughter. Stinky's blood filled with rage and he kneed the man hard in the stomach. "Harold, Sid, Curly, run!" Stinky shouted. Harold and Sid quickly grabbed the black man and ran outside the restaurant. Stinky freed himself from the grasp of the man as he curled over, holding his stomach. The girl quickly ran outside after Stinky. Stinky gasped and rubbed his throat when he and the rest of his friends were safely in an alley way far from the restaurant.. The girl approached him and turned his face to examine it. "Sorry 'bout that, uh, Stinky was it?" Stinky nodded. "Daddy doesn't like black people, but I myself have no hatred for them. My mama was black, and when she died, Daddy started to hate 'em. My name's Emmy Mae." Stinky blushed. "Nice ta meet ya, Miss Emmy Mae." He said, taking Emmy Mae's hand in his. The two looked up at each other and smiled, as their faces slowly inched closer together. "Stinky, we need your help." Sid said, as the older black man groaned. Stinky quickly snapped out of his trance and knelt down to tend to the man's wounds. "It's okay, sir. Stinky here has been trained in Red Cross first aid. There isn't a wound known he can't heal." Stinky blushed and took out a first aid kit from Sid's backpack. "Just hang on a minute, mister." He said, wrapping a cloth bandage around a huge gash in the man's arm. "There, now keep that on your arm for now and we'll check up on it in the morning. For now, we have to find a place to stay." "I can put ya'll up somewhere." Emmy Mae answered, grabbing Stinky's arm. He blushed. "There's a safe house for people like ya'll who help the black folks. It's just around the corner. It's supposed to be condemned, but since it's a city landmark, it can't be torn down so the Anti-KKK folk have taken up residence in there. It's the old theater down on Main Street." She paused. "If ya'll wanna, ya can come with me and Mr. Hart there," she pointed at the old man, "down to the Lincoln Memorial in two days for Mr. King's speech." Stinky leapt at the offer. "We'd love ta, Miss Emmy Mae." He said, winking at his three friends.
"You just had to leave Mr. Simmons, didn't you, Football Head? Now, thanks to you wanting to ditch, we're all stuck here for two days!" Helga screamed. Arnold sighed and glanced over at his friends. Helga wore a white shirt tied on one side and a pair of pink shorts and pink flip-flops. Her hair was down and gracefully gliding off her shoulders. Arnold wore a pair of plaid red shorts and a dark green tee with sunglasses. Lila wore a green shirt with light green shorts and green sandals with her light green hair ribbons. Brainy wore a mustard yellow pair of shorts with a white tee and yellow sandals. "No thanks to you and your stupid football headed ways, we're lost!" Arnold glared at the girl. "Who said you had to follow me?" He shouted. Helga narrowed her eyes and threw a fist at him, which he easily dodged. She scowled and threw a second punch. He easily dodged again and caught her wrist. "For someone who's supposed to be good at fighting, I'd hate to say it, Helga, but you fight like a little girl." "Don't call me little!" Helga growled deeply in her throat and she threw another punch at him, which again he easily dodged. "Arnold, Helga, please!" Lila said, stepping in-between them before they got into a huge fist fight. "This is oh so not appropriate." Helga shot Lila a look that could kill. "Back off, Ms. Goody-Too- Shoes." She hissed, her voice dripping with venom. Lila backed away and glanced over to a bunch of bushes with Hibiscus flowers on them. "Football Head and I have a score to settle." "Um, I do ever so hate to interrupt but we're actually only feet away from civilization." Arnold released Helga's wrist and the two watched as Lila parted the bushes to reveal a shipyard. Arnold snuffed at Helga and followed Lila out to the docks. Helga huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Arnold. What a dork. How I hate him." She looked around and quickly ran off to hide behind a tree. "And yet," she whispered, taking out her locket, "I love him. His perfect form as not only a child but as a teenager, the way his voice melts over my ears, the way his warm hand touched my undeserving wrist. Maybe, with our outer appearances changed, Arnold can see the true woman behind the mask and I can finally tell him how I." She stopped abruptly as she heard wheezing behind her. She sighed and threw her fist into Brainy's face, knocking him out. "Boys are so stupid." She muttered under her breath as she grabbed Brainy's wrist and dragged him towards the docks. She groaned at his weight as they approached Lila and Arnold. "Wow, Arnold, it's just ever so beautiful here. I wonder where we are." Lila sighed softly. Arnold smiled and inched closer to be near her. His smile widened and he brought a red and yellow hibiscus up to her face. She gasped and took the flower between her hands. "Oh, Arnold, it's