by Beth Bowland
Chapter 13
WE RAN ALL THE WAY to the Sanchezes’ house and hid in the basement. We were all drenched from the rain.
“Dang, Farkas, you were hauling major tons of butt back there!” Ivelisse said.
That made us all laugh.
“Shhh,” Kiara said. “He might hear you. What if Mr. Maxwell followed us?”
Ivelisse brought some towels from the laundry room. “Here,” she said, tossing them at us.
“He’s not going to come after us,” Chu said, drying his hair.
Farkas looked out the basement window. “Kiara, it’s okay to be afraid. You’re a girl.”
“Farkas Istvan, you were the first one away from the house,” Ivelisse said. “I’ve never seen you move so fast. You were one gigantic orange blur. You moved faster than that Road Runner bird.”
“Beep, beep!” Kiara added, and everyone lost it after that. We kept laughing until we heard the doorbell ring.
Ivelisse crept up the stairs. “I’ll see who it is.”
We crept up the stairs behind her.
Saturn Maxwell was in the living room talking to Mr. Sanchez. I think he knew we were there because he spoke in a loud tone.
“So, again, I just want to invite you over to my Fourth of July celebration,” Mr. Maxwell said.
“Thank you for the invitation,” Mr. Sanchez said.
“Be sure to let the kids know about it. I so adore the children. Such precious angels. I’ll have a special surprise for them.”
“Sure thing, Saturn. I’ll see you to the door.”
We went back down the stairs.
“What do you think the surprise is?” I asked.
No one said a word. But I had an odd feeling about Mr. Maxwell. His lightbulb was a little dim.
After it stopped raining, we went back to the alley. It was almost as if we were expecting something to happen. Then it did.
BAM!
Down the alley came the sound of screeching tires, breaking glass, and metal coming together. A wreck!
Mr. Rosenthal was out of his car and yelling at Mr. Maxwell. “Are you crazy?”
“Well, actually when I was a child, I was described in that manner by several of my teachers,” Mr. Maxwell replied.
Mr. Rosenthal pulled out his cell. “Don’t you try to leave. I’m calling the police.”
“Bad boy, bad boys, whatcha gonna do…” Mr. Maxwell responded with just a hint of excitement in his voice.
Mr. Rosenthal smirked and checked his car once again. “Yes, I’d like to report a crash. My neighbor just ran into us.”
Mrs. Rosenthal jumped out of the car and stood beside her husband, shaking her finger at Mr. Maxwell. “You hit us on purpose.” The words oozed from behind her frosted pink lips.
Laughter poured out of Mr. Maxwell. “I assure you, dear lady, I did no such thing.”
“I’m going to sue you, Maxwell,” Mr. Rosenthal said.
Mr. Maxwell began making sounds like a chicken. “Bawk ba bawk, bawk.” He started prancing around and flapping his arms. “Bawk bawk, ba bawk.”
Incredible.
Ivelisse started laughing. “He’s totally gone loco.”
Mr. Rosenthal scratched his head and looked around. “What are you doing, Maxwell? You really are crazy!”
Mr. Maxwell stopped prancing and stood toe-to-toe with Mr. Rosenthal. “My good man, I’m merely showing you that I’m not intimated by you. Uh huh, yes, I said it. You, dear sir, don’t intimidate me!”
The police car came around the corner. As soon as Mrs. Rosenthal noticed it, she fell to the ground. “The pain, ohhhh, the pain!” she wailed.
Mr. Maxwell was still flapping his arms, bawking toward Mr. Rosenthal. The cops stopped and stared at Mr. Maxwell. A few seconds later, the ambulance came roaring down the alley.
Apparently, this was the cue for Mrs. Rosenthal to put her all into her Oscar-worthy performance. As the paramedics approached, she rolled around on the ground. “Oh, dear God, I’m having a conniption seizure,” she yelled.
“A what?” Mr. Rosenthal said.
“Is this your wife, sir?” a young, floppy-haired medic asked Mr. Rosenthal while another medic began checking Mrs. Rosenthal, who had rolled a good fifteen feet across the pavement.
“Uh, yes,” Mr. Rosenthal replied, now gawking at his wife.
