Chapter one A Rough Start Romy’s Monday went downhill from the moment his younger brother Eli sprinkled salt on his Yum-O’s Romy had only turned his back to pour a glass of orange juice for a second Salty Yum-O’s tasted terrible Then their mother walked into the room right as Romy tackled and (cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:78)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:40)(cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:78)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:192)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:17)(cid:3) Stop horse playing You both are going to be grounded if you’re late to school again their mother said Romy and Eli were already late to Watson Elementary School once this week Really it was their mom’s fault since she made them clean the massive pile of dishes before they left and then she lost her car keys But Romy knew better than to remind her about this especially since she was in such a frenzy getting ready for work It also 6
wasn’t a good time to beg her again to let him ride the bus She said she liked dropping Romy and Eli off at school so they could spend quality time together Their mother left the kitchen to straighten her suit in front of the hallway mirror She was a lawyer and had an important court case that day This was the perfect moment for Romy to get one last tickle in Big mistake Eli laughed so hard he snorted milk all over Romy’s favorite school T-shirt with the owl mascot on it BOYS What did I just say Their mother glared at them from the hallway Her look was so scary she could intimidate even Mrs Holmes the school principal Romy worried she was going to ground them both even if they weren’t late to school yet Romy had no time to change clothes He’d wanted to look nice but couldn’t remember why He felt gross as he got into the car His lungs wheezed a bit as he thought about girls like Queeneka and Keely seeing him wearing the milk shot-through-his-brother’s-nose damp T-shirt 7
Eli had pranked him TWICE this morning Romy decided to give him a little payback by throwing a rubber eraser from his backpack at him The rubber eraser bounced off Eli’s head and hit their mother in the bulls-eye of her hair bun What in the BOYS You are too old to be playing around like little children You could’ve caused me to crash into another car Their mother fussed about safety before adding You both need to be much more responsible Romy I expect you to be the man of the house while your father is away Their father was in the Army and was overseas for the next month Romy missed him like crazy They all did It was likely their mother was about to ground them anyway so Romy started to say that she should let them ride the bus for a variety of reasons They weren’t spending much quality time together in the car anyway But he couldn’t get a word out because his lungs felt tight Romy (cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:3) (cid:68)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:15)(cid:3) (cid:90)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:3) (cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:3) (cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:3) (cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:73)(cid:191)(cid:70)(cid:88)(cid:79)(cid:87)(cid:3) (cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:3) (cid:69)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3) (cid:86)(cid:82)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:49)(cid:82)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:68)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:191)(cid:81)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:86)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:3) Romy’s mother pulled into the parking lot at 8
