The Cake Lesson

The Cake Lesson

“It’s not safe there,” Janice said.

“Excuse me?”

“Is that the cake you want to serve after your lunch with the library club, Mom?”

“Yes.”

“You can’t leave it there.”

“It doesn’t need refrigeration, it said so on the box.”

I’m not talking about refrigeration. You haven’t lived with us long enough to know, you need another kind of protection.

You don’t mean ants do you?

“No. We have a bigger problem.”

“Termites?!”

“NO! Jeremy.”

“Jeremy’s a good boy. I already told him he can’t touch it. I’ll try to save him some.” Grandma said confidently.

“You haven’t lived with Jeremy very long, Mom.”

“What are you saying?”

“When you bought that cake, did it have stripes in the frosting down the sides?”

“No.” Grandma said, confused as she saw the lines down the sides now.

“Jeremy probably did it with a spoon, because you told him he couldn’t ‘touch’ it. He tries very hard to be good.”

“Well, it looks like they were already there. The club members probably won’t even notice.”

“See that flower arrangement on top, it looks like it’s elevated a bit?”

“Yes, it’s so you can take it off before you cut the cake and keep it as a decoration!”

Mom gently picked it up. Underneath was a hole about two spoons deep. “Unless you want this to continue you need to move this cake to somewhere less convenient.”

“Where do you suggest?”

“Top shelf, dish cabinet. It always works for us.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“Since he could reach things. He just wants what he wants. He’s not trying to be sneaky, he won’t break the rules, he just has a way of bending them that’s hard to anticipate.”

“Smart little bugger isn’t he.”

“Some say he takes after his grandmother...