Chapter 3

Hannie's Surprise

Saturday morning was the start of a month at the big house. Andrew and I live one month at the big house and one month at the little house. I had been hoping that Daddy and Elizabeth would end my punishment from Mommy for beating up Andrew but I was not so lucky. I was banished from television for week. Guess what punishment Andrew got. He did not get in trouble at all for calling me a fatso. How unfair. At least I had Hannie's big surprise to look forward to.

Nannie had cooked pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Nannie is Elizabeth's mother. She is one of my grandmas. I have more grandmas than anybody else I know. If there was a world record for having the most grandmas: it would go to me Karen Brewer. Foster grandparents, step-grandparents, and regular grandparents… You name it and I have one. I think that is pretty special. Some people like Andrew and Pamela Harding just roll their eyes when I talk about it. This is because Andrew is stupid and Pamela is a big meanie mo.

I wolfed down three pancakes and a big serving of scrambled eggs. I downed all of it with a glass of orange juice. I was in a very big hurry to get over to Hannie's house to find out what the surprise was.

"Karen, slow down and take small bites please," Daddy reminded me.

"Ok Daddy," I answered but I did not really listen. No way was Daddy going to slow down me finding out about the surprise by anything as silly as manners. Manners are not as important as the Three Musketeers.

"Karen, I am warning you," Daddy sounded very angry but the doorbell saved me from him.

"I will get it," I said importantly. Before anyone could argue with me I ran to the front door and left my dirty dishes behind. Daddy was calling me to come back and clear my spot but I did not care. Someone had to open the door and it may as well be me.

I flung the door open. It was Hannie. She was carrying a hot pink tote bag. I could see the latest Club G catalog inside of it. Hannie waved at me, "Hi Karen! I could not wait to tell you what the surprise is so I came over as soon as my parents said I could."

I shrieked with delight, "Oh Hannie, please you must tell me what it is. I can not wait any longer to find out."

"Karen, let me come inside first," Hannie said. Hannie is impatient and very demanding but she is my friend so I am nice to her. I do not understand why she is mean sometimes. I do not think that making me let her inside before she tells me a big secret is very nice. I think she is just jelly of Daddy's house. Our mansion is better than their mansion.

I let Hannie inside and we went upstairs to me room. I sat on my bed and Hannie was going to climb up next to me until I shook me head at her so she sat in my desk chair and pulled it next to the bed. I do not like other people to sit on my bed. One time I heard Daddy say that a man is the king of his castle, which means his house so I say I am queen of my castle, which means my bedroom, and my bed is my throne. One time I invited Pamela Harding for a sleepover and Elizabeth let her sleep in my bed. I was gigundoly mad about that. I made Nannie wash my sheets the very next day. I do not know why we do not have a maid at Daddy's house to do the chores. I should not have to clean my own room with a millionaire for a daddy but I have to anyway. Boo and bullfrogs.

"So? What is the surprise Hannie?" I was getting annoyed that she had a big secret but I did not know it yet.

"Well," said Hannie, "My daddy has a cousin who just got a job working for Club G. He is going to be a store manager. A manager is a person who…"

I stopped Hannie, "I already know what a manager is. If your daddy's cousin's new job is the surprise than you cheated me Hannie Papadakis. I wasted all my time waiting for a surprise and then you tell me about someone getting a job at a store I cannot go to. That is not fair at all Hannie."

"Well Karen, I just thought that you would think it was cool that I know someone who is going to work at Club G. That was not all of my surprise but since you are being rude I guess you do not want to know what the rest is." Hannie picked up her tote bag and headed to the door of my bedroom. How rude.

"Wait Hannie! Do not go please. I want to hear the rest of your story. I will not interrupt again." Hannie was not going to be rude like that to me. I deserved to hear the rest of the story.

"All right Karen," Hannie sat back down. "Well my daddy's cousin's new job will be at a new Club G store. It will not be at one of the stores that are already open."

The stores that are already open are in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and Dallas and of course New York City. I really was starting to get curious about where Club G would open a store. "And?" I prompted Hannie for more information.

"Well," Hannie began. "Club G is planning to open 10 more retail stores soon in many different cities. One of those cities is Stamford."

For a moment I stared at Hannie in disbelief. I could not believe it. Club G? In Stamford? That is so close to us. I could not help myself. I began to scream. I grabbed Hannie's hands and she began to scream with me. I do not know why she was excited. She already knew about Club G so it was my turn to be excited. Stupid Hannie is always stealing from me when it is my time to shine. It is because she is a gigundoly jelly meanie mo person.

Anyway we screamed until Elizabeth came upstairs and told us to be quiet. I told her that Club G was the best thing ever and that Hannie and I deserved to be allowed a few minutes to scream. She gave me a warning so I dropped it. Hannie and I had way too many plans to make to keep screaming anyway. We had to plan exactly what we were going to do on the grand opening day of Club G in Stamford. Plus we had to call Nancy since the Three Musketeers have to do everything together. I could hardly wait.