Before he knew it, it was July 23, Tamara's birthday. When Lisa came moping into the house after an extensive day of work, she had forgotten to buy a cake from the store, so she grabbed a well-expired yellow cake mix from the pantry and made one herself. Around nine o'clock that night, when the cake was done cooling, Lisa dumped powdered sugar on the top as a substitute for icing, and cut the cake. When Amando took a bite of his slice, it was dry and grainy like stale cornbread.
"Mom, it tastes funny..." Amando said.
"Like, yeah," Tamara agreed, looking at Lisa, who returned with a scowl.
"Be grateful we have a cake at all," Lisa growled. "A lot of kids can't even afford to celebrate their birthdays."
When he finished, Lisa's concoction left a desiccated aftertaste in Amando's mouth that water was unable to wash away. For once in his life, he felt motivated to brush his teeth, but even behind the mint, the flavor was still there.
The next day, in the cool of the evening, Amando decided he would go for a walk and play Pokémon Go. On his way back, however, Mrs. Daisyshine caught sight of him from her front doorstep. She wore a straw gardening hat atop her large blond curls, and she was ripping weeds up from the ground with thick green gloves. "Oh! Hey, Amando!" She waved, a large smile on her face.
"Hello," he waved back.
"You're just in time! I've made something for you and your sister," she cheered. She gestured for him to follow her. "Come inside!"
Amando hesitated. He strained his ears, trying to pick up any sounds from a violin, but before he could attempt to detect anything, he was crossing the threshold into Lily's domain.
As soon as he stepped inside, he was hit with the heavy scent of pumpkin spice and cinnamon Scentsy candles. Delicate little fern patterns waved at him from the walls, along with rows and rows of pictures of the girl he had grown to hate standing in pumpkin patches, at the mall, in the park, at restaurants.
"Ooh, you're gonna love it!" Mrs. Daisyshine beamed with a shake of her hips. "I've been workin' on it all day."
When they reached the kitchen, there were an uncountable amount of herbs, pans, cups, and knives dangling loosely from the ceiling, making Amando feel like he had to duck as he passed through. But when he saw what was on the island, Amando was astonished.
On the table was a fat, round chocolate cake smothered thickly in buttercream icing. Along the top, in puffy rainbow letters, was written: "Happy Birthday, Tamara and Amando!!"
He turned to Mrs. Daisyshine in awe, his eyebrows high on his forehead. She held her hands together at her chest with content, and a warm glow radiated from her plump cheeks. "Do you like it?"
"I... I love it!" Amando answered, nearly drooling. "Th-thank you so much!"
"I'm glad you do! I've worked very hard gettin' those letters on there,'' she laughed. "I'm really sorry I missed your birthday. We were vistin' some family in Umberbutt at the time. The whole time I was thinking: 'I'm gonna miss poor Amando's birthday, I'll have to make it up to him.' I hope you don't mind you'll have to share with your sister."
"No, no! It's great!" Amando insisted, the taste of Lisa's experiment returning to haunt his taste buds. "I already had a cake on my birthday anyway, and Mom doesn't like me having too many sweets."
"I'm glad to hear that, dear," she replied richly.
But as he picked up the plastic container, which was heavier than he anticipated, an alarm went off in his head. If he brought the cake home, Lisa would just throw it out like those precious cookies last winter. He couldn't make the same mistake again. But how would he hide it..? It was Tamara's cake, too, as much as Amando wanted to keep it to himself. Maybe he could hide it in his room, or maybe in Tamara's, but one thing was for sure. Lisa would be returning from work any second now, and he had to get home.
