students to have some Halloween fun without turning them loose on the streets On the eve of the lock-in Marco tried his best to convince his dad otherwise Dad it makes more sense for me to stay home and get some real work done on my micro-bot Marco said I need you to go tomorrow Marco his dad said sitting down to dig into his locally famous chili I actually have your brothers convinced they’d have more fun at the lock-in than trick-or-treating The last thing we need is a house full of hyperactive Martinez boys their teeth rotting away from eating too much candy Marco ate a spoonful of chili and washed it down with a sip of milk He knew his dad was exaggerating 6
They have games and movies Marco Felipe his youngest brother declared For free We have all of that at home Marco replied quickly Why go to school for that It’s good for you to get out of the house once in a while his dad said If you stayed home you’d just end up staring at your computer all night You need to take a break from that Make some friends Have some fun Programming is fun Marco thought They’re going to have popcorn too Rodrigo said stirring his chili around As the middle kid Rodrigo was what Dad called a challenge especially when it came to eating If given the choice he’d eat macaroni and cheese for every meal Popcorn however was his go-to snack 7
Besides that his dad said I’d feel better knowing you’d keep an eye on these two We don’t need a babysitter Rodrigo declared I know you don’t Rigo Dad said But it’ll be good to have Marco there just in case Besides Dad needs a night off Marco knew what his dad meant Ever since their mom died a few years back he’d been a single dad taking care of Marco and his little brothers Though his dad never complained Marco knew he was exhausted Okay Dad Marco said I’ll go and keep these two out of trouble It’ll be fine I don’t get into trouble Rodrigo insisted Felipe does 8
As the two youngest brothers argued Dad smiled at Marco and put his hand over his heart Thank you he mouthed On Halloween afternoon hours before the lock-in that Friday night Marco was hard at work on his micro-bot He hoped to spend as much time as possible during their time in the coding club to retrofit his creation with treads The legs he’d attached to the robot’s body were far too small The top-heavy head made it prone to tip over 9
