Trouble Magnet Read online

  My scalp started to tingle. Something didn't feel right. “We got to watch for Tito.”

  Rubin swerved over and bumped me. “Man, you sure messed up his shirt.”

  “Thanks for reminding me.”

  We made it to the intermediate school with no problems. There were lots of kids around, getting rides or walking home. Some were unlocking their bikes from the chain-link fence.

  No Tito.

  So far, so good.

  Just past the intermediate school, Rubin waved and headed down his street. “Stay alive, bro.”

  Thanks a lot. I started to sweat. Tito could be hiding in any hedge or any bush in any yard, waiting to jump out.

  The street ahead was quiet.

  It looked safe … it felt safe … until Julio gasped.

  I froze. “What?”

  He pointed. Tito and Frankie Diamond were crouching in the shade of somebody's monkeypod tree. Tito hadn't spotted us yet.

  But Frankie had. He nudged Tito.

  Tito sprang to his feet.

  I gulped. “Back! Now!”

  Tito sprinted toward us, Frankie Diamond right behind.

  I yelped and raced toward the intermediate school, Julio burning rubber beside me. We sped past the main entrance to the back parking lot. Nothing to hide behind. No cars. No buses. No bushes. No nothing!

  Except …

  It was our only hope.

  We leaped toward the huge garbage bins and scrambled up over the rim of the first one we came to. It was empty. But slippery black gunk grew on the bottom.

  Julio pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose. “Yuck!”

  I clapped my hand over his mouth. “Shhh!” I pulled my shirt up, too, because the smell was worse than some dog's terrible breath. But it was better than getting beat up.

  I heard Tito shout, “Where'd they go?”

  “Inside the school! Try that door!”

  Feet thumped past on the blacktop. A door opened and slammed shut.

  I inched up and peeked over the top. “Quick! Before they come back out!”

  We struggled up and fell out of the garbage bin … and ran.

  And ran.

  And ran.

  Close to home, we staggered to a walk, gasping for air. My hands were shaking. My legs felt like rubber. “That was … way … too … close.”

  Julio bent over, catching his breath. “Almost … home.”

  The word home hit me like a hammer. “Darci!I was supposed to walk her home!”

  I turned and raced back toward the school.

  “Wait!” Julio shouted. “They'll get you!”

  I kept running.

  Amazingly, I made it to Ms. Wing's room without running into Tito and Frankie Diamond. The door was locked.

  I banged on it. “Darci! Are you in there?”

  My voice fell back into the empty schoolyard. “Dar-ceeee!”

  Mr. Moto, the janitor, poked his head out of a classroom. “What you want?”

  “My sister, Mr. Moto. Darci Coconut. Have you seen her?”

  “Everybody gone. Go home. Nobody here.”

  Maybe she went home by herself, I thought. She could do it. She wasn't scared.

  I took off.

  Take the long way home. It's safer.

  But why hadn't I run into Darci when I ran back to school to look for her? If she'd been walking home, I would have passed her.

  Now I was really worried. I picked up my pace, jogging, then sprinting as thoughts of creeps and bad guys flooded my brain.

  By the time I reached my driveway, I was sweating like a boiling crab and twice as mad. At myself. What kind of brother forgets his own sister?

  I ran into the garage.

  “Darci!”

  I threw open the door.

  She was in the kitchen, pouring herself a bowl of Rice Krispies. She looked up. “Hi, Calvin,” she said, as if it was just any old regular day.

  I slumped back against the door and sagged with relief. “I was … supposed … to walk … home with you… I forgot.”

  Rice Krispies tumbled into the bowl. “That's all right.”

  All right? I slid down to the floor. I put my elbows on my knees and covered my face with my hands.

  “When you didn't come, I just started walking,” Darci said.

  I shook my head. “Mom's going to kill me!”

  “Why?”

  I looked up. “Are you gonna … you know, tell her?

  “Tell her what?”

  “That I forgot to walk you home.”

  Darci cocked her head as if that thought hadn't even crossed her mind. “Should I?”

  “Prob'ly, yeah … but … will you?”

  Darci shrugged and took a bite of cereal.

  “You can if you want to,” I said. “I won't get mad.”

  Just then I heard an engine out in the driveway. “Someone's here.” I sprang up and ran to look out the window, thinking maybe Tito got one of his high school friends to give him a ride. But it wasn't Tito.

  “It's King Kong.”

  King Kong was Ledward, Mom's boy friend. I don't know why I called him that, except that he was a hundred feet tall. His real name was Ledward Young. He was half Hawaiian and half a bunch of other stuff.

  “He's here to fix up your new room,” Darci said.

  I groaned, remembering that disaster. Time to move in with the bugs.

  Ledward parked his old army jeep on the grass. It didn't have a top, like a convertible. He unfolded himself as he got out, wearing shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and rubber slippers, like everyone else.

  “Hey, boss,” he said when I got outside.

  “Hey.”

  Standing next to Ledward, I felt like a mouse. He told me one time, when he was in fourth grade he was as tall as his teacher. But the most amazing thing I'd learned about him was that he'd gone to school with Mr. Purdy and Uncle Scoop. They were all friends then, and were still friends now.

  “Daniel treat you all right today?” Ledward asked.

  “Who?”

  “Mr. Purdy is what you'd call him, I guess.”

  “Yeah, he's cool. He calls our class boot camp.”

  Ledward laughed. “That would be him.”

  “He has a tattoo.”

  “He's a good man. The best.”

  I nodded, remembering the food fight and the centipede, and how Mr. Purdy hadn't even chewed me out or sent me to the principal's office for any of it. Except there was that classroom greeter job. I frowned. I'd have to shake Shayla's hand and say “Welcome to class, Shayla.” Every day.

  “Grab the toolbox off the backseat,” Led-ward said. “Let's go look at that storage room.”

  “Is Mom really making me move out there?”

  “You don't want to?”

  “Would you?”

  “Sure. It would be like having my own place. Look at the view you got … mountains, river, the street. Better than what you have now, ah? Unless you like looking at the backyard.”

  He was right. All I could see from my old room was Darci's rusty swing set. Maybe the storage room would be okay after all. If we could get rid of the bugs.

  Ledward's toolbox weighed about fifty pounds. But it smelled good, like oil. I set it on our garbage can. The hinged lid was puffed up now. The trash was starting to overflow. But it didn't stink too bad. Yet.

  Ledward winked. “You ready?”

  “No.”

  Ledward opened the door and flipped on the light. “Find a broom, boy. We got work to do.”

  Just after noon the next day, Julio, Maya, Willy, Darci, and I found two half-empty paint cans and three corroded aluminum beach chairs in the garage. We dragged them out and sat on them along the edge of our driveway.

  And waited.

  Stella was arriving.

  Mom and Ledward had gone to the airport to pick her up in Ledward's jeep.

  “I've never seen a nanny before,” Maya said.

  “She's not a nanny! Jeese!”

&n
bsp; “What is she, then?” Julio asked. “A babysitter?”

  I leaned forward and put my head in my hands.

  Maya bent close and whispered, “I bet she's pretty.”

  “Hey, Willy,” Julio said. “Since she's a mainlander just like you, she won't even know what's a shave ice.”

  Willy humphed. “Or kimchee.”

  Julio laughed and slapped his knee. “Man, you should have seen the look on your face, ho, so funny!”

  “How old is she?” Maya asked.

  “Fifteen,” Darci said. “Tenth grade.”

  Julio jumped up. “Here they come!”

  My eyes were glued to Ledward's jeep as it came down the street. It was like a parade was coming, and we were waiting to see the queen.

  Ledward honked as he pulled into the driveway.

  Mom waved.

  I gaped.

  Stella from Texas was in the backseat. Wow, she was like a queen, all right. She glanced at us, brushing her long, windblown blond hair out of her eyes. A suitcase sat on one side of her, and a cardboard box on the other.

  “She is pretty,” Maya whispered.

  Julio gawked. “Ho, man.”

  Stella just looked at us. Her eyes were light blue, and when she looked at me, I felt like she could see everything I ever in my life tried to hide.

  I kept staring. I couldn't help it.

  Ledward parked and turned off the engine.

  “Is this the welcoming committee?” Mom asked.

  I blinked and stumbled up. “Uh … yeah.”

  “That's so nice,” Mom said. She got out and hugged me. Over her shoulder, I saw Stella pull her hair back, revealing a glinting gold dot at the bottom of one ear.

  “Thank you, Calvin. And thank all of you, too,” Mom said to the rest of the welcoming committee.

  Julio, Maya, and Willy gave Mom shy grins.

  Darci was speechless, for once.

  Stella stood up in the back of the jeep. She wore tight jeans and a blue shirt with white snap buttons. When Ledward reached up, she took his hand and stepped to the ground.

  “These are my children,” Mom said. “Calvin and Darci.”

  Darci asked, “Are you going to be my sister?”

  Stella looked down at her. “Why would you think that, darlin’?”

  Ho! She talks funny.

  “And these three live in the neighborhood,” Mom said. “Julio, Maya, and Willy.”

  Stella studied them.

  Willy's mouth hung open, and I couldn't blame him. Stella's eyes were like magnets. You couldn't escape.

  Willy looked down when Stella raised an eyebrow.

  “Do you have a horse?” Maya asked. “I mean, in Texas?”

  Stella turned to Maya, like, What kind of a stupid question is that? “No, I don't have a horse. But I have … I mean, I had… a parakeet. I guess it's my mom's now.”

  “What's a parakeet?” Julio asked.

  “A small bird.”

  “Well,” Mom said, clapping her hands once. “Want to see your new room, Stella?”

  Stella shrugged.

  Mom, Stella, and Darci headed into the house. Ledward grabbed the suitcase and box and followed them, making a face at me that said Yow!

  Julio whistled low.

  That night at dinner, Mom did all the talking. Darci watched Stella nibble. I shoveled my dinner down, keeping my eyes on my plate.

  Mom reached over and put her hand on Stella's. “We are so happy to have you come live with us for a while.” She glanced at me and Darci. “Aren't we, kids?”

  “Yes!” Darci said, giving Stella her best smile.

  Stella half smiled back, then glanced at me.

  I held my fork in midair. “Uh, yeah. We're, uh, happy.”

  Stella's eyes narrowed, her half smile still plastered on.

  I coughed and lowered my fork.

  Stella turned to Mom. “They won't give me any trouble, will they?”

  “These kids?” said Mom. “No trouble. No trouble at all.”

  That night, I lay on my back on the top bunk in my new room. In the corner just above my head, a small black spider slept in its web. “You like this room, spidey?”

  The spider didn't move.

  “That bad, huh?”

  I turned over on my stomach and mashed my pillow up under my chin. The window was a black square of night. When I turned the light off, maybe I'd see the river.

  Someone knocked and opened my door. “May I come in?”

  “Sure, Mom.”

  “Wow,” she said, looking around. “You and Ledward really got this place cleaned up. It looks great, don't you think?”

  I rolled over and pointed to the spider. “See my new roommate?”

  “Want me to get it for you?”

  “No, he just sleeps.”

  Mom leaned against the counter that ran along one side of my new room. She crossed her arms and looked up at me. “There's a sweet girl under Stella's rough exterior, Calvin. I think she just needs to get to know us.”

  “She doesn't talk much.”

  “Give her time. She comes from a … well, a difficult situation. Her parents are struggling now. Her mom thought sending her here would help everyone, including me, and she's certainly right about that.”

  “Okay.”

  “You're old enough to take care of yourself now. But Darci needs someone at home while I'm at work.”

  “Stella could do the garbage,” I offered. “That would free me up to cut the grass.”

  Mom laughed, a real, deep laugh. She pushed herself away from the counter and reached up to squeeze my hand. “I just don't know what I'd do without your good humor, Cal.”

