It's time for lunch!

Hello Jason

How was your Turkey Day? Hopefully better than ours. No big turkey or watching endless football games with Dad this year. Ted came over and brought a pumpkin pie to go with the pitiful turkey roast (don't ask), but it wasn't as good as when Mom made it from scratch.

Sorry, Man. I miss Dad every single day, but some days are just harder. Don't tell Mom, but I'm almost dreading Christmas. (Maybe I should have put a warning label on this envelope @being so sad.)

But, wait 'til I tell you about Thanksgiving lunch at school!

I really wasn't taking a pic of the floor, but here's our cafeteria. Love the round tables so we're not eating baby style.

First of all, our school lunch actually isn't all that bad. Of course we have roadkill burgers and cardboard pizza, but our cooks knock themselves on our once a week dessert and their hot rolls could melt in your mouth. And, we have a juice machine.

Lunch has really gotten to be fun! Jameer and I started sitting together soon after school started. Pretty soon, here comes Harlan and Mike.

Then one day, outta the blue, no one other than Miss Ashanti shows up and wants to sit with us. Woo-Hoo, right? She is so funny! Ever since the musical, now she is a hoot to be around. And after the "accidental" hook-up with Cee-Cee in Mr. Watson's office, she started sitting with us, too.

You know how last year, ok, every year in elementary school, the week before Thanksgiving everybody was so happy and excited about what they were going to eat, or see, or do? It wasn't like that here, just business as usual.

Except for Ashanti and Cee-Cee. Everyday at lunch they'd put their heads together, whispering and laughing. Us guys thought it was just dumb girl stuff. Oh brother, were we wrong!

Just as Jameer and I were heading into the cafeteria the day before break, Mr. Watson heads us off at the pass. Trust me, we weren't exactly disappointed to be late for turkey roast (again, don't ask), box mashed potatoes, and something red the menu said was cranberries. ​

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Here's one of the placemats Cee-Cee and Mrs. Haug (oh yeah, forgot to say she's the awesome art teacher) made for us.

We headed toward Mr. Watson's office when we saw Harlan and Mike. He grabbed them, too. "Uh-oh," I thought, "here it comes: we've been laughing too loud at lunch, making people turn around."

We crowded into Mr. Watson's office, looking at each other (Harlan was rolling his eyes). Then Mr. Watson, you know the Trickster, did the weirdest thing. After messing around in his desk, he said he'd forgotten what he called us in for, and told all of to head on back to lunch. What?

As soon as we walked in we knew something was up. Mike and I had been smart and brought our lunches, so we headed straight for "our" table. We busted out laughing when we spied the girls, and we didn't care how loud.

There stood Ashanti, two big old braids and a dress that looked like it'd been made out of a burlap bag. Cee-Cee had all her hair stuffed up into a white cap, wearing a black dress with a white apron. "I thought Halloween was over," Mike said. I was holding my side from laughing so hard.

​About that time, Harlen and Jameer showed up, mouths hanging open. (Not sure if that was about what was on their trays or the girls.) That's when we looked at the table. There were six placemats decorated with fall leaves. And right in the middle was the best looking pumpkin pie you've ever seen.

Mr. Watson walked up, from outta nowhere, but laughing and taking pics of the whole thing. "Wait a minute, I think there's only one thing that will make this complete. Mrs. Haug, do you have a little something for the guys?"

Now we had Mr. Watson, Mrs. Haug, our counselor, Mrs. Davis, and Principal Hale all standing around. What the heck? Now the adults were laughing as much as we were as Mrs. Haug put Indian headbands or pilgrim "hats" on us.

Mr. Watson signaled everybody to quieten down, and nodded at Cee-Cee. Real quiet she said, "I haven't had much to be thankful for in a while. Now, I'm thankful for Mr. Watson and my new friends. Mrs. Haug helped me make  the placemats, and my outfit and your head gear. I'm real thankful for her, too."

Mrs. Haug hugged Cee-Cee (and looked like she was about to cry). Then Mr. Watson nodded at Ashanti. "I've always been thankful for my family, but until this year I've always hated school. This year, I'm thankful some people wouldn't give up on me and the best homies ever! My Gigi made the pie for us and Mrs. Davis helped me with this costume...and a few other things," Ashanti told us.

Okay, I gotta tell you, Jase, it was amazing! And can you imagine something like that at your school? We may not have a lot of money and way too many hot messes, here in the hood, but believe it or not, I'm thankful to be here!

Whoa, Bro, look at this novel! Can you tell there's not much to do. Mom's working "Black Friday" at the card store, so Sarah and I are on our own. Guess I better go see what she's up to. In the meantime, (not to get all mushy or anything) I'm thankful for you!

Jubel 

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