Small Steps by Louis Sachar Read Free Book Online

her. He came up with a sentence he really liked:
Coo gives her comfort, courage, and confidence.
    He realized he might be taking the assignment a little too seriously. The people who had given their speeches earlier today had treated the election as if it was a big joke, which of course it was. One girl had urged everyone to vote for Milford the Monkey because if he became ruler of the world, he would plant a million banana trees, and that would stop the destruction of the rain forests and help prevent global warming. Another kid urged everyone to vote for Wilbur the Pig because he would bring about world peace, and if he didn’t, then at least everyone would get a ham sandwich.
    But Armpit knew he wasn’t good at making jokes, and if he didn’t write his speech down, he would just stand there, sweating and babbling nervously. Besides, he really wanted Coo to win, for Ginny’s sake.
             
    X-Ray showed up a little before ten.
    “Where are you off to?” Armpit’s mother demanded.
    “We just got to do something,” Armpit said as he hurried outside, knowing he’d have to submit a sample when he returned.
    It was the same H-E-B where his mother worked, although it had been a few years since she’d had to work the night shift. There were only a few cars in the parking lot, and no white Suburban.
    “Man, I’m getting sick of getting jerked around by those jokers!” X-Ray complained.
    “Just give ’em a couple of minutes,” said Armpit. “He did say he lost his ATM card. Maybe he’s having trouble getting the cash together.”
    “A couple a minutes,” X-Ray agreed. “And then we’re out of here. It’s disrespect. What, they think we got nothing better to do than wait around for them? Disrespect.”
    Armpit was feeling claustrophobic in the car and stepped out to stretch.
    “Good idea,” said X-Ray. “Let ’em get a good look at you.”
    He looked up and down the aisles. “Maybe they’re waiting at the other end of the parking lot,” he suggested.
    “I’m in the exact spot where I was earlier. The exact spot.”
    At a quarter after there was still no sign of them. “That’s it,” X-Ray announced. “We’re leaving.”
    “Just wait a few more—” Armpit started, but X-Ray had already started the engine.
    Armpit climbed back in, and they had only just started moving when a large white SUV pulled into the lot.
    “Is that them?” Armpit asked.
    X-Ray continued to drive away.
    “Wait! It’s a white Suburban.”
    “Too late!” X-Ray said as they bounced over a speed bump.
    The horn sounded on the Suburban.
    X-Ray yelled an obscenity out his window, then lurched out of the parking lot and into traffic.
    “Are you nuts?” Armpit yelled. “That’s two hundred and seventy dollars!”
    “Our respect is worth a lot more than that,” said X-Ray. “Who do they think they are?”
    “If you don’t sell the tickets, I’m going to kill you,” Armpit warned him.
    X-Ray laughed. “Always the joker.”

9
    Armpit felt pretty silly carrying Coo to school on Tuesday, and wished he had taken his backpack. He was still mad at X-Ray, but he was even madder at himself. The concert was four days away and no tickets had been sold. Six hundred and ninety dollars down the toilet.
    “Hey, Armpit, want a ride?”
    He glanced over to see a yellow Mustang slowly moving along beside him.
    “Where you going, Armpit?”
    There were five people in the car, three guys and two girls, and although he only recognized the two guys in the front seat, he knew he didn’t want anything to do with any of them. The driver was named Donnell, and the guy beside him was Cole. Both were three or four years older than he was, and he was sort of surprised they knew his name. It was not good news.
    “Come on, hop in,” said Cole. “We’ll take you where you want to go.”
    The trick was to say no without offending anyone, especially Cole, who was known to be a little bit crazy.
    “It doesn’t look like you got