Sweet Victory

by Sheryl Berk

  Tyler and Corey began carrying boxes out to Tyler’s car. “We’ll take this batch over to the high school and sell them there,” he said.

  “That’s really nice of you,” Sadie said. “I’ve never seen you volunteer for any cause before.”

  “That’s ’cause this cause is about Coach Walsh—and she taught me everything I know about b-ball. I’ll sell one thousand easy.”

  “Okay, that leaves us just 6,608 cupcakes to sell today and tomorrow at Blakely,” Kylie said. “You think we can do it?”

  “Por supuesto, of course,” Jenna said. “Especially my amazing jelly doughnut cupcakes.” She opened the lid of a box to let Sadie’s brothers take a whiff.

  “Is that powdered sugar I see?” Corey’s eyes lit up.

  “And wait till you taste the raspberry coulis filling,” Sadie bragged.

  “I don’t know what cool-ee is but it sounds cool to me,” Tyler replied.

  “It’s like a raspberry sauce you make from heating fresh raspberries and sugar,” Jenna explained. “Delicioso.”

  “Yum,” Corey said. “Hand one over.”

  “Not so fast,” Sadie said, slamming the lid shut. “That’ll be five dollars, please. These are cupcakes for a cause.”

  Corey took a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet. “I’ll be eating at least two more on the drive over to school. Keep the change.”

  Tyler took a twenty-dollar bill out of his jeans pocket. “Here. I’ll take one, and you can keep the rest of the money. Like I said, anything for Coach.”

  Sadie was touched. She hoped everyone who bought their cupcakes would be equally kind and generous. “Thanks,” she said, handing her brothers a box. “You guys can have these all to yourself. Just sell the rest—we didn’t make too many extras.”

  When they unloaded Sadie’s dad’s truck early in the morning at Blakely, Principal Fontina was already waiting.

  “We’ve set up tables inside the rotunda and outside in the yard,” she informed the girls. “And all the girls on the Blakely Bears basketball team volunteered to stand in front of the school’s main doors and sell as well. I’ve also called the local press so we’ll get people coming in and buying all day.”

  “This is amazing,” Sadie said. “We’re gonna sell a ton!”

  “We should make an announcement over the loudspeaker,” Principal Fontina continued. “Just as the parents and kids are arriving so they know what this is all about. Sadie, would you like to do the honors?”

  Sadie’s cheeks flushed. “Me? You want me to say something to all those people?”

  “I think you could put it much more eloquently than I could,” her principal replied. “Besides, you organized this entire bake sale. I think Blakely should understand how important it is.”

  “Go ahead, chica.” Jenna gave her a little shove. “You can do it.”

  A few minutes later, as the crowds started pouring in, Sadie followed Principal Fontina into her office. She watched as the principal flipped a switch and a loud chime sounded.

  “Good morning, girls and boys and parents. May I have your attention, please?”

  She handed Sadie the microphone. “It’s all yours.”

  Sadie took a deep breath. “Hi, um, this is Sadie Harris. I wanted to tell you about a really important fund-raiser going on today and tomorrow. It’s to benefit the American Cancer Society. I never knew anyone who had cancer before, but then someone really important to me got it. I hope you will buy a cupcake, or three or four, or a dozen from Peace, Love, and Cupcakes. We’re baking to beat cancer!”

  She handed the mic back to Principal Fontana. “Was that okay?”

  “More than okay. It was wonderful.”

  The rest of the morning, the PLC girls took turns selling cupcakes in between their classes. Sadie had a second-period study hall, so she manned the second shift.

  “The custodial staff would like five dozen, please,” Mr. Mullivan said. He handed Sadie three hundred dollars. “We all chipped in. Please take this and tell Coach we’re rooting for her.”

  When it was Lexi’s turn to sell, the entire Blakely hip-hop squad—led by resident mean girl Meredith Mitchell—stopped by. “We want ten dozen,” she said. “I don’t really like cupcakes, but my daddy gave me this check to treat all the girls.”

  Lexi stared at the number written on it. “Does this say one thousand, five hundred dollars? Really? That’s so nice of you, Meredith!”

