Free Pizza Bagels

Free Pizza Bagels
by
Raman Jalota

   Cathy jumped with joy as her mother handed her the coupon.
   “Really Mom, this is for a free bagel?”
   “No, even better ... it’s for a free pizza bagel.”
   “Yay!” She danced around the room and high-fived her mom. “How did you get it?”
   “One of my friends at work emailed me a link to a website from where I printed it.”
   “On the Internet, Mom?”
   “Yes, Honey. Isn’t this great?”
   “But Mom, you tell me not to use the Internet every time I get on the computer. My friend Nancy she uses it to talk to other kids. Why can’t I do that also, Mom?”
   “Nancy does that?”
   “Yes.”
   “But she is just seven years old, isn’t she?”
   “Yes Mom, seven years old, just like me.”
   “Well, maybe her parents are not very careful. I don’t want you to use the Internet until you are ten. Okay?”
   “That’s not fair. Why can others use it now and I have to wait?”
   “Let’s talk about it some other time. Okay Honey? You do like bagels, right?”
   “Yes Mom, I love bagels, especially the pizza bagels. And you?”
   “Same here, Honey. And I love the price the most - Free!” They laughed.
   “Can I go there right now, Mom?”
   “No, Honey. You will spoil your appetite. Why don’t we go there tomorrow for lunch. How’s that?”
   “Okay, but this coupon says it is for one pizza bagel only. Do we have to pay for the other one?”
   “No Cathy, I will print another one for me and we can both have a great lunch for the price of a pop.”
   “How will you get another one, mom?”
   “Oh! I will just print another copy of the coupon from the internet. You know from the email that I got.”
   “But I don’t understand it. I thought you had only one.”
   “Yes, but it’s very easy to print another copy. Don’t worry about it, Honey. We will have a great lunch tomorrow.”
   “Yay!”

.....

   All day Cathy talked about the pizza bagel she was going to have the next day. She played in her backyard and then went to the park with the neighbor’s children and kept talking about the wonderful treat she was going to have. Since she had been a good girl all day, her mom even let her speak to her friend Nancy on the phone late that evening.
   “Hey, Nancy.”
   “Hey you.”
   “Guess what?”
   “You got a new bike?”
   “Ha ha.... No.”
   “You got an Ipod?”
   “Ha ha.... what’s an Ipod ... is it like a peapod?”
   They giggled for a while.
   “Hey Nancy. I am going to have a pizza bagel tomorrow.”
   “Neat. Who is taking you?”
   “My mom. She got free coupons and so we will have free pizza bagels tomorrow, yay.”
   “Maybe my mom will let me go too. Hang on.”
   Nancy came back to the phone, “No my mom won’t let me go. Can you tell her your mom is taking you, maybe then she will.”
   “Okay.”
   Nancy’s mother got on the phone with Cathy.
   “Hi Cathy, how are you?”
   “Good. Um ... can Nancy come with us for free pizza bagels tomorrow?”
   “Who is taking you?”
   “My mom.”
   “Hmm ... Cathy tell me, how come the bagels are free?”
   “My mom got some coupons from the Internet.”
   “Let me speak to your mom. Okay?”
   And so the plan was hatched. Her mom will print another coupon and they will drive to Nancy’s house, pick her up and then go to the bagel shop. Cathy was so excited, she almost couldn’t sleep.

.....

   Cathy was ready to go at nine o’ clock the next day. However, Mom was still getting ready and not quite prepared to have lunch that early. She printed three more copies of the coupon figuring to have an extra bagel for a snack later on.
   Around 12.30 they were ready to go. Cathy was very impatient. She was running around muttering, “Pizza bagel, pizza bagel”. And making songs about the free pizza bagels. They drove to Nancy’s house and the two mothers chatted for a few minutes. Nancy got in their car and they started driving to the bagel shop. Nancy tapped Cathy on the shoulder.
   “Guess what my mom gave me?”
   “A peapod! Ha ha ..”
   The girls started giggling. Nancy pulled out a ten dollar bill from her pocket and showed it to Cathy.
   “Mom, Nancy has ten dollars. Can I have some money too?”
   Cathy’s mom didn’t like this new development. She asked her, “Did your mom give you the ten dollars Nancy?”
   “Yeah.”
   “What for honey, the bagels are free?”
   “She said for pop or something else if we wanted it.”
   “Oh okay. Cathy, I think you shouldn’t have much money at this age. We can talk about it later, okay?”
   Cathy knew what her mother would say before her mom said it. She nodded. As they crossed City Park, Cathy and Nancy started singing, making up words as they went along.

   We are going to get pizza bagels
   We are going to get free bagels
   We are going to get pizza bagels
   But I am going to get a different pizza, I mean bagel - Nancy added.

   Cathy’s mom cautioned them. “Hey kids. I think the coupons are only good for pizza bagels and not every bagel in the store, but we can ask them at the store. Okay?”
   The girls giggled and started their song again.

   We are going to get pizza bagels
   We are going to get free bagels
   We are going to get free pizza bagels
   And maybe some other kinda bagel for Nancy
   And we are gonna have so much fun!

   They finally reached the bagel shop and walked in. Cathy’s mom handed the clerk the four coupons and said, “We would like to get three pizza bagels and can we get a different kind for her? Nancy ... Nancy what kind do you want?”
   As she was trying to help Nancy decide, the clerk pointed to a notice on the counter.
   “I am sorry ma’am that coupon is not valid here.”
   “What? What do you mean not valid?”
   She picked up the plastic stand with the notice on it and started to read. She didn’t like what she read. The kids could tell by the frown on her face. She turned to the kids, “Listen, there is a slight problem here. The coupons were not meant for every store and they are not valid here. They were only valid for a short time anyway. Someone sent those to me and maybe they didn’t know that these were not okay.”
   “What Mom? What does that mean?”
   “Well kiddos! Like they say ... Houston, we have a problem.”
   “Mom, what’s wrong?”
   “Listen Honey, we need to think about it.” She looked at the wall with the different types of bagels and their prices and the combo deals and thought about it. She made up her mind.
   “Never mind the problem. We will buy our lunch and talk about it. Okay?”
   They ordered their bagels and pops and sat down at one of the tables to wait for their order. Cathy stood by her mother’s chair, “So, what happened? Why do we have to pay for these?”
   Cathy’s mom thought for a while, measuring her words carefully, “Listen, there are all kinds of people in this world. Some are good, some are bad. Some are trying to be good and some are trying to be bad. Sometimes even when people are trying to be good or do good, they end up doing something wrong. It doesn’t mean that they are bad, it just means that they have made a mistake and you have to accept it as what it is. Something meant to be good, didn’t turn out to be good but the person doing it is still good. Understand?”
   “Yes, Mom .. But ...” The bagels arrived and everyone started eating. They enjoyed their lunch, laughing and giggling and started on their way back home.
   In the car they talked a little more. There was more giggling and then Nancy said, “Maam, can Cathy come to our house this Saturday. We are going to have pizza.”
   “Are you having other children over also, Nancy?”
   “Yes, we are having a small party. Can she come?”
   “Okay, I will bring her over. What time is the party?”
   The girls started giggling in the car and then they started singing.

   We are going to get pizzas
   We are going to get free pizzas
   We are going to get buy one get one free pizza
   And we are gonna have so much fun!

The End      1442 words

Copyright © 2004 Raman Jalota. All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

Raman Jalota's Stories