ever so beautiful, but as I've told you a thousand times before, I don't like you like you, I just like you." Arnold sighed and slumped over, sitting on a tree trunk. Helga growled and hissed under her breath. "Arnold thinks he can get away with giving little Miss Perfect a flower and me nothing? Well, we'll just see how much Lila likes this old place when she gets herself into a ocean of trouble." Helga sneered and dropped Brainy's wrist. Quickly she walked over to Lila and pretended to lose her balance. Lila noticed her behavior and moved out of the way just as Helga tried to push her in the water. Instead of Lila going in, Helga really did lose her balance and fell into the cold water. She shrieked out loud and the remaining three teenagers ran up to the edge of the dock. "Helga?" Arnold asked as her head bobbed above the water. "You, don't say anything." She instructed to Arnold. He chuckled. "You okay, kid?" A voice called from behind Lila. The three turned around and looked at a Captain in the Navy. He smiled warmly and walked towards the edge of the pier. He kneeled down and offered a hand to Helga. "Shouldn't be playing around here." He said. "My name's Captain Warren." He hoisted Helga up onto dry land. "Thanks, Captain Warren." She said, shooting a glare at Lila. Lila smiled mischievously at Helga. Lila turned to face the Captain. "Um, I do beg your pardon, sir, but do you happen to know where we are?" Helga scowled at her attitude towards new comers. Captain Warren cocked an eyebrow. "You don't know where you are?" He asked. The four teenagers shook their heads. "You're in Hawaii's Pearl Harbor of course." He answered. "PEARL HARBOR!" Arnold, Lila and Helga screamed while Brainy fainted. Lila quickly ran towards him and tried to wake him up. Helga groaned lightly and turned to Arnold. "We got stuck with Pearl Harbor." She muttered. Arnold nodded, also groaning. Captain Warren chuckled. "Usually tourists like visiting the islands. You kids sure are unique." Lila stood up after Brainy had regained consciousness. "Sir, could you please tell us what today's date is?" She asked. Captain Warren looked curiously at her. "Don't know where you are and don't know the date? Where'd you kids come from? A parallel universe?" Arnold and Helga chuckled lightly at each other. "Today's the fifth of December, 1949." Helga squeaked in fear while Arnold's face paled. Lila began to tremble and Brainy fainted again. "Anyway, I'd better get back to my ship. You kids be careful." He said and left the four shocked teenagers. Brainy groaned as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. Helga scowled. "Well, if we're going to be for two measly days we might as well book a hotel room or something so we don't die of heat stroke around here." "I agree." Helga's harsh scowl turned into a secret smile as Arnold agreed with her for the first time since she could remember. Arnold sighed and swung his backpack from off his shoulder and looked inside for as much money as possible. "What the f-?" "Arnold!" Lila shouted causing Arnold to stop in mid sentence. "I was going to say 'fudge', Lila!" Arnold answered, scornfully. "What is it, Arnold?" Helga asked, kneeling down next to him. "All my school supplies are missing." Helga grabbed his backpack from him and looked inside. Instead of his average school supplies, she found four yellow notebooks, four yellow pens, four yellow pencils, and a yellow wallet with a ton of money inside. "What's in there, Helga?" Arnold asked, snapping Helga's attention away from all the money. "See for yourself." She answered, shoving the backpack in the others' directions. The remaining three gasped at how much money was in the wallet. Arnold sighed and took out a sheet of yellow paper and handed it over to Helga. "Fine, I'll read it!" She snapped, snatching the paper away from him. "Arnold, Helga, Lila and Brainy, you are to use this money for food, clothing, other necessary items, and to rent a four person cabin. I know how much everything costs so I have given you exactly that amount. You are to not use this money for anything else. Professor Emit." Helga blew her hair from her eyes. "What else does he think we're going to do with this money?" "Helga!" Lila shouted. "You pervert!" Arnold narrowed an eye at Helga, scanning her. She blushed furiously. "I meant like the movies or something else like that! Sheesh, talk about perverts!" Arnold and Brainy chuckled softly, which made both girls glare at them. Helga turned her back on the group. "Stupid Libra." She muttered under her breath but loud enough for Lila to hear. "Stupid Aries." She growled. Arnold and Brainy sighed, shaking their heads. Arnold didn't know why, but Helga hated Lila and Lila hated Helga. "Girls are so weird." He said, turning to Brainy. Suddenly a rock zoomed by his head, just barely getting his ear. He turned and saw Helga, picking up another rock, ready to throw it.
