weren’t already obvious to the whole world.
“Really? Then I should scratch my butt and get to dancing.” Which is exactly what he did. I discovered right then zombies can die—from embarrassment.
“Dad, stop it!”
“Fine,” he said, his hips no longer wiggling. “But here’s the real issue, Jed. Where have you guys been all night?”
If I ever needed my undead brain to start firing on all synapses, it was now. C’mon, baby. I hear you chugging. Now you need to catch and start creating excuses .
“Well, see, it was early, and we didn’t want to disturb you …”
There it goes, now a little gas —
“… and we wanted to know more about where we’re going. So we went to …”
The library? Seriously, brain? It’s maybe 5:30 in the morning, a time when every library is closed except for those in Geektown .
“… the …”
I believe in you, brain .
“ … the 24-hour Internet café …”
Full power achieved!
“… because we wanted to know more about where we were going so that we knew stuff there to do so we can support you and your job because you were so awesome to let us come …”
Warning! All the butt-kissing is exceeding capacity, pull back !
“ … I mean, so we’d have stuff to do and not get in your way.”
Excellent, brain, now shift into neutral and let’s coast home .
“And we were trying so hard not to wake you, we forgot the key.”
Dad stared at me with his “You are so full of it, but until I can prove it, I’m going to go along but be careful, mister” look.
“Just pick up your stuff and get in here,” he said. “By the way, isn’t that what you were wearing yesterday?”
“Yeah, we didn’t want to keep getting other clothes dirty until we knew we could wash them,” I answered, high-fiving my brain for a fast and brilliant explanation.
“That makes absolutely no sense,” Dad said.
Don’t take it personally, brain. It’ll be OK .
“I guess not, but it’s the truth,” I said.
“Just get your stuff together. We have to figure out the Tread situation. To be honest, I thought you guys had done something really stupid, like tried to go break him out.”
I knew what Luke was about to shout, and I had to cut him off at the “But-we-didn’t-do-anything” pass. “No, of course not,” I said as my elbow landed between Luke’s third and fourth ribs. “We’re capable of some really stupid stuff, but nothing that dumb.”
“It wasn’t something I thought about seriously, of course. I’m sure that place is locked up tight. You know we have our work cut out for us, right? To get Tread back? Because we need to leave here today.”
My brain made my face go all sad-looking, the perfect touch. “I know,” I said. “But we think we have an idea.”
“We’ll talk about it at breakfast,” Dad said. “I’m going to take a shower, and you guys are going to get your stuff together and change clothes.”
“Sounds good,” I said as Dad headed back into the room.
Luke rubbed his ribs. “What did you jab me for?”
“To keep you from saying something stupid.”
“Oh, the usual. So what’s your idea for getting a dog we already have?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But my brain will come up with something.”
“First time for everything.”
“Shut up.”
Chapter Eighteen
For a guy selling tacos, he sure had a temper.
“ ¡Ustedes! El chupacabra no está permitido aquí. Deja! ”
The only word I understood for sure was chupacabra, so it was pretty easy to guess the rest.
“No chupacabra.” I said to the taco-stand dude. “ Es un , um, hey Marisa, how do you say ‘dog’ in Spanish.”
“ Perro ,” she said, rolling her “R”s like a pro.
I kneeled next to Tread, put my hands around his head, and turned him toward Taco Dude.
“ Es un perrrrro ,” I wanted to explain, putting some extra effort into my “R” because that was how I rolled. I didn’t want him to think I was just another stupid
“Really? Then I should scratch my butt and get to dancing.” Which is exactly what he did. I discovered right then zombies can die—from embarrassment.
“Dad, stop it!”
“Fine,” he said, his hips no longer wiggling. “But here’s the real issue, Jed. Where have you guys been all night?”
If I ever needed my undead brain to start firing on all synapses, it was now. C’mon, baby. I hear you chugging. Now you need to catch and start creating excuses .
“Well, see, it was early, and we didn’t want to disturb you …”
There it goes, now a little gas —
“… and we wanted to know more about where we’re going. So we went to …”
The library? Seriously, brain? It’s maybe 5:30 in the morning, a time when every library is closed except for those in Geektown .
“… the …”
I believe in you, brain .
“ … the 24-hour Internet café …”
Full power achieved!
“… because we wanted to know more about where we were going so that we knew stuff there to do so we can support you and your job because you were so awesome to let us come …”
Warning! All the butt-kissing is exceeding capacity, pull back !
“ … I mean, so we’d have stuff to do and not get in your way.”
Excellent, brain, now shift into neutral and let’s coast home .
“And we were trying so hard not to wake you, we forgot the key.”
Dad stared at me with his “You are so full of it, but until I can prove it, I’m going to go along but be careful, mister” look.
“Just pick up your stuff and get in here,” he said. “By the way, isn’t that what you were wearing yesterday?”
“Yeah, we didn’t want to keep getting other clothes dirty until we knew we could wash them,” I answered, high-fiving my brain for a fast and brilliant explanation.
“That makes absolutely no sense,” Dad said.
Don’t take it personally, brain. It’ll be OK .
“I guess not, but it’s the truth,” I said.
“Just get your stuff together. We have to figure out the Tread situation. To be honest, I thought you guys had done something really stupid, like tried to go break him out.”
I knew what Luke was about to shout, and I had to cut him off at the “But-we-didn’t-do-anything” pass. “No, of course not,” I said as my elbow landed between Luke’s third and fourth ribs. “We’re capable of some really stupid stuff, but nothing that dumb.”
“It wasn’t something I thought about seriously, of course. I’m sure that place is locked up tight. You know we have our work cut out for us, right? To get Tread back? Because we need to leave here today.”
My brain made my face go all sad-looking, the perfect touch. “I know,” I said. “But we think we have an idea.”
“We’ll talk about it at breakfast,” Dad said. “I’m going to take a shower, and you guys are going to get your stuff together and change clothes.”
“Sounds good,” I said as Dad headed back into the room.
Luke rubbed his ribs. “What did you jab me for?”
“To keep you from saying something stupid.”
“Oh, the usual. So what’s your idea for getting a dog we already have?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But my brain will come up with something.”
“First time for everything.”
“Shut up.”
Chapter Eighteen
For a guy selling tacos, he sure had a temper.
“ ¡Ustedes! El chupacabra no está permitido aquí. Deja! ”
The only word I understood for sure was chupacabra, so it was pretty easy to guess the rest.
“No chupacabra.” I said to the taco-stand dude. “ Es un , um, hey Marisa, how do you say ‘dog’ in Spanish.”
“ Perro ,” she said, rolling her “R”s like a pro.
I kneeled next to Tread, put my hands around his head, and turned him toward Taco Dude.
“ Es un perrrrro ,” I wanted to explain, putting some extra effort into my “R” because that was how I rolled. I didn’t want him to think I was just another stupid
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