Accessories. That was Helga was noticing all around her. They abounded. Most of the girls in the school were now sporting earrings. One of the boys, she noticed had a single earring in his left ear. The girls of the upper class had always worn scrunchies around their wrists for decoration. But on Rhonda's and wrists Nadine's wrists, there were bracelets with little charms dangling off them. Eugene had a whole collection of pencil eraser toppers, to Curly's envy. Even Lorenzo had gotten into the accessory habit, too, clipping toy plastic robots and spaceships to his otherwise very professional briefcase.
"Hm," Helga murmured to herself. She reached into her pocket to take a single, loose earring out of it. She studied it carefully in thought.
Later that evening, Big Bob arrived home at the Pataki family residence. "I'm home!" the big man called to the interior. "And I'm starvin'! What's for dinner, Miriam?" the man hollered although there was no wife to greet him. But Helga came skidding round the corner.
"Dad!" she yelped. On her toes, she reached up to snag hold of the edge of the large man's shirt. It would be her stunning future to reach his height, someday.
"Dad, dad!" Helga yelped for attention. Her father attempted to redirect his attention elsewhere, but Helga had a hold of his shirtfront. It was something she had done a few times, long ago, in her youngest years. That she did it again meant she was feeling enthusiastic about something.
"Yeah? What do ya want?" Big Bob rumbled in his gruff, rather impatient voice. Helga let go of his shirt tail with a snap. She swung her arms wide instead.
"Dad, there's something I really want to try. You know how you're expecting me to become a brainiac businessman someday? Well, I thought that maybe I should get a little bit of practice in by setting up a lemonade stand... or something," Helga said with slightly suspicious extra emphasis on the word "something."
"A lemonade stand, huh?" Big Bob said in deep thought. "The old American classic! I don't see why not!"
"Great! I'll be down at Big Bob Beeper's with a booth on Saturday!" Helga grinned.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" her Dad spouted. "Why the store? Why not here by the house?"
"Greater traffic!" Helga reasoned. "As they say… location, location, location!"
"Rrr, mmm," Big Bob muttered at having his own words flung back at him.
"Very well, Helga! You've got yourself deal! Just don't embarrass yourself. Or me."
"You have nothing to worry about!" Helga grinned shaking her father's hand. "I'll show you I have the stuff to be a salesman!"
"Hm," her father mumbled. "Now that's the Pataki spirit!" He gave Helga a short pat on the back that was like a soft slap to the shoulder. Big Bob didn't look excited. He looked curious and thoughtful. If Helga could pull this off it'd be a great thing.
On the promised Saturday, Helga appeared on the corner of Big Bob Beeper's with Harold and Stinky and Sid in tow. The three boys all struggled to carry the tent pipes she needed to set up her booth. Helga herself hefted a folding card table overhead. Sid had the fewest tent poles of anybody. He struggled to carry even two. Harold dropped the poles he was carrying to the ground with a clatter, then scowled. He was sweaty with perspiration.
"Aw, I'm all sweaty!" the boy grumbled. "Where's my fifty cents, Helga? I'm out of here!" Helga dropped two quarters in his hand.
"Alright, go one, get out of here!" the girl said. "I have things to do!" She paid the other two boys their change.
It took another bus trip, but Helga returned to the corner under the billboard sign for Big Bob's Beepers with a large cardboard box. From inside it, she removed a tablecloth, a cashbox, and a bunch of accessories to sell. Only they weren't earrings. They weren't even bracelet charms. They were trinkets to attach to a cell phone case, or even an old fashioned folding cellphone. There were even a few soft fabric cases she had sewn herself. Helga sat down at her booth.
"Step right up, step right up! Excuse me madam!" she declared as one of her father's business customers began to march past. "Would you be interested in viewing the finest and most adorable product to ever grace your cellphone? See? Your gray cellphone.. Plain, boring, blah! But with these attractive handmade braids adorned with diamond beads and a cute little puppy charm, it becomes a statement of you!"
"Aw!" the woman said leaning nearer. "Such a cute puppy! Did you make these yourself, little girl?"
"You! I also have kitten, frog, horse, and llama," Helga said offering up a selection of cell phone charms. "Would you like a demonstration?" She tried the charm to a cellphone pouch. She also lifted up her own cellphone, which was festooned with a bat and a manatee for no particular reason.
"Awe, I'll take one of everything!" the woman smiled. "I might not use them for my cellphone, but I'm sure I'll find a use for them!" she beamed. She took out a fistful of cash.
Meanwhile, elsewhere Phoebe knocked on her parent's door.
"Mother?" she asked. "May I talk to you?"
"What about sweet heart?" asked her mom.
""I… I'm… I'm… actually thinking of canceling on having my ear piercing done! I'm a little nervous about it all!" Phoebe griped softly.
"Ah, sweetheart! If that's your decision!"
"We'll respect it!" said her father for her mother. The family hugged one another.
The end to the weekend was swift. When the school week came again, Helga stood where the girl selling earrings normally stood. In fact, she even pushed the brunette in the blue haired dress away when she was about to speak to her devoted crowd. Helga spoke to them instead.
"Accessories!" Helga cried out to her spectators. "Tie them to your backpack! Make a bracelet out of 'em! Use them on your cellphone! Braid them in your hair!" she said revealing Phoebe as her model. "Only five dollars apiece!" MOney whipped out of every pocket there.