  Meredith smirked, “Well, of course it is.” She noticed a photographer with a press pass snapping pictures. “Oh, here, get my good side!” she said, posing for the camera. “And make sure you spell my name right.” Then she handed the boxes to her posse—Abby, Bella, and Emily—to carry as they trailed behind her.

  During lunch, Jenna and Kylie were in charge. “We better sell a lot of cupcakes,” Jenna complained. “It’s chicken nugget day in the cafeteria, and I hate to miss my nuggets.”

  Ms. Shottland, Kylie’s fourth-grade teacher, waved to them. She was leading an entire army of Blakely teachers, administrators, and aides down the hall.

  “We came to buy cupcakes,” she said smiling. “How many can you spare?”

  “Are you kidding?” Kylie said. “As many you want!”

  “How about we’ll each take a dozen—and I think this should cover it.” She handed Kylie an envelope, filled with cash and checks.

  “That’s five thousand dollars—we all chipped in,” another one of her teachers, Ms. Levenharz, said.

  “OMG, that’s más que suficiente!” Jenna replied, counting the bills.

  Dozens of students poured out of the cafeteria next, clutching cash and checks from their parents. A reporter from the New Fairfield Daily News was also there, diligently taking notes and interviewing students and teachers. “I’m going to write a story for tomorrow’s paper,” she told the girls. “Let’s spread the word and get you even more customers.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Kylie said, handing out cupcake after cupcake. “I wonder if we’ll make even more money than we planned.”

  Sadie could barely make it through the crowd to reach them. “This is amazing,” she said. “I wish Coach Walsh could see how much support she has here at Blakely.”

  Herbie snuck up behind them. “Then I think you should go visit her and tell her. She’s expecting us after school tomorrow.”

  • • •

  As promised, the Daily News ran a front-page story that was out Friday morning.

  “Sadie, look. It’s me!” Lexi said, waving the paper in her face. There was a large photo of her handing a box of chocolate-chocolate chip cupcakes to Meredith Mitchell.

  “Lemme see that,” Jenna said, snatching it away. She skimmed the article, where Meredith was quoted as saying, “I did my part for this bake sale, because that’s the kind of person I am.”

  “Ugh, Meredith.” Kylie groaned. “She always has to be in the spotlight, doesn’t she? Even if this sale had nothing to do with her.”

  “It’s okay,” Sadie assured them. “It’s all good. Meredith or no Meredith, this is great publicity.”

  Kylie peeked out the window of the school’s front doors. “OMG, they’re already lining up outside.”

  This time, Ms. Fine, the PTA president, showed up with a group of parent volunteers.

  “We’d like to help,” she said. “You girls have worked so hard! We sent out a blast to all the Blakely parents and alumni, and we expect a huge rush this morning. We’ll fill in for you.”

  “Thank you!” Sadie said, handing over the cash box. “I really can’t miss first-period algebra or I’ll be totally lost.”

  “Leave it to us,” Ms. Fine assured her.

  When Sadie checked back during fourth period, they had to replenish the cupcakes, and there was still a line out the door of Blakely, so long it wrapped around the corner. M
s. Fine was herding people through the doors and collecting donations.

  “People have been amazingly generous,” she told Sadie. “A lady who doesn’t even have a child at Blakely handed me a check for two hundred fifty dollars! She read about the sale in the paper.”

  “Is this all we have left?” one of the parent volunteers shouted.

  Sadie took a quick count of boxes and shouted back, “Thirty-eight dozen remaining!”

  The crowd groaned in disappointment.

  “But I need three dozen for my daughter’s Girl Scout troop,” said one anxious customer.

  “I told my spin class I’d get us at least four dozen,” another lady said.

  Over the next two hours, almost every single cupcake sold, till there was only one box of twelve remaining.

  “I have an idea of how to really make some money,” Sadie said, standing on a chair so everyone could hear her. “Attention, please! We are auctioning off the last dozen cupcakes to one lucky bidder! It’s a great cause, so please open your hearts and your wallets.”

