Free The Fast and the Furriest by Andy Behrens Page A

face.
“Thuthpended!”
    “Yeah,” said Coach Z softly, his eyes still locked on Kevin, clearly beginning to understand his plan. “Maybe this does call for discipline.”
    Kevin nodded at his coach.
    “Dithipline!”
wailed Brad.
“Dithipliiiiiiinnnne!”
Tears continued to flow.
    The rain above slowed, and sunlight broke through the clouds.

12
    W hen Kevin’s parents were told of the incident, they clearly had a difficult time processing the details. That evening, Howie, Maggie, and Kevin sat around the kitchen table, listening to Coach Z on speaker-phone.
    “I’m sorry,” said Kevin’s mom, “but you’re saying that Kevin
—my Kevin—
actually broke the nose of another boy?”
    “And a tooth,” said Kevin quietly.
    “That’s correct, Mrs. Pugh,” said Coach Z.
    “And it was the Ainsworth kid’s nose, eh?” asked Howie, his eyebrows raised.
    “Yes, sir,” said Coach Z.
    Howie nodded. Maggie swatted him on the arm.
    “We’re mortified, Coach,” she said. “We don’twant
anyone’s
nose broken. We feel terrible for poor Bradley.”
    “Of course, ma’am.”
    Howie studied his son from across the table.
    That’s right
, Kevin thought.
I’m a baaaaad dude
.
    Maggie continued.
    “And your recommendation, Coach Zalenski, is that Kevin should not be allowed to return to camp?”
    “For the safety of the other children,” said Coach Z. “And so that he can learn that his actions will have consequences.”
    Kevin could barely hide his grin.
    Maggie repeated Coach Z’s words slowly.
    “For … the … safety …”
    “… of the other children,” said the coach. “That’s right. He really needs to control that temper. Manage the competitive drive. Kevin’s not tiny.”
    “No, he isn’t,” said Howie, a hint of a smile at the edges of his mouth.
    “You’ll be fully refunded, of course.”
    Despite several minutes of negotiation, Maggie couldn’t get Kevin’s punishment reduced. She offered multi-week suspensions and elaborate apologies. She offered Howie’s unlimited camp services, too, but Coach Z wouldn’t budge.
    Well played sir
, thought Kevin.
Hold your ground, Coach
.
    Expulsion was the perfect resolution. And because of Howie’s relative amazement at his son’s new aggressiveness, Kevin escaped serious punishment at home. His parents called the Ainsworths to discuss the incident, and Kevin and Brad Junior were required to speak:
    “Sorry about your nose, man.”
    Silence.
    “And your tooth.”
    Continued silence.
    “Brad?”
    “It’th fine, Pugh. Hurtth a little, but I’m fine. You’re not that tough.”
    “That’s great, Brad. Again, very sorry.”
    “Thure thing, Pugh. Thay hi to your thithter, Ithy.”
    CLICK
.
    Kevin could forgive the sister comment that time, given the unfortunate state of Brad’s face. After a lecture from Kevin’s parents about learning to channel his emotions, the official period of punishment had ended.
    Kevin retreated to the basement with Cromwell. He sat on the sofa, content. The dog curled into a ball of brown fur on Kevin’s lap.
    “Crom, my schedule has suddenly opened up.”
    The phone rang. Kevin saw Zach’s number on the caller ID.
    “Hey, Za—”
    “DUDE!”
yelled Zach, forcing Kevin to remove the receiver from his ear. “Is it true!? You broke Ainsworth!?”
    “Well, it wasn’t qui—”
    “Because I heard you
obliterated
him!”
    “Kind of, yeah,” said Kevin. “It was ugly. But it wasn’t intentional—there’s no way I could ever catch that little guy on purpose. The silver lining here is that I’m kicked out of camp. I’m being punished—no football!”
    “You must be heartbroken,” said Zach.
    “Indeed.”
    “But you’re not grounded?”
    “Nope, not grounded.” Kevin smirked. “In fact, I think my dad was kinda impressed. Which is kind of psycho, but there it is.”
    “So this means …”
    “Paw Patch gets the green light,” said Kevin. “If you’re still willing to sponsor