Flip The Treat
Written By: Amy Lynn Raines
Alley grew up in a family that traveled all of the time. Not because of a parent in the service, or something so cool as her mom or dad having an important job. Her family traveled simply because her father took the notion to move. His notions always came in the dead of night, even though he had a wife, three young boys, and Alley to gather up before hitting the highway.
Each and every time, she would have to pack the few things she owned into one little box. The family was poor, and her father seemed to have every intention of making them nearly homeless. They were like a band of traveling gypsies without the pride, the entertainment, or the pretty clothes. With a highly abusive father who loved to waste his money on booze and pills rather than paying rent and bills, arguing the point of childhood needs never made a difference.
Alley was twelve years old when her father decided after a month and a half in their little one-bedroom trailer that it was time to leave again. He moved them to his mother’s house for nearly a week while he decided what to do next. Late at night sleeping in her grandmother’s floor, Alley could hear her mother and father arguing on the sofa behind her. She closed her eyes to block out the noise, wishing she was anywhere but where she was.
“I’ve had it, Joe! If we don’t stop moving, we’re going to lose the kids.” Her mother attempted to sound firm.
“I don’t care. I didn’t tell you to have them! Especially her! At least the boys can handle themselves, but Alley? Seriously? What exactly am I supposed to do with her?”
“It’s not like I decide what the baby will be. Besides, you didn’t seem to mind naming her after the daughter you claim to have with your ex-girlfriend! Anyway, none of that matters. We’re not moving anymore.”
“I don’t do well with being told that I can’t come and go as I please, Shelly!” Joe retorted in his usual angry, drunken slur.
“You should have thought about that before getting married and having kids. Now, this is it. You find us a place to live that’s not with your hateful, drunken mother, or I swear I will take the kids to my sisters and file for divorce. Those are your only options.”
The argument went on and on until the sun peeked through the sheet Joe’s mother kept over the window like a makeshift curtain. After more than a week of the same tiresome late-night bickering, Shelly walked through the door announcing that she had found a place to live.
Joe paid the security and the rent and moved the family out of his mother’s place. Within the next few days, Shelly enrolled all four kids into the local school system. Joe was obviously not happy about all of his money going for nothing but bills, but for the moment Shelly had won a round.
“These schools are a lot different than the ones you’ve gone to before, kids. The principal said that they don’t have the means to provide books or to have the foods available that other schools have. They hired poor elderly ladies to run the kitchen there. They don’t order things like pizza, burgers, or sandwich meat. They cook for the school the same way they do at home. So, there’s no menu. You’ll have to eat whatever it is they put on your tray. That goes for breakfast, too.” Shelly spoke at length sounding somewhat depressed.
“Breakfast too?” Alley asked curiously.
“That’s right. They have a free breakfast and lunch program, which is great because I don’t have anything to send with you, nor do I have any money to buy cereal or oatmeal with.”
“That’s because dad drank the rest, huh?” Joe Jr., the oldest son rolled his eyes angrily.
“Stop it, Joey. You know as well as I do that your father can’t help himself.” Shelly defended her husband’s behavior to her knowing son.
“How are we going to live here for long if dad drinks up next month’s rent? It would be a lot easier if you’d just let me drop out of school and get a job. Then you wouldn’t have to worry.” Joey replied.
“I will never sign them, you need your education. Now, don’t worry so much. Just go to school. I’ll be starting my new job tomorrow.” Shelly informed him.
“Dad won’t let you go to work, mom.” Alley pointed out remembering the last argument they’d had on the subject.
“He doesn’t have a choice anymore. I’m going to work, anyway.”
“Don’t they have to get his permission?” Carlos, Alley’s older brother wondered.
“Nope. That doesn’t fly anymore. A new law went into effect that allows a woman to work without running it past her husband first. The only problem is, most of the places that are hiring have a swing shift or a split shift.” Shelly smiled at her daughter knowing that at least that small portion of the future would be different for Alley.
“What’s that?” Marcus, the youngest boy asked in confusion.
“Well, that means that I will probably have to work in the morning, come home for a few hours, then go back to work. That also means that I will need Alley to take on extra responsibilities at home.”
“Like what?” Alley wondered. She had worked in the house with her mother several times while the bots played outside, went to see their friends, or went hunting and fishing with their father.
