Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli Read Free Book Online

said.
    “Away from me , dumbo.”
    He just laughed and ran downstairs to check the doormat.
    Today we were out riding again, and again we ran into the Bumpsters. Bump called, “Hey, Jake! C’mon and ride with the Death Rays!”
    Jake gave a little wave and said, “Nah.” Right answer , I thought, feeling great. But then he said something that gave me the chills: “Not today.”
    Like, not today—but maybe tomorrow?

Jake
    I don’t know why my sister is getting all dramatic. What’s the big deal? If somebody wants to give me cool stones, why shouldn’t I take them? What am I supposed to do, say, “Here, take ’em back. I don’t want ’em”? How stupid is that? I mean, if Bump Stubbins left an American Flyer California Zephyr engine on the doormat for her, what do you think she would do—throw it in the trash? Yeah, right.
    Okay, she hates him. I get it. I don’t even blame her. But what’s he ever done to me ? Am I supposed to hate everybody my sister hates? Are my sister’s enemies my enemies? Is that what being twins is all about? Lily sees all this evil stuff in Bump. Ijust see a clown. He’s harmless. He’s just a kid, that’s all. A guy. That’s what all three of them are, just guys out riding around. So why shouldn’t I ride with them?

Lily
    I could see it coming. I could see his goo-goo eyes every time we saw the Bumpsters riding around. I figured sooner or later he would join them. Just thinking about it made me mad. Mad enough to decide that when it finally happened, I would just spit, burp, and call, “Good riddance! Who needs ya? Who cares?”
    So when I saw that his bike was gone one day, I reminded myself, Who cares? I went out riding myself. Why not? I’m a big girl. I pedaled past Mom and Dad working on the handyman special. When I saw the Bumpsters riding up ahead of me I said to myself, Turn off. Go another way . But my bike didn’t listen. It just kept following them. And then they saw me, and that’s when they made theirbig mistake—they sped up. All my reminders went out the window. Were they serious? Did they really think they could outrace me? Me?
    I took off after them. They zipped down street after street. Hills. Alleys. Parking lots. Leaning into turns like motorcycle riders. I would have caught them sooner but I couldn’t stop laughing at those four Bumpster hineys slamming from side to side. I caught them on the flat stretch of Beacon Street that runs along the tracks.
    I don’t know what they expected me to do. Heck, I don’t even know what I expected. But as soon as I pulled up to their fenders I knew: I had already done it. Caught up. All I had to do now was beat them. I smoked past them like they were standing still. I was laughing and waving. Turns out I didn’t feel mad or bad at all. I felt great!
    (And just to set the record straight— if a train left on the doormat came from BS, yeah, I would throw it in the trash.)

Lily
    N o answer? Didn’t think so.
    So today he goes out riding with his bumpy boys again, and sure enough I run into them pedaling their bumpy butts down by the park. I’m ready to smoke them again but a funny thing happens—they don’t speed up. They just go cruising along like I’m not there.
    I called, “Hey Jake! I’m going to the comic shop. Wanna come?”
    He called back, “Later.”
    “Where’re you going?” I called.
    “Nowhere.”
    I didn’t like his answers. I didn’t like the way the summer was going so far. Most of all I didn’t like being alone. So I caught up with them. I pedaledalongside. I didn’t say anything. I just stared straight ahead, minded my own business. They turned a corner, I turned a corner. Finally they turned into the parking lot of Mike Ivey’s Auto Repair. They stopped. I stopped. Nobody said anything. They just glared at me, all but Jake. He stared at the sky, the ground, everywhere but me.
    Finally the Big Bumpster spoke up. “What’re you doing?”
    “What’s it look like?” I