Still, I treasured the memory of those words until the last bell rang.
After that, though, my thoughts drifted back to biscuits and wishing. Once food and heat were taken care of, how would it be to step out some? I confess I took some pleasure in daydreaming that I, Genuine Sweet, might mend some great catastroke with the mere flick of a wish. Wouldn’t it be a marvel to hear someone say, That Genuine sure did save the day with that wish fetching of hers! Dangerous Dale Sweet’s daughter made good after all! And maybe Sonny would be there, and might reply, I don’t know what this town would do without her!
“Genuine! You won’t believe this! Look!” A friendly hand shook the latest Sass Settee under my nose.
Jura found me standing outside Sass Foods, contemplating whether I had enough lost-and-found change to buy a chicken breast for Gram to fix with supper.
“Jura! Hey!” I stuffed the money into my pocket. “I haven’t seen you for a couple days! How’s things?”
“Look!” she repeated, all jiggles and grins.
I took the paper from her. She’d circled an ad with a waxy black line. It read, Help Wanted, Auto Mechanic, must have experience with foreign cars.
“All . . . right,” I said, waiting for Jura to explain.
“That’s my mom! That’s what my mom does! She fixes cars!” Jura fairly trembled with excitement. “I decided you were right. If I’m going to stay in Sass, I have to stay informed. So, when the new Settee came out today, I picked one up. And there it was!” She poked the page so hard I thought she’d put her finger through it.
“I called my mom and told her about the ad and she called the garage and they had this whole huge talk on the phone and—” She paused to gasp for breath. “I just know they want to hire her! I can feel it in my bones!”
I couldn’t help noticing the double thump of my own heartbeat as I watched a real wish—a wish that I had fetched—get fulfilled right before my eyes.
“Does she, uh, know much about foreign cars?” I asked a little nervously.
Jura nodded wildly. “Japanese cars. German cars. She even has a Fisk Certificate!”
“What’s that?”
“It says she can repair these new cars from Norway. They don’t even hit the market until January. They’re gonna be huge. And my mom’s only one of a hundred people in the whole country that knows how to fix them. Bet you people from all over will be coming to Sass, Georgia, to get their Fisks fixed!”
By now, I was hoppingly excited myself. “And you won’t have to go back to your old school!” I exclaimed.
She rolled her eyes with the bliss of it. “I know! I’m really free! Plus, my aunt Trish—I’ve never seen her so happy!” Jura said. “Oh, Genuine, it’s so crazy. I didn’t even dare to hope for it. I mean, look at this paper. There’s two job openings in all of Sass—the mechanic one and a security job at the retirement home. What are the chances, you know?”
“I’m just pitched for you, Jura.” And I meant it. Her happiness was contagious.
“This is a sign, Genuine. You and me, we’re gonna be unstoppable! I can’t wait to see what we’ll do next!” Jura took my hands and pulled me into a big hug.
Let me tell you, there is nothing like the feeling you get when you’ve really helped somebody. Nothing could douse my smile!
Turned out I didn’t have enough for that chicken breast, but I practically danced home anyway.
Principles are all well and good, but when I got home and found Gram fretting over an overdue bill—second notice—I sank down to earth right quick.
There was no avoiding it. It was time for me to set up shop.
I took three wish biscuits and headed to Miss Faye’s Hair, Nails, Beauty Supply, and Leatherworks. Faye, a relative of my pa’s, was a big woman, always smiling. I liked her very much.
“Hey, cuz!” I called, swinging the door open wide.
It takes new customers a little time to get used to the mash of odors at Faye’s—nail-polish remover and hide-tanning formula—but I was long used to it. I quick-glanced around to get a feel for my audience. Three local ladies sat under those helmet-style hair dryers, cackling over a little he-said, she-said. Another soaked her nails.
Faye looked up from the leather she was stitching. “Genuine! What brings you to my fine establishment?”
She was busy, so I got right down to it. “I’m sort of starting a business, and I thought you might let me make an announcement to your customers.”
“Shore! What sort of business?”
“Wish fetching,” I replied.
“What’s that?”
“You know, granting people’s wishes,” I explained.
Her smile fell a little as she tried to puzzle this out. “You mean, like doing their chores when they’s too busy?”
“No. Like, ‘I wish I may, I wish I might.’ Ping! Wish granted.”
Faye nodded slowly. “That’s an interesting line of work you’ve chosen.”
I would not be deterred. “So, can I? Make my announcement?”
“Be my guest! They sure ain’t goin’ nowhere!” she told me, smiling again. “You sure you wouldn’t rather sell hand-wove potholders, though?”
Figuring some things only suffer by explanation, I left to fetch a box from the supply room. Setting it in the center of the salon, I gave Faye a nod.
“Y’all listen up!” Faye called from the nail station, where she was now trimming Missus Binset’s cuticles. “Genuine’s got something to say!”
The ladies’ jawing died down. Three pink-rollered heads turned my way.
I hopped up on my box. “Thank you for your, uh, allowing me to interrupt your, uh, fancifying regimens.”
“Probably taking up a collection for her daddy’s bail,” I heard one of them whisper.
I felt my cheeks turn red.