Free Saturday Boy by David Fleming Page B

said.
    â€œWhat about tomorrow night?” said Budgie.
    â€œYeah, tomorrow night.”
    â€œTomorrow’s a school night,” said my mom and Budgie’s mom at the same time.
    â€œJinx!” said me and Budgie.
    â€œDouble jinx!” we said again.
    â€œDerek, say thank you to Mrs. Pratt.”
    â€œThank you, Mrs. Pratt,” I said. “Bye, Budgie.”
    â€œYeah, bye,” he said. Then he turned around and went back upstairs.
    â€œThanks again for looking after Derek,” Mom said. “If there’s anything you need, if we could ever . . . you know.”
    â€œOf course,” said Budgie’s mom. “Careful on the walk, now. Some of the stones are loose.”
    * * *
    We had leftover spaghetti for dinner that night, which was totally fine with me even though there wasn’t any garlic bread left and we had to have regular bread instead. After dinner I went up to my room and bounced around for a little while, pretending I was Fast Guy fighting crime. Then I drew a picture of the castle me and Budgie were going to build and the moat with a piranhadile in it. The castle was big and had towers that had these little windows you could shoot arrows out of. There was also a roller coaster and a half-pipe for skateboarding. I didn’t know how to skateboard and neither did Budgie but I figured by the time we got the castle built we probably would have learned.
    I was putting the final touches on the castle when Mom came in. She stood behind me for a minute, looking over my shoulder at the drawing. I had to say it was pretty cool. I’d outdone myself with this one.
    â€œPiranhagator?”
    â€œPiranha
dile.
”
    â€œSilly me,” she said. “Hey, do you have any interest in bathing tonight?”
    â€œWhy, am I stinky?”
    â€œYou’ve been worse,” she said. “What are those?”
    â€œBumper cars.”
    â€œVery nice, Piggy. I think you’ve outdone yourself here.”
    â€œThat’s what
I
thought!”
    â€œYou know what, though, I need for you to get your pajamas on and get ready for bed, okay? And if you’re not going to shower you should at least wash your face. And really brush your teeth. Chewing on the toothbrush doesn’t count.”
    â€œBut the toothpaste stings my tongue!”
    â€œNo, it doesn’t.”
    â€œYes, it does!”
    â€œDerek, I don’t know what to tell you,” Mom said. “Life can sting sometimes.”
    â€œLike a bee?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œOr a jellyfish?”
    â€œYes, like a jellyfish.”
    â€œA box jellyfish or a man o’ war?”
    â€œWhat’s the difference?”
    â€œWell, a box jellyfish is deadlier even though they both have poison tentacles. And the man o’ war goes with the current and kinda floats but the box jellyfish can actually swim a little.”
    Mom looked at me and blinked a couple times. Her eyes seemed greener than normal. I smiled and nodded.
    â€œJust brush your teeth, wise guy,” she said. “And hop to, okay? It’s almost bedtime.”
    â€œCan I finish the drawing?”
    â€œJammies and teeth first.”
    â€œBut Mom—”
    â€œLet me finish,” she said. “Get into your pajamas and brush your teeth now and you can stay up an extra half-hour to finish the drawing or read or whatever, sound good?”
    â€œCan I watch TV?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBecause I’d rather you used your brain.”
    I told her I’d been using my brain all day. I told her it was impossible to build forts, draw comics and castles, and create piranhadiles without it and that it might actually appreciate a rest. She said I made a great point and that she was proud of me for being so articulate. I wasn’t sure what that meant but I didn’t want to say anything. Sometimes if you do something good by accident it’s best if you