wires from the ’lectric pole up there.”
“Great, so we can get electrocuted?” Gabe yawns without putting a hand over his mouth. He’s so tired his stomach hurts. So tired he wants to die.
Janelle yawns a second after him, because yawns are the same as colds. Contagious. “We won’t. But if you don’t want to do it, fine.”
She crumples up the top of the bag and makes like she’s going to go into her house. She doesn’t get very far before Gabe’s telling her to wait. She turns, smiling, and he feels like a jerk because she played him.
“I can’t go in the house,” he tells her. “Mrs. Moser is cleaning and she said I have to stay out here.”
Janelle frowns. “Huh?”
Gabe gestures at his house. “She says we can’t come in until it’s time for lunch.”
“What if you have to go to the bathroom?”
Gabe points to the hedgerow at the back of his yard.
“What if it’s number two?” Janelle makes a face. “Gross!”
If Mrs. Moser knew Gabe and his brothers all happily peed outside behind the hedge, he’s sure she’d not only insist they come inside to use the toilet, she’d also make them scrub their hands in bleach or something, and he has no idea what sort of cleaning she’d do to the bushes. She already thinks Gabe and his brothers run “too wild.”
“I know,” Janelle says with a snap of her fingers, before Gabe can come up with a supergross description of where they poop when they’re not allowed in the house. “Get your brothers to ask for a snack, and while she’s distracted, you sneak in the front door and go upstairs.”
She’s good, this girl. Sneaky. Gabe can’t stop himself from grinning back at her.
“Why do you want to do this so bad?”
“Why don’t you?” She asks with that tilt of her head she usually has when looking at him. As if she can never quite figure him out. “It’ll be fun.”
Fun? Gabe doesn’t know about that. Janelle visits her grandma only once in a while, and even if she is pretty cool for a girl, they’ll get to use the tin can telephone only a few times. If it even works.
“You don’t have anything better to do,” she points out. “Later, my Nan says we can hook up the sprinkler if you want, but not until after lunch. Can you ride your bike to the park?”
Gabe shakes his head. “I’m grounded.”
“You’re grounded all the time. You must get into trouble a lot.”
He does and he doesn’t. But Gabe doesn’t want to tell Janelle about how his dad gets. Her dad’s young and fun. He drives a motorcycle and wears a leather jacket. She’d never understand.
Gabe takes the cans and the string, studying how to put them together. “We need a nail and a hammer.”
“I bet Nan has some in the shed.”
The shed, set back on the Deckers’ property, looks like a little house. Inside it’s dark and hot, smelling of gasoline from the lawn mower. Tools, deflated basketballs and old sleds line the walls. Built into one side is a set of bunk beds, as if this was once a clubhouse. It’s full of spiders, and they get out in a hurry.
Gabe punches a hole in each can, and Janelle threads the string. Then she calls the boys over. They come at once. Mikey and Andy like Janelle.
She explains the idea to them, how they’re to go to the back door and ask Mrs. Moser for Popsicles. If she won’t give them Popsicles, they need to ask for cold drinks with ice. And then, Gabe’s sneaking in the front door while his brothers distract Mrs. Moser at the back.
He climbs the stairs quickly, holding the cans and string close to him so he doesn’t drop them or get anything tangled up. In his room he opens the window, to see Janelle at hers. She opens it and leans out so far he thinks she might fall.
“Look, Gabe. We could almost touch hands.” Janelle stretches farther. “Look how close we are.”
“You better be careful.”
She laughs and wriggles out the window a little more. “You don’t even have to throw the can! Just pass it to
“Great, so we can get electrocuted?” Gabe yawns without putting a hand over his mouth. He’s so tired his stomach hurts. So tired he wants to die.
Janelle yawns a second after him, because yawns are the same as colds. Contagious. “We won’t. But if you don’t want to do it, fine.”
She crumples up the top of the bag and makes like she’s going to go into her house. She doesn’t get very far before Gabe’s telling her to wait. She turns, smiling, and he feels like a jerk because she played him.
“I can’t go in the house,” he tells her. “Mrs. Moser is cleaning and she said I have to stay out here.”
Janelle frowns. “Huh?”
Gabe gestures at his house. “She says we can’t come in until it’s time for lunch.”
“What if you have to go to the bathroom?”
Gabe points to the hedgerow at the back of his yard.
“What if it’s number two?” Janelle makes a face. “Gross!”
If Mrs. Moser knew Gabe and his brothers all happily peed outside behind the hedge, he’s sure she’d not only insist they come inside to use the toilet, she’d also make them scrub their hands in bleach or something, and he has no idea what sort of cleaning she’d do to the bushes. She already thinks Gabe and his brothers run “too wild.”
“I know,” Janelle says with a snap of her fingers, before Gabe can come up with a supergross description of where they poop when they’re not allowed in the house. “Get your brothers to ask for a snack, and while she’s distracted, you sneak in the front door and go upstairs.”
She’s good, this girl. Sneaky. Gabe can’t stop himself from grinning back at her.
“Why do you want to do this so bad?”
“Why don’t you?” She asks with that tilt of her head she usually has when looking at him. As if she can never quite figure him out. “It’ll be fun.”
Fun? Gabe doesn’t know about that. Janelle visits her grandma only once in a while, and even if she is pretty cool for a girl, they’ll get to use the tin can telephone only a few times. If it even works.
“You don’t have anything better to do,” she points out. “Later, my Nan says we can hook up the sprinkler if you want, but not until after lunch. Can you ride your bike to the park?”
Gabe shakes his head. “I’m grounded.”
“You’re grounded all the time. You must get into trouble a lot.”
He does and he doesn’t. But Gabe doesn’t want to tell Janelle about how his dad gets. Her dad’s young and fun. He drives a motorcycle and wears a leather jacket. She’d never understand.
Gabe takes the cans and the string, studying how to put them together. “We need a nail and a hammer.”
“I bet Nan has some in the shed.”
The shed, set back on the Deckers’ property, looks like a little house. Inside it’s dark and hot, smelling of gasoline from the lawn mower. Tools, deflated basketballs and old sleds line the walls. Built into one side is a set of bunk beds, as if this was once a clubhouse. It’s full of spiders, and they get out in a hurry.
Gabe punches a hole in each can, and Janelle threads the string. Then she calls the boys over. They come at once. Mikey and Andy like Janelle.
She explains the idea to them, how they’re to go to the back door and ask Mrs. Moser for Popsicles. If she won’t give them Popsicles, they need to ask for cold drinks with ice. And then, Gabe’s sneaking in the front door while his brothers distract Mrs. Moser at the back.
He climbs the stairs quickly, holding the cans and string close to him so he doesn’t drop them or get anything tangled up. In his room he opens the window, to see Janelle at hers. She opens it and leans out so far he thinks she might fall.
“Look, Gabe. We could almost touch hands.” Janelle stretches farther. “Look how close we are.”
“You better be careful.”
She laughs and wriggles out the window a little more. “You don’t even have to throw the can! Just pass it to
Similar Books
