
Next thrilling installment. By me, and
kiru
Very occasional swearing, none of it from Ti. Heh. Anyways....
I changed my shirt. I had to. I got a wicked bad bloody nose ‘cause that kid belted me. I just got so paranoid somebody would figure out somethin’ was up. So I got my other shirt out of our cart, an’ went over to Violet’s.
She had some water and detergent, an’ a bowl for washing, so I did it there. I didn’t show her the bloodstains, though. I just said it needed washing. Which was true, considering I was mudsliding a couple days before.
Violet let me leave the shirt in the bowl there for a while, an’ I went over to Ti’s. By now, I knew where he lived. I’d been over a few times. We’d hang out an’ talk an’ listen to music. I got to meet his girlfriends, too. He has three of ‘em. How cool is that?
One time, he an’ Violet even took me foraging. They called it “shopping”. She needed to stock up since she made us that omelet. That was pretty cool.
Anyway, so I go into Ti’s den. It’s huge. It used to be a fox’s den. So the first room is like the family room. He’s there, examining some art on the table. An’ he’s not lookin’ too happy. I go “Hey, man.” He looks up an’ says hi.
I can see the art from across the room, an’ it looks very familiar. That made me freeze up. But I had to say somethin’. “How’s it going?”
He sighs. “Not good. Not very good at all.” Then he smiles at me again. “But how are you?”
I go “I’m fine.” An’ I’m kinda craning my neck to get a closer look at the art. It’s been splashed with paint. I was right. I felt really cold all of a sudden, but meanwhile I’m tryin’ hard to act like everything’s normal. “What happened?”
Ti’s answer was like a paragraph. He does that a lot, cause he’s wicked smart like that. I think it went “All sorts of things, it seems. There’ve been a number of attacks on the community in the last few days, and…I’m really worried. Some people say it was a family of badgers that we’ve moved in too close to. Some say it’s a pack of foxes. And some say it’s actually some of us that are doing it. You didn’t hear?”
“What about?” I was bein’ really squeaky careful.
“The art being destroyed at the comm. center? The stealing of all the clothing from one of the artisans? The people getting beaten up for what seems to be no reason?”
An’ by now I’m just starin’ at the painting, an’ I remember Violet tellin’ me about the vandalism at the center yesterday. An’ now this. Shit shit shit. I think I said somethin’ like “Oh, yeah. I did hear about that. I dunno why someone would do that.” An’ by now I’m thinkin’, please let me sound convincing.
“Gord’s in my room with Mo. He’s…” An; then Ti swallows, an’ then he says “He’s hurt pretty bad. We think one of his ribs might be broken, but he refuses to say who did it to him.”
An’ I can barely hear him. It’s like my head’s full of noise. I dunno who “Gord” is, but at the same time, I think I might. “Can I ask you a really stupid question?” I’m tryin’ to keep my voice from shakin’, that’s how bad it is. “Who’s Gord?”
“He’s about your age. Pretty normal guy. Not really the best of us, but far from the worst of us. He…he’s not aggressive at all. Unless you are, of course. I don’t know why people would just up and…” Then he shuts up an’ looks over at the tunnel leading to his room.
I go “Neither do I”, an’ force myself to look at the painting. Uh-huh. It’s the one Hal splashed with Sam’s paint jar. I hear myself sayin’ “Is that one of yours?”
“No, it’s one Violet made for me a few months ago. I’ve been trying to figure out how I could even hope to fix it, but I think it’s ruined. I…can’t decide whether I’ll just hide this somewhere or let her know. She’ll be upset either way, though.” Meanwhile, I’m thinkin’ “fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck….” It was like this big hole opened up in my stomach. I remember she said she was afraid to go to the art section ‘cause she was afraid some of her stuff was the stuff that got vandalized.
I swallowed. It felt like I had like a bowling ball stuck in there. Then I heard myself say “Oh, man, I wish there was somethin’ I could do.”
An’ Ti kinda chuckles, an’ stands up. “You’re doing plenty.” An’ he puts his paw on my shoulder an’ gives me an even bigger smile an’ he says “You’re becoming the person you really want to be, right? You’re becoming part of our community. That’s more than enough.”
Then how come I feel like such an utter tool right now? “It’s good to know, I guess.” I try to smile back, an’ then it kinda hits me. “Seriously, am I becoming a…part of the community, you think?”
An’ he goes “You’ve met me, right? You met Vi, and my friends, and her friends, and you want to help make this place better, right?”
