Genuine Sweet by Faith Harkey Read Free Book Online Page A

was wonderfully, blessedly directed at me.
    Busy? Who said I was busy? “Sure, Sonny.”
    Travis disappeared completely from my mind, as did the cafeteria and all the people in it. Sonny and I scraped out our trays, dropped them in the bin, and I floated out the door after him.
    Later, Scree Hopkins deigned to tell me that Travis looked real vexed as Sonny and I sauntered off together.
    Â 
    Here’s what I’d like to say about what happened in that empty classroom, me and Sonny alone:
None of your business.
    Here’s what really happened: a lot of blackboard washing and the exchange of two incomplete sentences.
    â€œThanks for, uh . . .” I mumbled.
    â€œWelcome,” Sonny mumbled back.
    Still, I treasured the memory of those words until the last bell rang.
    After that, though, my thoughts drifted back to biscuits and wishing. Once food and heat were taken care of, how
would
it be to step out some? I confess I took some pleasure in daydreaming that I, Genuine Sweet, might mend some great catastroke with the mere flick of a wish. Wouldn’t it be a marvel to hear someone say,
That Genuine sure did save the day with that wish fetching of hers! Dangerous Dale Sweet’s daughter made good after all!
And maybe Sonny would be there, and might reply,
I don’t know what this town would do without her!
    Â 
    â€œGenuine! You won’t believe this! Look!” A friendly hand shook the latest
Sass Settee
under my nose.
    Jura found me standing outside Sass Foods, contemplating whether I had enough lost-and-found change to buy a chicken breast for Gram to fix with supper.
    â€œJura! Hey!” I stuffed the money into my pocket. “I haven’t seen you for a couple days! How’s things?”
    â€œLook!” she repeated, all jiggles and grins.
    I took the paper from her. She’d circled an ad with a waxy black line. It read,
Help Wanted, Auto Mechanic, must have experience with foreign cars.
    â€œAll . . . right,” I said, waiting for Jura to explain.
    â€œThat’s my mom! That’s what my mom does! She fixes cars!” Jura fairly trembled with excitement. “I decided you were right. If I’m going to stay in Sass, I have to stay informed. So, when the new
Settee
came out today, I picked one up. And there it was!” She poked the page so hard I thought she’d put her finger through it.
    â€œI called my mom and told her about the ad and she called the garage and they had this whole huge talk on the phone and—” She paused to gasp for breath. “I just know they want to hire her! I can feel it in my bones!”
    I couldn’t help noticing the double thump of my own heartbeat as I watched a real wish—a wish that I had fetched—get fulfilled right before my eyes.
    â€œDoes she, uh, know much about foreign cars?” I asked a little nervously.
    Jura nodded wildly. “Japanese cars. German cars. She even has a Fisk Certificate!”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œIt says she can repair these new cars from Norway. They don’t even hit the market until January. They’re gonna be
huge.
And my mom’s only one of a hundred people in the whole country that knows how to fix them. Bet you people from all over will be coming to Sass, Georgia, to get their Fisks fixed!”
    By now, I was hoppingly excited myself. “And you won’t have to go back to your old school!” I exclaimed.
    She rolled her eyes with the bliss of it. “I
know!
I’m really free! Plus, my aunt Trish—I’ve never seen her so happy!” Jura said. “Oh, Genuine, it’s so crazy. I didn’t even dare to hope for it. I mean, look at this paper. There’s two job openings in all of Sass—the mechanic one and a security job at the retirement home. What are the chances, you know?”
    â€œI’m just pitched for you, Jura.” And I meant it. Her happiness was