Can I have one Johnny asked Two minutes later he was the spittin image of a pirate from the Caribbean Miss Priss-A-Poo studied the tattoos She looked impressed with my artistic ability Want one I asked She twirled her hair around her finger Not a pirate she said I want a bumblebee One itty-bitty bumblebee it is But it looked lonely so I said How about I add some flowers She nodded So I grabbed all the markers and used a different one for each flower By the time I finished Miss Priss-A-Poo looked like a garden of daisies delphiniums and daffodils waiting to be picked Suddenly Crockett pulled his sleeve over his tattoo and whispered Shiver me timbers 10
I followed Crockett’s gaze to Mrs Bingsley Arrr Was she trying to talk like a pirate Wh wh The arrr was great Mrs Bingsley I said politely But I don’t think pirates say wh-wh That’s when I noticed her grumpy grumpy eyes and her red red cheeks She sure looked like she needed a happy face tattoo Mrs Bingsley took a deep breath What are you doing with those permanent markers Oops I didn’t realize I had been tattooing everyone with permanent markers I tried to change the subject with a super-duper fun fact Mrs Bingsley did you know that there are 293 ways to make change for a dollar 11
Mrs Bingsley pushed her sleeves up to her elbows and then folded her arms She meant business My stomach felt fluttery Did you know that it’s physically impossible to lick your elbow Crockett wasn’t the only one with a cool calendar Mine was filled with 365 useless facts which come in handy during times like this She took a deep breath then said Katharine I asked you what you’re doing with those permanent markers I eeked out Brainstorming She snatched the marker out of my hand You mean fooling around I was practicing my tattoo drawing I replied Mrs Bingsley scrunched her face Use your common sense Katharine You can’t draw on people She put her 12
hands on her hips What am I going to do with you I thought of Dare to Be Different Day Um maybe you should dare to be different and just um forget about it I crossed my fingers This is what I hoped would happen Mrs Bingsley would say You’re right Katharine Practicing your tattoo drawing is a great idea Maybe you can tattoo an apple on my cheek But this is what really happened She pointed toward the door Blimey Forced to walk the plank again 13
