Boiling Point (11 page)

Amanda turned to Justin. “We made the most awesome chicken. And it was really easy. We just cut it up, and put it in some olive oil, teriyaki sauce, and balsamic vinegar, and threw some fresh herbs on it. Then we baked it. I think we’re gonna do that.
Er,
do you know how to cut up a chicken?”

The twins smiled secretly at each other. Washing and cutting up chicken was
not
their favorite job!

Justin shrugged. “I’ve seen my parents do it a million times. I’ll try it.”

“Here’s a little drawing of how to do it, just in case you need it,” Amanda said, handing him a sheet of paper. “It’s something we got in our cooking class.” She took a deep breath.
What if Justin makes a mess of it?
she worried.
Maybe Molly and I should do it...oh, why didn’t I just buy a chicken that was already cut up?

Molly turned on the radio and began to chop the fresh herbs for the chicken.

“I’ll start the plum cobbler,” said Amanda.

As Amanda washed and cut up the plums, she kept her eyes on Justin and his knife. So far, so good—he was following the instructions.

No one was saying anything.

“Justin, where do your parents work?” asked Amanda.

“My dad’s an investigator—like a detective,” said Justin. “We moved here from Chicago because he got a really good job here. And my mom is a designer. She designs ladies’ clothes for some famous company. I can’t remember which one.”

“Wow! Your dad is a detective!” exclaimed Amanda.

“That’s cool.” She giggled. “Does he wear a trench coat and carry around a magnifying glass?”

“No,” said Justin, rolling his eyes. He’d heard that joke before. “You’re pretty quiet. Natasha,” he said.

Surprised, Natasha looked up from the cookbook and smiled.

“Were you at the beach? You look really tan,” added Justin with a grin.

“I just got back from Cape Cod. I love it. We go there every summer,” replied Natasha.

“Hey, I’ve been there lots of times! My aunt has a house there,” said Justin.

As Natasha and Justin talked about their favorite places on Cape Cod, Amanda cut up her plums and wondered why Mom and Dad had never taken her to Cape Cod, and tried not to care that Justin wasn’t trying to chat her up.

Molly quietly measured her ingredients and tried not to care that Justin, a boy, was in their kitchen. She really hoped that this would be the first and last time Justin would be cooking with them. Adding a boy to Dish just wouldn’t be right!

“Okay, we’ve got the olive oil in the dish.” Amanda said to Justin. “Now coat the chicken with it, turn it over, and coat the other side...right...now, shake some of that stuff, that bottle that says ‘balsamic vinegar,’ on the chicken. And then the teriyaki sauce.”

“How am I doing?” asked Justin, carefully shaking the liquids onto the chicken.

“Good!” replied Amanda. “I’ll get the white pepper for you...” She turned away for a moment, and when she turned back, Justin was practically dumping salt on top of the chicken!

“Whoa!” she cried. “Stop!” She wanted to scream,
You’re ruining it!

Everyone looked over, surprised. Justin was turning red. Even on his neck!

Amanda forced a laugh, and said gently. “You don’t need that much salt, because the teriyaki will add a salty taste.”

“Whoops,” said Justin. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay!” said Amanda, even though inside she was thinking,
Now what do I do?

“Maybe we should wash it off and start over,” she suggested. She flashed Justin a big smile so that he wouldn’t feel bad. “You know, just to be on the safe side.”

“Sure.” said Justin. “No big.” He turned on the faucet and began to wash the salt off each piece of chicken.

Just then, the phone rang. Amanda grabbed the cordless, glad for a distraction. “Hello?”

“Hi.”

“Peichi?”

“Yeah, hi.” There was a pause. Peichi wasn’t being her chatty self.

“What’s up, Peichi? We’re cooking here, and kind of busy—”

“What’s going on? What are you doing? I’m grounded, and I’m bored,” whined Peichi. “My parents are mad at me.”

It’s your own fault!
Amanda wanted to say. “Well, at least you’re being grounded in a country club,” she said. “How can you be bored there with your pool and your new room?”

“What do you mean?” asked Peichi, hurt.

Amanda took the phone up the stairs to her room. “Peichi, I really don’t have time to talk right now. You and Molly didn’t do Dish any favors. I had to get Justin and Natasha to help us.”

“Justin! Natasha!” cried Peichi. “Wow! How’d you do that?”

“I can’t
talk
now, Peichi.” Amanda practically shouted. “This day is going really fast and we still have a lot to do.”

“Fine,” said Peichi. “Bye.”

“Bye.” Amanda heard the click of Peichi hanging up. She was still holding the phone in her hand when Molly appeared. “What are you doing?” she said. “We’re really too busy for you to be talking on the phone right now.”