"Gawsh," Stinky Peterson said to Arnold as they stood at a standstill, unable to pass until the crowd thinned. "It seems Helga is all gungho about somethin'!"
Saturday rolled round again. Big Bob peeked his head outside his store front. There, on the corner below his billboard was Helga selling her handmade charms. In front of her table was an incredibly long line.
"Helga!" Big Bob complained. "You're blocking traffic! Plus everyone spends all their money before they even come in the store!"
"I know, isn't it great!" Helga grinned. She kept passing out accessories with shamrocks and unicorns and penguins and whatever else.
That night, Helga's father popped into his daughter's room. It wasn't something he did often. But he saw that helga had fallen asleep at her desk assembling things.
"Helga!" he complained. "You never came down for dinner!"
"I know, I know," the girl mumbled. "I'll heat it up in the microwave!" She trotted downstairs.
On a sunny afternoon later that week, Big Bob was seated on his recliner with his feet propped up when he saw Helga walking by with a box. His eyebrow folded slightly.
"Hey, do you wanna play checkers?" her father offered. Helga paused for the briefest of moments.
"Nah, I'm busy!"
"But I haven't seen you around all week!" her father objected as Helga trotted off to do whatever it was she was doing.
Things with Phoebe were better. She ambushed her parents they watched a movie on the couch. "Actually I want my ears pierced after all!" they girl said in desperation.
"Alright!" her mother agreed. They took her down to a piercing parlor right then and there. Pheobe came out looking slightly pale from the burden of having to be brave.
"How do feel, sweetheart?" asked her mother. Phoebe looked in a mirror at herself.
"A little strange, actually!" Phoebe said tilting her head sideways to look at her temporary earrings.
"How do I look? It seems strange!"
"You'll be alright!" her mother hugged her with a smile. "We'll get you some earrings like mine!" she offered. Phoebe and her mother walked out of the hand in hand.
At the school playground of P.S. 118, lunchbreak had become torture for her fellow classmates. All of her classmates sat around beneath Ruth's tree, assembling her 'handmade' charms. Even Arnold and Gerald were there for some reason. Helga was 'supervising'.
"Alright people, keep up! I wanna see IMPROVEMENTS to production!" Helga ordered in her bossiest manner. The kids around her tied and strung beads, then shoveled the results into a box. Sid raised a hand meekly.
"Um, Ma'am? I need to go to the bathroom?"
"Yeah! And I'm hungry!" Harold declared with an angry eyebrow lowered.
"I gave you gruel!" Helga countered, She held up an emptied packet of instant oatmeal.
"Um, Helga," Arnold said with his 'please be reasonable' tone. "One instant package of plain-flavored oatmeal between all of us isn't much. And don't you think you're working us a little too hard?"
"Yeah! For a measly one quarter a day! I say, we should get paid an extra nickel!" Sid groused.
"Sid's right!" Arnold carried the banner for him. "Don't you think you're being a little unfair?" Helga looked away from Arnold but she pouted instead of glowered, which was a good sign.
"Alright, Arnold. Calm down," Helga relented. "No need for another one of your revolutions. I'll give you all a break. And one more packet of instant oatmeal to share between you."
"See, Helga? I knew we could come to some kind of an agreement," Arnold smiled. But the bug of revolution had spread.
"Paid sick time off!" Harold chanted. He swung a fist over his head.
"Paid sick time off?! Criminy!" Helga said slapping her head. "What are you trying to do? Make me a non-profit?!" Helga hefted up her box.
When Saturday rolled round again, she had Stinky and Sid with her to help at her booth at Big Bob's Beepers. But to Helga's astonishment, a police cruiser stopped.
"Excuse me, ma'am," the officer said. "I'm going to have to ask you to stop selling without a permit."
"What?!" Helga sputtered as her father drew near. "Dad, you tell them!" she beseeched.
"Actually, I called 'em!" Big Bob uttered to her astonishment. But then the big man's voice turned to pleading.
"I want you be home, Helga. I've seen you a lot lately and I've realized that maybe… it isn't such a bad thing for you to be a kid a bit longer. I'd like to see you around the house! Not running a rival business! So to make it up to you, here, I'll pay you two hundred bucks for all your patents! I'll carry a line of cellphone accessories in the store and you can stay at home and be a kid. Or even go out and play with your friends again! I really want you to give this up, Helga!"
"Well, alright!" said shuffling through the bills after she had accepted them. "You drive a mean bargain!"
So it came to pass that on a later school day, Arnold found Helga stooped over a checkers board instead of things to sell. "Would you like to play?" the girl asked, nimbly.
"Sure!" Arnold agreed. He sat down at the board but was defeated in a few turns.
"Wow!" you're really good at this!" he gaped.
"Yeah!" said Helga, glorying in the checkers she had jumped by dropping them through her fingers so that they clinked. "My Dad's been practicing with me a lot!"
"That's really great!" Arnold said. "Next time I'll have to try harder!"
"Oh-ho!" said Helga, narrowing her eyes. "Do you really think you can beat me?!"
"I think I can!" Arnold countered. He narrowed his own eyes.
"I don't think so!" Helga sang out mockingly.
"It's challenge!" Arnold declared. He looked sour for a moment as he grimaced. But when lifted up his first checker piece, he smiled. Then end.