on Friday. Mom tells me this over dinner. Hot dogs. I put a ton of ketchup on mine. It is a secret joke with myself. Mom should notice. Usually I only have mustard.
I donât even like ketchup that much. I donât think you should put sweet stuff on meat â even pretend meat like hot dogs. Think of sprinkling sugar on steak if you donât believe me.
I get to the park and Iâm looking for Rico so that I can call him a Moran. He is in big trouble for taking off so fast yesterday.
Nobodyâs here except Boobacious.
âHave you seen Rico?â I ask her. I just want information. I donât want a discussion. I donât want anything to slip out accidentally.
âDid you touch Lucy yesterday?â she asks. Man, oh, man, Iâm in trouble. Lucy mustâve busted her head open or something.
âWhy? I didnât hit her. Bats donât hit.â I know Iâm blushing.
âWhat?â Boobacious asks.
âHer head touched my shoe. I swear, I didnât do anything.â
âDid your hands touch her head?â she asks. Now itâs my turn to be confused.
âWhat?â
âI had to send Lucy home because she had head lice. Now, is there any way you could have it?â
âLice?â I want to itch my head bad, but I canât because Boobacious will think I have lice. Just thinking about lice makes my head itchy.
âI donât have lice,â I tell her.
âThatâs not what I asked, Terence.â How does she know my name? I should know hers. Her real one, I mean. âAll Iâm asking is did you touch her in any way that you could get lice?â I wonder if lice can climb into your sneakers and crawl up into your hair. I just had the most horrible thought about where lice could go in a body.
âI didnât touch anything, I swear to God.â
âAre you sure?â Itâs like sheâs trying to get me to confess to some kind of crime, or, worse, maybe she thinks me and Lucy are going around. We might be bats, but itâs not like that. Adults think everything is about sex or money.
âLook, sheâs not my girlfriend, if thatâs what you mean. I didnât touch her. I donât have lice.â
She looks at my head like she wants to touch it. I want to cover my head with my arms.
Ricoâs coming down the path toward us. Heâs got his hands in his pockets. One day heâs going to fall right on his big round head.
âI took cootie girl home,â Rico says, like heâs expecting some reward. I give him the evilest eye I have and he looks at me like heâs all innocent.
âWhereâd you go yesterday, Moran?â I say. Boobacious takes a walk around the wading pool.
âWhat are you talking about, dickhead?â
âIâm talking about you running home. I had to take the heat for both of us. Those werenât even my magazines. And my Viper Station is ruined. Itâs all melted.â I never get to say this much in a fight. If Tom were here I wouldnât get to say anything. Iâm so angry, but itâs not even about the Viper Station or the magazines. I hate Rico today. I canât even look at his face.
âI didnât see the point of me sticking around. What was she going to do? Yell at some stranger? You said you wanted to smoke.â
âI did not.â He practically made me do it. âIt was all you, Rico. You pushed me into it. You think youâre Mr. Big Man pushing everyone around. You nearly killed Lucy yesterday.â
âYouâre crazy. She was hanging upside-down already. Maybe she was trying to get the cooties to fall off her head.â
I am so mad, I can hardly see. I want to beat onhim, but heâs, like, a foot taller than I am. And bats donât hit.
I canât stand to look at his face for one more second. I run out of the park.
I bet he didnât even check to see if Daphne or Lucyâs parents were
I donât even like ketchup that much. I donât think you should put sweet stuff on meat â even pretend meat like hot dogs. Think of sprinkling sugar on steak if you donât believe me.
I get to the park and Iâm looking for Rico so that I can call him a Moran. He is in big trouble for taking off so fast yesterday.
Nobodyâs here except Boobacious.
âHave you seen Rico?â I ask her. I just want information. I donât want a discussion. I donât want anything to slip out accidentally.
âDid you touch Lucy yesterday?â she asks. Man, oh, man, Iâm in trouble. Lucy mustâve busted her head open or something.
âWhy? I didnât hit her. Bats donât hit.â I know Iâm blushing.
âWhat?â Boobacious asks.
âHer head touched my shoe. I swear, I didnât do anything.â
âDid your hands touch her head?â she asks. Now itâs my turn to be confused.
âWhat?â
âI had to send Lucy home because she had head lice. Now, is there any way you could have it?â
âLice?â I want to itch my head bad, but I canât because Boobacious will think I have lice. Just thinking about lice makes my head itchy.
âI donât have lice,â I tell her.
âThatâs not what I asked, Terence.â How does she know my name? I should know hers. Her real one, I mean. âAll Iâm asking is did you touch her in any way that you could get lice?â I wonder if lice can climb into your sneakers and crawl up into your hair. I just had the most horrible thought about where lice could go in a body.
âI didnât touch anything, I swear to God.â
âAre you sure?â Itâs like sheâs trying to get me to confess to some kind of crime, or, worse, maybe she thinks me and Lucy are going around. We might be bats, but itâs not like that. Adults think everything is about sex or money.
âLook, sheâs not my girlfriend, if thatâs what you mean. I didnât touch her. I donât have lice.â
She looks at my head like she wants to touch it. I want to cover my head with my arms.
Ricoâs coming down the path toward us. Heâs got his hands in his pockets. One day heâs going to fall right on his big round head.
âI took cootie girl home,â Rico says, like heâs expecting some reward. I give him the evilest eye I have and he looks at me like heâs all innocent.
âWhereâd you go yesterday, Moran?â I say. Boobacious takes a walk around the wading pool.
âWhat are you talking about, dickhead?â
âIâm talking about you running home. I had to take the heat for both of us. Those werenât even my magazines. And my Viper Station is ruined. Itâs all melted.â I never get to say this much in a fight. If Tom were here I wouldnât get to say anything. Iâm so angry, but itâs not even about the Viper Station or the magazines. I hate Rico today. I canât even look at his face.
âI didnât see the point of me sticking around. What was she going to do? Yell at some stranger? You said you wanted to smoke.â
âI did not.â He practically made me do it. âIt was all you, Rico. You pushed me into it. You think youâre Mr. Big Man pushing everyone around. You nearly killed Lucy yesterday.â
âYouâre crazy. She was hanging upside-down already. Maybe she was trying to get the cooties to fall off her head.â
I am so mad, I can hardly see. I want to beat onhim, but heâs, like, a foot taller than I am. And bats donât hit.
I canât stand to look at his face for one more second. I run out of the park.
I bet he didnât even check to see if Daphne or Lucyâs parents were
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