Phoebe screeched and jumped into Gerald's arms as a car zoomed by, nearly hitting her. Gerald held her tightly and looked after the car as Iggy shook his fist. "Stupid! Come back here and try that again!" He screamed, running after the car until he reached the end of the block. He sighed as the car drove out of sight and he walked back to the group. "New Yorkers." He groaned. Lorenzo cried out, agitated. "Damn cell phone." "Lorenzo! There is a lady present." Iggy shouted to his friend. "It's okay, Iggy." Phoebe said. "Not like I haven't heard Helga saying that before. What's the problem, Lorenzo?" "Stupid cell phone went dead. It must be some kind of weird connection." He said, and turned to face Phoebe and Gerald, who were still embraced in each other's arms. "And speaking of weird connections." Gerald and Phoebe looked at each other and blushed, breaking away. "Something you two haven't told us?" Gerald shook his head and Phoebe looked away, blushing. "Uh, guys. Did anyone happen to notice what we're wearing." Iggy asked. Phoebe wore a light blue skirt with a red sweater that said "American Pride" and white shoes with flags on the ankles. Gerald wore a pair of light blue jeans, and a red shirt that said "Proud to be An American" with white sneakers with eagles on the side in front of a flag. Iggy wore a blue shirt that says "America - Home of the Free" in front of a huge American flag and blue jeans and white sneakers with fireworks on the ankles. Lorenzo wore a white shirt with a red vest over it that says, "Land that I Love" across the pockets and blue jeans and white sneakers with a flag on the ankles. "Assuming we're actually in New York, and considering our clothes, I'd say we're doing our report on the September 11th bombings. And from what Professor Emit told us about how we'd be in the area for two days, I'd think it's safe to say today's September 9th." Phoebe concluded. "Great, so we got the 9/11 bombings. Now what do we do for room and board, clothes, and food?" Iggy answered. "That's my department." Lorenzo said and reached for his backpack, only to realize it disappeared. In fact, all the kids' backpacks were gone, with the exception of Phoebe's. Phoebe reached down and picked up her backpack. "Um, guys, apparently, all my school supplies have disappeared and been replaced with these." She said and showed the boys: four blue notebooks, four blue pens and four blue pencils. Lorenzo opened a side pocket and pulled out a blue wallet with a ton of money inside. "Guess we gotta find a hotel or something." Gerald said and opened a notebook, finding about ten suggestions for hotels on the inside cover. "Well," he said plainly, "that takes care of that." The group nodded and called a cab to take them to the hotel.
"Oh God, Eugene. Can't you go one minute without tripping over a rock?" Rhonda yelled. "Rhonda, it's not Eugene's fault he didn't see that rock." Sheena said gently, helping Eugene to stand up. "Oh shut up! This whole thing is a big pain in the -" "Rhonda!" Nadine cried. "You shut up too!" She screamed at her best friend. "I hate this place! The dirt! The dust! Our screwed up costumes." She cried, showing the other three teenagers her clothes. Rhonda wore a long red dress with puffy sleeves and a matching red bonnet. Her feet occupied black boots. Nadine and Sheena wore identical outfits to Rhonda, only Nadine's was brown and Sheena's was a sea green. Eugene wore a tan two-piece suit with a white shirt underneath and a tan necktie. His shoes were black hiking boots. "I want to go home!" She shouted, stomping her foot in the ground, accidentally missing the ground and placing it in horse droppings. She lifted her foot and made a disgusted face. "Eww!" She screamed, quickly stamping her foot in the dirt. "Oh, relax, Rhonda. We have the easiest assignment of all. We have the Declaration of Independence." Sheena said. "How do you know that, Sheena?" Nadine asked, looking around. "Personally I feel like we're in a real western movie, like one of those movies with the Duke in them or something." "It's obvious, Nadine." Eugene answered. "Professor Emit said the green team would be doing the Declaration and if you look in your backpack you'll see everything in there is green." Nadine opened her backpack. Sure enough there were four green notebooks, four green pens, four green pencils, and enough money to last them for two days. "I'd say we book a motel over there." Sheena said, pointing to a motel across the street next to a Salon. "Eww! It probably has bugs and dirt and ghosts in there." Rhonda said. The others groaned and pulled her towards the motel. "Come on, Rhonda." They all answered, dragging her to the motel.
