The Waffler by Gail Donovan Read Free Book Online

gal’s not grabbing anymore, I’ll probably grow it back.”
    â€œMom,” said Monty. He still needed to beg for mercy. “Hey, Mom.”
    â€œWhat about those Band-Aids?” she asked. “Did you hurt yourself?”
    Sierra got up off the kitchen floor and opened the fridge. “Mrs. Tuttle’s punishing him,” she said. “And did you tell her about the rat yet?”
    â€œSierra!” shouted Monty. He wanted to pound his sister! She was the one being the Town Crier! “Shut up!”
    â€œWhat?” asked Sierra, as if she was totally innocent. “I’m just
saying
. It’s no big deal. Everybody at school knows.”
    â€œKnows what?” asked Monty’s mom. “Monty, what’s going on? Mrs. Tuttle’s punishing you because of a rat?”
    â€œNo!” shouted Monty.
    He was going to keep the Band-Aids a secret, and he was going to beg for mercy about his rat, but now everything was ruined, because Sierra was such a blabbermouth.
    â€œI hate her!” he said, and made a grab for his sister, who scurried behind their mom. They circled around and around. He was yelling and Sierra was yelling and Aisha was crying, louder than both of them.
    â€œMontana! Sierra!” scolded their mom. “Stop it!”
    Slowly, Monty and Sierra came to a stop. But Aisha didn’t stop crying. Monty’s mom handed her to Bob.
    â€œToo much fighting you guys,” he said, shaking his head. “Not cool.” He took Aisha outside to walk her around the yard.
    â€œNow tell me
what
,” said Monty’s mom as she turned off the flame beneath the applesauce and put the lid on the pot, “is the matter with you two?”
    Monty hated getting lumped together:
you two
. The two of you. As if it was both their faults that they were fighting when it was all Sierra’s!
    â€œShe started it!” he said.
    â€œI did not!” protested Sierra. “All I said was, did you tell her about the rat?”
    Monty’s mom made a face like the time Monty stepped in dog doo and she had to help him clean off his sneaker. Like something smelled disgusting. “What
rat
?” she asked.
    â€œHis name is Mack,” explained Monty.
    â€œMack?”
    â€œNo!” said Monty, remembering. “I changed it. His name is Officer Rat.”
    â€œOfficer Rat?” asked his mom, still making the bad-smell face. “Where on earth did you get a rat?”
    â€œAt the Pet Emporium,” volunteered Sierra. “He couldn’t make up his mind and Dad said he was out of time, so he got a rat.”
    â€œShut up!” said Monty. “That’s not true!” Even though it was true, he didn’t want the rat to be known as the pet he got because he couldn’t make up his mind. Officer Rat was awesome.
    His mom sighed, “Sierra, I want to hear from Monty right now. You can go out in the yard or up to your room.”
    Sierra made a big show of leaving, stomping loudly up the stairs.
    His mom sat down at the kitchen table, cluttered with newspapers and her laptop and a bowl full of yellow and orange gourds in crazy shapes. “Come and sit,” she said, patting the chair beside her. “Tell me.”
    â€œMom, I’m sorry! I know you said no pets! I thought he could stay at Dad’s—which was sort of stupid, ’cause a week’s too long to leave him there all alone—so could I please bring him over here? Please say yes!”
    Monty’s mom didn’t say yes but she didn’t say no, either. She said, “Let me think about that for a minute. What about Mrs. Tuttle? Are you in trouble?”
    â€œKind of sort of a little,” he explained.
    â€œMeaning?”
    â€œMrs. Tuttle put three Band-Aids on my arm.”
    â€œWhat?” Now Monty’s mom had a puzzled look on her face. “Why?”
    He was doomed. She could eke the story out of him bit by