  Ms. Fine followed her lead. “Let’s start the bidding at two hundred dollars. Do I hear two hundred ten?”

  “Two hundred fifty!” came a voice from the back of the line.

  “Three hundred!” yelled another.

  “Five hundred dollars!” said a man in a business suit. “My wife loves your cupcakes!”

  “Six hundred! Seven hundred! Eight hundred!”

  Ms. Fine and Sadie could barely control the crowd’s excitement as the amount climbed higher and higher.

  Finally, one voice boomed louder than the rest: “One thousand, five hundred dollars!” It was Principal Fontina.

  “Do I hear any higher?” Ms. Fine asked. “Going once, going twice, sold! For a thousand, five hundred dollars to Principal Fontina!”

  Sadie handed her the last box of cupcakes. “Thank you so much,” she said. “That’s a lot of money!”

  “I was saving it for a rainy day,” Principal Fontina admitted. “Maybe a spa weekend. But I thought this was probably a better way to spend it.” She took a red velvet cupcake out of the box. “My favorite! This is the most expensive cupcake I’ve ever eaten—and it’s worth every cent I paid.”

  • • •

  At the end of the day, the girls gathered in the teachers’ lounge with Herbie to tally up all the money they’d earned.

  “Don’t forget we still have the Golden Spoon’s weekend sales,” Lexi reminded them. “But Delaney says she and Sophie have already made ten thousand dollars.”

  “Tyler texted me that his high school sold all one thousand cupcakes and made over seven thousand dollars,” Sadie added.

  Herbie jotted down the numbers and tallied them up. He held up the paper and showed Sadie. “I think that’s a pretty impressive number to tell Coach Walsh, don’t you?”

  Sadie had been patient long enough. As much as she hated hospitals, she couldn’t wait to get there. “Come on, Herbie,” she said, pulling on his sleeve. “Let’s go.”

  When Sadie walked into the hospital room, she found Coach Walsh sitting up in bed watching the sports report on the local TV news. She was surrounded by bouquets of flowers, stuffed teddy bears, get-well cards, boxes of chocolates, and balloons—so many that she didn’t even see Sadie and Herbie at the door. Sadie noticed she looked a little tired, and her hair was tucked under a bandanna. But her cheeks were rosy and her eyes lit up as soon as Herbie parted the sea of balloons and waved.

  “Sadie! Herbie! I’m so glad to see you!” Coach Walsh said, smiling. “Please come in.”

  Sadie wanted to ask how she was, but she was too nervous. So Herbie said what she was thinking: “So, how’s the patient doing?”

  “Good,” Coach Walsh said. Sadie studied her face to make sure she wasn’t just trying to be brave. “Really good. The doctors said we caught it early, and they got it all with the surgery. So I can go home tomorrow and I’ll be back to work in a week.”

  “Really?” Sadie exclaimed. “You’re coming back to Blakely?”

  “Unless Herbie is prepared to fight me for it,” Coach Walsh teased.

  “Not a chance,” Herbie said. “The job’s all yours as soon as you want it. I was just keeping it warm for you.”

  Coach Walsh beamed. “I heard about the win over the Coyotes,” she told Sadie. “Coach Keren called me and said one of my coaches was pretty tough on her.”

  Sadie blushed. “Yeah, that was me. I’m sorry. I guess she just rubbed me the wrong way.”

  “As long as you brought me my trophy,” Coach Walsh reminded her.

  “The trophy! I almost forgot!” She pulled a small gold cup out of her backpack. “From our win over the Coyotes.”

  “Next stop, the regional champs,” her coach said. “I hope the team is ready to train hard.”

  “We are,” Sadie insisted. “We’ve already started.”

  “I’ve got them on a tight schedule of drills,” Herbie reported. “And I’ve come up with a new strategy. I call it the ‘Dubois Dunk.’”

  “Can’t wait to see it,” Coach Walsh said, winking at Sadie.

  “I like how you’ve decorated the place.” Herbie tugged on a balloon string.

  “It’s very cheery, but the food is awful,” Coach Walsh replied. “If I never see another cup of yellow Jell-O, it will be too soon.”