“Sir, does she have a history of seizures?” the medic asked.
“This is the first one.”
The police had his Taser in his hand as he approached Mr. Maxwell. “Sir, please stop squawking and step over to the side with me.”
Mr. Maxwell obliged and told the cop his side of the story.
Chu and Ivelisse were now leaning against the fence, holding their stomachs, laughing.
“Ma’am, can you hear me?” the second medic asked Mrs. Rosenthal.
“Yes,” she replied and finally stopped rolling.
“Ma’am, I’ve never heard of a conniption seizure, but I don’t believe you’re having any sort of seizure.”
Mrs. Rosenthal sat up and straightened her hair. “Of course I’m having a conniption seizure, young man! Lucas, tell him I’m having a conniption seizure.”
Mr. Rosenthal mumbled something under his breath. “I’m not sure what it is, but I’m sure it was caused when that nutcase ran into us going fifty miles per hour.”
The cop removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. The medics helped Mrs. Rosenthal up and into the ambulance to examine her there.
The cops questioned Mr. Rosenthal. “Sir, Mr. Maxwell said you were both pulling out of your driveways. So, you’re saying he was going fifty miles per hour?”
“Yes, officer, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” Mr. Rosenthal wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The cop pursed his lips and sighed. “Sir, you two live next door to each other. You pulled out of your driveways at the same time. So you’re telling me he was able to pick up his speed to fifty miles per hour in a matter of twenty feet?”
“Yes, sir, that’s exactly what happened.”
The officer sighed and turned toward us. “Did you kids see anything?”
We answered no, in unison.
The cops continued questioning Mr. Rosenthal and Mr. Maxwell. Both men were clearly lying.
“Mr. Maxwell, are you on any type of medication?” the cop asked.
“No, sir, why do you ask?”
That was it—I burst out in a serious case of the giggles.
The cop questioning Mr. Maxwell pointed toward us. “You kids go home,” he said as he knelt down and viewed the skid marks.
Chu started making chicken sounds imitating Mr. Maxwell, which caused us all to bust out laughing again, so we ran toward the park.
The park was empty, except for one lone girl swinging. Her head drooped down, and her shoulders softly shook. As we neared, I realized it was Porsche. We stopped before she noticed us.
“Guys, maybe we shouldn’t all go over to her,” Ivelisse said.
Farkas huffed. “That’s cool with me because I don’t care to know what she’s blubbering about. Girls are so weak and pathetic.”
“Oh, shut up, Farkas,” said Ivelisse.
“Yeah, I’m with him. Girly stuff, no thank you,” Chu said, and he and Farkas took off before any of us girls could attack them.
I, on the other hand, was dying to know what could possibly cause our sweet, perfect Porsche to sit alone crying. If I was lucky, Andre had come to his senses and dumped her.
Chapter 14
“PORSCHE?” IVELISSE SAID.
Porsche jerked her head up to see who’d called her name, then quickly wiped her eyes. “Hello. How are you guys doing?”
Just like that, she answered. As if it was business as usual to sit in the park and bawl your eyes out.
Kiara moved closer to her and placed her arm around her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Dang, this girl was clearly trying to imitate Mom. Well, I wasn’t buying it. “Yeah, why
are you over here by yourself having a snotfest?” I asked.
I immediately felt the daggers flying from Kiara’s direction. Ivelisse knew how I was, but I do believe I’d shocked her as well. Clearing her throat, Porsche used her sleeve to wipe her eyes and nose. I was becoming impatient with the dramatics. Just spit it out, girl.
“I guess I’ve just had a bad day, that’s all,” Porsche replied.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Kiara said. “When I have a bad day—”
I wasn’t about to allow Kiara to get full swing into one of her “all you need is a hug” songs.
“So, what happened?” I asked, trying not to sound too impatient, but the girl had started to seriously work my nerves.
“Porsche.”
It was Andre riding up on his bike. Porsche started smiling when she saw him and got out of the swing to meet him.
Kiara eased over to where I was standing. “Katrina, do you realize you’re standing here frowning? What is up with that?”
“I hope he’s not here to make up with her,” I whispered back.
