The Excuse

From The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood: Write a scene in which the dramatic tension revolves around a misspelling: a road sign, the name on a birthday cake, the directions to a doctor’s office, a word in a spelling bee…

I was running late as usual.  I promised I’d get the twin’s cake and be at the party by noon.  I kept thinking how my anal sister Caroline was going to positively murder me.  I could see her sharp glare already.  I eyed the ‘new and expectant mothers’ parking space enviously, half convinced to just go for it when I saw a restriction-free space open up.  My tires squealed as I nabbed the space. 

            Should I text her and say I’d hit traffic?  I could say I was stuck behind a blue hair doing twenty down K.  Maybe there was an accident, or a cop, or a parade.  The parade mightn’t be that likely.  I scratched that off my list of ideas. 

            Panting a little, I reached the bakery counter.  I thought how only then would I find it annoying that the bakery seemed to be in the furthest corner of the store.  I rang the bell a little too forcefully. 

            “I’m here to pick up a cake for Edwards, please,” I said promptly.  I took in the fresh-faced, curly haired young woman who seemed to pop out of nowhere.  Susan, her name tag read.  Susan was wearing candy apple red lipstick.  When she smiled I noticed she’d gotten part of her teeth as well.  The shade looked better on her lips. 

            I didn’t bother checking the cake.  I thanked Susan, grabbed the sheet cake and my purse, and power walked back to the front of the store where naturally every line was either full or cashier-less. 

            “I can take you on five,” I heard the voice say and I bolted for it. 

            As I was collecting my card and my receipt, I lifted the cardboard window on the top of the cake box for a little peek. 

            Happy Birthbay Manby & Abam!

            My jaw dropped.  I had to read the words again, surely I read it wrong.  I hadn’t.

            Feeling my face grow hot, I looked to the cashier for help.  I opened my mouth to begin to explain when I realized what a waste of time that would be.  Instead I put my energies in hauling my already tardy rear end back across the store to Susan.

Yep, I knew Caroline was going to murder me.

            “My cake is misspelled,” I explained to Susan hastily, setting the cake on the counter and opening the lid. 

            Susan frowned a little.  “What’s misspelled?”
            I stared at her for a good two seconds, thunderstruck.  “Um, my niece and nephew are Mandy and Adam.  That says Manby and Abam.”

            “It looks fine to me—oh,” came Susan’s reply. 

Oh? What does oh mean?

“I’m a little dyslexic,” Susan explained simply, turning up her food coloring stained hands.  She bobbed her head approvingly. 

I take it my reaction, one of  dumbstruck bewilderment, wasn’t on par with what she was going for so she elaborated. 

“I sometimes mix up my ds and bs.”

You think? I wanted to ask how she got hired to be a cake decorator in the first place, but thought better of it.  Time was of the essence, after all. 

“Okay, well do you think you can fix it or is there someone else here who can? I really need this cake like now.”  I glanced around, hoping that maybe someone else was privy to what was happening.  It was just me and Susan. 

            “I’ll have to take it in the back really quickly,” Susan explained before disappearing. 

            I checked my watch, it was ten-til and I was at least that far away.  I tapped my foot impatiently and clenched my hand around the receipt.  At least I didn’t have to stand in line again. 

            “That should be better,” Susan announced brightly. 

            It was. 

            At 12:10 I came bursting across the grass to the park pavillion, Mandy and Adam’s cake in tow.  I had broken a fair number of traffic laws, but I made it.  

            There was Caroline, standing with her arms crossed near a wooden pillar and surveying the kids crowded around the picnic table.  She noticed me and her body flailed into action.  She started towards me but before she could ask or say anything, I beat her to it. 

            “Gawd, you will never believe what just happened.”