Skinnybones

Skinnybones by Barbara Park Page A

Book: Skinnybones by Barbara Park Read Free Book Online
Authors: Barbara Park
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minute.
    “Are you
sure
that’s what happened, Alex?” she asked, finally. “Are you positive?”
    Oh, man! I couldn’t believe this! She was actually going to
buy
it! My mother was going to buy this whole insane story! For the very first time, I was going to get away with something! Usually I never get away with anything!
    “Positive, Mom. Honest. That’s exactly what happened. The cat must have tried to eat out of the bag and she knocked the whole thing over.”
    Slowly—
very
slowly—Mom walked over and put her arm around my shoulder. “In that case, would you mind doing me a little favor?” she asked.
    I started backing away.
    “Oh, no. Come on, Mom. You’re not going to make me clean this mess up, are you? That’s not fair. I already told you I didn’t do it.”
    “No, Alex. That’s not the favor,” she said. “What I would like you to do is to go get Fluffy out of the car and bring her inside. I took her to the vet to get some shots, and she’s still a little groggy.”
    Then my mother just stood there and grinned.Not a nice grin, though. One of those “Ha! Caught-you-in-a-big-fat-lie” kind of grins.
    Now, most people would probably give up at this point. But not me. No way. A liar at my skill level never gives up without a struggle.
    My mouth dropped all the way open and I managed an actual gasp.
    “Are you kidding, Mother? Fluffy? Fluffy is in the car?” I said. “Man, I cannot believe this!”
    Mom narrowed her eyes. “Can’t believe what, Alex? Can’t believe that you’ve been caught in another ridiculous lie?”
    I gasped again.
    “Lie? What lie? What are you talking about, Mom?” I asked indignantly. “No. The thing I can’t believe is that one of Fluffy’s little friends would come in here, make a big mess, and then try to run away and blame it on the Fluffster! I’m telling you, when I find out which neighborhood cat did this, he is really going to pay.”
    I hurried outside and got Fluffy from the car. As I walked back into the house, I kept talking to the cat so that my mother wouldn’t have a chance to say anything.
    “Fluffy, you’re not going to believe this, but one of your little kitty pals almost got you in very big trouble. If you ask me, I think it was Mr. Fuzzy,from down the street. I’ve always thought that Mr. Fuzzy was the shifty type.”
    “Alex?” said my mother.
    “Yes?”
    “Give up.”
    “Give up? What do you mean, give up?”
    “I mean, you’re making a complete fool of yourself,” she said. “I mean I’m actually embarrassed for you.”
    I paused for a minute. “So what are you saying? Are you saying you don’t believe me?”
    “Let me put it this way,” answered my mother. “If you were Pinocchio, right now we could saw off your nose and have enough firewood to last the winter.”
    With that, she handed me a broom and started out of the room.
    “By the way, if it will make you feel any better, I enjoyed the part about Mr. Fuzzy,” she said over her shoulder.
    I thought about it.
    It didn’t make me feel better.
    As soon as she was gone, I started sweeping the Kitty Fritters back into the bag. Meanwhile, Fluffy had begun to eat every single fritter in sight. I’m not kidding. No matter how fast I swept, I just couldn’t get the food into the bag fast enough. Fluffy wassucking them up like she was a Dustbuster or something.
    It took about ten minutes before I was totally finished cleaning up the floor. But Fluffy never stopped eating … not until the very last Kitty Fritter was out of sight.
    Just as I was putting the bag back, my mother came in to inspect the floor.
    Fluffy made a weird noise.
    My mother frowned. “What’s wrong with her?”
    I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s probably all those Kitty Fritters she ate while I was trying to get them cleaned up.”
    Mom’s eyes widened. “Oh, Alex, no! Those things will swell up in her stomach and make her sick! She’s not supposed to have too many!”
    She looked seriously

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