something He wondered if anyone else would’ve thought about supper if he hadn’t mentioned it Pizza works for me Perfect his dad said tossing him the cell phone Can you call and order it You know what the boys and I like Yeah okay Marco sighed All he wanted to do was get back to his micro-bot command module project He was just about done and even though he wasn’t sure how he knew Dr Whiskers had thrown a huge monkey wrench into his progress As he dialed the phone number for Joey’s Pizza the living room erupted into excitement as the hamster did something else extraordinary Marco moved his wheelchair into the kitchen to dampen the sound a bit The girl who answered the phone asked if he could hold a moment While waiting to place 10
his order he listened to the conversation among the hamster fans I don’t want to bring him back tomorrow Felipe announced with a little bit of sadness in his voice We should buy one of our own Papi Rodrigo replied Don’t you think Dad What their dad asked Sorry I was just watching him bury himself It’s so cute how he does that What did you say Yeah Marco thought Because he’s trying to hide from your goofy faces for a moment or two As the Martinez brothers continued asking if they could buy a hamster of their own Marco hoped that their dad would do the smart thing and tell them it was too much work and responsibility 11
Thanks for holding Is this for pickup or delivery the girl’s voice on the other end asked Delivery Marco said After confirming his address she asked for his order We’ll take a large cheese with extra cheese and a large special hold the hamster Marco said still half-listening to the negotiations in the living room Excuse me Marco realized what he’d said and corrected himself I’m sorry he said I meant hold the onions Yeah Marco thought It’ll be good to be hamster free after tonight 12
2 FURRY FREEDOM Monday morning was a somber one for three-fourths of the Martinez family The talks about getting a hamster for their house didn’t go well Although their dad loved the idea of having a pet of their own he cited one main reason that it wasn’t the right time They had a vacation to Mexico coming in July and didn’t know of anyone who would be willing to take care of their new pet They would be gone for two weeks Asking someone to keep the little critter fed and his cage clean would be too much 13