“You know how your father gets when one of the boys even picks up a broom. So, I will probably need you to make sure they get on the bus, make sure there’s coffee made for your father, clean the kitchen before you leave, then start supper before I get home. I know you know how to get things going, but I will leave you directions anyway, just in case.” Shelly explained to her daughter all of the things she would need to do before and after school.
“Alright, Mama,” Alley replied. Her heart sank knowing that joining the chorus wasn’t going to happen. She would be walking to and from school, and with all of her chores, there would be no room for anything else. She was grateful that she caught on to the things the teachers taught really quickly. That meant she could do all of her homework during study hall, and do whatever was left right before going to bed.
“Good girl. Now, go on to school, you know the way. I can’t take you guys this time because there’s not enough gas in the car for that. Try to have a good first day, though.” Shelly told her kids. She watched as Joey Jr. and Carlos turned left onto the sidewalk while Alley and Marcus turned right. As soon as the kids were out of sight, she closed the curtains and busied herself with cleaning the house, so her daughter wouldn’t have to work so hard between school and chores.
After walking eight blocks, Alley and Marcus entered the run-down brick building that served as their school. They silently followed the other kids to the lunchroom to get their morning meal.
“I hope they made scrambled eggs.” A boy in front of them told the shorter boy beside him.
“No, their peach pancakes are the best.” The other boy replied licking his lips.
“Yeah, but I hope it’s a choice between oatmeal and cream of wheat.” A tall, blonde-haired girl said as she adjusted her glasses as the line moved closer to the counter.
Alley and Marcus picked up their trays and silverware and watched what the lunch ladies were putting on the trays for the kids in front of them.
“Well, look at that! New faces! I’m Hanna. You’re in for a treat this morning.” The first older woman smiled cheerfully as she placed two flat rectangular items on their trays that were wrapped in aluminum foil.
“I’m Alley, this is my little brother Marcus. He’s kind of shy.”
“Well, there’s no need for that. I know the school doesn’t look like much, and we don’t have a lot like other schools, but the teachers, the principal, and the students are some of the most decent folks I’ve met.” Hanna replied.
“Thank you, Ma’am,” Alley replied while Marcus blushed and looked down at his tray.
“You’re very welcome, honey.” Hanna returned as the line moved along.
Another woman added a fruit cup and a bowl of cornflakes. The last woman added a packet of sugar and a little carton of milk. Alley thanked them for Marcus and herself then headed toward the long metal tables with benches.
“You know, one of these days you’re going to have to actually talk to people,” Alley told Marcus as he placed his tray on the table next to hers.
Marcus shrugged and sat down beside his sister. She watched him open the packet of sugar and tip it up into the bowl of cornflakes. With the empty packet sitting neatly on his tray, he opened his milk, poured half of it into his bowl, and began eating his cereal.
Knowing that pressing him to talk to people wasn’t going to get her anywhere, Alley turned her attention to her own tray. She picked up one of the flat, aluminum foil-wrapped rectangles. One had a sticker on it that said strawberry while the other said grape. She shrugged and took the foil off of it to see what was inside because she had never had anything that was wrapped that way at any of the schools she had been in.
She removed the foil from the one marked strawberry and quickly recognized the food as two graham crackers sandwiched together. Between the two, semi-soft graham crackers was a light brownish-looking goop that smelled a little bit familiar.
Being raised to never complain or question what was put on her plate, Alley bit into the sweet-smelling sandwich. Ignoring the rest of the food on her tray, she devoured both of the treats. She had eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before but had never had anything like what she had just eaten. Even the peanut butter didn’t taste the way it normally did.
“Stay right here. I’ll be right back.” Alley whispered to Marcus knowing he wouldn’t budge until she came back.
At home, Alley had been taught to be silent around adults. However, in her other schools, she had always been told to ask questions when she wanted to know something. Since she was in school rather than at home, Alley walked toward the only woman left in the line- Hannah.
“Excuse me?” Alley spoke quietly.
“Yes, Dear? Is everything okay?” The older woman asked curiously.
“Oh, yes Ma’am, everything is fine. I just wanted to know what was in the graham cracker sandwiches. They tasted great, and I’ve never had one before.” Alley explained politely.
