WHERE'S CHERRY SODA? - Excerpt
Chapter 1: Braxton Hicks and His Horses
Cherie Soderbergh was first called Cherry by her little brother when he was two and she was four. The name stuck and from that point forward she was known as Cherry Soda. Her flaming red hair only emphasized how apt the nick-name was. She could live with the name and her flaming red hair; that was okay. What she didn’t like was the fact that her nick-name applied also to her extremely thick glasses. Kids with really bad eyesight often wore lenses that were so thick they were called “coke bottle” glasses because they resembled the thick bottom of old glass soda bottles. Those were the kind Cherry had. Her eyesight was so bad and her lenses so thick that without them she was virtually blind.
Her glasses were once again the target of bullying while on her way to school one day. Cherry was walking by herself, halfway to school and totally unaware of the kid twice her size sneaking up behind her. Braxton Hicks was a mean kid with a square head and squinchy eyes. He and his two idiot friends saw her and came up quietly from behind. The square-headed Braxton suddenly rushed forward and yanked the thick glasses off Cherry’s face. Everything went completely blurry.
“Hey Cherry, I have your glasses!” The squinchy-eyed kid taunted. He held her glasses in front of her just out of reach. “If you find me, I’ll give them back to you.”
Braxton’s two friends were as mean and nasty as he was. These two dim-witted boys had looks of frozen stupidity on their faces, like they were always trying to figure something out, except when they were helping Braxton terrorize another kid; then their faces just looked plain mean.
They were identical twins named Melvin and Marvin Karp and they laughed at everything Braxton did. They had big buck teeth and thick lips and when they laughed they looked sort of like horses whinnying. They both had long stringy brown hair and always wore matching shirts. To Cherry they reminded her of a pair of horses that didn’t feel very well. They even egged Braxton on as he pranced in front of Cherry holding out her glasses.
“I don’t need to see you Braxton to find you. All I have to do is follow the rancid stench.” Cherry had learned the words rancid stench just the other day and was happy to have an opportunity to use them in proper context.
“Rancid stench?” Braxton wondered. “Does that mean I stink?”
“No, it means you smell like an old sock covered in dog poop that you keep up your armpit!”
Cherry could tell by the silence (the boys were just blurs to her right now) that she had probably gone too far. Braxton was really mad. The two horse-boy-blurs moved away from the Braxton blur just a little and their laughing stopped suddenly. No one talked like that to the bully of Sunrise Elementary without paying a very high price for her bravery.
Braxton shoved Cherry forcefully. She fell backward and hit her head hard on the sidewalk.
“Oh!” she yelped. She wanted to cry, but held back not willing to give him the satisfaction.
The bully reached over to a small puddle in a neighboring yard and pulled out a handful of dripping mud. This he forcefully rubbed into Cherry’s face, covering her mouth and nose and eyes.
“How well can you smell with mud up your nose Cherry Pit?”
Braxton’s evil chuckle sounded like he had sinus problems, laughing like a sinister Nazi fromRaiders of the Lost Ark. Melvin and Marvin hee-hawed like Braxton’s personal backup singers – that snorted a lot. It was odd, but there was something about the sound of their laughter that made her feel sorry for them.
“Ooh!” Cherry wrinkled up her mud-covered nose. She stood up and wiped the glop from her eyes. She then reached out blindly in front of her. She staggered forward, took a long lingering sniff and then reacted as if something smelled so horrible it was causing her to gag. She went as far as to grab her stomach and cover her mouth a couple of times.
“Did your dead grandmother’s butt just explode? What is that smell? Whatever it is, it’s making me sick.”
Cherry had managed to move in front of the Braxton blur. Though shorter than Braxton, she defiantly looked to where she thought his eyes must be. She reached out a hand like she was completely blind and felt his chest. She then brought her hand to her nose and began fake gag again.
“Oh, I’m sorry, my mistake. That butt smell’s just you Braxton.”
Involuntarily Melvin barked a chuckle which instantly surprised him. He quickly stifled it and looked guiltily at Braxton – who punched him solidly in the stomach for his momentary weakness.
“You are so dead, Cherry!” Braxton bellowed. He had grown redder than either of his friends had ever seen him. He was preparing to hit Cherry, hard, but glimpsed over the blind girl’s head at some sixth graders coming around the corner. He tossed Cherry’s glasses on the ground in front of her. He thought about stepping on them, but instead kicked them far beyond her reach.
“Maybe you can smell your way to school, Cherry Pit. You stink like a …stink bug!” Though not clever at all, Braxton’s back up horses laughed as if their friend had really burned her bad with that insult. Then they rushed off toward Sunrise Elementary, Melvin holding his stomach struggled to keep up.
On her hands and knees Cherry crawled forward to where she’d thought the glasses had landed. The thought of Thelma from Scooby-Doo, going through this same experience popped into head. She loved the show Scooby-Doo. She had her own mystery solving club calledInvisible Eyes. She called it that because they saw everything but the people they spied had no idea they were being watched. They were invisible eyes: always watching but never seen.
Invisible Eyes was actually just her best friend JJ and herself. But they had regular meetings in her hut – dad’s backyard shed – every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. They hadn’t yet solved any cases, except for the one time they tracked down Cherry’s mother’s wedding ring. Other than that they had gathered lots of clues and had many cases that were now open.
Cherry’s hand came across the familiar frames and she put her glasses back on. Ah, to see again was wonderful! The group of kids who’d come around the corner had now passed by. Cherry ran and caught up with them. She scraped the remaining mud from her face and hung at the back of their group as if she was one of them.
