Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business Read online

  When he told me that we were going to move to Florida, Dad promised to take me to Disney World. I reminded him of the promise.

  “I’ll take you there when things are less busy at work, sweetie,” he said.

  I knew it meant that we’d probably never go. It made me sad, but it’s not Dad’s fault. He’s always busy, and he worked really hard when we were back in California too. I just wish his boss gave him more breaks.

  The Korean market in Orlando isn’t as big as the one in California. It’s also really old. But it still has all my favorite snacks, like Pepero chocolate sticks, Choco Pie, and shrimp crackers. So it’s okay in my book.

  Today, though, I didn’t go for any of those snacks. I was on a mission. It was time to put part one of Operation Yummy Seaweed Business in motion!

  I ran right for the dried seaweed aisle. Since people like to eat seaweed with all sorts of stuff, there are lots of different kinds of seaweed on the shelves: dried seaweed that you put in soup, salted seaweed that you eat with rice, and large, plain seaweed sheets that you use to wrap kimbap and sushi.

  I grabbed a bunch of spicy seaweed snacks and put them in our shopping basket.

  Dad raised his eyebrows. “This is for school?” he asked.

  I gave him a firm nod. He still looked suspicious but didn’t make me put any back.

  I dropped a few more packs of different-flavored seaweed snacks into the basket too.

  Dad shot me another weird look. “Okay, Mindy, I think you have enough to last you until winter break.”

  I gave Dad a big smile but didn’t say anything.

  After a few more minutes of wandering the store, Dad yawned. “Ready to go, kiddo?”

  I grabbed his hand and gave him my best smile.

  “Yes. Thanks, Appa,” I said.

  He hugged me. “Sure.”

  I glanced back toward the snacks. “Wait, can we get some Choco Pies before we leave?”

  Dad grinned, like he knew I was going to ask him that. He always knows everything.

  He ruffled my hair. “Why not? We need to celebrate your first few days of school anyway.”

  When we got home, we ate our Choco Pies. That night I dreamed of pies, California, and seaweed, and hoped my third day of school would go just how I wanted.

  Chapter 7

  On Wednesday morning, I told Dad to put ten packs of the seaweed into my lunch box.

  “Ten? You will never eat all of those in one day, Mindy,” Dad said.

  “It’s an experiment!” I replied. “Plus, I want to share with some of the kids in my class.”

  It wasn’t a complete lie. Dad sighed, but he stuffed all ten packs of seaweed into my lunch box. Along with the rice and side dishes, my lunch box looked extra full. I was afraid that it might explode and seaweed would fly out everywhere. But it didn’t.

  At school, I sat next to Sally again. She had blue ribbons in her hair today, and they reminded me of the ocean. Mom, Dad, and I loved to go to the beach in California. Even though there was one right by my new school, I didn’t know when I’d be able to go with Dad.

  At lunch, Dill asked, “Do you have any more of that dried seaweed?”

  Sally shot me a look, and I crossed my arms. It was my chance!

  “Yeah, but you have to trade me something for it!” I said.

  He shrugged. “Okay. I have gummy worms. Do you want some?”

  He held up a small baggie of sour gummy worms. They were green apple–flavored. My favorite!

  “Sure! Let’s shake on it.”

  I held out my hand, like I had seen people do on TV. He shook my hand, and then we swapped snacks.

  “Hey,” said a girl with red hair. Her nose was wrinkled, but she held out a bag of Cheetos. “I want to try the seaweed everyone is talking about. Want to trade?”

  “Sure! What’s your name?”

  “Amanda.”

  “Hi, I’m Mindy!”

  I shook hands with her, too.

  Soon a whole line of people had formed to trade snacks with me. I wasn’t sure if I had enough!

  “Wow!” Sally said. “It looks like business is booming!”

  She said it kind of funny, like she was just repeating something she’d heard on TV.

  “Yup, and it’s all thanks to you! Thanks for the idea.”

  “No problem.”

  She gave me a big grin.