An’ I giggle like a total goob an’ I say “Yeah, I do. I guess…” I feel so guilty, I’m freakin’ out. “How is Gord right now?”
An’ he looks back at his room an’ says “If Mo’s still in there, then he’s still probably in a lot of pain. She says she’s never seen anyone in this bad a shape. I…hope she never has to again.”
An’ then I hear myself go “Do you think it would be okay if I saw him? I mean, I won’t do anything. Is he awake?” An’ I feel like I’m sayin’ this way too fast an’ my voice is a li’l bit too high.
“Sure, I think he’d like some new company, maybe.” So then Ti calls down the corridor in a low voice. “Mo, Gord has a guest. Could you come out here for a bit?”
An’ I hear Mo’s voice come from the room. “Sure thing, honey.” An’ then I see her come down the corridor. “Hi, Ian.”
I go “Hi, Mo’ette.” That’s her name. Mo’ette. Even she makes fun of it. She joked that her mom musta had a “conniption” when she was naming her.
“He’s awake, just be gentle,” she says. “Thanks for coming, Ian. You’re so sweet.” Uh, yeah. Right. Really.
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll be right back.” An’ I go down the corridor feelin’ like the world is just kinda slowin’ down. It feels like it takes like forever to get to Ti’s room.
So I go in, an’ there he is. I can’t move. It’s him, all right. He’s propped up on a buncha cushions an’ a few blankets near Ti’s mattress. One of his eyes is all red. He’s got all these red marks on his snout an’ on his ears. He’s wearin’ that striped Yanks jersey (what is it with these Yanks fans?) an’ nothin’ else. One of his paws is bandaged. He’s breathing slowly, an’ he looks barely even awake. I hope he’s fallin’ asleep. Then I unfreeze an’ take a coupla steps into the room, an’ it turns out he’s awake. He looks right at me, an’ his eyes open all the way an’ he starts breathing faster an’ he smells so fearful it’s not even funny.
I gotta do somethin’ cause I think he’s gonna nark, so I just go “It’s okay. It’s okay.” I sound like I’m someone else, an’ I’m sayin’ things I never thought I would say. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I wanna make it right. It’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you.” An’ by now, I’m next to him. Dude hasn’t taken his eyes off me the entire time. “It’s okay. Really. I didn’t know what I was thinkin’. It’s okay.” An’ he’s startin’ to tear up, an’ I’m tryin’ to keep my voice down ‘cause I’m scared someone’s gonna hear me. “It’ll never happen again, I promise. I promise. Look….” An’ I lean forward an’ say to him “If anybody gives you any more shit, lemme know.” Was that really me sayin’ that? “I swear I’ll take care of ‘em. Just lemme make it right. I swear it’ll be okay.”
An’ he looks at me, all teary, an’ he barely says “Please…”
An” I go “I swear it’ll be okay. I’ll come by tomorrow, an’ I’ll help you. Anything you want. Swear it. Deal?”
It takes a long time before he says anything. An’ when he does, he goes “Who are you?”
I kinda choke down a laugh an’ I go “Ian.”
He croaks “Gord.”
I go “Look, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Promise.”
“Okay,” he says. Then he gives a really faint smile, an’ I just wanna lose it right there. Am I really that big a wuss?
My mind was so full when I walked outta there. Ugh. Anyway, when I got to the family room, Ti an’ Mo’ette were still there. Lookin’ at Violet’s painting that Hal messed up. Ugh again. They look up an’ I say “I think he’s gonna be okay. Well, I hope so. I’m droppin’ by tomorrow, if it’s okay. I wanna see him again.”
An’ Ti gives another one of his smiles an’ goes “Thanks.”
An’ Mo’ette goes “You are just so kind,” an’ heads back to Ti’s room, sayin’ “Thank you!” as she goes.
Then Ti adjusts those Harry Potter specs an’ goes “So, I’m sorry I didn’t ask sooner, but what can I do for you, bud?” Bud?
I kinda shrugged. “I dunno. I just thought I’d come by an’ hang out.” I remember scratchin’ my head a lot by now. “I mean, are you cool with that?”
“Sure.” Ti looks down at the painting, then back up. “You wanna go for a walk? I’ll just get depressed hanging around here.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
So I follow him outta the den, an’ the sun hits us. “Can’t complain too much, what with awesome days like this one.”
“Yeah, man.” I remember I tried to like squint at the sun, with my paw in front of my face.
