Free Fabulous Five 016 - The Hot-Line Emergency by Betsy Haynes Page B

assigned the
odd-numbered problems as usual. It was clear that Kevin knew he had been
caught. Christie and he stared at each other for a full minute before he
shrugged, smiled weakly and turned back to watch Mr. Snider.
     
    "What's going to happen to Kevin?" asked Beth. The
Fabulous Five were sitting in their favorite booth at Bumpers.
    "I think he'll be all right," answered Christie. "Of
course, Mr. Snider knew about Kevin's not being able to do anything in the
evenings because he had to take care of his little brother. That's why Kevin couldn't
be on the hot-line team. Mr. Snider and I had a long talk with Mr. Bell and
assistant police chief Markum. After that they called Kevin's parents, and they
had a big meeting with them. Mr. Snider told me that at first his mother and
father were very angry at Kevin, and then Mr. Snider and Mrs. Brenner started
questioning them. It turns out that Kevin does do some very important things.
Besides taking care of his little brother, who's five, he grocery shops for the
family, and even calls plumbers and other repair people when something needs
fixing around the house. He talks to his parents about it first, of course."
    "You're kidding!" said Katie. Her mouth
hung open in awe. "Why does he have to do all those things?"
    Christie shrugged. "His parents work a lot and depend
on him to take care of things. The first time he called me, he said he made
things happen that are really important. I guess that's what he meant."
She shook the ice in her glass and drank the last of her cola. "His
parents both have big careers, and they hadn't realized that all Kevin was
doing was going to school and then going home to watch his brother and take
care of the house. He hasn't been able to do anything else at school or go over
to the other kids' houses in the evening. It's sad," she said, raising her
eyebrows. "I guess they thought all of the video and computer games would
entertain him."
    "It was super that you found out from Miss Simone where
Kevin lives and had us waiting on our bikes to follow him. How did you know he'd
be going out at seven in the evening?" Melanie asked.
    "He's smart, and I didn't think he'd make the calls
from his house. That's when his parents get home from work. They let him ride
his bike over to Mr. Ice Cream for a treat for taking care of things."
    "Oh," said Jana. "And it made so much sense
when you drew the lines on the map between all the places where he had done
things, and they crossed like the spokes of a wheel within a couple of blocks
of where he lives."
    "That's where I was the dummy," said Christie.
"It's a long way between some of the places, but if you start in the
middle, it's only half as far."
    "Why did he call you at the center instead of Curtis,
Melissa, or Whitney?" asked Katie.
    Christie blushed. "Mr. Snider said Kevin thought I was
nice and would listen to him. He wasn't sure the others would."
    "So, what's going to happen?" asked Beth. "Is
he going to keep on buying groceries, taking care of his brother, and
everything?"
    "When Kevin's parents realized that they were partly to
blame for what Kevin was doing, they were shook up. One of them is going to
come home early every evening, they're going to do the shopping on weekends,
and when he calls them about something that needs to be fixed, they'll take
care of it."
    Katie ran her fingers through her red hair. "What about
the police?"
    Christie shook her head. "Mr. Snider said that
assistant chief Markum doesn't want to have anything to do with it as long as
Kevin pays for the damage to Bumpers' door. He'd rather see Kevin understand
why he shouldn't have done what he did just to get attention than punish him.
Kevin is going to have to earn money to do it."
    "So everything has turned out okay," said Jana.
Then she looked Christie in the eyes. "You're not going to take on Kevin
as your next project, are you?"
    "I wouldn't call him a project," Christie said,
squirming in her seat. "But he does need a