  “Hey,” I said. “Do you want some of the snacks everyone gave me? I can’t eat this all by myself!”

  “Sure, thanks!”

  I gave Sally half of my pile of snacks. She grinned, and we happily munched on everything for the rest of lunch.

  The plan was working!

  Chapter 8

  The next day, a line of kids formed in the cafeteria even before I got out my packs of seaweed.

  “Okay,” I said. “Everyone, show me your snacks!”

  I examined the snacks to see which ones were the best. Everyone had pretty good snacks, except the kids with vegetable sticks and vanilla cake. Dad always makes me eat vegetables at home, so there was no way I was going to eat them at school. And vanilla is just gross. Plain and simple.

  When I skipped over the boy with the vanilla cake, he said, “Hey! How come everyone else gets to trade with you except me?”

  “I don’t like vanilla, sorry,” I said. I wasn’t really sorry, but Dad always says it’s polite to apologize when someone is upset. And this boy looked really mad! His face was turning red like a tomato. He looked like he was going to cry.

  I almost told him that he could get the seaweed packs himself at the Korean market. But I didn’t. Because then everyone would hear, and no one would need me to trade snacks with them anymore. I’d have no friends left.

  I decided to ignore him. Maybe he’d just go back to his seat.

  But instead of leaving, the boy stood there, staring angrily at me and the other kids as I traded snacks with them.

  Sally came over to sit next to me.

  “That’s Brandon,” she whispered. “Don’t worry about him. He’s a big baby. No one really likes him.”

  She glared at Brandon until he finally walked back to his table.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “No problem!”

  At recess, Sally and I were on the swings together when she asked, “Did you ever think about selling the seaweed snacks?”

  I almost fell off my swing. “Huh?”

  “I mean, think about it! Everyone loves the snacks a lot. And getting snacks back for them is good, but then you have to eat everything and it’s too much food. What if you ask for money instead?”

  “But what would I do with the money? I don’t need to buy anything.”

  Sally shrugged. “It was just a suggestion. My mom says you have to take advantage of every good business opportunity. She works for a really big company and is always saying that.”

  “Wow, that’s so cool!”

  Sally talking about her mom made me miss my mom. I wished my mom were here to give me good advice too.

  I got off my swing. There were only a few minutes left of recess.

  “Tag, you’re it!” I tapped Sally on the shoulder before breaking into a run.

  “Hey, I wasn’t ready!” Sally protested, but she jumped off her swing and started chasing me anyway.

  She caught me right away, but I wasn’t mad.

  Did I finally have my first real friend at school?

  Chapter 9

  Dad was working late today, so Eunice-unni came over to our house to stay with me. The house was big and scary without Dad, but Eunice-unni brought Oliver the Maltese with her, so it was okay!

  I played fetch with Oliver while Eunice-unni finished her homework. Oliver was so fluffy that whenever he ran, he looked like a bouncing cloud. He was so cute.

  Seeing Oliver run around our house made me want a dog even more. Playing with him made me so happy!

  “Hey, Mindy,” said Eunice-unni. “I’m done with my homework. Wanna walk Oliver a
round the block with me?”

  “Sure!”

  Eunice-unni let me hold Oliver’s leash as we walked around my neighborhood. Compared to my old neighborhood, everything was so green. There were palm trees and bushes everywhere, like in a jungle. My neighbors all had really big yards with tall grass. Back in California, it didn’t rain much, so everything was brown. Florida seemed like a whole different planet!

  Oliver got really muddy from wandering outside. Eunice-unni said it was okay, since we could just wash him in the bathtub.

  “He needed a bath anyway,” she said with a smile.

  Dad didn’t get home until really late. By the time the garage door opened, Eunice-unni and I had already finished bathing Oliver and eaten dinner.

  When he got home, Dad was so tired that he fell asleep on the couch!

  I nudged him softly on the shoulder.

  “Appa,” I said. “Shouldn’t you sleep in your bed?”

  Dad startled awake, but then relaxed when he saw me.

  “Oh, hi, Mindy,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “Yeah, I really should. What time is it?”