“Oh, I’m so glad you liked them. If you promise not to tell anyone, I’ll tell you how we made them, okay? Promise me, now.” Hannah encouraged with a conspiratorial grin.
“I promise.” Alley nodded excitedly.
“Well, we got lucky enough to get a whole bunch of bologna rolls yesterday that will go well with lunch today. So, Greta, Laura, and I decided to make something special for all the kids today since we don’t have any cookies or cakes. We put one of the huge five-gallon tubs of peanut butter with strawberry jelly in one of our big mixing bowls, then added one-half of a gallon of honey and just one cup of nutmeg. We did the same exact thing with the grape jelly in one of the other mixing bowls, then spread it onto a graham cracker. We sandwiched them and wrapped them, then let them set up in the cooler for the rest of the night.” Hanna explained in a whisper.
“Wow, that’s amazing. Is it easy to do it smaller? Like if I wanted to make it at home?” Alley asked hopefully.
“Oh, yes. Why do you ask, child?”
“Well, my mother is going to work, and I’ll have to pick up some chores. I would love to make this for a treat after dinner.” Alley told her, sidestepping the fact that her chore list was a lot longer than just a few simple tasks.
“I know she’d really appreciate that.” Hanna smiled sweetly then added, “I’ll write down the smaller recipe for you. I would bet you have all of them right at home.”
“Thank you.” Alley beamed happily.
Hannah went back to work while Alley returned to her brother until the bell rang. They quickly got in line to empty their trays and headed to the principal’s office to go through the motions of getting their schedules and meeting their teachers. The principal asked the guidance counselor to escort them to each class so that they would get to know the school’s layout.
Alley noticed that Marcus seemed quite a bit more withdrawn than he usually did, but brushed it off as nothing more than the same concerns she always had about meeting new people. Being in a new school was never easy, and they had to go through the first meeting process a lot.
“Now remember, my name is Vicky. If you ever want to talk about anything, my office is always open. I promise I am a great listener.” The guidance counselor told them as she stopped in front of Marcus’s first class of the day.
“Thank you.” Alley smiled wondering if her problems were something the guidance counselor would or could understand. She doubted it, but thought she might go to her later to get her father’s cruel words out of her head. She was sure that not even Vicky could tell her why her father was so mean all of the time.
“Wait here.” Vicky returned the smile, took Marcus’s hand, and led him into the classroom to introduce him. Alley nodded and waited for her to return.
“Your little brother is very quiet and shy, isn’t he,” Vicky whispered as she led Alley down the hallway to the right.
“Yes Ma’am, he is. Hopefully, he’ll make some friends here and learn to talk a little more.”
“It’s just Vicky, and I hope so, too. I bet he’s a very bright young man.”
“Yeah, he is.” Alley nodded in response, not sure if she trusted the guidance counselor enough to tell her anything yet. She had never been on a first-name basis with any of the grown-ups at school before. But today, two adults hadn’t wanted the formalities she was used to. It was nice, but it also worried her.
“Here we go,” Vicky said as she gently knocked on a closed classroom door, then took Alley inside.
After the blur of the first day was over, Vicky met Alley at her last class and escorted her to Marcus’s. She took them to the principal’s office, so she could sign a few papers. She made copies of them and stapled them into two separate stacks. Vicky escorted them to the front door, then handed Alley one of the sets of stapled papers. “I need you to take these to your mom and have her sign them. Can you bring them back tomorrow for me?”
“Sure.” Alley nodded while Marcus stared at the door in front of him.
“Thank you. Now, are you two alright to walk home or can I help you get home?”
“We’ll be fine, thank you. We’ve walked to school lots of times.” Alley shrugged as if it made no difference to her.
“Alright, then you two be very careful, okay? And, don’t forget… my office is always open. I want you to hold onto this, okay?” Vicky said as she handed Alley a folded-up piece of paper with a phone number on it. “I am always available to talk.”
Not knowing what else to say, Alley nodded as Vicky opened the front doors for her and Marcus to head out.
“Hey, Alley! Wait up!” A familiar voice called out. Alley stopped on the bottom step and waited for Hanna, the kind-hearted lunch lady. Marcus squeezed her hand while quietly looking at her in confusion.
“Hello, Miss Hanna.” Alley greeted the older woman. She didn’t realize that the guidance counselor had followed them down the steps.
