Tommy Puke and the Boy with the Golden Barf by Robert T. Jeschonek Read Free Book Online

name. "It's me, Tommy! Tommy Puke!"
    I, on the other hand, don't feel giddy at all. All the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention as I sweep my flashlight around the sewer. It's like knowing there's a ghost coming to get you; we heard his voice, we know he's close , but we can't see a trace of him.
    "We mean you no harm," says Tommy. "We just want to meet you. We have a lot in common, you and I."
    I think I hear a shuffling sound across the sewer, and I zip the beam of my flashlight toward it. I scan the light from side to side, revealing nothing new...
    And suddenly, that strange voice is right next to me , whispering in my ear. " I'll chew you up and vomit you out, boy. "

    I cry out and stumble away, whipping my flashlight around to catch the culprit...but no one's there. Just walls coated with sewage.
    And then I bump into Tommy, and I think it's Chonganda, and I freak out. I twist around, flailing with both arms, trying to fight off whoever's stalking us.
    In the process, I knock the flashlight right out of Tommy's hand. I hear it crash off the wall and drop in a pool of sewage with a splash.
    Suddenly, we're down to one flashlight.
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    *****
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    Chapter 18

    "I'm sorry, Tommy!" I shine the light on him, throwing a huge shadow from his warty pickle nose. "He was right there beside me!"
    Tommy still doesn't look worried. "Give me that a second." He reaches for the flashlight, and I hand it over. "All right, Chonganda! We'll play it your way!" With that, he turns off the light...and throws it.
    I feel the breeze of it flying past me, and I hear it splash down into the sewage. My heart speeds up a thousand times faster as I realize just how dead we are.
    "You don't like the light?" says Tommy. "Fine! We're all in the dark now."
    I stay as close to Tommy as I can, watching the absolute darkness for any sign of attack. I listen as hard as I can, but every little noise sounds deafening. Even the dripping of sewage sounds like a disembodied vomit-god gliding toward me.
    "Can we talk now?" Tommy sounds as calm as ever. "I think we might be related , Chonganda. I think we might be cousins or something."
    For a moment , nothing changes. The sewage continues to drip, and the voice remains silent.
    Then, I feel a gust of wind, and Tommy cries out. I hear him fall against something and come down with a splash a few yards away.
    " Fool! " The voice of Chonganda i s back, booming through the sewer like thunder. "How dare you claim kinship with a god ?"
    I hear Tommy sputter and slosh in the sewage. "No, wait! I'm an admirer . I just want to hang out and..."
    " Mortal scum! " roars Chonganda. "You will not steal my treasure ! You will not take the golden vomit! "
    I'm not sure what happens next, but it sounds like Tommy gets knocked around again. I hear his body slam into something--the wall, probably--and he lets loose a howl of pain.
    "What a puny specimen!" Chonganda's laughter echoes through the sewer. "You miserable excuse for a snot rag. "
    Tommy coughs something up and spits it out. "I've worked so hard to find you, Chonganda. Can't you just hear me out?"
    "You sound like constant farting to me!" Chonganda laughs again. "Farting that ought to be squelched ."
    Again, I hear the sounds of furious motion , but thi s time is worse than before. There a re several collisions, each one knocking a fresh cry of pain out of Tommy. The l oudest one comes when he splashes down again .
    "Awww!" Chonganda's voice booms louder than ever. "Poor baby! Did I hurt your feelings ? Did I make you cry ?"
    It's then that something changes inside me. Until this moment, I've been too terrified to move a muscle. I've been too scared that Chonganda will come for me, too.
    But hearing him beat up Tommy strikes a chord. Hearing him ridicule and laugh at him reminds me of a similar scene. Lots of them, actually .
    Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.
    And I realize, as scared as I am, that I have to do something. I have to deal with this