Miss Julia's Gift: A Penguin Special from Viking Read Online Free Page A

beautifully wrapped gift about the size of a bread box. She set it down in front of me. “Mr. Sam, he say this is for the holiday.”
    I looked up at Sam in surprise and some dismay. “What holiday?”
    “I know, Miss Julia,” Little Lloyd said, squirming in his chair with excitement, “I know. It’s Groundhog Day!”
    Hazel Marie looked perplexed. “I thought that was about the weather. I didn’t know you were supposed to give gifts for it.”
    “I didn’t either, Hazel Marie,” I said, wondering what in the world Sam had come up with this time. His gifts ran the gamut from the fairly expensive to something he picked up in the yard. Like a buckeye. I never knew whether I was supposed to lavish gratitude on him or laugh at his wild imagination.
    “Open it, Miss Julia,” Little Lloyd urged. “I can’t wait for you to see it.”
    “Do you know what it is?”
    “Yes’m, I helped pick it out. Hurry so we can all see.”
    So I did, with Lloyd coming around to my chair and Hazel Marie leaning forward and Lillian standing beside me, all of them waiting for my reaction. Which is what I so disliked about getting a gift—everybody waiting to see how surprised, delighted, or disappointed I’ll be. I never liked being the center of so much attention. So uncomfortable, you know.
    Glancing again at Sam’s expectant smile, I untied the bow, opened the box, and pulled out . . . I didn’t know what it was.
    “What is it?” I asked, frowning as I turned the object around. It had the head of a pig—I figured that out right away—but the body was only a rounded lump.
    “It’s a Chia Pet!” Little Lloyd exclaimed, laughing. “See, Miss Julia, you water it and little plants grow all over it. Then it’ll look like a real pig.”
    “Oh,” Hazel Marie said, “it’s so cute.” Then she frowned. “I don’t get it.”
    “I guess I don’t, either,” I said, thinking it might be a joke but not sure enough to actually laugh.
    Little Lloyd jiggled with excitement. “Can I tell ’em, Mr. Sam?”
    “Go right ahead,” Sam said, beaming with pleasure as I studied with, I knew, a perplexed look on my face, the denuded pig.
    “See, Miss Julia,” Little Lloyd said, “it’s a pig because it’s Ground
hog
Day!”
    * * *
    Well, you can see how I was kept off balance by Sam’s gifts, which went from the sublime to the ridiculous—the Chia Pet Pig belonging in the latter category. Nonetheless, it took pride of place on the window sill above the kitchen sink and Lillian took on the care and feeding of it. Actually, it turned out to be quite remarkable and we all enjoyed watching it fill out as it began to bear a vague resemblance to a groundhog—if you already knew what you were looking for.
    * * *
    “Miss Julia?” Little Lloyd stuck his head around the door frame of my bedroom, a hesitant smile on his face.
    “Come on in, honey. I didn’t hear you come up the stairs.”
    He sidled into the room and stood by the desk where I had been balancing my checkbook—a task still new enough for me to enjoy doing. “I was being quiet in case you were resting.”
    “No, just staying abreast of business matters. See, Little Lloyd, a good manager always knows what’s in the bank and what’s in pocket. Never guess and never hope. Always know.” I felt it was incumbent upon me to instruct the child in good management habits, especially where money was concerned, because he would have so much of it when he reached maturity—half, in fact, of Wesley Lloyd’s sizable estate. “Did you have a good day at school?”
    “Yes’m, I guess.” He pushed his glasses up on his nose and took a deep breath. “Uh, Miss Julia, can I ask you something?”
    “Of course you may. What is it?”
    “Well, some of the kids at school are talking about Valentine’s Day and I don’t much know what to do. Because, see, it’s my first year in middle school and none of the teachers have said anything, so I’m thinking it won’t be