Free Villain's Lair by Wendelin Van Draanen Page B

“If you ask me,
hombre
, it’s theshoes that give you away. Those are what that evil
hombre
will recognize. And that backpack. And you should never wear that snake hat again.”
    Dave blinked at his feet, then at the gecko. The shoes were his only pair, but Sticky was right. The red trim made them distinctive. He had to get rid of them. And the backpack. And especially the hat!
    So the next day Dave bought more shoes.
    A different backpack.
    And (because they were right there at the checkout stand) bandannas.
    Then he ditched his old shoes, the hat, and his old backpack in a garbage can, went home, locked himself in the bathroom, and tried new ways of disguising himself.
    He cut holes and made a mask out of one of the bandannas.
    â€œThis looks so lame!” he moaned.
    Sticky nodded.
“Mucho
lame-o.”

    He tied a bandanna across his nose and mouth.
    â€œNow I look like a bank robber!”
    â€œSí, señor
, you do.”
    Now, to his credit, Dave had never considered using his wall-walking power for evil. Or even just bad. It had never even crossed his mind that hecould scale buildings, sneak in through windows, steal things, and leave. Dave may have been an all-knowing thirteen-year-old boy, but he was a hardworking,
good
thirteen-year-old boy. Going into other people’s houses to steal things was just not something he would do.
    (Hmm. Yes, he
had
been persuaded to sneak into a monstrous mansion by a kleptomaniacal talking gecko lizard, but that was an exception.)
    Sticky, on the other hand, enjoyed scaling walls at night, finding sparkly things in other people’s apartments, and adding them to his secret treasure stash behind the bookshelf in Dave’s room. The thrill of bringing something new home (regardless of its actual value) gave him great satisfaction.
    But the more he was around Dave, the less Sticky ventured out at night. Sticky was almost puzzled by how Dave was nothing like the Bandito Brothers or Damien Black. He wasn’t deceptive ordouble-crossing. He wasn’t nice one minute and mean the next. He wasn’t crazed for power or consumed by greed. He was just a boy. A good, hardworking boy.
    So it was with a deep breath and a puffy-cheeked sigh that Sticky finally said to Dave (who was still playing around with his robber bandanna), “Look,
señor
, the idea is to cover up, not stick out like you’re going to stick ‘em up.” Then he added (almost hopefully), “Unless you’re thinking you might do a stick-’em-up?”
    Dave whipped off the bandanna. “No!”
    Now, right on the other side of the bathroom door was an ear. A big ear attached to the head of a little girl with a big mouth. And suddenly the fist attached to this little girl’s arm pounded on the door, and the big mouth cried, “Who is that? Who are you talking to ?”
    â€œMe, myself, and I,” Dave shot back. “Now leave me alone!”
    â€œI need to use the bathroom.”
    â€œNo, you don’t! Leave me alone!”
    But Evie, pesky little sister that she was, did not know how to leave her brother alone. What she did know, however, was how to tattle.
    â€œMo’Om! Dave’s talking to himself again! Mo’Om! Dave won’t get out of the bathroom! Mo-om!”
    So Dave muttered, “Forget it!” and shoved everything inside his backpack.
    Still, something about having a disguise (lame as it might have been) made Dave feel safer. He had no idea when he would ever need it, but there it was, in his new backpack, ready to conceal him at a moment’s notice.
    Meanwhile, across town, a truly poor boy named Luis happened upon a pair of tennis shoes while digging through garbage cans. He turned them over, not believing his luck. The shoes were worn but wonderful, with red piping and fat red laces.
    He turned back to the trash bin.
    There was a backpack, too!
    A perfectly good (although well-worn and somewhat soiled)