𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝑩𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉

☆18☆

"Do you think that Mons will like 'em?" Ed Earl asked David one bright afternoon
"I'm sure she will."
Today was Miss Mona's birthday, and Ed Earl had spent the whole day yesterday trying to get her something. Before finally remembering the heels she had mentioned.

"If not, she'll let you know. Then, you can go back, get the money, and buy her something she will like. But, you did say she wanted those heels, so I'm sure she will."
"What did you get her anyways? You said you got something, but I don't see no bag." Ed Earl looked around David.

"Cash." David replied as he reached into his pocket.

"Cash?"

"Mona likes to have lots of cash on hand." David told him. "And she can use it to buy whatever she wants."

"David..." Ed Earl began.

"Yes?"

"That's called lazy." Ed Earl told him, unimpressed with his gift for Mona. He then snickered a bit.
"Oh he quiet, Ed Earl." David scoffed while he smirked, not taking much offense to it. "Money is one of the greatest gifts. You can use it for many different things. Plus, if you want to get technical, if Mona liked my gift better than yours, you would get jealous."

"Oh no I wouldn't. Because I know Mona loves me and wouldn't leave me for you."

At that moment, as if she heard her name, Mona entered the building.
"Well Hello, you two." Her smile pleasant and warm. Ed Earl smiled as he extended his hand, that held her present. "Happy Birthday, Mona."
"Aw, well that's just so sweet of you. You didn't have to do this." Mona happily took the bag. David took the money out and handed it to her.
"Happy Birthday." David spoke.

Mona smiled at him and took the money.

"Thank you David, and thank you Ed Earl. This was really sweet of both of you." She says while dighing through the tissue of the bag, money still in her hand.
Her face lit up as she pulled the high heels out of the bag.
"Oh, these were those heels I was talkin' about! Thank you Ed Earl!"

"You're very welcome, Mona."

"And thank you for your money, David. I don't think anyone has ever given me their money as a gift."

"Oh, and..." Ed Earl began. "Fred also, got you some, uh, heels..." He pointed over at his desk. Mona walked over and picked ip the box with wrapping paper that covered it. She tore it off and opened the box.

Another pair of heels.

"Oh..." She said flatly, pulling them out the box. They were white, with what looked like cheeto dust all over them. It was as if someone had eaten cheetos and then wiped their fingers off onto the heels. But, not in streaks, more of like, in circles.

"Oh, lord." Ed Earl mumbled as him and David looked over.
"These are some...interesting heels he got me, ain't they?" Mona said, in a slightly disgusted tone.
"Mmhm." David replied.

"I hope he don't ever pick shoes out for his wife." Ed Earl remarked.

**************

Later that day, Melvin came over to David's house.
"Today is Mona's birthday?" He asked, suprised.
"Yes, I gave her some money as a gift. Ed Earl gave her some heels and Fred....well, he gave her some interesting heels."

"Well, how about we make her a cake?" Melvin offered. "It'll be fun, and she'll like it."
"Yeah, well, I don't know if Mona likes cake. Hm, I'll call Ed Earl. See if she does, and then see what flavor she likes most."
"Good idea! Ed Earl should know that, they've been together for years."

Melvin waited as David called Ed Earl on the phone. It turns out that Mona's favorite type of cake is chocolate cake.

"Now, Melvin..." David began. "Just to let you know, I do not know how to bake. Or cook. So, I don't really have any ingredients for a chocolate cake, nor a pan. Oh, and she likes cream cheese icing on it too."
"Well, my mother always made the best chocolate cake." Melvin boasted. "I have that recipe memorized, so it'll be no trouble cooking it and it won't be any trouble getting ingredients either. You just stay right here, and I'll go run to the store right quick."

********
After Melvin had came back, he told David he would teach him how to make the cake his mother always used to make.
"And go tell Miss Mona that we have a surprise for her and we'll be over in an hour or two." He had also told David.

So, they got to work after David had made a call to her.

And after an hour and 50 minutes, they had completed the cake.

It was burnt.

Melvin and David stared at it.

"I think I put it on the wrong degree." David whispered while his face flushed with embarrassment.
"No, it's not your fault. Well, not completely anyways. We should have checked it when we started to smell it. On top of all that, I was never the best cook." Melvin replied.

"What do we do now?" David asked Melvin, as he poked at the cake. Gard as a rock. A hot rock.

"Well, we could just give her the icing. So she'll have it when she makes a cake. And, I could give her my mom's recipe."

"But wouldn't that make your mom mad?" David asked.

"I guess you're right. Get the icing, we'll go over there."

When they got there, they gave the homemade icing to Mona. She was confused about it all, until David had exained everything to her. She thought it was funny and laughed a little.
"Well, I'm glad that you thought of me. It was really sweet of both of you to want to make me a cake. But you know what? I got this icing here that I can put on a cake." She held the bowl up. She then dipped her finger in it and tasted it.

Her face froze as she licked the icing off of her finger.

"We didn't try it, just to let you know." Melvin told her.

The icing was not good at all.

"Well..." Mona coughed from the bitter taste of the icing. "You could always just come over if you need help with baking. Or, David you can ask Miss Helga who lives right next to you. Melvin, just ask David so he can ask me or Helga. But, thank you very much. I'm going to be real with you two, this icing is nasty and I will not be using it. Thank you though. Here, you try it."

David took the bowl and licked some of the icing off the side. It was really bitter. His face tightened a bit as he tasted it.

"That's why you always taste your food." Mona told him.