Then Ti says “I still haven’t met that Sam friend of yours, now that I think about it. I guess he must be finding his own friends here.”
I laughed. “Oh, man. Do tell.” I felt like all the gang stuff that happened was just so much stupid shit. “Yeah, it’s weird.” What Ti said kinda hit me. “We’re always like together, an’ then we come here, an’…everything’s different.”
Then Ti goes “I’m not breaking up your friendship with him, am I?”
I go “Oh, no, man, no. We’re tight. It’s just…” Then I remembered after Gord got beat up an’ everybody argued, Sam was just a total pain in the balls to me, an’ I remembered how I slept in a tree above the cart ‘cause I didn’t wanna be near him after that, an’…”Naw, you’re not breakin’ us up.”
“Alright.” Then Ti says the magic words. “Did you want to go swimming or anything?”
I’m all “Swimming? All right! Where were you thinkin’? The lake or somethin’?”
“Yeah, I’m up for a walk, but not all the way down to the beach. You told me you were awesome in the water, now you gotta own up.”
So of course I hafta go “You got nothin’ on me, man! Bring it!”
“Be glad to,” Ti says. “By the way, now that I think about it, if this crap keeps up, and something happens to you, you know you can come to me and I’ll help, right?”
Uh-oh, momentary brain freeze. But I get past it an’ go “You got it.” I started walkin’ faster. “Thanks.”
“Oh, and if you ever want to learn a thing or two about how to actually fight, I can help you out there, too.”
I freaked. “No sh…really?” For some reason, I didn’t feel like I should swear in front of him. “You mean, like, lessons an’ all?”
“Yeah, like lessons. Get into as many fights as I have, and you learn a thing or fifty.”
Dude’s been in fights? For real? I can’t believe I was actually hangin’ out with this guy! I go “Cooool!!” I was bouncing off the walls by now. “How much do you rock? I mean, could you possibly get any more cool?”
An’ he snorts. “I’m not cool, Ian.” Then he says somethin’ that’s still pretty vivid in my head. He says “The only difference between me and most of the wannabes you see at the skate park, is that I am who I want to be, and try to be better, instead of being what my friends want me to be. Haven’t you…liked, ever looked in a mirror and realized you don’t really like the person looking back at you?”
Gah! Another brain freeze? Why’s he keep doin’ this to me? “Uh, actually, I haven’t looked in a mirror in a long time, man.” I laughed, but it felt kinda fake to me. So I just went “I dunno.” Because I didn’t.
“I’ll give you mine when we get back from swimming.” Then Ti drops another one on me. “I think you’re awesome when you’re yourself, you know.”
Blew. My. Mind. “Really?” Omigod, was my voice really that high just then? Dork. So I said “Really?” again, only this time I was like controlling my voice.
Ti laughed. “Yes to the first one, no to the second.” Dammit. “Just be you, dude. That’s the Ian I like.”
Nobody’d ever said that to me before. So I turn into a douchebag again. I just like giggle, an’ I start bouncing all over the place an’ I feel about six feet taller. “Thanks, man, just…thanks…” I was babbling.
So we get to the lake an’ Ti goes “Let’s see what you can do, dude.”
That was totally all I needed. It was on. I went up on this rock that was like stretching out into a deeper section of the water. Then I jump up an’ down twice, then do a double-somersault off the rock an’ turn it into a swan dive just as I hit the water. An’ I tear my way underwater, I go down, then up, an’ soon as I come to the surface, Ti’s clapping. “I didn’t know you could move like that, dude! I don’t think I could do that if I had all year.”
I call out “Toldja!” Then I yell at him to show me his stuff an’ I call him a pussy. I can tell he doesn’t like that very much. Anyway, he puts his glasses inside his shirt, sticks both of ‘em on a branch, then does a pretty wicked cannonball. He’s a big guy, so it made a huge noise. When he comes up, I go “Not bad for an ol’ dude. Okay, I’ll shut up now!” Then I go underwater like I’m hiding. Like I’m pretend-scared. An’ I look up an’ see Ti get on his back. I count to ten, then I shoot up right near his head, an’ as I come up I yell “BOO!!!” as loud as I can. Dude doesn’t even flinch, just bops me on the head. I go “Oop, down I go,” an’ I pretend to go unconscious.
So then I remember lookin’ around me at the water, an’ the trees, an’ the sky, an’ I spread my arms out an’ tried to float on my back, like Ti was. An’ then I said “Man, I like it here.”
Ti goes “Then stay.”