Kiara’s faced scrunched up. “Girl, you’re tripping. What do you mean make up with her? Who said they were fighting?”
“What are you two whispering about?” Ivelisse said.
“Kat thinks they’re fighting.”
“Huh?” Ivelisse said. Then she turned her attention toward Porsche and Andre.
I moved a few steps closer so I could hear what Andre was saying to Porsche.
Andre walked up to Porsche and hugged her. “I’m sorry about what happened earlier with your mom. Come over and chill at my house for a while.”
Porsche’s smile widened. “Thanks, I’d like that.”
Porsche turned to wave goodbye to us and smiled.
“What was that all about?” Kiara said breaking the silence.
Ivelisse grabbed my arm and pulled me aside. Of course, Kiara came along.
“Okay, Katrina, what’s this about them fighting?” Ivelisse asked.
“Well, I just figured the only possible explanation for Porsche’s blubbering is because Andre dumped her.”
Kiara slapped her forehead. “Who said they were even dating? I know Dr. Jackson mentioned it at dinner, but he was just teasing Andre.”
Ivelisse grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. “Chica, you’re starting to get crazy about those two.”
“Sheesh!” Kiara said. “I’ll catch up with you guys later. I’m going home. You’re just too much.”
Ivelisse gave me a sympathetic look, but I wasn’t feeling it. I rolled my eyes at her. She was supposed to me on my side. Then I felt bad. I mean, the girl had been crying her eyes out in public.
Maybe Porsche’s life wasn’t all what it seemed to be.
Ivelisse and I sat on the other set of swings for close to an hour in silence. She knew I was mad about Andre and Porsche, and I guess she wasn’t in the mood to argue with me.
For the life of me, I could not understand what Andre saw in that girl. And if he did in fact break up with her, then why was he making up with her so quickly by inviting her over to his house? He’d never invited me over.
I felt bad for my behavior toward Ivelisse. She didn’t deserve an eye roll. This time Kiara was right. I was a cow’s butt.
I turned toward Ivelisse and made a pouty face. “I sowry.”
She chuckled. “I forgive you.”
“And—” I grimaced “—I’m going to try and be nicer to Porsche.”
Ivelisse started to respond but was interrupted by Kiara running back toward us.
“Hey!” Kiara waved her arms as she ran, signaling us for us to meet her. “Hurry up!” she yelled. Urgency rang in her voice, so we ran.
Kiara danced around. “Oh, my god! The mushrooms are back!”
“You’re kidding!” Ivelisse said.
“No, I’ll show you. Chu and Farkas are waiting for us.”
“Where’d you see them?” Ivelisse asked.
“Over in Veronica’s yard.”
Chu and Farkas were waiting for us in the alley near Veronica’s back fence. We huddled together under a nearby tree.
“Okay, here’s the 4-1-1,” Chu began. “After we left you guys, we just wandered around when we heard squallin’ coming from Veronica’s house. When we got close enough to peek through the fence, it was just Veronica singing her show tunes.”
“Something stinks,” Kiara said and held her nose.
Ivelisse started laughing. “Yeah, I smelled it too, but I didn’t want to interrupt Chu.”
Kiara sniffed Chu then Farkas.
“Hey, why’d you only sniff the guys? Wassup with that?” Chu said.
Kiara sniffed Farkas again. “Ew, it’s you!”
Farkas’s face turned beet red. “Leave me alone. I stopped at the house and had some of the ravioli and garlic bread Grandma made.”
“Oh, yum,” Chu said.
“Yeah, that does sound good,” I added.
Ivelisse huffed. “Focus people. What happened next, Chu?”
“We moved to another part of the fence where we could see Veronica more clearly.”
“Dude, lemme tell you. That woman was singing so far off-key, the dogs were howling.” Farkas laughed so hard his cheeks just about covered his eyes.
“The mushrooms…get to the mushrooms.” Ivelisse was determined to stay on topic.
“When she saw the mushrooms, she screamed and ran back into the house,” Farkas said.
“Where are they?” I asked.
“I’ll show you.” Chu signaled for us to follow him. “There are about five of them near her pool.”