“Oh, just Hanna will do. Now, here’s the recipe I promised you. It’s a lot smaller than what I was explaining this morning, but it should be easy enough for you to do.”
“Thank you so much!” Alley replied excitedly.
“You’re very welcome. You’ll have to tell me how your family likes it. But, remember, the last ingredient is supposed to be a secret.” Hanna winked and smiled at her in the same conspiratorial way she had that morning.
“Ooh, I can’t resist a good secret. C’mon, let me in on it.” Vicky said as she joined Alley, Marcus, and Hanna on the wide, concrete, bottom step.
“I can’t tell you.” Alley looked away embarrassed. Vicky had been so kind to her throughout the day, but she didn’t want to betray the lunch lady’s confidence.
“I’ll make a trade. You tell me what you want to be when you get older, and I’ll let Vicky in on our little secret. Fair?” Hanna asked as if she were dying to tell the guidance counselor all about it.
“Okay.” Alley giggled, then said with a blush, “I want to be a chef or at least own a famous restaurant someday.”
“Well, that is a very big goal. That means I gave this secret recipe to the right person. Can Vicky have a peek at it before you put it away?”
“You won’t tell on her?” Alley asked Vicky hopefully.
“I swear. Not a peep out of me.” Vicky replied as she drew her fingers across her smiling lips as if there was a zipper between them.
Alley giggled as Hanna leaned down to talk to Marcus. He had been smiling throughout the entire interaction.
“What do you think, Kind Sir? Should I make her put a lock on those zipped lips, too?” Hanna asked Marcus while giving Vicky a sideways glance.
“Yeah.” Marcus’s whisper was so quiet that it was barely audible, but Hanna continued on as if he had yelled the word.
“Alright, you heard the little prince. Lock those lips, and you can see what’s on the paper.” Hanna stood up as another bell rang. “Make it quick, we can’t let the others see us together.”
Vicky nodded then clamped a pretend lock in front of her lips. Marcus giggled with Alley at her exaggerated movements.
“Alright, it’s safe. She won’t say a word.” Hanna nodded at Alley as if the lock had been their plan all along.
“Secret locks keep secrets safe.” Vicky nodded encouragingly as Alley handed her the slip of paper Hanna had given her. “Ooh, and this is a really good one.”
“That was very nice of you.” Hanna smiled at Alley.
“Yes, it was. Now, you two get home safe, okay? I’ll be right here tomorrow.” Vicky smiled as she handed the paper back to Alley.
“Thank you. We will. Have a good night.” Alley replied then led Marcus home.
She was grateful that her father wasn’t home when they walked through the door of the little house. Marcus went to the room he shared with the other two boys to put his notebooks down on his upside-down, milk-crate stand. Alley headed for the kitchen where she heard her mother rattling around.
“Hey, how was school?” Shelly asked curiously.
“It was great. I have some papers you have to sign, and I learned a lot of new stuff.” Alley replied excitedly as she laid the stapled papers on the table for her mother to look at.
“I hate having to sign these papers. I swear, it gets harder and harder every time to explain why we move so much. I mean, eight different schools in one year is really ridiculous.” Shelly shook her head irritably as she sat down and pulled the paper to her.
“I’m sorry, Mama. Maybe we could stay here for a while longer? Marcus actually talked a little today.” Alley told her happily.
“Really? That’s great news. How did that happen?” Shelly pressed her daughter.
Alley told her all about the food at breakfast, and about Hanna being kind enough to share the recipe with her. She also told her she couldn’t tell her what it was because she had promised not to.
“Well, I would never ask anyone to tell me something that someone else told them in confidence. Check the cupboards and the fridge to make sure we have the correct ingredients. If we don’t then the next time we go to the store I’ll take you with me. If I miss anything on your list, you can pick it up. Will that work?” Shelly asked with a smile.
“Okay. Then can I make them?”
“You’re going to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen anyway, so I don’t see why not.” Her mother shrugged.
Alley excitedly checked the cupboards and found that they did, in fact, have everything she needed to make a batch for the family. She smiled knowing she would be making the treats the very next day.
Alley helped get dinner on the table that night and paid attention to what her mother wanted done for the following day’s dinner. She nodded and filled her mother in on how kind the people at the school were, and how they didn’t like being called by Mr. or Mrs. this or that.
