1. Surprise Surprise My name is Venus Washington, and I'm grounded. Well, actually, Mama and Daddy sent me to my bedroom. And my bedroom is upstairs on the second floor of our house. Not the ground floor. So, obviously, it shouldn't be called grounded . Instead it should be called upstairsed . Or second-floored . Or some other word that means "sent to your room for doing absolutely nothing." Well, it wasn't actually nothing. But it still wasn't my fault. Let me explain. Everything started when I came home from school last Friday and walked into the kitchen. Mama, Daddy, and Zion were sitting at the table, and a huge pot was on the stove. "Hi, y'all," I said as I walked over to the stove. "What you making?" "Hey, Vee," Mama answered. "It's a special get-well soup for Grandma. It's the same one my mama made for me when I was your age. You want to taste some?" I shook my head no quick fast. Mama's cooking is bad. Awful. Horrible. Plus, I wasn't gonna taste no soup that was made when Mama was my age. That soup had to be a hundred years old. "No thank you," I said. Daddy smiled. Mama stood up and walked toward the stove to stir her ancient soup. I sat down at the table with Daddy. "Suit yourself," Mama said. "This soup is deeee-licious." That's when I looked at Daddy and pretended to vomit. Zion giggled, and Daddy shook his head. But I knew he wanted to laugh too. He had the tiniest smile ever. Plus, my vomit face is hilarious. "Venus Washington!" Mama yelled real mean. I froze. I had no clue how she even saw me. "How did she see?" I whispered to Daddy. "Your mama sees everything, Vee. She's got eyes in the back of her head. Say sorry," he whispered back. I turned to look at Mama. "I don't see no extra eyes, Daddy." Daddy shook his head again. "Apologize." "Sorry, Mama," I said as she walked back over to the table. "That very old soup doesn't make me want to vomit at all." "It's all right, Vee. But you have to remember to always be polite," she said. "Anyway, I have a surprise for you." Now, I love surprises. But Mama's surprises happen to be the worst surprises in the world. Probably even the galaxy. Like that time she told me she would take me for a manicure. All they did was paint our fingernails. And not one man was cured of anything. Not even a cold. And that other time she told me she had the best surprise ever. It ending up being that I was getting a baby brother. And not a baby rhinoceros. Which was what I really wanted. To be polite, I smiled at Mama. But I shook my head no at the same time. "You'll love this one. I promise," Mama giggled. "Is it a rhino?" I asked, frowning at Zion. Mama and Daddy looked at each other. Then they both stared at me with weird looks on their faces. "Rhi-no-cer-os," I said, real slow. Just in case they didn't know what a rhino was. "No, Venus. We did not buy a rhinoceros for you. You and I are going on a girls' trip," Mama said. "Girls' trip?" I asked. "Are Daddy and Zion coming too?" "Not this time, Vee. It's just you girls," Daddy answered. "But Mama ain't no girl!" I said. "She's old." Daddy and Mama both laughed. But I didn't know what was so funny. I guessed it was because most kids can't wait to be grown-ups. And Mama wanted to turn into a girl again. "Vee, my cousin Ashley is having a baby shower. And we're invited. You'll get to meet a bunch of my family and friends. Plus, it's a chance for you to see where I grew up. It's going to be so much fun!" Mama said. I took a deep breath and stared at Mama. I couldn't believe her surprise was that we would go somewhere to watch a baby take a shower. If I wanted to see a baby bathe, I could watch Zion take a bubble bath. You know why I don't do that? Because it's boring with a capital B . Mama's surprises really are the worst. "Okay, Mama," I said, real sad. "Is that it?" Daddy asked. "Don't you even want to know where you're going?" "Don't tell her," Mama said. "Let it be a surprise." Then she picked up Zion and walked out the kitchen, grinning like a jack-o'-lantern. She looked super suspicious. I wondered what she was hiding. "Daddy, tell me where we're going," I begged. "I can't, Vee. You heard your mama. It's a surprise." "Pleeeease. Just give me a hint." That's when Daddy looked toward the kitchen door. When he saw that nobody was coming, he whispered, "It's somewhere you've always wanted to go." I got super excited. "Mama's from Disney World?" Daddy shook his head. "I'll give you one more hint. It's part of your name." And that's when everything made sense. My name is Venus Washington. And Mama was taking me to where she grew up. A place that was part of my name. The only place where it would be perfectly fine to have eyes in the back of your head. Mama was taking me to Venus! Excerpted from Venus Washington, Eye Spy by Maisha Oso All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. 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