CHAPTER 5: January—Logan
It was January 10th, which was not only a Sunday, but also my eighteenth birthday. When I entered the kitchen, the first thing I found was Mom at the stove, and Kerry sitting at the table.
"Good morning," Mom said.
"'Morning," I answered as I took a seat across from Kerry.
"How'd you like something special for breakfast, birthday man?" Mom asked.
"You know, your grits have always been my favorite," I said, pouring myself a glass of apple juice. Mom once told me that when she was pregnant with me, she couldn't keep orange juice down, and that's probably why I've never liked it.
"Okay, one serving of Mom Bruno's grits coming right up," Mom said. Kerry and I got a good laugh. Just then, Dad and Hunter joined us at the breakfast table.
"Happy birthday, Logan," Hunter said, only with his allergies, it sounded more like, "Happy birthday, Logad."
"Thanks," I answered.
I just knew that today was going to be a great day.
Later that day, I baby-sat for the two youngest Hobart boys, ten-year-old Mathew and eight-year-old Johnny. I still remember when Johnny got lost at the health fair a few years ago, and King, of all people, happened to be the one to find him. To this day, I don't know which was worse: not knowing where Johnny was, or having King and his buddies rub it in my face. On the upside, none of them were humming the People's Court theme and saying, "This is the defendant, Logan Bruno..." Or worse, talking like Rain Man.
"Hi, you guys," I said when I entered the house.
"Hi, Logan," Mathew answered.
"What do you want to do today?" I asked.
"Hmm," Johnny said. "Hey, why don't we go to Pizza Express?"
"If that's all right with your parents," I said.
"Sure," Mrs. Hobart answered. "We have to run some errands, so we'll only be gone for a couple of hours. Oh, in case you're wondering, Ben and James are at the Pikes. Ben is studying with Mallory, and James is hanging out with Nick. If they should happen to get home before we do, Ben can be your assistant."
"Okay," I agreed. "See you later."
"'Bye, boys," Mrs. Hobart said. "Be good for Logan."
"'Bye, Mum. We will," Mathew said.
"See you later," Johnny added.
As soon as the Hobarts pulled out of the driveway, I handed Johnny's shoes to him, then handed both boys their coats. We got in my car, and were soon on our way.
When we got to Pizza Express, I was greeted with a really big surprise. There was a big yellow banner hanging from the wall near the pinball machine that said, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOGAN!" in big red letters.
On the table was a pepperoni pizza with two of those number candles, a 1 and an 8. Standing behind the table were Pete Black, Mary Anne, the other BSC members, and some of their siblings; beside them were the Rodowsky boys, the Braddocks, the Arnold twins, the Prezzioso and Perkins girls, the Newtons, the Papadakises, Charlotte Johanssen, and the Ramseys. In fact, if you looked up "Kodak moment" in the dictionary, you definitely would've seen the look on my face, that would've been right next to the picture of the Carnival cast party we'd had at Burger King.
"Happy eighteenth, Bruno," Pete grinned, giving me a bearhug. I hope he doesn't mind me saying this, but I thought for sure he was going to break me in half, or break my ribs. I don't think this guy even knows his own strength!
After Pete let go of me, the little kids took turns hugging me and wishing me a happy birthday. I don't think any of them know their own strength, either. Let's just say that for the first time in my life, I knew exactly how Tevye felt in that one scene from Fiddler on the Roof. I also understood what Jason meant when he told me about how Kristy's little stepsiblings always knocked the wind out of him.
"Happy birthday, honey," Mary Anne said tenderly, giving me a kiss on the lips. That's when I noticed that, for once, she wasn't crying.
"So, they finally turned off the plumbing, huh?" I teased. Naturally, my joke sent everyone into a laughing fit.
After they finished singing "Happy Birthday", Abby, being the comedienne that she is, couldn't resist saying, "Shall we?" She does a pretty good impression of Frank N. Furter, by the way. Amidst the laughter, I blew out the candles on the pizza, very carefully removed them—without getting candle wax on my fingers, somehow—and helped Kristy serve up the slices.
"In a way, I'm kind of glad Dawn isn't here," Kristy whispered to me as she served Mathew his pizza. "Because I know what she'd be saying: 'Don't you realize how much cholesterol there is in that? If you're trying to give yourself a coronary before you turn twenty-one, mission accomplished. And don't come crying to me if you need to see a cardiologist'."
"Yup, that's Dawn for you," I laughed.
All in all, a great party.
After we left Pizza Express, we returned to the Hobarts. Just as we pulled in, we saw Ben and James coming up the street. "Hi," I called to them as I got out of the car.
"Hi, Logan," Ben answered. "What have you been up to?"
"Well, today's my eighteenth birthday," I told them.
"Happy birthday," James said.
"Thanks. A bunch of the kids and the Baby-sitters Club members had a party for me at Pizza Express this afternoon."
"Sounds like fun," James said. "Hey, I was just wondering, how soon does Gypsy open?"
"About seven weeks."
"We'll try to come see it," Ben promised.
"Thanks," I said. Then I changed the subject. "Well, it's kind of cold, so I suggest we go inside."
"Okay," Ben agreed. The five of us went inside, and had just gotten out the Life gameboard when the Hobarts came home.
Today was definitely a day I'd never forget.