Very occasional swearing, none of it from Ti. Heh. Anyways....
I changed my shirt. I had to. I got a wicked bad bloody nose ‘cause that kid belted me. I just got so paranoid somebody would figure out somethin’ was up. So I got my other shirt out of our cart, an’ went over to Violet’s.
She had some water and detergent, an’ a bowl for washing, so I did it there. I didn’t show her the bloodstains, though. I just said it needed washing. Which was true, considering I was mudsliding a couple days before.
Violet let me leave the shirt in the bowl there for a while, an’ I went over to Ti’s. By now, I knew where he lived. I’d been over a few times. We’d hang out an’ talk an’ listen to music. I got to meet his girlfriends, too. He has three of ‘em. How cool is that?
One time, he an’ Violet even took me foraging. They called it “shopping”. She needed to stock up since she made us that omelet. That was pretty cool.
Anyway, so I go into Ti’s den. It’s huge. It used to be a fox’s den. So the first room is like the family room. He’s there, examining some art on the table. An’ he’s not lookin’ too happy. I go “Hey, man.” He looks up an’ says hi.
I can see the art from across the room, an’ it looks very familiar. That made me freeze up. But I had to say somethin’. “How’s it going?”
He sighs. “Not good. Not very good at all.” Then he smiles at me again. “But how are you?”
I go “I’m fine.” An’ I’m kinda craning my neck to get a closer look at the art. It’s been splashed with paint. I was right. I felt really cold all of a sudden, but meanwhile I’m tryin’ hard to act like everything’s normal. “What happened?”
Ti’s answer was like a paragraph. He does that a lot, cause he’s wicked smart like that. I think it went “All sorts of things, it seems. There’ve been a number of attacks on the community in the last few days, and…I’m really worried. Some people say it was a family of badgers that we’ve moved in too close to. Some say it’s a pack of foxes. And some say it’s actually some of us that are doing it. You didn’t hear?”
“What about?” I was bein’ really squeaky careful.
“The art being destroyed at the comm. center? The stealing of all the clothing from one of the artisans? The people getting beaten up for what seems to be no reason?”
An’ by now I’m just starin’ at the painting, an’ I remember Violet tellin’ me about the vandalism at the center yesterday. An’ now this. Shit shit shit. I think I said somethin’ like “Oh, yeah. I did hear about that. I dunno why someone would do that.” An’ by now I’m thinkin’, please let me sound convincing.
“Gord’s in my room with Mo. He’s…” An; then Ti swallows, an’ then he says “He’s hurt pretty bad. We think one of his ribs might be broken, but he refuses to say who did it to him.”
An’ I can barely hear him. It’s like my head’s full of noise. I dunno who “Gord” is, but at the same time, I think I might. “Can I ask you a really stupid question?” I’m tryin’ to keep my voice from shakin’, that’s how bad it is. “Who’s Gord?”
“He’s about your age. Pretty normal guy. Not really the best of us, but far from the worst of us. He…he’s not aggressive at all. Unless you are, of course. I don’t know why people would just up and…” Then he shuts up an’ looks over at the tunnel leading to his room.
I go “Neither do I”, an’ force myself to look at the painting. Uh-huh. It’s the one Hal splashed with Sam’s paint jar. I hear myself sayin’ “Is that one of yours?”
“No, it’s one Violet made for me a few months ago. I’ve been trying to figure out how I could even hope to fix it, but I think it’s ruined. I…can’t decide whether I’ll just hide this somewhere or let her know. She’ll be upset either way, though.” Meanwhile, I’m thinkin’ “fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck….” It was like this big hole opened up in my stomach. I remember she said she was afraid to go to the art section ‘cause she was afraid some of her stuff was the stuff that got vandalized.
I swallowed. It felt like I had like a bowling ball stuck in there. Then I heard myself say “Oh, man, I wish there was somethin’ I could do.”
An’ Ti kinda chuckles, an’ stands up. “You’re doing plenty.” An’ he puts his paw on my shoulder an’ gives me an even bigger smile an’ he says “You’re becoming the person you really want to be, right? You’re becoming part of our community. That’s more than enough.”
Then how come I feel like such an utter tool right now? “It’s good to know, I guess.” I try to smile back, an’ then it kinda hits me. “Seriously, am I becoming a…part of the community, you think?”
An’ he goes “You’ve met me, right? You met Vi, and my friends, and her friends, and you want to help make this place better, right?”