“I know that, Molly!” Amanda replied.
Everyone
was trying to drive her nuts! “I was just telling Peichi—oh, never mind...you shouldn’t be up here, Justin and Natasha will think we’re ignoring them!”

Molly turned and stomped downstairs. Amanda took a deep breath and had just put down the phone when it rang under her hand.

“Hello?”

“Hi. Amanda, it’s Peichi. I’m sorry! Do you want me to make a salad? I can’t bring it over, but you could pick it up before you deliver all the food.”

“Okay,” said Amanda. “That’ll help. Thanks. We’ll see you later. Bye!” She hurried back downstairs.

“Peichi is making a salad,” Amanda told Molly in her nicest voice. Then she walked closer to her and whispered, “Sorry!”

“Okay.” Molly whispered back. Good. She and Amanda were fine.

“We just have to pick up the salad at her house.” Amanda went on. “Hey! How are we going to deliver all this food? Mom and Dad are going to Matthew’s soccer game. Well, I guess the three of us can walk it—”

Justin spoke up. “My brother Ian can drive us,” he said. “He just got his driver’s license.” He chuckled. “It’s great for me! He’s so excited to drive that he’ll take me anywhere I want to go—when he’s allowed to use the car, that is. Can I use your phone? I’ll call him.”

“Sure, here’s the phone,” said Molly, handing Justin the cordless.

“My brother’s going out with his friends,” Justin told the girls after his phone call, “but my dad volunteered to drive.”

“Great!” said Amanda.

“I told him I’d give him a call right before we’re ready to leave,” Justin said. “What do you think? Another couple of hours?”

Amanda looked at her watch. “Something like that.” she said.

The girls and Justin worked hard. There was lots of cooking to do, but they finally got it all done.

When Justin’s dad pulled up in front of the house, they all helped load the food into the car. Then they all piled in—all except Molly.

“So. how’d it go today?” Mr. McElroy asked as he started the car. “How’d Justin do, girls? Did he burn anything?” His brown eyes were friendly.
Justin looks a lot like him,
thought Amanda.

“So, where are we going?” asked Mr. McElroy.

“First, the Cheng’s, at eighty-nine Windsor Avenue,” replied Amanda from the back seat. “We have to pick up the salad there, and then we have to go to seven sixty-two Berkley Avenue, and then 5 Whitehall Place.”

Peichi was waiting at the door when Mr. McElroy drove up. She walked quickly to the car, and Amanda rolled down her window.

“Hi, everybody! Hi, Justin! Hi, Mr. McElroy! Here’s the salad!” called Peichi. “It’s good—my mom helped me make it.”

“I’ll hold it on my lap,” offered Amanda. “Wow! What a necklace. I’ve never seen you wear it before.”

“It looks old,” said Natasha, craning her neck to see Peichi. “Where did you get that?”

Even Mr. McElroy looked closely at the necklace. Very closely.

“That’s quite a necklace, Peichi,” he said. “Does it belong in your family?”

“Oh, not really,” said Peichi. She’d put it on right before she’d gone out to the car to show it to her friends, but suddenly her stomach felt funny. Why was everyone so curious about where she’d gotten it? Why couldn’t they just say how pretty it was?

“Well, see you later!” Peichi said abruptly, and hurried into the house.

Peichi ran upstairs to her room. She stood in front of the mirror and stared at her reflection. The pendant hung from her neck. It felt too heavy.

Because it didn’t belong to her.

“H
elloooo!”
cried Ms. Brenda Barlow as she greeted the kids at the door. She was very pale, very slim, and very glamorous. She wore a sleek black cocktail dress and deep red lipstick. Her shiny chestnut hair was piled high on her head. Her long red nails matched her lipstick exactly.

“Hi, I’m Amanda—”

“Hello. Amanda! Oh, we even have a boy chef! Isn’t that
cute!
Well, they say that all the best chefs are men!”

Justin smiled politely, but his face was turning beet red.

“Um, this is Justin and Natasha,” continued Amanda.

“Do come in!” said Ms. Barlow, propping the door open. She led them down the hall to the kitchen, her high heels clicking and clacking on the marble floor. There stood a little girl about four years old, wearing a rhinestone crown, a frilly pink party dress, and patent-leather Mary Janes. Her hair was curled and styled exactly like her mother’s. She looked surprised to see them, and a little bit afraid.

“This is
Morgan,
my little
precious
!” announced Ms. Barlow, straightening Morgan’s dress. “Say hello, Morgan, like a little lady!”

Morgan gave a cute little wave.

“Hi, Morgan,” said all the kids. They were still holding all the boxes.

“Oh!” said Ms. Barlow. “Just set everything right here on the counter.”