  “We brought you something else,” Sadie said, presenting her with a box of cupcakes.

  Coach Walsh opened the lid. “Is this what I think it is?”

  “No holes!” Sadie said.

  “Wow,” the coach replied, taking a big bite. “What do you call it? A cupnut? A doughcake?” She polished off the rest in just two bites.

  “Jenna calls it delicioso,” Sadie recalled.

  “Well, that sums it up,” Coach replied, licking the sugar off her fingers.

  “And we have one more thing,” Sadie said, pulling a check out of her pocket. “We held a fund-raiser at Blakely to beat cancer.”

  Coach nodded. “I saw it on the five o’clock news. Pretty impressive.”

  “So is this.” Herbie gave Sadie a little push. “Show her how much we made.”

  Sadie handed her the check and watched eagerly as her coach’s eyes grew wide. “Sixty-two thousand dollars? Sadie, this is amazing!”

  “I know it’s not millions, but it’s something, right?” Sadie said. “It will help.”

  “Are you kidding?” Coach replied. “Every dollar counts when it comes to cancer research. I can’t believe you did this.”

  “We did it for you,” Sadie said. “And for everyone who is battling cancer. So many people who donated told us about family and friends who were sick.”

  “Well, you know I don’t go down without a fight,” Coach said, winking. “I’ll beat this.”

  Sadie knew that if anyone could, it was Coach Walsh.

  • • •

  The next two weeks flew by, and before she knew it, Sadie was back in her Blakely Bears basketball uniform, dribbling a ball down the court. Even better, Coach Walsh was back blowing her whistle and running the team ragged.

  “Rebound! Rebound!” she shouted. “Sadie, when you see the shot, take it. No holding back!”

  “Yes, Coach!” Sadie called back to her. She tossed the ball but it missed the basket by several inches. She had to admit that she was still a little nervous being back in the game, afraid to injure her foot again. She kept second-guessing herself.

  “Time-out!” Coach Walsh blew her whistle and summoned the girls to the bleachers for a pep talk.

  “Now, I know you all beat the Coyotes and you think you have nothing to worry about,” she said. “Well, that’s ancient history. The teams you’re going to face at regionals are even tougher. This is a whole new ball game, and there is no tiptoeing around the court or being lazy. Do I m
ake myself clear?”

  “Clear!” the team shouted in unison.

  Sadie couldn’t help but smile. It felt great to have her old tough-as-nails coach back, pushing them all to be stronger, smarter, better players.

  “Okay, hit the locker room,” Coach Walsh said, studying her clipboard. “Sadie, you hang back a few minutes.”

  Sadie gulped. Was Coach Walsh going to scold her for being so nervous on the court? For missing that shot? Was she going to tell her she wasn’t ready to play?

  “I have an email for you from Coach Keren,” she said.

  “You do?” This was even worse than being bawled out for a bad practice. The Coyotes’ coach was probably writing to tell her off for being so rude!

  “She heard you had a little cupcake business,” Coach Walsh teased. “And she wants you to bake something for her team to inspire them. I told her you’d be delighted.”

  “Cupcakes? She wants us to make her cupcakes?”

  “And given how you treated her, they’d better be pretty darn good ones. You owe her.” Coach handed her the email. “Like I always say, ‘Make me proud.’”

  • • •

  “Are you sure about this?” Kylie asked, reading the email. “You want to bake cupcakes for your archrivals?”

  “I guess I do kinda owe it to Coach Keren,” Sadie said. “I was really mean to her. And to you. I’m sorry, Kylie.”

  Kylie smiled. “It’s okay, Sadie. I knew you didn’t mean it.”

  “I didn’t. I was just so angry and sad and scared and frustrated… I lost my temper.”

  “I do it all the time with my little brothers,” Jenna piped up. “Like the time they colored on my bedroom wall with crayons and I exploded. My madre calls it ‘la bomba,’ when I get that way—BOOM!”

  “That’s what it felt like,” Sadie admitted. “All these feelings were just bubbling up inside me. I guess I exploded too.”

  “I never lose my cool,” Delaney insisted. “I’m cool as a cucumber.”