The first stop was Kalia’s house. Kalia was only two, so she couldn’t read The Flipping Pancake, but Kalia had parents. Both Kalia’s parents were named Jean, which Bean thought was hilarious. Jean the girl answered the door.
“Hi, Bean,” she said. “What can I do for you?” A terrible scream came from upstairs.
“Is that Kalia?” asked Ivy.
“Is she okay?” asked Bean.
“She’s fine,” said Jean. “She’s napping.”
Bean cleared her throat. It was time for her speech. “Hello, I’m Bean,” she said. Another terrible scream rang through the house. Bean talked louder. “Would you like to know the latest exciting news about Pancake Court? For only one dollar, you can get one thrilling issue of The Flipping Pancake. And you’ll be helping to keep two neighborhood children off the streets.” She smiled at Jean with all her teeth, just like the people on television.
“All for the bargain price of one dollar,” said Ivy. That was her part.
Upstairs, something heavy crashed to the floor.
Together, Ivy and Bean began to sing, “Get the news of Pancake Court! Pancake Court! Pancake Court! All the news of Pancake Court! For! Only! A dollar!” Ads on television usually had songs.
“Sure.” Jean was looking at the ceiling. “Sure. A dollar. Hang on a sec!” She zipped down the hall. Ivy and Bean waited on the doorstep, listening to something hit a wall and break into lots of pieces. Jean zipped back. “Great! Here!” She handed Ivy a dollar just as the next scream blazed through the house. “Bye!” she said, shutting the door. They heard her running up the stairs.
“Wow. Aren’t you glad we decided not to babysit?” said Bean.
Ivy nodded and stuck the dollar in her pocket. “One dollar down, nine to go.”
The next house was Mrs. Trantz’s. Mrs. Trantz’s yard had sparkly white stones and big silver bubbles and teeny fences around every rosebush. It looked like someone nice lived there, but that was a big lie. If Bean even so much as put one foot on Mrs. Trantz’s pink front path, Mrs. Trantz whipped out the front door and started yelling.
“Forget it. Not worth it,” said Ivy.
Bean nodded. Whew.
They moved on to Jake the Teenager’s house. Jake the Teenager was in the garage beside his house. They knew he was in there because loud music with bad words in it was leaking out of the garage windows. Jake the Teenager didn’t seem like the type to be interested in The Flipping Pancake, so Ivy and Bean didn’t go to the garage. They went to the front door of the house. Bean was surprised that Jake the Teenager’s dad heard the doorbell over the music, but he did. Bean hollered her speech as loud as she could, and Jake the Teenager’s dad nodded and smiled. But just when Ivy was about to say “All for the bargain price of one dollar!” a really amazingly bad word came flying out of the garage, and she lost her mind. “Give us some money!” she screeched.
Jake the Teenager’s dad nodded very fast and pulled three dollars out of his pocket. “Go, go!” he bellowed. “Run away!” He waved his hands, shooing them away before they could hear any more bad words. They didn’t even get to do their song.
When they got down to the sidewalk, Bean looked at the three dollars. “Do we have to give him three copies of The Flipping Pancake?”
“No,” said Ivy. She thought. “I think he gave us extra to forget that bad word.”
“It’s working!” said Bean. “I can’t even remember it.”
Ivy and Bean looked at each other and giggled.
After Jake the Teenager’s house came Fester the dog’s house. No one was home but Fester. He howled when they rang the doorbell, but he couldn’t answer.
Next, Ruby and Trevor’s mother gave them a dollar before Bean had even finished her speech. Of course Ivy’s mother subscribed. She paid for two copies. Katy and Liana’s father said he’d always wanted to know what was going on in Pancake Court.
At Dino and Crummy Matt’s house, their mother said she wished that her children were so hard working. She said it really loud, so Dino and Crummy Matt could hear her over their video game. Ivy and Bean smiled modestly as she handed them a dollar.
It was easy, giving speeches, singing songs, taking money. It was easy and fun. “I don’t know why my mom and dad complain about going to work,” said Bean as they left Mr. Columbi’s house. “It doesn’t seem like such a big deal to me.”
“Careful of the car!” yelled Mr. Columbi from his front porch. He was always worried about his car.
Bean waved and smiled and stuffed Mr. Columbi’s dollar in her pocket.
“I bet we could make even more money,” said Ivy, looking at Sophie W.’s house.
“Why? We have ten dollars. That’s enough for two bags of Belldeloon cheese,” Bean pointed out.
“I guess you’re right,” said Ivy. “We don’t want to get worn out.”
