Double-Dare O’Toole by Constance C. Greene Page A

clothes, brushed himself off.
    â€œYou look as if you’d been in a fight,” his father said. “If you’re going to a party, better clean yourself up.” He turned and started down the stairs.
    â€œDad.” Fex went after him. “You don’t have to pick me up. I can walk home.”
    â€œWhat time is it over?”
    â€œOh, about ten, I guess,” Fex said airily.
    â€œI’ll settle for nine,” Mr. O’Toole said.
    â€œDad, I’m not a baby. I’m almost twelve.”
    â€œNine-thirty. You call me when it’s over and I’ll meet you on the corner so they won’t know your old man came for you. How’s that?” His father smiled at Fex.
    â€œThanks, Dad.” Fex went back to his room and combed his hair some more.
    â€œI’m staying awake until you get home,” Jerry said. “Tell me all about it, O.K.?”
    â€œIf I live to tell the tale,” Fex said. “I just wonder if going to a party is worth all this trouble.”
    â€œProbably not,” Jerry said, taking up his violin. Fex fled.

20
    Barney lived up by the hospital in a pale brown apartment house at the top of the hill. Barney’s mother was a nurse. Every Monday morning Barney told tales of the goings-on in the emergency room over the weekend. He said the weekend was when things really started hopping. Especially if there was a full moon. You wouldn’t believe what went on there Saturday nights if there was a full moon, Barney said.
    â€œLet me out on the corner, Dad,” Fex told his father. “I’ll walk the rest of the way.”
    He didn’t want to be the last one at the party. It was almost seven. On the other hand, he also didn’t want to be the first. He didn’t know which was worse. After his father let him off, he dawdled, taking his time, walking slowly, keeping an eye on the entrance to the emergency room. He’d been there a couple of times himself. Once when he’d broken his collarbone, another time when they’d thought he might have appendicitis. It turned out to be only a bad stomachache.
    It seemed to Fex as he rang Barney’s bell that he could hear party sounds coming from above. He waited for Barney to buzz so he could open the door. The hall smelled damp and musty and of various kinds of food. Barney leaned over the stairwell, watching him come. His face looked very wide and flat from this angle. He didn’t speak. Just suspended himself and watched without saying a word. Fex trudged up the stairs, head down, already sorry he’d come.
    â€œYou’re the first,” Barney hissed as Fex reached his floor. Fex’s heart sank.
    â€œHello!” a blond woman wearing a pale blue pants suit greeted him. “I’m Barney’s mom.” She smiled without showing her teeth.
    â€œI’m Fex O’Toole,” Fex said. He put out his hand. She shook it.
    â€œOh, Barn’s told me all about you,” she said. She seemed glad to meet him. “I like to hear about Barn’s friends.”
    â€œHow are you, Mrs. Barnes?” Fex said. He looked past her into the living room. It was empty.
    Barney jabbed him in the ribs. “Her name’s not Mrs. Barnes,” he said. A man came out of the bedroom. He, too, wore a pale blue pants suit.
    â€œThis is Dougie,” Barney said. “Meet Fex O’Toole, Dougie.” Dougie rattled when he walked, due to all the gold chains he wore around his neck. His hair was thin and so artfully arranged over his scalp that it looked like the tributaries of a river marked on a map. He also smiled without revealing his teeth. It was uncanny. They must practice smiling that way, Fex thought. He didn’t think it would be easy.
    â€œHey,” Dougie said, “how’s it going?” He and Barney’s mother went into the kitchen. There was a sound of scuffling. “Dougie!” Barney’s mother cried out.