“Wow. That’s really nice. You do know what it means when adults want you to call them by their first name, don’t you?” Shelly asked her daughter as they worked together to roll out biscuits and put them on a baking pan.
“No. I didn’t know what to think. I mean, I don’t want to be disrespectful.” Alley replied shaking her head.
“It means that they respect you. They see how smart you are and think that you are capable of making adult choices.” Shelly told her as she slid the pan of raw biscuits into the preheated oven.
“She couldn’t make an adult choice if her life depended on it. Anyone that thinks she can is a fool.” Joe said with a slur as he staggered to the chair Shelly had been sitting in and sat down at the table.
“If she can sit in class and write down all of her work off of the board, complete her work, and still have time to help me with chores, then I’d say she’s already way ahead of the game.” Shelly defended her daughter.
“Thanks, Mom,” Alley whispered then hurried out of the kitchen before her parents could start arguing over how smart or stupid she was. The ridicule made her want to scream at him how blinded he was by the drinks he liked so much more than his own family. She would never say such a thing because she knew that would incur his wrath.
Alley knew that her father had a habit of lying if it added some kind of twisted amusement for him. He loved to fuel his need to get entertainment or cause a fight by belittling someone else.
Lying on the couch because she didn’t have a room of her own or a sister to share with, she decided to conduct an experiment for herself. She would make the treats Hanna had given her the recipe to. If it turned out like the ones she had at school, then she would tell Vicky the truth about her father and the reasons they moved all of the time. If they came out wrong, she would run away and never look back.
The following morning Alley stretched the kinks out of her back from sleeping on the couch. She got up, took a shower, and began the task of getting breakfast on the table. Her mother was working the split shift as she was sure she would be, so Alley knew exactly what she needed to do.
She quickly woke the boys up and then went to the bathroom to brush her hair and her teeth. She could hear her father snoring away in the room next to the boys’ and carefully tiptoed to the kitchen when she was finished rinsing her mouth. In the kitchen, Alley put on a fresh pot of coffee while the boys took turns getting ready for school.
“Looks like your mother finally taught you how to do something right. Pour me a cup of that. Did she teach you how to make eggs?” Her father grumbled as he stumbled to the kitchen.
Alley nodded as she groaned inwardly. She was certain that one of the boys had been too loud and had woken him up. She didn’t want to have to listen to the cruelty, but now she was left with no option. Joe knew very well that Shelly had spent a lot of time teaching her daughter how to safely work in the kitchen and keep it clean.
Instead of replying, she opened the cupboard beside the stove and reached a small frying pan. She whisked some eggs together and made some toast to go on the side. After putting it on a plate, she waited for him to eat everything, then washed the dirty dishes and put them in the drainer beside the sink.
“Keep going, you might make a decent wife someday.” Her father said with an appreciative tone that made ice crawl up her spine.
“I’m never getting married.” She replied without realizing she had spoken the words aloud.
“That’s probably for the best. I’m fairly sure no one would have you anyway. You’re too mouthy and your food tastes like greasy cardboard.” He retorted.
“C’mon Marcus. We have to go. We’re going to be late as it is.” Alley added the stapled papers to her own pile of folders, took her little brother’s free hand, and headed toward the door without responding to her father’s hatefulness.
“I don’t know why your mother cares about you going to school, you’ll never learn anything anyway,” Joe yelled just before the front door closed behind his children.
“Don’t worry about him, Marcus. Not everyone is mean. You know that, right?” Alley spoke to her brother fighting the tears that were threatening to fall.
It broke her heart to see Marcus shrug in response. She knew he was probably too young to realize that their father just liked being the way he was. Alley prayed all the way to school that her experiment that evening would help her family in some way or another.
They were fifteen minutes late for school, but Alley was able to get Marcus to his first class without getting lost. She headed for the principal’s office to turn in the papers her mother had signed.
“Hey there.” Vicky’s smile faded to concern as she glanced at the young girl’s face, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just running later than I wanted to. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. We can go to my office if you’d like to talk” Vicky offered once again.
“Maybe tomorrow, I have to get to class,” Alley replied.
“Okay, sweetie. Do you remember the way?”
“Yes, thank you. I’ll be fine.”
