by Betsy Haynes
"You're kidding!" said Katie. Her mouth hung open in awe. "Why does he have to do all those things?"
Christie shrugged. "His parents work a lot and depend on him to take care of things. The first time he called me, he said he made things happen that are really important. I guess that's what he meant." She shook the ice in her glass and drank the last of her cola. "His parents both have big careers, and they hadn't realized that all Kevin was doing was going to school and then going home to watch his brother and take care of the house. He hasn't been able to do anything else at school or go over to the other kids' houses in the evening. It's sad," she said, raising her eyebrows. "I guess they thought all of the video and computer games would entertain him."
"It was super that you found out from Miss Simone where Kevin lives and had us waiting on our bikes to follow him. How did you know he'd be going out at seven in the evening?" Melanie asked.
"He's smart, and I didn't think he'd make the calls from his house. That's when his parents get home from work. They let him ride his bike over to Mr. Ice Cream for a treat for taking care of things."
"Oh," said Jana. "And it made so much sense when you drew the lines on the map between all the places where he had done things, and they crossed like the spokes of a wheel within a couple of blocks of where he lives."
"That's where I was the dummy," said Christie. "It's a long way between some of the places, but if you start in the middle, it's only half as far."
"Why did he call you at the center instead of Curtis, Melissa, or Whitney?" asked Katie.
Christie blushed. "Mr. Snider said Kevin thought I was nice and would listen to him. He wasn't sure the others would."
"So, what's going to happen?" asked Beth. "Is he going to keep on buying groceries, taking care of his brother, and everything?"
"When Kevin's parents realized that they were partly to blame for what Kevin was doing, they were shook up. One of them is going to come home early every evening, they're going to do the shopping on weekends, and when he calls them about something that needs to be fixed, they'll take care of it."
Katie ran her fingers through her red hair. "What about the police?"
Christie shook her head. "Mr. Snider said that assistant chief Markum doesn't want to have anything to do with it as long as Kevin pays for the damage to Bumpers' door. He'd rather see Kevin understand why he shouldn't have done what he did just to get attention than punish him. Kevin is going to have to earn money to do it."
"So everything has turned out okay," said Jana. Then she looked Christie in the eyes. "You're not going to take on Kevin as your next project, are you?"
"I wouldn't call him a project," Christie said, squirming in her seat. "But he does need a friend."
"Uh-oh. Here we go again," said Katie. "Mother Christie to the rescue."
Christie was about to protest when her friends broke out in laughter at her.
"Just teasing, Christie," said Jana.
"There's Jon," said Beth. "He's going out the door."
"Oops! Excuse me," said Christie, getting up quickly. "I've got to talk to him. Thanks for everything, guys," she said, smiling.
She caught up with Jon before he rounded the first corner and tucked her arm through his. "Can you walk me home?"
He grinned at her. "Sure."
"I was thinking," she said. "You know I don't want to go steady with anyone right now." His smile started to fade. "But I thought it would probably be okay if we dated once in a while."
The smile lit up his face like a rising sun. "Then there really isn't another guy, after all?"
"Another guy? What are you talking about?"
Jon looked at her sheepishly. "Well, whenever I walked by you and your friends, I always heard you talking about some guy that was calling you."
"A guy calling me? Oh, that was never anything much," Christie said lightly. "But I want you to understand that I might want to date someone else, and I don't want you to get upset every time I do. If I do," she added quickly.
"Okay, it's a deal," said Jon. "I guess I was acting a little immature. I promise that if something is bothering me, I'll talk about it instead of sneaking around. You guys in The Fabulous Five are tough to keep up with anyway." They laughed together.
Christie squeezed his arm as they strolled along. It was nice to have things straightened out between her and Jon. He was right about one thing, people should talk to each other when they don't understand something.
As they walked on toward home, Christie's thoughts turned to Kevin. She wondered what he was really like. He seemed nice enough and was certainly smart. He had to be smart to do all those things he had been doing at home. Maybe now, with his newfound freedom, he could be on the hot-line team and play computer games with Curtis and make lots of new friends. She hoped so. And more than that, she hoped she would be one of them.
CHAPTER 15
Beth Barry spun the earring rack on the jewelry counter at Tanninger's department store, trying to attract the clerk's attention. She had been standing there for fifteen minutes, holding three pairs of earrings that she wanted to buy and hoping to be waited on before the end of the century, but the clerk had managed to stay busy at the other end of the counter. The clerk was waiting on a wiry little woman with a long nose who seemed to have nothing better to do than make conversation. Beth tapped her fingers on the glass impatiently as some of what the customer was saving drifted her way.
"Well, if you ask me, kids today certainly are different than we were. Look at the clothes they wear. And their hair! If you ask me, it's just plain disgraceful."
Beth shot to attention and tuned in to what the lady was saying. It made her blood boil to hear one more adult putting down kids.
"Oh, I agree with you," the clerk was saying. "Why, my parents would never have let me get away with what they get away with today. That's why there isn't one of them with an ounce of responsibility."
Beth narrowed her eyes and fumed at the two women. Why is it, she thought, that everybody is down on kids? It isn't fair. Only a few kids are troublemakers. Lots of us have responsibility, and more than just an ounce of it, too.
Beth and the rest of The Fabulous Five get an important chance to show everyone just how much responsibility the kids of Wacko Junior High have, but only if they can convince the rest of the student body to go along with their unusual plan in The Fabulous Five #17: Celebrity Auction.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Betsy Haynes, the daughter of a former newswoman, began scribbling poetry and short stories as soon as she learned to write. A serious writing career, however, had to wait until after her marriage and the arrival of her two children. But that early practice must have paid off, for within three months Mrs. Haynes had sold her first story. In addition to a number of magazine short stories and the Taffy Sinclair series, Mrs. Haynes is also the author of The Great Mom Swap and its sequel, The Great Boyfriend Trap. She lives in Colleyville, Texas, with her husband, who is also an author.
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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