UNDERCOVER on the TITANIC (book 1)

Part 19 - Eggplant Pie

We sat on the bench and opened our lunch bags. 

Licia looked at the contents of my plastic pot. 'Eew! What is that? It's black.'

'It's left over from breakfast,' I grumbled gloomily. 'Grandma's eggplant pie.' I prodded the greasy eggplant with a plastic spoon. 'She doesn't believe in food.'

Licia grabbed a neat stack of cookies from Miguel lunch box. 'You can have these,' she said.

'Hey!' Miguel protested. 'That's half my entire days ration of chocolate chip cookies. Mom only gave me twelve.'

'Miguel!' Licia exclaimed. 'That's so random. You won't starve if you eat only six. Anyway, you're getting fat.' 

'But they're so good. My Mom bakes them and I hate to see them go to waste.'

'Miguel, you are not wasting them if you give them to Ziff.   I will replace them for you tomorrow.'

'Why don't you give him some of your lunch.'

'Okay,' Licia agreed as she held up a fat white bun with a pink snout and two piggy eyes, 'Ziff can have half of my Happy Pig steamed custard bun.'

I looked at it in mock horror.  'Licia, I can't eat that.   It's way too cute. It looks like a baby.'

She solved that by calmly biting the snout off and tearing the bun in half. 'In that case, you can have the butt end.'

Miguel sighed. 'Well, Oscar Kilo.' 

'He means, okay,' Licia translated.

'But only if you tell my mother that I didn't eat them all myself,' Miguel continued. 'She's put me on a diet. Twelve per day maximum.'

'Thanks,' I mumbled around a mouthful of the custard bun piggy.   'This is delicious, Licia. You have both probably saved my life. I really didn't think the eggplant was fit for human consumption.'

'Think of it as a reward for future services,' Licia laughed.   'I may need help subduing Boz. I thought seriously about slugging him last week but he's got a psycho side kick, Ozzy, who just loves any excuse to inflict pain.'

'You guys!' Miguel looked unsympathetic. 'Just ignore him.'

'He called me a chink!' Licia retorted indignantly.

'So? He calls me Mig the Nig,' Miguel sighed.    'Ignore the clown. One stupid insult and you want to start hitting someone.'

Licia looked like she was about to hit Miguel. 'Has Boz always been like that?' I interrupted quickly.

'Probably,' Licia answered. 'He got thrown out of the Catholic high school last year. That's why he's here.' 

Miguel continued as if I hadn't interrupted. 'My grandfather told me, when someone says something nasty, you reply, "So's your old granny." He's from Scotland.'

'I thought your family came from Venezuela,' Licia said. Miguel grinned. 'Yeah, but I've got all kinds of colourful relatives.'

We chatted until the bell sounded the end of recess just as Licia told me that next lesson was supposed to be history. But the teacher was absent and a supply teacher gave us a lesson on English prepositions. Up with which I could not put!

The first chance we got, Miguel, Licia and I took another look at Dr Zhang's electric bookcase. I figured there must be something weird behind the curious panels so Miguel suggested we looked for another entrance. We walked through the machine shop to the wall Miguel estimated  was opposite the electric bookcase but there was just a plain wall. 

Licia tried to squeeze around a milling machine for a closer look and banged her knee against a metal box. 'Aiya!' she blurted in pain.

'What's this, "Aiya?"' I asked. 'The school battle cry?'

'No,' Miguel grinned. 'Licia is teaching me Cantonese. Aiya is Chinese for, "curse this metal box.

Licia gave him a look of scorn. 'Aiya is a Cantonese exclamation of surprise. The only Cantonese Miguel understands is Ker Chup.'

'That means, tomato sauce,' Miguel explained unnecessarily.

'I wonder why Denny calls it an electric bookcase,' remarked Licia, rubbing her knee. 'I didn't see any books.'

Miguel grinned. 'Perhaps it will deliver books to your desk and hunt you down if you don't return them.'

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