An’ I giggle like a total goob an’ I say “Yeah, I do. I guess…” I feel so guilty, I’m freakin’ out. “How is Gord right now?”
An’ he looks back at his room an’ says “If Mo’s still in there, then he’s still probably in a lot of pain. She says she’s never seen anyone in this bad a shape. I…hope she never has to again.”
An’ then I hear myself go “Do you think it would be okay if I saw him? I mean, I won’t do anything. Is he awake?” An’ I feel like I’m sayin’ this way too fast an’ my voice is a li’l bit too high.
“Sure, I think he’d like some new company, maybe.” So then Ti calls down the corridor in a low voice. “Mo, Gord has a guest. Could you come out here for a bit?”
An’ I hear Mo’s voice come from the room. “Sure thing, honey.” An’ then I see her come down the corridor. “Hi, Ian.”
I go “Hi, Mo’ette.” That’s her name. Mo’ette. Even she makes fun of it. She joked that her mom musta had a “conniption” when she was naming her.
“He’s awake, just be gentle,” she says. “Thanks for coming, Ian. You’re so sweet.” Uh, yeah. Right. Really.
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll be right back.” An’ I go down the corridor feelin’ like the world is just kinda slowin’ down. It feels like it takes like forever to get to Ti’s room.
So I go in, an’ there he is. I can’t move. It’s him, all right. He’s propped up on a buncha cushions an’ a few blankets near Ti’s mattress. One of his eyes is all red. He’s got all these red marks on his snout an’ on his ears. He’s wearin’ that striped Yanks jersey (what is it with these Yanks fans?) an’ nothin’ else. One of his paws is bandaged. He’s breathing slowly, an’ he looks barely even awake. I hope he’s fallin’ asleep. Then I unfreeze an’ take a coupla steps into the room, an’ it turns out he’s awake. He looks right at me, an’ his eyes open all the way an’ he starts breathing faster an’ he smells so fearful it’s not even funny.
I gotta do somethin’ cause I think he’s gonna nark, so I just go “It’s okay. It’s okay.” I sound like I’m someone else, an’ I’m sayin’ things I never thought I would say. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I wanna make it right. It’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you.” An’ by now, I’m next to him. Dude hasn’t taken his eyes off me the entire time. “It’s okay. Really. I didn’t know what I was thinkin’. It’s okay.” An’ he’s startin’ to tear up, an’ I’m tryin’ to keep my voice down ‘cause I’m scared someone’s gonna hear me. “It’ll never happen again, I promise. I promise. Look….” An’ I lean forward an’ say to him “If anybody gives you any more shit, lemme know.” Was that really me sayin’ that? “I swear I’ll take care of ‘em. Just lemme make it right. I swear it’ll be okay.”
An’ he looks at me, all teary, an’ he barely says “Please…”
An” I go “I swear it’ll be okay. I’ll come by tomorrow, an’ I’ll help you. Anything you want. Swear it. Deal?”
It takes a long time before he says anything. An’ when he does, he goes “Who are you?”
I kinda choke down a laugh an’ I go “Ian.”
He croaks “Gord.”
I go “Look, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Promise.”
“Okay,” he says. Then he gives a really faint smile, an’ I just wanna lose it right there. Am I really that big a wuss?
My mind was so full when I walked outta there. Ugh. Anyway, when I got to the family room, Ti an’ Mo’ette were still there. Lookin’ at Violet’s painting that Hal messed up. Ugh again. They look up an’ I say “I think he’s gonna be okay. Well, I hope so. I’m droppin’ by tomorrow, if it’s okay. I wanna see him again.”
An’ Ti gives another one of his smiles an’ goes “Thanks.”
An’ Mo’ette goes “You are just so kind,” an’ heads back to Ti’s room, sayin’ “Thank you!” as she goes.
Then Ti adjusts those Harry Potter specs an’ goes “So, I’m sorry I didn’t ask sooner, but what can I do for you, bud?” Bud?
I kinda shrugged. “I dunno. I just thought I’d come by an’ hang out.” I remember scratchin’ my head a lot by now. “I mean, are you cool with that?”
“Sure.” Ti looks down at the painting, then back up. “You wanna go for a walk? I’ll just get depressed hanging around here.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
So I follow him outta the den, an’ the sun hits us. “Can’t complain too much, what with awesome days like this one.”
“Yeah, man.” I remember I tried to like squint at the sun, with my paw in front of my face.
