Free The Manny Files book1 by Christian Burch

inside my shoes, in case I was suffering from a brain lapse and had maybe stuffed them in there.
    They were nowhere to be found.
    I walked back out into the lockers to see if I had dropped them, but they weren’t on the floor. Where could they be? I felt like Mom searching for her car keys (she found them in the refrigerator once).
    I raced back to the bathroom stall and decided to get dressed without them. Uncle Max calls going without underwear “going commando.”When he says this, Lulu pretends to dry heave.
    I got dressed, minus my underwear, and exited the locker room with the rest of the boys.
    We lined up in single file, again shortest to tallest, and began walking back to our school. I could feel my khaki pants right up against my skin. I turned around to see where Scotty was in line but instead saw Craig walking along with my Scooby Doo underwear on the top of his head like a hat. Nobody would have known that they were mine if Mom hadn’t written my name on the waistband.
    KEATS, in big black letters, stretched across Craig’s forehead.
    What a crummy day. I even had to ride the bus home alone because Lulu had to go to piano lessons and India had an after-school project. As the bus pulled away, I saw Craig standing on the sidewalk in front of the school whipping my underwear around in circles above his head and waving to me with his other hand.
    I wanted the bus to get me home as fast as it could because I thought I might burst into tears at any minute. But then I remembered that Grandma was going to be there when I got home. I didn’t want to cry then. I couldn’t wait to see her.
    When the bus reached my stop, I leaped out the door to race home.
    “See you tomorrow, darlin’.” I barely heard the bus driver.
    Housman met me in the driveway and ran with me into the house.
    My hair was still wet from swimming when I spotted Grandma. She was lying up on her throne bed in the middle of the living room. She told me later that it was more comfortable than the water bed. Belly was taking a nap on pillows on the floor next to Grandma’s bed.
    And Uncle Max was there! He and the manny were laughing in the kitchen. They didn’t stop smiling as they talked to each other. They looked like the hosts of the morning show on television. It was like they’d known each other forever.
    I ran and jumped into Uncle Max’s arms. Housman jumped up and down at Uncle Max’s feet.
    Uncle Max groaned and pretended to have a bad back when he picked me up.
    He said, “Keats, you’ve grown so much. Is that a mustache?” He looked closely at my upper lip.
    Uncle Max had been in San Francisco for three months going to museums and meeting with art gallery owners. He brought Lulu, India, Belly, and me kimonos from a little Japanese shop in San Francisco. Mine was red. He brings us the best presents from his trips.
    I put the red kimono on over my clothes, sucked my cheeks in, and walked through the kitchen like a fashion model. Uncle Max and the manny were still laughing when I went to check on Grandma.
    I gave Grandma a hug, and she asked me how school was. I didn’t tell her about Craig and my underwear because I thought it seemed silly compared with her broken hip. I did tell her about Scotty and how Sarah swam with us and about the game we made up.
    She said, “Keats, my feet are cold. Could you please rub them for me?”
    I went to the end of the bed and began rubbing Grandma’s feet. They
were
cold. Mom’s feet are always cold too. She says that bad circulation runs in her family. I thought about Grandma’s feet hanging through the ceiling over Grandpa Pete’s head.
    She fell asleep.
    “Come back at about six thirty,” I heard the manny tell Uncle Max before the door shut.
    The manny turned to me and said, “Did Ms. Grant look babe-alicious in her swimming suit?”
    I smiled but didn’t laugh.
    “What’s wrong?” asked the manny “Did you forget that I’m hilarious?”
    So I told him about being put in the