Harold's stomach growled. "Oh, I'm starving." He complained. Curly and Stinky immediately agreed. "Well, we could go to the local diner and get something to eat. Apparently, we're in the past where five dollars went pretty far." Sid said and handed each boy five dollars from his backpack. The four boys ran towards the nearest diner and sat in a booth. "What can I do ya for, gentlemen?" A pretty waitress asked. She had long brown hair and a deep southern accent, close to that of Stinky's. Stinky smiled flirtingly. "Well, howdy there, m'lady." He said, leaning on his forearm. She smiled back at him, staring at him with a look in her eyes. "Hi." She said in a singsong voice. "I'll have a double deluxe cheeseburger with a side of fries, not too hot, and a giant chocolate milkshake." The girl, who looked like a teenager herself, smiled, taking Harold's order. "Chicken strips and a coke for me." Sid said, putting down the menu. "Same here, only make mine a Pepsi." Curly answered. The waitress quickly took down their orders. "How bout you, handsome?" She asked, directing the order to Stinky. "Just a hamburger and a strawberry shake and some of your finest lemon pudding." "On the way, sugar." She smiled and turned, flaunting her skirt around her hips. Stinky followed her movements with his eyes, blushing as she disappeared behind a door. "Stinky's got a crush on someone." Harold mocked. Stinky sighed, and nodded. "Get outta here, Nigga!" A man's voice called as the door to the diner opened and an old black man walked inside. The four boys turned and saw a big white man throw a beer bottle at the poor old black man. Another white man approached the black man and started punching him. The black man grunted and started to cry as he was thrown to the floor. Stinky narrowed his eyes. "Hey!" He cried out loud, standing up. From behind the counter, the waitress watched intently as Stinky walked over to the black man. "You okay there, mister?" He asked, helping the old man stand up. The huge white man approached Stinky and grabbed him by the collar. Stinky's eyes narrowed. "Who do ya'll think ya'll are?" He asked. "I'm the here owner of this diner, and anyone who sticks up for a nigger oughtta be roasted alive by the KKK." The man answered, throwing Stinky into the floor. Stinky slid across the tiles and banged his head on the table. "That whole Klu Klux Klan is a bunch of horse shit!" Stinky cried, which made Harold, Sid and Curly gasp. "What's your name, boy?" "Stinky Peterson." Stinky bravely answered. The man picked up Stinky by the collar again and threw him against the wall, nearly knocking Stinky out. Suddenly the waitress ran up to the owner and gripped his arm. "Daddy, don't hurt 'im. He don't mean no harm." Stinky's heart sank in his chest. The girl he had just fallen for was the daughter of someone who was racist. "Back off, girl." The man said, slapping his daughter. Stinky's blood filled with rage and he kneed the man hard in the stomach. "Harold, Sid, Curly, run!" Stinky shouted. Harold and Sid quickly grabbed the black man and ran outside the restaurant. Stinky freed himself from the grasp of the man as he curled over, holding his stomach. The girl quickly ran outside after Stinky. Stinky gasped and rubbed his throat when he and the rest of his friends were safely in an alley way far from the restaurant.. The girl approached him and turned his face to examine it. "Sorry 'bout that, uh, Stinky was it?" Stinky nodded. "Daddy doesn't like black people, but I myself have no hatred for them. My mama was black, and when she died, Daddy started to hate 'em. My name's Emmy Mae." Stinky blushed. "Nice ta meet ya, Miss Emmy Mae." He said, taking Emmy Mae's hand in his. The two looked up at each other and smiled, as their faces slowly inched closer together. "Stinky, we need your help." Sid said, as the older black man groaned. Stinky quickly snapped out of his trance and knelt down to tend to the man's wounds. "It's okay, sir. Stinky here has been trained in Red Cross first aid. There isn't a wound known he can't heal." Stinky blushed and took out a first aid kit from Sid's backpack. "Just hang on a minute, mister." He said, wrapping a cloth bandage around a huge gash in the man's arm. "There, now keep that on your arm for now and we'll check up on it in the morning. For now, we have to find a place to stay." "I can put ya'll up somewhere." Emmy Mae answered, grabbing Stinky's arm. He blushed. "There's a safe house for people like ya'll who help the black folks. It's just around the corner. It's supposed to be condemned, but since it's a city landmark, it can't be torn down so the Anti-KKK folk have taken up residence in there. It's the old theater down on Main Street." She paused. "If ya'll wanna, ya can come with me and Mr. Hart there," she pointed at the old man, "down to the Lincoln Memorial in two days for Mr. King's speech." Stinky leapt at the offer. "We'd love ta, Miss Emmy Mae." He said, winking at his three friends.