  “It’s ten. Can you tuck me into bed?”

  “Oh wow. And I haven’t eaten dinner yet.”

  I gasped. “You didn’t eat dinner at work?”

  “No, I didn’t have time. It’s fine. I’ll grab something later. Come on, sweetie. Let’s go.”

  Dad tucked me in, but I couldn’t sleep because I was too worried. Dad was so tired! And he forgot to eat dinner! What if he got sick like Mom?

  I decided to take matters into my own hands. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but I’ve heard Dad say it before. I think it means doing things yourself.

  After Dad finished eating and went to his room, I got out of bed and tiptoed to the kitchen. I’m not allowed to touch the stove yet, but Dad says I can use the electric kettle to boil water since all you have to do is press the switch. I put water in the kettle and turned it on.

  As the water started to boil, I got on my step stool so I could reach the tea. Dad bought a cute pink step stool with white hearts just for me! With the stool, I could reach for a chamomile tea bag with no problem. Dad likes to drink chamomile tea because he says it helps him relax. I couldn’t wait to surprise him with the tea!

  I carefully carried the mug of tea to Dad’s room. I was about to open the bedroom door when I heard sniffling noises. Dad was crying!

  “Appa!”

  With one hand still clutching the mug, I flung open the door.

  “Mindy!” Dad bolted up from the bed, like I’d caught him doing something wrong. He looked really embarrassed!

  But he was also definitely crying. Ever since Mom died, Dad cries all the time.

  “I made you some tea so you could feel better!” I held out the cup of tea.

  Dad smiled, but he still looked sad. “Thank you, Mindy. That’s really sweet of you. Now please go back to bed. It’s way past your bedtime.”

  “Okay. Good night, Dad.”

  “Good night.” He took a sip of the tea and waved.

  I went back to my room. But even when I was in my bed, I kept thinking about how sad Dad looked. And then I thought about how I always felt better whenever I played with Oliver.

  I wanted to cheer up Dad, but I couldn’t do it alone. Maybe Sally was right. Maybe I could sell my seaweed snacks for money. Then, I could buy a puppy for Dad and me! Since it’s impossible to be sad with a cute puppy around, Dad wouldn’t be so sad and lonely, and I could have the dog I’d always wanted. It’d be like hitting two birds with one stone!

  I snuck downstairs, got Dad’s tablet, and brought it back to my room. Puppies are expensive if you buy them from breeders, but not if you adopt them from a shelter!

  On the Internet, I found a nearby shelter and scrolled through the available dogs. They were all so cute that I couldn’t choose! But they also looked so sad, kind of like Dad.

  Don’t worry! I thought while scrolling through the dog pictures. I’ll adopt one of you guys soon! Then you and Dad can both be happy.

  After a while, I started getting sleepy. I set Dad’s tablet down next to me on the bed and fell asleep, dreaming of cute puppies and Dad’s smiling face.

  Chapter 10

  On Friday, Dad didn’t say anything when I packed dozens of seaweed snacks into my bag. He didn’t say anything at all. I think he was too tired. And sad.

  Don’t worry, Dad! I thought. I’ll get us a puppy real soon!

  During quiet reading time, I went to the back of the classroom. Mrs. Potts looked up from where she was grading worksheets.

  “Mindy?” she said with a frown. “Is everything all right?”

  “Yup!” I gave her a big smile. “I finished my book, so I just wanted to get markers and paper so I could draw, if that’s okay!”

  “Well, all right.”

  She went back to her work, and I got out my box of markers and a piece of paper from my desk.

  “I’m gonna do it!” I whispered to Sally. “Operation Yummy Seaweed Business is a go!”

  Sally whispered back, “That’s great! What are the markers and paper for?”

  “You’ll see!”

  On the paper, I wrote in big letters: SEAWEED SNACKS FOR SALE. ONLY $1 EACH!

  I put a smiley face at the bottom of the paper as a finishing touch.

  “Nice!” Sally said. “It’ll get people’s attention for sure!”

