Kung Fooey (2 page)

Mom bent close and whispered, “Stella played a trick. I think she added a line to your measuring chart. You’re not shrinking.”

“A … what?”

“An extra line. Above the
real
mark. So it looks like you shrunk.”

Heat flushed over my face. I squinted at Stella. “I’ll get you. I’m not kidding. You better watch out.”

Stella laughed until she choked on her own spit. “Anyone could fool you, Stump. Anyone!”

“Yeah, well, you drive like an idiot and everyone laughs at you!”

That wasn’t a very good comeback, but it was all I could think of. Stella was trying to get her driver’s license. She already had her permit. Mom and Stella’s boyfriend, Clarence, were teaching her how to drive.

“Lame,” she said. “Really, really lame.”

That was just the beginning of a truly strange day.

Before lunch at school that day, right in the middle of our silent reading time in Mr. Purdy’s class, this new kid walked in with Mrs. Leonard, the principal.

I looked up.

Whoa!

I stopped breathing.

The whole class did.

The new kid looked us over, his eyes scrunched.

His black hair was long on top and shaved on the sides. He wore baggy black pants
bunched at the top of shiny black army boots. An untucked, unbuttoned long-sleeved shirt hung over an army-colored T-shirt, and hanging over the T-shirt was a chain with a red-eyed black skull.

You could hear ants scratching out their homework over by the lunch boxes. You could hear our pet centipede Manly Stanley’s hundred legs sliding to a halt in his sandy resort. You could hear the classroom clock ticking.

Mrs. Leonard waved to Mr. Purdy.

Mr. Purdy closed the book he was reading over his finger and stood. “Good morning, Mrs. Leonard. Who do we have here?”

Mrs. Leonard smiled. “This
is Benny Obi, Mr. Purdy, a new student who will be in your class.”

Mrs. Leonard nudged the kid toward the front of the room.

The new kid took one step and stopped.

Mrs. Leonard put a hand on his shoulder. “Benny’s family just moved to Kailua from Hilo. Hilo is on the Big Island, children. I’m sure you will all welcome Benny and show him around our school. Am I right?”

“Yes, Mrs. Leonard,” everyone said.

Everyone but me.

I was still trying to figure out what I was looking at.

Mr. Purdy tucked his book under his arm and walked over to Mrs. Leonard and the new kid. “Welcome to fourth-grade boot camp, Benny.”

The kid looked up at Mr. Purdy.

Mr. Purdy grinned, as if he was waiting for the kid to say something like, Boot camp? Cool. I like it.

But he didn’t.

Mrs. Leonard nudged him toward our gaping faces. “Tell the class something about yourself, Benny.”

The new kid’s squinty eyes dared anyone to make even a peep.

“I know kung fu,” he said.

Yow.

M
r. Purdy pointed to the one vacant desk in our classroom. It was in the back row, right next to my friend Julio Reyes, who lived on the same street as me.

“Sit there, Benny. If you have any questions just ask Julio.”

Benny gave Julio a sideways glance.

Julio stared at his desk.

Benny slid into his seat and sat stone still. A lizard on the wall.

Mrs. Leonard sighed and left.

Julio didn’t say a word. Just sat looking like he’d accidentally swallowed a fly that had flown into his mouth.

The rest of the morning was eerily quiet. Benny Obi was like a firecracker with a fuse that had burned down to the powder but hadn’t gone off … and no one wanted to check it because it might explode in your face.

After lunch, I was lounging on the grass near our classroom with my friends Julio, Willy Wolf, Rubin Tomioka, and Maya Medeiros. The sun was breathing its hot breath down our necks, but who cared? We had bigger stuff to deal with. The new kid was giving us the creeps.

And Julio had to sit next to him.

Which put him in a bad mood.

“How come Mr. Purdy put that new kid next to me? What did I do?”

Willy shook his head. “He sure is strange.”

“Like from another planet,” Rubin added.

“Look,” Maya said, pointing with her chin toward the cafeteria.

We all turned. Benny Obi was leaning against the wall in the shade. Alone. Wearing dark glasses with mirror lenses.

“Looks like a cop,” Rubin said.

Maya squinted in the sun. “Stands out, doesn’t he?”

Julio humphed. “He
wants
to stand out. He’s in love with himself.”

I spurted out a laugh. “In love with himself?”

“Look at him,” Julio spat. “Thinks he’s a movie star. Who wears dark glasses at school?”

“Tito.”

Julio snorted. “Two of a kind.”

Tito Andrade was a sixth grader, a bully who gave us a hard time and stole stuff from us. He also thought every girl on the planet was in love with him.

I picked up a pebble and tossed it. “Maybe the new kid’s nice, Julio. Who knows? He just got here. Give him a chance.”

Julio glared at me. “You better watch your mouth.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I know kung fu.”

We all cracked up. What a line: I know kung fu.

I shook my head. Kung fu is a serious
martial art, not something you go around bragging about.

Maya slapped my arm.

“Shhh! He’s coming.”

We went silent as Benny Obi strolled over to us.

He stood with his hands in the pockets of his baggy black pants. “This where you folks hang out?”

For a few seconds, no one spoke.

“Well, is it?”

“Uh … not really,” I finally said. “We, uh, we sit all over the place.”

Benny Obi nodded.

“Who’s the kid got Coconut for a last name? I heard he was in our class and he’s related to Little Johnny Coconut, the singer in Las Vegas.”

Everyone turned to me.

“That’s … my dad,” I said.

In Benny’s glasses I could see the mirror image of us sitting around looking back at him.

Benny thought for a moment. “How come he’s there and you’re here?”

Mind your own business, I wanted to say. “He and my mom got divorced.”