Did I miss a week of strips some place? Cherry really wants to cheer up her arch-nemesis?! And here is Violet, unloading on Cherry like the two of them are BFFs from the time when “BFF” was a new expression. So, Violet peremptorily destroyed Cherry’s original installation, then put in her own. Then Cherry secretly destroyed it. Now, Violet is bawling to Cherry as if she has forgotten all of this history between them.

I sure as hell do not understand what is going on here, folks. Call me unenlightened, a nincompoop, a total blockhead. Just don’t call me early. Well, the least Cherry could do here is give Violet a big slap upside the head and tell her to get a grip. Maybe two slaps, just to make sure.

Violet is suddenly stuck on how to repair the roundabout garden when all she has to do is prep the ground and replant the same stuff she did the last time. I expect that we are supposed to see this as a premise for the upcoming kowtowing of Violet Cheshire, in which she pleads with Cherry to fix the roundabout and save her job. I hope Cherry remembers to first get an approved contract for payment!

But getting back to the bigger question:  While we stare in shock and disgust at the Picasso-inspired, pancake-stuffed face of Violet in the fourth panel, we might ask: “What would Mark do!?” But that is clearly the wrong question. This is Cherry’s story, not Mark’s. And given his own current inability to deal with crises, we’re better off waiting to see how Cherry saves the day and her business. Mark may want to take notes.