THIEF
"You know better than come in my kitchen and steal," yelled Hop
Sing,
our excitable cook. "Hop Sing have no time for all this
foolishment.
Hop Sing bake for Church picnic, you eat now, have to bake more,
for
picnic."
"Sorry, Hop Sing, but I'm jest a growin' boy," I said, tryin' to
edge
outta the door, afore he let loose with his wooden spoon, or worse,
his rolling pin. "And your doughnuts are jest the best. I cain't
wait
fer the picnic, that ain't 'til tomorrow."
"You stay here, clean up mess you make," said Hop Sing, not quite
so
mad, now I was praisin' his baked goods.
"Sure thing, Hop Sing, happy to," and I did help, a bit, but I
made
sure I got me some more samples of what we'd be takin' to the
picnic.
Adam reckons I must lead a charmed life, he says that I am the only
one who can get away with raidin' the kitchen, cos I'm the one with
the best and biggest appetite and there's nothin' Hop Sing likes
more
than seein' his food bein' enjoyed.
Me, I reckon it's our little brother who gets away with the most.
Hop
Sing's always had a soft spot for Little Joe, seein' as how he's
helped raise him; Joe can even speak Hop Sing's native tongue. It
used to make us laugh, when he was no more than a shaver, the way
Joe
could tell Pa what Hop Sing was sayin'. Sometimes, the words were
ones that a little boy oughta not've bin sayin', but Little Joe
didn't know that, and neither did I, a lot of the time. But Adam
did,
and he would look over at Pa, tryin' not ta laugh, and waitin' ta
see
what Pa was gonna say, or do.
'Course Pa wouldn't git mad with Joe, but he'd try and tell him why
he shouldna' oughta use them words, and then Adam would ask Pa what
was wrong with 'em, all innocent like, even tho' he already knew,
jest to make poor Pa git all tongue tied.
Anyway, I'm strayin' from the point and the point was that I got
caught stealin' doughnuts. But Hop Sing got over it, and cooked up
a
mess of real fine goods to take to the picnic, jest like I knew he
would. Ya see, the truth of the matter is that he jest loves
lookin'
after us Cartwrights, even though he threatens to go back ta China,
at least twice a week, and we jest love havin' him look after us,
even though there are times when he's chased each and every one of
us
round his kitchen. Cos when it comes right down to it, we love him
and he loves us, and that's what it's all about, right?
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne