LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

because she’s your sister,” I answered.

      “No, it’s because she’s the queen of mean.”

      “Not true.”

      “Dude, I live with her. Believe me, she’s a snob.”

      “Well, I think—” I glanced up at Jo and lost my train of thought. She was looking at me from the counter. Smiling slightly. Curling her hair around one finger. When our eyes connected, she burst into a full smile, just for a second, then turned to Mem.

      “What’s the deal, anyway?” Reed asked. “With Mem, I mean.”

      “Huh?— Oh, my mom’s away on business, so I have to stay with my Aunt Collette and watch Mem while she works.”

      Reed peeked over his shoulder at Mem, who was still staring down Jo at the counter. “How long?”

      “All summer.”

      “Ouch.”

      “Yeah,” I muttered. And then Jo and Mem were back, Mem with a can of Dr. Pepper and Jo with a bunch of paper plates and napkins.

      “You guys got quiet all of a sudden,” Jo smirked. “What are we interrupting?”

      “Nothing,” I said quickly. “Hey Reed, how about some foosball?”

      “Sure,” he said, cracking his knuckles. We ended up playing until the pizza arrived.

      “Is hot,” Niko said in his Italian accent as he set the pizza on the table. Niko is one of those guys who looks like he belongs on the football field or in the boxing ring—bulging biceps, massive hands, face etched with little scars. Lucky for us and everyone else, he’s as mellow as they come. He sliced the pie and was about to leave when he noticed Mem’s sneakers sitting on an empty chair behind us. “Who is barefoot?” he asked.

      It took me a minute to realize it was me. “Oh, Niko, sorry.” I quickly forced my toes into Mem’s small shoes.

      “Don’t do it again,” he barked grumpily and walked away.

      Wow, where was the laid-back Niko I knew, and who was this imposter? “What’s up with him?” I asked.

      “Maybe he’s hungry,” Mem suggested, helping himself to a slice.

      “Yeah, maybe he’s hungry,” Jo pretended to agree.

      “Whatever,” said Mo. “So, we going swimming later?”

      “I’m in,” said Reed with a mouthful. “What about you, Johnny?”

      “I—I’m free at three…uh, are you going, Jo?”

      “Can’t—I’m due at Patsy’s in a few minutes.”

      Before I could say anything else, Reed leaned into my ear and whispered, “Guess you’ll have to wait to find out how she looks in her bikini.”

      “I heard that,” Jo glared at Reed. “You know what—I’m outta here. See you, Mem.” She stood up, put a slice of pizza on her napkin, and mouthed, “Sorry, Johnny,” before heading out the door.

      “See you,” Mem said as the door jangled behind her.

      “Nice going, Reed,” I said, but he only laughed and grabbed another slice.

      “Nice going is right, Reed,” Mo chimed in. “She left without chipping in her share. Now we each gotta pay an extra buck.”

      That’s when I realized I was stuck paying for both Mem and me. “Hey Mem, you got any money?” I asked on the off chance he might have a couple dollars.

      “Yup, here.” He pulled a $50 bill out of his pocket. Fifty dollars.

      “Jeez, where’d you get that—Aunt Collette?”

      “Nope.”

      “Where then?”

      He produced a pack of Juicy Fruit gum. “Same place as this.”

      “Where?” I asked for the third time.

      “Where? My friend. My friend Chip.”

      “That a kid at your school?”

      “Your school? Nope.”

      It didn’t really matter where it came from—cash is cash. Mo snatched the bill out of Mem’s hand and said, “We’ll get you change, buddy…unless you wanna buy us another pizza first, that is.”

      “No way,” I snapped. “Don’t anybody ask Mem for money, except me. Got it?”

      Mo shrugged, “Only kidding.” He scrambled to the counter and paid Niko, then we all hit the sidewalk together.

      “See you later,” I told Reed and Mo, who were heading in the opposite direction. “Call me for—” and then to make sure Mem wouldn’t invite himself along, I stood behind him and mimed swimming. Mem turned around in time to catch the last bit of my aerial backstroke, but he didn’t get it—at least, I don’t think he did. At any rate, he didn’t say anything, and that was a relief.

      It was a long walk home without any shoes, without any friends, without anything to fill the rest of my shift with Mem. Luckily, Mem closeted himself in his room when we got back, so I set up my GameCube and played a few rounds of StarBender. My mom called at one point just to check in; I did the good-doobie thing and told her, “Everything’s fine. We’re having a pretty all right time.”

      “Really, Johnny?” she said.

      “Yeah, sure.”

      “Good. Because I can tell I’m going to love this project, but I can only do it if I know you’re happy.”

      “Happy as a clam, Mom.” Not.

      “I’ll call again in a couple of days then. Hi to Collette.”

      “Got it.”

      “And don’t forget to floss.”

      “Goodbye, Mom.”

      Aunt Collette got home a little late, her ruby lipstick gone and her eyes striped with those little veins that pop out when you’re tired. Mem gave her a celebrity’s welcome and begged her to play Trouble, which he’d already set up in his room. As for me, I hotfooted it to the lake to meet Mo and Reed, and I didn’t feel guilty at all for not taking Mem with me.

      Well, hardly at all.

      Chapter 3

      The next day I got to stay in bed a little later since Aunt Collette didn’t have to be at work until eleven. Mem had been watching The Weather Channel all morning, but when I came downstairs he leaped up and was all over me. “Let’s go swimming, Johnny! C’mon, let’s go swimming at the lake.”

      “What—do you even know how?” I asked groggily.

      “Do you even know how?” And then I realized he was already wearing his trunks.

      Okay, I thought, this might not be the worst way to spend the day. I guess I was still half asleep, or I wouldn’t have had such a crazy thought. “You sure you can swim?”

      “Yup. I learned at school.”

      “They have a pool at your school?”

      “Yup.” He took a pair of swim goggles out of his shirt pocket and pulled them over his head. “But I wanna swim in the lake.”

      So it was settled. I stumbled into my trunks and stuffed some towels and Twinkies into my backpack before I was even fully awake. My flip flops were nowhere to be found, though—until I looked at Mem’s feet. “You really don’t have any other shoes?” I asked.

      “Nope. Do you?”

      I threw on my sneakers, which still felt like homework and smelled

Скачать книгу