seconds, no one spoke.
“Well, is it?”
“Uh … not really,” I finally said. “We, uh, we sit all over the place.”
Benny Obi nodded.
“Who’s the kid got Coconut for a last name? I heard he was in our class and he’s related to Little Johnny Coconut, the singer in Las Vegas.”
Everyone turned to me.
“That’s … my dad,” I said.
In Benny’s glasses I could see the mirror image of us sitting around looking back at him.
Benny thought for a moment. “How come he’s there and you’re here?”
Mind your own business, I wanted to say. “He and my mom got divorced.”
Benny bit his lower lip and looked down. “Mines, too.”
He squatted and sat on his heels with his arms over his knees. “You guys ever seen a human skull?”
Wow. What kind of a question was
that
?
Everyone shook their head.
“Well, I have,” Benny said. “I found it in a lava tube. Up by the volcano. Secret place I discovered. You ever been in a lava tube? You can’t go in unless you have a ball of string. If you don’t have string to lead you back out, you could get lost and never come out and you could die of starvation. You know how long ittakes for your body to rot? You ever thought of how it might feel to have rats and mongooses eat you alive?”
What?
No one answered.
Benny grinned. “I figure that’s what happened to whoever’s skull that was. Could have been from new times or from old times, somebody lost, trying to find their way out. Or maybe it was a human sacrifice from the olden days. You can’t tell without testing it. They can do that, you know … tell how old bones are. But that was the weird thing. When I found the skull there
were
no bones. Just the head. Maybe it was
obakes.”
“Ghosts,” Rubin whispered, his eyes wide.
We looked at each other. We all knew the Japanese word for
ghosts. “Bad
ghosts,” Benny Obi whispered.
Then he turned toward the rest of us. I could see my reflection gaping back at me from his glasses.
I closed my mouth.
Benny wasn’t done.
“I know a kid with one and a half legs. Got attacked by a shark. A fisherman caught that shark by accident a couple days later, and when they cut the shark open they found the kid’s leg in the stomach. It was still in pretty good shape, so they found the kid and gave him his leg back. The doctors sewed it on again, but it didn’t work, so they took it off. Now the kid got a fake leg. You ever seen a fake leg? Steel thing with a shoe on the end? If you have long pants on you can’t tell it’s fake. But you can if you got shorts. I guess if you only got half a leg you don’t care, ah? At least you can walk.”
Benny Obi stopped talking and nodded. Then he went on. “Was me, I wouldn’t care. How’s about you? You ever seen a fake leg?”
He looked at us, waiting.
Uh …
“Well,” I said. “If … if …”
I had no idea what to say.
Benny Obi stood and looked down at us.“You guys collect stuff? I collect everything. You name it, I got it. Old books, stamps, coins, rocks, insects, Star Wars figures, Micro Machines, manga—”
“Manga?” Rubin said. “I got sixty-eight books.”
“Yeah? I got like two, three hundred, maybe a thousand. I don’t know, I haven’t counted them up.”
He looked over his shoulder at the playground. “Hey, been nice. Gotta go. See you in class. What’s with the teacher, anyway? He some kind of army guy, or what? What’s with the boot camp? Ain’t that kind of weird?”
When nobody said anything, Benny Obi shrugged and walked away.
“Holy bazooks,” I whispered.
Julio spat. “Would you want to sit next to
that
?”
A fter school I grabbed Darci from her first-grade room, then met up with Julio, Rubin, Willy, and Maya, who were waiting for us under a monkeypod tree. Most days we walked home together. We lived in the same neighborhood, except for Rubin, who lived halfway between us and the school.
As we headed down the quiet street, Darci tugged on my
“Well, is it?”
“Uh … not really,” I finally said. “We, uh, we sit all over the place.”
Benny Obi nodded.
“Who’s the kid got Coconut for a last name? I heard he was in our class and he’s related to Little Johnny Coconut, the singer in Las Vegas.”
Everyone turned to me.
“That’s … my dad,” I said.
In Benny’s glasses I could see the mirror image of us sitting around looking back at him.
Benny thought for a moment. “How come he’s there and you’re here?”
Mind your own business, I wanted to say. “He and my mom got divorced.”
Benny bit his lower lip and looked down. “Mines, too.”
He squatted and sat on his heels with his arms over his knees. “You guys ever seen a human skull?”
Wow. What kind of a question was
that
?
Everyone shook their head.
“Well, I have,” Benny said. “I found it in a lava tube. Up by the volcano. Secret place I discovered. You ever been in a lava tube? You can’t go in unless you have a ball of string. If you don’t have string to lead you back out, you could get lost and never come out and you could die of starvation. You know how long ittakes for your body to rot? You ever thought of how it might feel to have rats and mongooses eat you alive?”
What?
No one answered.
Benny grinned. “I figure that’s what happened to whoever’s skull that was. Could have been from new times or from old times, somebody lost, trying to find their way out. Or maybe it was a human sacrifice from the olden days. You can’t tell without testing it. They can do that, you know … tell how old bones are. But that was the weird thing. When I found the skull there
were
no bones. Just the head. Maybe it was
obakes.”
“Ghosts,” Rubin whispered, his eyes wide.
We looked at each other. We all knew the Japanese word for
ghosts. “Bad
ghosts,” Benny Obi whispered.
Then he turned toward the rest of us. I could see my reflection gaping back at me from his glasses.
I closed my mouth.
Benny wasn’t done.
“I know a kid with one and a half legs. Got attacked by a shark. A fisherman caught that shark by accident a couple days later, and when they cut the shark open they found the kid’s leg in the stomach. It was still in pretty good shape, so they found the kid and gave him his leg back. The doctors sewed it on again, but it didn’t work, so they took it off. Now the kid got a fake leg. You ever seen a fake leg? Steel thing with a shoe on the end? If you have long pants on you can’t tell it’s fake. But you can if you got shorts. I guess if you only got half a leg you don’t care, ah? At least you can walk.”
Benny Obi stopped talking and nodded. Then he went on. “Was me, I wouldn’t care. How’s about you? You ever seen a fake leg?”
He looked at us, waiting.
Uh …
“Well,” I said. “If … if …”
I had no idea what to say.
Benny Obi stood and looked down at us.“You guys collect stuff? I collect everything. You name it, I got it. Old books, stamps, coins, rocks, insects, Star Wars figures, Micro Machines, manga—”
“Manga?” Rubin said. “I got sixty-eight books.”
“Yeah? I got like two, three hundred, maybe a thousand. I don’t know, I haven’t counted them up.”
He looked over his shoulder at the playground. “Hey, been nice. Gotta go. See you in class. What’s with the teacher, anyway? He some kind of army guy, or what? What’s with the boot camp? Ain’t that kind of weird?”
When nobody said anything, Benny Obi shrugged and walked away.
“Holy bazooks,” I whispered.
Julio spat. “Would you want to sit next to
that
?”
A fter school I grabbed Darci from her first-grade room, then met up with Julio, Rubin, Willy, and Maya, who were waiting for us under a monkeypod tree. Most days we walked home together. We lived in the same neighborhood, except for Rubin, who lived halfway between us and the school.
As we headed down the quiet street, Darci tugged on my
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