“Man, they’re huge. I’ve never seen anything like them before,” Farkas said.
Peeking through the fence, we strained to see Veronica or the mushrooms. We saw neither.
“Where’d you say you saw them?” I asked.
“Over there.” Chu pointed. “Right by that red flower pot.”
Moving down a few fence posts, we attempted to look again. We stopped when we heard a shuffling behind the fence.
“Looking for something?” Mr. Maxwell’s head popped up over the fence.
We jumped.
“Dude, what are you doing over there?” Farkas asked.
“Yeah. Where’s Veronica?” Ivelisse asked.
“Lady Veronica was a little tired and needed to lie down for a few moments. Children, if you don’t stop harassing me, I’m going to have to tell your parents.”
“We didn’t harass you,” Farkas said.
Mr. Maxwell scurried around the fence to where we were. His jacket was covered in dirt.
“What’d you do with the mushrooms?” I asked.
Mr. Maxwell’s eyes lit up. “Mushrooms? What mushrooms?” He gave me a dumb smirk. “Don’t you kids know it’s against the law to peek in someone’s windows?”
“Hey, what’s going on over there?” It was Mr. Keith. “What are you kids doing out here?” he asked coming around the fence. “Go on home.”
We started backing away.
“Top of the day to you, Keith. I was just shooing these children away from your house. I know Veronica’s not been feeling very well,” Mr. Maxwell said.
“You’ve got that right. She called me in a panic saying the Grim Reaper was at the house and threw giant mushrooms at her,” Mr. Keith said.
I saw Mr. Maxwell ease a pair of goggles into his pocket.
“My, my,” Mr. Maxwell said. “Veronica seems so fragile right now.”
Both men turned to walk back into the yard.
Mr. Keith sighed. “Veronica says she didn’t drink anything this afternoon, but I’m almost sure she did. Unless she’s just going crazy. Grim Reaper? Get real.”
“Well, I’m sure it was nothing more than those kids having a little fun,” Mr. Maxwell said.
We watched until they disappeared.
“So, whaddaya think this guy is up to?” Chu asked.
“Yeah, besides being a loony bird,�
� I said.
Ivelisse made popping noises with her mouth as she thought out loud. “Let’s see…so far we have giant mushrooms, a chemical warfare book purchase, and a missing wife.”
Chu apparently was bored with the conversation and started wrestling with Farkas, something bored boys occasionally broke out into. Weirdos. They looked like David and Goliath. Farkas easily shoved him to the ground.
“Yo, homies, it looks like we have absolutely squat on this guy,” Chu said as he got up from the ground. He immediately jumped back on Farkas from another angle.
Farkas shoved him to the ground again. “Dude, give it up. You can’t beat me, runt.”
Us girls left them to their stupid wrestling and continued on to my house.
“I’m not sure how Maxwell is creating these giant mushrooms, but I’m positive the answer is in his basement.” I said, as we passed Mr. Maxwell’s house. “But how are we going to find out what he’s really hiding there?”
Ivelisse and Kiara just looked at me, apparently expecting me to come up with a plan. Which I was totally going to do.
Chapter 15
I LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW in my room, watching my mother and Dr. Jackson in the front yard. Dr. Jackson carefully removed a flower from the planter and handed it to my mother. She took it as if it was a precious gift. Dr. Jackson was so flirting with her, teasing her by holding the flower just beyond her reach.
Recently, I’d noticed a change in my mother. When she was around Dr. Jackson, she acted all girly. She allowed him to use the power tools, and she stood back and watched, as if she was unable to operate them. This was the same woman who’d hung all the shelves in the garage, fixed the fence, and wired the patio lighting—all by herself. Watching them, I wanted to gouge my eyes out.
I heard someone calling my name. It was Chu leaning out his bedroom window trying to get my attention.
“Hey, Chu, what’s going on?” I asked as I leaned out.
He nodded toward the front yard. “So it continues, huh?”
I nodded.
“My grandmother is preparing a feast tonight. Mom said I should invite my friends over so Grandma can meet you all properly. Mom thinks it’ll be good for her. She’s been talking to Grandma about her behavior.”
