Katani's Jamaican Holiday by Annie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page A

me when I am making deliveries later. And wear your swimsuits underneath,” he added mysteriously.
    At last, I thought. Beach! My kind of action!
    Bakery Bliss
    Aunt Faith’s bakery was about a mile away from the farm. I was kind of shocked when I saw the home of Nana’s Banana Bliss. You know how you can imagine things and then they turn out to be way different? I guess I was thinking it would be like Montoya’s bakery back home. Not even close.
    The Bliss Bakery was a rectangular, bright turquoise brick building, narrow in front and long at the sides. Inside, there was no place for customers to sit and enjoy the baked products like at Montoya’s. Selvin saw my look of disappointment and explained: “This strictly a place where they bake Banana Bliss. Then we drive all the Bliss to the fancy resorts. The customers eat it up.” He laughed at his own joke.
    As we walked in, Olivia pointed out Selvin’s house—a small cottage over on the side. “Aunt Faith used to live here too, until my mom died, then she came to live with us,” Olivia told me.
    “Where’s Selvin’s family?” I whispered to Olivia as soon as I was sure he couldn’t hear. I had been wondering about this for some time.
    “His wife and son migrated to England to be with herfamily after they divorced,” she whispered back. “He save up so his son can come here once a year.”
    “How come they got divorced?” I asked, even though I knew it wasn’t any of my business. But I really liked Selvin and wanted to know.
    “His wife just miss her mother and family too much. Selvin tried to live in England, but he said there was never any sun and the people didn’t smile too much, so him come back to Jamaica to help Aunt Faith and my father.”
    As we entered the bakery through the front room, I saw that it was a kind of office with two desks—and a computer! I couldn’t wait to ask permission to use it to send a message to the BSG. They must be wondering what had happened to me. They would never believe that I had been in Jamaica for a whole day and I still hadn’t been swimming! I didn’t think the horseback riding counted. But first I wanted to see if I could grab a slice of Bliss. The sweet smell of banana was driving me wild.
    When we entered the oven section of the bakery, I let out a huge hoot. Grandma Ruby was covered in flour dust, from the plastic cap on her head to her plastic overshoes. Even her eyebrows looked floury. Lucky I brought my camera—this memory was a keeper. Everybody at home was going to love seeing Grandma Ruby as the Baker Lady of Jamaica.
    “I’ll clean up later,” she joked when she saw me gaping at her. “A bag of flour burst all over me.” Then she started laughing. Soon everybody in the bakery joined in. If only the kids at Abigail Adams Junior High could see their principal now.
    “Whew!” she exclaimed. “What a morning! It’s going to be short.” She nodded to Selvin. “We lost some time cleaning up the flour disaster.”
    Grandma Ruby made a mistake?! She caught my surprised look. “Yes, Katani, your grandmother is capable of messing up…literally messing up,” she said, and she blew some flour off her shirt.
    “No problem,” Selvin said with a smile. He was a very easygoing person. “I’ll just deliver to the customers we really can’t afford to lose. No worry,” he added. “It will get easier.”
    Grandma Ruby frowned, and I couldn’t tell whether it was because she wasn’t sure it would get easier, or because she thought she should have gotten it right from the beginning. That was probably it, since she was a perfectionist. And I was just like her. I hated making mistakes too. I went over and gave her a hug because I know that’s what she would have done for me. She leaned her head on my shoulder and hugged me back. It was then that I realized for the first time that I was almost as tall as she was. Wow, I must have grown this year without even knowing it.
    Two women helped wrap the