Alley left the office and spent the day learning everything she could. She hadn’t lied about her dreams. She really did want to be a chef and knew that keeping her grades up in school was the only way she would ever get into college.
After school, Alley and Marcus walked home. Marcus went to his room, then headed outside with the two older boys. Neither Joe nor Shelly was home, so they were able to spend a little extra time playing with their football in the yard.
Not wanting to carry bruises again for going outside with her brothers, Alley got busy in the kitchen making dinner. With the Chicken in the oven and the rice on medium-low heat, she collected the things she would need to make the treats. She mixed the ingredients together, slathered the goop onto graham crackers, sandwiched them, and wrapped them just like Hanna and the other ladies had. As soon as the mixture was all gone and the crackers were wrapped, Alley placed them in a square-covered bowl, and put them in the fridge.
“Hey Alley, dinner smells really good. Did you put the veggie mix on to steam?” Shelly asked as she walked into the kitchen.
“Yeah, it’s on the back burner. How was work?” She hoped her mother’s day had been better than hers.
“It was fine. It’s not hard to roll chicken and fry it for minimum wage. I’m going to go take a shower and wash this smell out of my hair. Did you get to make your little secret?” Shelly asked raising an eyebrow at her daughter curiously.
“I did. I hope you like them.”
“I’m sure they’ll be great, sweetie. You’re really good at knowing what tastes good together and what doesn’t. Sometimes, you just have to trust your best judgment.”
Alley smiled proudly in response to her mother’s compliment, then turned around to check on the food.
She was thrilled that her mother and her brothers loved the treats she had learned how to make. Her father came home drunk after she and the boys had gone to bed for the night. Alley had heard him come in but pretended she was asleep, so he wouldn’t stop long enough to say anything hurtful on his way to his room.
The following morning, Alley woke up and went through her new routine of getting herself and the boys ready for school. Curiosity made her open the refrigerator door. The container that had held the remaining three treats was still in the fridge, but there were none left. She took it out and opened the lid to find a note inside from her mother. It said:
*I know you were asleep last night, but your father ate the rest of the dessert you made. Regardless of the things he says to you, he obviously liked them well enough to finish them off. *
P.S.
Don’t forget to wash the bowl. We’ll get the stuff for you to make some more soon.
Alley quickly washed the bowl and the lid and placed them in the drainer. Smiling because her decision was made for her, she took Marcus to school, led him to class, then headed for the principal’s office again.
“Can I help you, honey?” The principal asked her.
“Is Vicky in here?” She asked.
“No, she’s in her office. Do you know where it is?”
“Yes, thank you.” Alley nodded then walked down the hall until she found the door that said Mrs. Victoria Sullivan- Guidance Counselor.
She tried to knock as gently as Vicky had done on her homeroom class door on her first day.
“Come in.” The familiar soft voice floated back through the door. “Alley! Hi! Is everything okay? You can close the door if you like.”
“I’m alright for the moment. You’ve been so nice to me and Marcus, and I want to tell you something.” Alley closed the door and sat down.
“I’m more than ready to listen.” Vicky sat back and placed the pen she had been using in a blue coffee mug that held a few colorful pens that matched it.
“I made a choice based on an experiment,” Alley told her how she had made the treats Hanna had given her the recipe for and how it had turned out.
“It’s great that your family loved them, but what was the experiment part?”
“If they were bad, I would run away. If they were good, I’d talk to you.”
“Kind of like flipping a sweet coin, huh? You’re here.” Vicky nodded understandingly.
“I don’t really trust anyone. I’m sure that’s why Marcus is so quiet, Joe Jr. has a temper, and Carlos kind of ignores everything. I know I’m not a counselor, but my father has a way of making people feel horrible when all they want to do is live their life.” Alley explained.
“I promise you, Alley. You can trust me. It is literally my job to listen to your problems and help you find a way through them. A safe and healthy way. You could have changed your mind, but you came to me anyway. That shows how smart you are. So, I am all ears for whatever it is you want to talk about.” Vicky encouraged the young girl to rid herself of the pain and the burdens she had been carrying with her for so long.
For the first time, Alley took a leap of faith and gave a little bit of blind trust. She had no idea what would happen next, but she was sure it had to be better than what her family dealt with on a daily basis.
“Okay,” Alley whispered then took a deep breath and began speaking the words she had held in for what seemed like an eternity.