Cherie Soderbergh was first called Cherry by her little brother when he was two and she was four. The name stuck and from that point forward she was known as Cherry Soda. Her flaming red hair only emphasized how apt the nick-name was. She could live with the name and her flaming red hair; that was okay. What she didn’t like was the fact that her nick-name applied also to her extremely thick glasses. Kids with really bad eyesight often wore lenses that were so thick they were called “coke bottle” glasses because they resembled the thick bottom of old glass soda bottles. Those were the kind Cherry had. Her eyesight was so bad and her lenses so thick that without them she was virtually blind.
Her glasses were once again the target of bullying while on her way to school one day. Cherry was walking by herself, halfway to school and totally unaware of the kid twice her size sneaking up behind her. Braxton Hicks was a mean kid with a square head and squinchy eyes. He and his two idiot friends saw her and came up quietly from behind. The square-headed Braxton suddenly rushed forward and yanked the thick glasses off Cherry’s face. Everything went completely blurry.
“Hey Cherry, I have your glasses!” The squinchy-eyed kid taunted. He held her glasses in front of her just out of reach. “If you find me, I’ll give them back to you.”
Braxton’s two friends were as mean and nasty as he was. These two dim-witted boys had looks of frozen stupidity on their faces, like they were always trying to figure something out, except when they were helping Braxton terrorize another kid; then their faces just looked plain mean.
They were identical twins named Melvin and Marvin Karp and they laughed at everything Braxton did. They had big buck teeth and thick lips and when they laughed they looked sort of like horses whinnying. They both had long stringy brown hair and always wore matching shirts. To Cherry they reminded her of a pair of horses that didn’t feel very well. They even egged Braxton on as he pranced in front of Cherry holding out her glasses.
“I don’t need to see you Braxton to find you. All I have to do is follow the rancid stench.” Cherry had learned the words rancid stench just the other day and was happy to have an opportunity to use them in proper context.
“Rancid stench?” Braxton wondered. “Does that mean I stink?”
“No, it means you smell like an old sock covered in dog poop that you keep up your armpit!”
Cherry could tell by the silence (the boys were just blurs to her right now) that she had probably gone too far. Braxton was really mad. The two horse-boy-blurs moved away from the Braxton blur just a little and their laughing stopped suddenly. No one talked like that to the bully of Sunrise Elementary without paying a very high price for her bravery.
Braxton shoved Cherry forcefully. She fell backward and hit her head hard on the sidewalk.
“Oh!” she yelped. She wanted to cry, but held back not willing to give him the satisfaction.
The bully reached over to a small puddle in a neighboring yard and pulled out a handful of dripping mud. This he forcefully rubbed into Cherry’s face, covering her mouth and nose and eyes.
“How well can you smell with mud up your nose Cherry Pit?”
Braxton’s evil chuckle sounded like he had sinus problems, laughing like a sinister Nazi fromRaiders of the Lost Ark. Melvin and Marvin hee-hawed like Braxton’s personal backup singers – that snorted a lot. It was odd, but there was something about the sound of their laughter that made her feel sorry for them.
“Ooh!” Cherry wrinkled up her mud-covered nose. She stood up and wiped the glop from her eyes. She then reached out blindly in front of her. She staggered forward, took a long lingering sniff and then reacted as if something smelled so horrible it was causing her to gag. She went as far as to grab her stomach and cover her mouth a couple of times.
“Did your dead grandmother’s butt just explode? What is that smell? Whatever it is, it’s making me sick.”
Cherry had managed to move in front of the Braxton blur. Though shorter than Braxton, she defiantly looked to where she thought his eyes must be. She reached out a hand like she was completely blind and felt his chest. She then brought her hand to her nose and began fake gag again.
“Oh, I’m sorry, my mistake. That butt smell’s just you Braxton.”
Involuntarily Melvin barked a chuckle which instantly surprised him. He quickly stifled it and looked guiltily at Braxton – who punched him solidly in the stomach for his momentary weakness.
“You are so dead, Cherry!” Braxton bellowed. He had grown redder than either of his friends had ever seen him. He was preparing to hit Cherry, hard, but glimpsed over the blind girl’s head at some sixth graders coming around the corner. He tossed Cherry’s glasses on the ground in front of her. He thought about stepping on them, but instead kicked them far beyond her reach.
“Maybe you can smell your way to school, Cherry Pit. You stink like a …stink bug!” Though not clever at all, Braxton’s back up horses laughed as if their friend had really burned her bad with that insult. Then they rushed off toward Sunrise Elementary, Melvin holding his stomach struggled to keep up.
On her hands and knees Cherry crawled forward to where she’d thought the glasses had landed. The thought of Thelma from Scooby-Doo, going through this same experience popped into head. She loved the show Scooby-Doo. She had her own mystery solving club calledInvisible Eyes. She called it that because they saw everything but the people they spied had no idea they were being watched. They were invisible eyes: always watching but never seen.
Invisible Eyes was actually just her best friend JJ and herself. But they had regular meetings in her hut – dad’s backyard shed – every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. They hadn’t yet solved any cases, except for the one time they tracked down Cherry’s mother’s wedding ring. Other than that they had gathered lots of clues and had many cases that were now open.
Cherry’s hand came across the familiar frames and she put her glasses back on. Ah, to see again was wonderful! The group of kids who’d come around the corner had now passed by. Cherry ran and caught up with them. She scraped the remaining mud from her face and hung at the back of their group as if she was one of them.