Then Ti says “I still haven’t met that Sam friend of yours, now that I think about it. I guess he must be finding his own friends here.”
I laughed. “Oh, man. Do tell.” I felt like all the gang stuff that happened was just so much stupid shit. “Yeah, it’s weird.” What Ti said kinda hit me. “We’re always like together, an’ then we come here, an’…everything’s different.”
Then Ti goes “I’m not breaking up your friendship with him, am I?”
I go “Oh, no, man, no. We’re tight. It’s just…” Then I remembered after Gord got beat up an’ everybody argued, Sam was just a total pain in the balls to me, an’ I remembered how I slept in a tree above the cart ‘cause I didn’t wanna be near him after that, an’…”Naw, you’re not breakin’ us up.”
“Alright.” Then Ti says the magic words. “Did you want to go swimming or anything?”
I’m all “Swimming? All right! Where were you thinkin’? The lake or somethin’?”
“Yeah, I’m up for a walk, but not all the way down to the beach. You told me you were awesome in the water, now you gotta own up.”
So of course I hafta go “You got nothin’ on me, man! Bring it!”
“Be glad to,” Ti says. “By the way, now that I think about it, if this crap keeps up, and something happens to you, you know you can come to me and I’ll help, right?”
Uh-oh, momentary brain freeze. But I get past it an’ go “You got it.” I started walkin’ faster. “Thanks.”
“Oh, and if you ever want to learn a thing or two about how to actually fight, I can help you out there, too.”
I freaked. “No sh…really?” For some reason, I didn’t feel like I should swear in front of him. “You mean, like, lessons an’ all?”
“Yeah, like lessons. Get into as many fights as I have, and you learn a thing or fifty.”
Dude’s been in fights? For real? I can’t believe I was actually hangin’ out with this guy! I go “Cooool!!” I was bouncing off the walls by now. “How much do you rock? I mean, could you possibly get any more cool?”
An’ he snorts. “I’m not cool, Ian.” Then he says somethin’ that’s still pretty vivid in my head. He says “The only difference between me and most of the wannabes you see at the skate park, is that I am who I want to be, and try to be better, instead of being what my friends want me to be. Haven’t you…liked, ever looked in a mirror and realized you don’t really like the person looking back at you?”
Gah! Another brain freeze? Why’s he keep doin’ this to me? “Uh, actually, I haven’t looked in a mirror in a long time, man.” I laughed, but it felt kinda fake to me. So I just went “I dunno.” Because I didn’t.
“I’ll give you mine when we get back from swimming.” Then Ti drops another one on me. “I think you’re awesome when you’re yourself, you know.”
Blew. My. Mind. “Really?” Omigod, was my voice really that high just then? Dork. So I said “Really?” again, only this time I was like controlling my voice.
Ti laughed. “Yes to the first one, no to the second.” Dammit. “Just be you, dude. That’s the Ian I like.”
Nobody’d ever said that to me before. So I turn into a douchebag again. I just like giggle, an’ I start bouncing all over the place an’ I feel about six feet taller. “Thanks, man, just…thanks…” I was babbling.
So we get to the lake an’ Ti goes “Let’s see what you can do, dude.”
That was totally all I needed. It was on. I went up on this rock that was like stretching out into a deeper section of the water. Then I jump up an’ down twice, then do a double-somersault off the rock an’ turn it into a swan dive just as I hit the water. An’ I tear my way underwater, I go down, then up, an’ soon as I come to the surface, Ti’s clapping. “I didn’t know you could move like that, dude! I don’t think I could do that if I had all year.”
I call out “Toldja!” Then I yell at him to show me his stuff an’ I call him a pussy. I can tell he doesn’t like that very much. Anyway, he puts his glasses inside his shirt, sticks both of ‘em on a branch, then does a pretty wicked cannonball. He’s a big guy, so it made a huge noise. When he comes up, I go “Not bad for an ol’ dude. Okay, I’ll shut up now!” Then I go underwater like I’m hiding. Like I’m pretend-scared. An’ I look up an’ see Ti get on his back. I count to ten, then I shoot up right near his head, an’ as I come up I yell “BOO!!!” as loud as I can. Dude doesn’t even flinch, just bops me on the head. I go “Oop, down I go,” an’ I pretend to go unconscious.
So then I remember lookin’ around me at the water, an’ the trees, an’ the sky, an’ I spread my arms out an’ tried to float on my back, like Ti was. An’ then I said “Man, I like it here.”
Ti goes “Then stay.”
Category Story / All
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