now,â Emily answered, grabbing onto my sleeve to stop me. âLook! Theyâre having a breakthrough.â
I couldnât believe what I saw. Katherine stuck out her tongue out and actually licked Mrs. Fink on the cheek. Mrs. Fink touched Katherineâs head with her index finger and smiled, showing her pink gums. I guess thatâs something that appeals to iguanas, because Katherineâs tongue shot out and licked Mrs. Fink again.
âLook, Mommy! Theyâre kissing,â said Tyler King. â Eeewww , thatâs so yucky!â
âI think itâs the sweetest thing Iâve ever seen,â said Emily. She sounded like she was going to cry.
This was too much for me.
âCheck, please,â I said.
âWhere are you going?â Emily asked.
âListen, Iâd love to stay and get all mushy with you reptiles, but Cheerio and I have important business with Papa Pete.â I looked at my watch. âGotta run!â
I really was late. Katherineâs little hallway adventure had cost us ten minutes. I grabbed Cheerio and ran as fast as I could down the stairwell.
CHAPTER 15
IâVE KNOWN MRS. FINK all my life, and I think sheâs a nice lady. But watching her and Katherine doing the tongue tango was just more than any guy should ever have to see.
Ashley, Frankie, and Robert had already met up with Papa Pete outside. The four of them were waiting for me under the awning of our building.
âYouâre late, Zip,â Frankie said. âWhat happened to you?â
âOur iguana fell in love with Mrs. Fink,â I answered, knowing that would shut him up, and it did. He just grabbed his stomach and pretended he was going to throw up.
âLetâs go,â said Ashley. âWeâre late.â
âExcuse me, lady and gentlemen. May I ask what it is weâre late for?â asked Papa Pete.
âWe have to go to the deli,â I told Papa Pete. âI donât have time to explain now, because we have to get there before Carlos leaves on his delivery run.â
âHe leaves at ten,â said Papa Pete. âThat gives us exactly five minutes.â
We took off down 78th Street toward Broadway. Cheerio tried to keep up with us. His four short legs moved as fast as they could, but they didnât cover much ground. He looked like he was on one of those treadmills people use at the gym. When we came to our first red light, I picked up Cheerio and tucked him under my arm. We waited. It was the longest red light in the history of electricity.
âDonât look at it,â Ashley said. âI swear it makes it stay red longer.â
We all turned away. When we looked back, it was still red.
I turned to Frankie in desperation.
âSay your magic words,â I begged.
Frankie faced the light, put his hands in the air, and said, âZengawii.â The light changed from red to green.
âI am all-powerful,â said Frankie, half believing it.
âActually,â said Robert, âthe light is set for a minute and twenty-two seconds depending on traffic flow.â
âShut up, Robert,â we all said, as we always do.
We crossed Broadway and ran the last block to The Crunchy Pickle. It was one of those crisp, cool New York mornings, a perfect morning for running. In the summer in New York, you donât feel like running because itâs hot and you get all sweaty before you even start. In the winter, itâs so cold that when you run and breathe hard, the air stings the inside of your nose. But when you run on a fall morning, boy, it feels just right.
We got to the deli, and I pushed the glass door open. Carlos wasnât there, but Vladimir was working behind the counter, putting toothpicks into cheese squares. Vladimir Olefski is our weekend cook and sandwich man. Heâs from Russia, and he speaks English with a thick accent. I was scared of Vlady at first, because he never smiles and also he has a