Chapter 6
Grand Opening
It was finally Saturday. That meant it was the grand opening day of Club G. I got up early wondering what to wear. I did not own any Club G clothing but I wanted to make sure I looked gigundoly cool. Finally I decided on a red and white striped t-shirt, white capri pants with red trim, and red clogs with white trim. I put my hair in a pony tail with a red scrunchy. I was all ready to go. I had twenty five dollars and twelve cents saved from my allowance and all of KHN's hard work.
Mommy was picking me up at the big house. She was taking me to Club G even though it was Daddy's month for me and Andrew. Daddy and Mommy decided that Club G was really more of a mother daughter activity. Mommy would have Nancy and her mommy in her car and we would be picking up Hannie and her mommy too.
I could barely eat because I was so excited. Nannie convinced me to eat a bowl of oatmeal with a banana sliced on top. After I ate, I paced in front of the front window while watching for Mommy. Finally she pulled up and I ran out the door swinging my purse at my side. I yelled a quick goodbye to my big house family and hopped into Mommy's car. Hannie and her Mommy were walking down the street towards us. I waved excitedly and waited for Hannie to get to the car before I got in.
"Oh I just cannot wait!" I squealed as Hannie and I buckled our seatbelts.
Hannie nodded, "It will feel like the longest car ride ever. That is how excited I am."
"I am excited too. I barely slept last night." Nancy informed us as she bounced up and down on the seat.
I saw our mommies exchange looks that seemed a bit annoyed with us but I did not care at all. Club G was going to be the best place ever. I imagined it to be even better than Disneyland or any of the other places I have gotten to go because I have a rich daddy.
The drive to the mall seemed to take forever. Mommy made it worse by pulling through a drive-thru espresso stand to get coffee for her self and the other grown-ups. She did not get anything for me no matter how nicely I asked because according to Mommy coffee is for grown-ups.
"But Mommy…" I said hoping she would change her mind.
Mommy's eyes stared into me like daggers through the rearview mirror. She was pretty mad at me. "But nothing, Karen Brewer. When I say no it means exactly that. Stop whining and acting like a spoiled brat or we will turn right around and drop you off at home. Then the rest of us will spend the day at Club G without you."
I clamped my mouth shut. Mommy is so unfair and she is mean. I could not believe she was trying to ruin my special day at Club G by threatening to take me home and calling me a whiny, spoiled brat. I am not a whiny, spoiled brat. Those words describe people like Andrew and Pamela Harding but they do not describe people like the one and only Karen Brewer.
Finally we arrived at the mall. We had to park almost a million miles away from the entrance. Mommy said a lot of people must be there for the opening of Club G. I was feeling mad at Mommy for not driving us faster but there was nothing I could do about it except make a mad dash for the mall entrance as fast as I could.
Off I ran with Mommy yelling at me to wait for her. Suddenly I felt someone grab my arm. It was a mall security guard. His name tag said his name was Bob. He held my arm until Mommy caught up to me.
"Young lady," Bob stated, "It is a safety hazard for a little girl to run in the mall parking lot without a grown up. You should stay with your mother."
I stuck my tongue out at Bob for not minding his own business. Mommy swatted me on the behind for it. But it did not matter since we were at the doors to the mall. I pulled Mommy's hand so we could get there faster.
Inside there was a crowd in front of Club G waiting to look inside. I demanded that Mommy lift me up so I could see inside better but she said I was much too big for her to lift. Boo and bullfrogs.
We waited for about fifteen minutes to get inside. It was the longest fifteen minutes of my life. I felt like I would die without seeing the insides of Club G. Finally we made it inside the store just before I felt like I would burst from excitement.
Club G was beautiful. It was better than it had been in my dreams. There was a directory sign in the front of the store which told where everything was. It was almost as big as Bellair's. I looked at the sign wondering where we should go first.
Mommy said, "We should start at the first level of the store so we can see everything there then go to the second story. Once we have seen the whole store we can pick out souvenirs and then we can head to the Club G café for lunch."
The other grown ups agreed with Mommy so off we started on our tour of the store. There was a section where girl's clothing was, the Beary Best Girlfriends area, the theater where you could watch cartoons about the bears, the furniture department, the accessory department, the candy shop, the Club G logo and souvenir shop, an area which sold school supplies and stationary, a Club G arts and crafts zone, the Club G game area, the Club B zone which was a playroom for boys who had to come to Club G with their families, the Club G junior area which had a playroom for toddlers and a shopping area for little girls like Emily Michelle, the Club G café and so much more.
Hannie, Nancy and I wanted to see everything and do everything all at once but the part we were looking forward to the most was buying things. It was going to be a really great day. I just knew it would be wonderful and as we headed into the store I felt myself grow even giddier with excitement.