Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Chapter 2 Summary

Mr. and Mrs. Juicy-O

  • Peter's dad comes home thrilled one day because Mr. Yarby—the president of Juicy-O, a company that Peter's dad made a commercial for—and his wife are coming to New York City.
  • For some reason, Peter's dad has invited them to stay at their house. This completely baffles Peter's mom, who thinks that they should stay in a hotel.
  • Nonetheless, she fixes up Fudge's room for them, and puts new sheets on the futon. Then she moves Fudge's crib into Peter's room. Great.
  • Peter's not stoked because his brother makes slurping noises and talks in his sleep. Peter offers to sleep in the living room instead, but his parents say that he has to stay in his room.
  • His mother is pretty stressed out getting ready for their guests, so Peter goes to Jimmy Fargo's place to hang out.
  • When he gets back, though, his mom is even more stressed out—she claims that two flowers are missing from the dinner table setting.
  • Peter says he didn't take them, and they look at Fudge, who appears to be chewing on something. When their mom forces Fudge's mouth open, they find that he's eating the flowers. Gross.
  • Peter's mom has to go through the whole hassle of calling the doctor and giving Fudge some medicine for an upset stomach.
  • Before dinner, Fudge gets fed and is reminded that he has to be a good boy for their company. Peter's all excited because he gets to eat with the grown-ups, since he's nine years old.
  • When the Yarbys get there, Mrs. Yarby immediately starts fussing over Fudge, who she refers to as a baby. She even gives him a cool toy train that makes lots of noise.
  • She gives Peter a picture dictionary, which he's obviously too old for. But he thanks her anyway, and says that it's what he's always wanted.
  • Then Peter's dad comes in and asks if he can get everyone a drink. Mr. and Mrs. Yarby are totally weird about it and demand Juicy-O. Apparently, that's all they ever drink.
  • Fudge goes into his room and comes back with Peter's old picture dictionary, which makes Mrs. Yarby feel insulted because she got him something that he already has. How awkward.
  • Peter tries to make Mrs. Yarby feel better by saying that his old one was falling apart and he needed a new one.
  • That's when their parents decide that it's time for Fudge to go to bed, and they put him in his crib even though they all know that he's big enough to climb out at anytime.
  • In the middle of dinner, Fudge decides to do just that and shows up carrying Dribble's bowl, which freaks Mrs. Yarby out. She screams and says that she hates reptiles.
  • Peter snatches the turtle back and takes him into his room to inspect. He looks like he's OK.
  • Fudge gets carted off to bed again, and Mr. Yarby snidely insinuates that the Hatcher children don't have any manners.
  • Then at dessert, Fudge comes running out again wearing a gorilla mask, which makes Mrs. Yarby scream, and causes Mrs. Hatcher to accidentally spill coffee. This visit is turning out to be a major disaster.
  • Peter goes to sleep late, and he wakes up in the middle of the night to find Fudge standing over him and Dribble crawling up his arm.
  • He jumps up, grabs Dribble, and smacks Fudge. Their father comes running in and takes Fudge back to sleep with them so Peter can get some rest.
  • An hour later, Fudge wakes everyone in the apartment by playing with his noisy new toy train.
  • Everyone's super quiet at breakfast, and the Yarbys announce that they're leaving to go stay at a hotel instead.
  • When they go to grab their suitcase, Mr. Yarby hollers because it's covered in green stamps; Fudge has spent some time decorating it.
  • After that, the Yarbys leave and Mr. Hatcher loses the Juicy-O account. Everyone in the family can finally admit that they never really liked drinking Juicy-O anyway.