The Manny Files book1 by Christian Burch Read Free Book Online Page B

them every day and measured their growth with a ruler. I tried to keep it a secret from Mom, but I couldn’t hold it in. It was too exciting. I told her all about it and how I had even sneaked Miracle-Gro to school so that my seedling would grow to be the tallest one in class and maybe even in our school’s history.
    By the end of the first week Sarah’s had sprouted and had three green leaves on its stem. Craig’s cup had a little green seedling getting ready to explode through the dirt. He laughed at my Dixie cup. My seedling hadn’t grown at all.
    When Mom asked how my plant was growing, I lied and said, “It’s so beautiful that Ms. Grantwants to keep it, but I won’t let her because it’s for you.”
    By the end of the second week Sarah’s had a little bud that would soon be a flower. Craig’s was three inches tall and had leaves. Mine was still just a cup of dirt. There was an ant crawling in it.
    I said to Ms. Grant, “I’m not going to give my mom a Dixie cup full of dirt and ants for Mother’s Day.”
    She said, “I don’t understand what’s happened. When Lulu was in my class, her plant ended up growing to be eight inches tall.”
    I thought to myself,
I’m surprised Lulu’s big Amazon hands didn’t squash the little seed.
    “I’m sure it will grow,” said Ms. Grant. “Just be patient.”
    I went back to my desk and started being patient. I let the ant crawl all over my hand.
    At home that afternoon Mom was watching the Weather Channel and ironing some of my shirts. She asked again how well the plant was growing.
    But I changed the subject. I glanced at the Weather Channel and said, “Oh, good, rain in California. This should be an excellent year to buy California chardonnays.” I had heard Uncle Max say this to Grandma once when the news showed mudslides in California. Grandma toldhim not to think about his palate when others were suffering.
    Mom just looked at me and then went back to ironing.
    When it was time to take our plants home for our mothers, I showed Ms. Grant that mine was just like me and hadn’t grown an inch.
    “That’s so weird,” was all she said. She didn’t seem to care that all I had to give my mother for Mother’s Day was a cup of dirt.
    On the bus ride home India told me to tell Mom that she could use it as a mud mask to clean her face. I imagined Mom running and screaming through the house with mud and ants all over her face. I threw my stunted seedling in the trash can on my way off the bus.
    “Bye, darlin’.”
    I just waved at the bus driver without looking at her.
    I ran quickly through the kitchen so that Mom wouldn’t notice that I didn’t have a plant with me. She knew that today was the day we were bringing them home. She didn’t even see me.
    The manny was in the hallway putting the freshly washed towels in the closet. He knew something was wrong, so he wrapped a towel around me. It was just out of the dryer, so it was really warm.
    “What’s shakin’, bacon?” the manny asked.
    I started telling him the story without breaking up the sentences or stopping for a breath. “We were growing plants at school for our mothers, and mine didn’t grow at all, and Ms. Grant didn’t seem to care, she just told me to be patient, and I was, but it still didn’t grow, and there was an ant in mine that I named Ferdinant, but he died, and now I don’t have anything to give Mom for Mother’s Day!”
    “Whoa,” the manny said. “You better take a breath before you lose consciousness.”
    I took a deep breath in and then let it out. “But what will I give her?”
    “Give her something that you put a lot of thought into. What does your mother like to do on Mother’s Day?”
    “She likes to relax and sleep in,” I said.
    “How about sleeping pills?” said the manny.
    I laughed and then thought about what Mom would like. “How about serving her breakfast in bed?” I looked at the manny.
    “Brilliant!” he screamed, like I’d just discovered