  When it was lunchtime, I opened my lunch box to show everyone my seaweed snacks. Beside me, Sally held up the sign I made.

  “Attention!” I said to the table. “From now on, you can get a seaweed snack for only one dollar each! This is a good deal! Candy from the cafeteria costs at least two dollars.”

  Everyone seemed to think a dollar was a good price. At least, no one complained. Like they had the day before, everyone lined up for a seaweed snack. I didn’t have anywhere to put the dollar bills, so I ended up putting all of them in my lunch box.

  And Sally was right: business was booming!

  Lunch was almost over when Brandon came over to my table. He grinned at me, but not in a nice way.

  “You know it’s against the rules to sell things at school, right?”

  I looked at Sally with wide eyes. She stared back at me. I don’t think she knew that rule either.

  “You’re making it up!” Sally said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

  Brandon stuck his nose in the air. “No, I’m not. I’m telling on you two.”

  He glanced around from left to right. I didn’t have to be a mind reader to know that he was looking for a teacher. Brandon broke into a run.

  “Stop him!” I yelled at Sally.

  Sally chased after Brandon. I wanted to chase Brandon right away too, but I had to make sure the money was safely in my lunch box first.

  We ran as fast as we could across the cafeteria. But it was too late. Before Sally or I could catch him, Brandon ran to Mrs. Potts, who was on lunch duty today.

  Brandon took a big breath.

  “No!” Sally and I both screamed.

  Mrs. Potts looked at us, confused. “Is everything all right, girls?”

  Brandon yelled, “Mrs. Potts! Mindy is selling her seaweed snacks! That’s against the rules!”

  Everyone sitting at the tables around us froze. I gulped. Sally looked pretty scared too.

  Mrs. Potts looked more confused than angry. “Selling her… seaweed snacks? What do you mean, Brandon?”

  “Mindy is selling her weird seaweed snacks for money,” whined Brandon. “She has dollar bills crammed in her lunch box.”

  Mrs. Potts turned to look at me. “Is this true, Mindy?”

  I stared down at my feet. My lips started trembling. All I wanted was to make Dad happy. I didn’t know selling my snacks would get me in trouble.

  “Mindy?” Mrs. Potts tried again. “Can you please look up at me?”

  I did. Mrs. Potts was frowning at me like she had on the first day of school, when she couldn�
��t say my Korean name. Everyone else was staring at me too. Even Sally.

  Suddenly, I was really mad. Why was I the only one getting in trouble, when asking for money wasn’t even my idea in the first place?

  I pointed at Sally. “It was her idea!” I blurted. “I was trading snacks when Sally told me I should ask for money. I didn’t even know it was against the rules! No one told me. I just moved here!”

  It worked. Mrs. Potts looked at Sally, surprised. “Sally? Is this true?”

  Sally’s mouth dropped open. Her eyes got really shiny all of a sudden, like she was about to cry. I felt really bad.

  “I never told you that you should!” Sally yelled at me. “I only suggested it. You didn’t have to ask for money.”

  “You two are both bad!” Brandon interrupted. “You need to get kicked out of school!”

  “What are you even talking about?” Sally yelled at him. “Shut up!”

  “Yeah, Brandon. Be quiet! Why would we get kicked out of school?”

  “Everyone, please!” Mrs. Potts yelled, stopping all of us.

  By then, a big crowd had formed around us to see all the action.

  “Take deep breaths to calm down. Brandon, no one is getting kicked out of school, and you are in trouble too, for running around the cafeteria and causing a commotion.”

  I cheered on the inside.

  “All three of you, walk down to the principal’s office right now. I’ll have to call your parents.”

  “What?” Sally yelled. “Thanks a lot, Mindy.”

  “Why are you blaming me for your idea?”

  “Miss Johnson! Miss Kim! Please go to the principal’s office at once!”

  Oh boy. Mrs. Potts used the last name card. I was really in trouble now.

  I sighed and walked out of the cafeteria with Sally and Brandon.

  Chapter 11