  She kissed me good night and left.

  I looked up at the spider. “What was so funny?”

  The next morning, Sunday, I was jolted out of my dreams.

  “Calvin!”

  I squinted at my clock. Eight-fifteen.

  “Calvin! Get in here this minute!”

  Mom didn't sound happy.

  I slid off my bunk. I put on yesterday's shorts and T-shirt and stumbled through the garage.

  Mom stood in the kitchen with her arms crossed. “I told you to fix that lock on your door.”

  Oops. “I … forgot.”

  “Yes, you forgot, and now Stella is stuck in her room. What are you going to do about it?”

  “Um, I can get it open.”

  “So get to it!”

  I ran to my old bedroom and knocked on the door. “Uh … Stella?”

  “Unlock this door!”

  “It's just supposed to pop open when you turn the knob.”

  “Well, I'm turning and it's not popping. Your mom said you could get it open, so do it. I need to go to the bathroom.”

  I tried the knob.

  Locked, all right. “Uh … try turning and lifting at the same time.”

  Stella huffed and grunted, then banged her fist on the door. “Get me out of here!”

  “Wait. Be right back.”

  I ran to my room, grabbed my pocketknife, and ran back. “Look by your feet.” I slid the knife under the door.

  “What's this for?”

  “Stick the blade in the slot on the thumb lock, then turn it. That's how I get it open.”

  I could hear her working the knife into the doorknob. “You better not be joking around with me.”

  “I'm not. Turn it like a key.”

  “I'm not kidding, buster, if you're—” She banged the door again. “It! Doesn't! Work!”

  “Okay, wait! I'll be back.”

  “I've had enough of this, buster!”

  I raced out to the garage. Boy, she was getting mean. Could I help it if the lock always got stuck?

  “Did you get it open?” Mom asked as I ran through the kitchen.

  “Not yet.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Hammer and a screwdriver.”

  “You're not going to break down the door, are you?”

&
nbsp; “I'm going to take it off its hinges. Julio did that once.”

  I started toward the garage.

  “Wait,” Mom said. “The hinges are on the inside.”

  I hesitated. “They are?”

  “Of course they are. What good is a lock if they're on the outside? Anyone could just do what you're planning to do.”

  “Oh.” I slumped against the doorjamb. “Then I think she's going to have to climb out the window.”

  Mom put the palm of her hand to her forehead. “If you could just for once have shown a little responsibility and fixed that lock, we wouldn't be having this problem.”

  “Sorry.”

  Mom sighed. “Go tell her.”

  Darci called as I passed her room. She was sitting in her bed rubbing her eyes. “What's all the noise?”

  “Stella's stuck in her room. She has to climb out the window.”

  Darci leaped out of bed. “I want to see!”

  “Calvin!” Mom called from the kitchen.

  “Yeah?”

  “I have to leave now. I'm supposed to meet Ledward at Costco, and there's no way I can contact him. Get Stella out of that room, you understand?”

  “Yeah, Mom. I'll get her out.”

  “I'll be home sometime this afternoon. You and Darci do everything Stella tells you. She's in charge while I'm gone, is that clear?”

  Great.

  “Yeah, it's clear.”

  The kitchen door banged shut. I heard the car start.

  Then Julio showed up.

  “Calvin,” he called from the front door. He cupped his hands around his eyes and looked through the screen. “Come out.”

  I ran to the door. “Wait … I have to do something first.”

  “I'll be out back on Darci's swing,” Julio said.

  I crept up to Stella's door. “Stella?”

  “What.”

  “Um … you have to, uh, to climb out the window.”

  Silence.

  “Stella?”

  “You did this on purpose, didn't you?”

  “What? No!”

  “You're going to pay for this.”

  “But I didn't—”

  “What's your favorite color?”

  “What?”

  “Color, your favorite color.”

  “Blue?”

  “I'll tell everyone to bring blue flowers, then.”

  “Bring them to what?”