My Name Is Evil (5 page)

The next day in school I tried to shut the fortune-teller out of my mind. After school there was no time to think about her. I had a dance class.

Jilly was there, too. I watched her in awe. She is such a graceful dancer. She seems to float over the floor.

Dancing beside her, I felt like a circus elephant.

I can't compete with Jilly. But I'm going to the dance tryouts anyway, I decided. It's my dream to make that company. I'm not going to give up without trying.

I hurried home after the class. I had piles of homework.

It was a cool autumn day. The air smelled sweet and fresh as I jogged onto my block. I waved to some kids raking leaves on their driveway.

I stopped short when I reached my front yard. The backpack bounced heavily on my back.

Was I seeing things?

Or was that really Glen pushing the power lawn mower over our front lawn?

“Hey—!” I called to him and waved.

He spun around. The mower roared. He cut the engine. “Maggie—what's up?” he called.

I ran over to him. “What are you doing?” I called. Dumb question. I felt my face grow hot and knew I was blushing.

He wiped sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his gray jacket. “I mow all the lawns on this block,” he said. “Didn't you ever see me?”

I shook my head.

“Your mom asked me to cut yours before winter comes.” He wiped his hands on his jeans legs. “The mower keeps conking out. I don't know what its problem is.” He kicked it with his sneaker.

It was chilly out, but he was sweating a lot. His curly hair—wild and unbrushed as always—glistened with sweat. I reached out and pulled a blade of grass off his cheek.

“Nice house.” He pointed. “You could fit my house in there about ten times!”

“You want to come in?” I blurted out. “I mean—if you're thirsty or something. Come in and have a Coke or some Gatorade. When you finish mowing?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Maybe. Thanks. I have another lawn to do before dark.” He bent to start the mower up. “Catch you later.”

I hurried into the house. “He's definitely cool,” I murmured. I stepped inside and called out, “Mom—are you home?”

Silence.

I never can keep her work schedule straight.

I grabbed a can of iced tea from the fridge and made my way up to my room to start my homework. Chirpy, my canary, started chirping away as soon as I entered the room. I walked over to her cage in front of the window and rubbed her yellow feathered back with one finger.

And peeked out at Glen down below. He was leaning over the mower handlebars, moving quickly, making stripes across the grass. “So cute,” I muttered to Chirpy. “Don't you think he's cute?”

The canary tilted her head to one side, trying to understand.

I trotted to the mirror and brushed my hair. Then I put on some lip gloss and a little eye makeup.

I decided to change. I pulled on a fresh pair of straight-leg jeans and my new white sweater.

I could hear the hum and roar of the mower outside. Wish Glen would hurry up and finish, I thought.

I knew I should start my homework. But I couldn't concentrate.

I went back to the window and watched him for a while. Then I picked up a deck of cards and started to practice a few new tricks. But I couldn't concentrate on those, either.

I heard voices outside. Girls' voices.

“Hey, Tarzan!” someone yelled.

I dived back to the window and saw Jackie and Judy coming up the driveway. They had stopped to tease Glen.

He just kept mowing. I could see that his face was bright red, and he was pretending to ignore them.

“Give him a break!” I said out loud. I hurried downstairs to let them in.

“Whoa. Way to go, Maggie. You got your boyfriend to mow the lawn!” Jackie teased.

“Mom hired him,” I replied. “I didn't even know—”

“Were you in chem lab when Kenny Fields dropped the glass beaker?” Judy interrupted.

“No. I don't have lab on Monday,” I said.

“It was a disaster!” she exclaimed. “It was some kind of ammonia or smelly acid—something really gross. It smelled so horrible, kids started to puke all over the place.”

“First, one kid hurled, and then everyone was hurling,” Jackie said. “It was awesome! Like an epidemic!”

“They had to evacuate half the school,” Judy said. “How come you didn't know?”

“I wasn't there. We had a dumb field trip,” I said, rolling my eyes. “To the art museum.”

“Why don't you invite your boyfriend in?” Jackie asked.

“I already did,” I told them. I could hear the mower's roar, fainter now. Glen was nearly down to the curb.

Jackie pushed past me and started to the stairs. “I want to try all those new cosmetics you bought at the mall.”

Judy and I followed her. “Where's Jilly?” I asked.

“More dance practice,” Judy said. “She took an extra class today. She really wants to be perfect at that audition.”

I sighed. “She already is perfect.”

Jackie went right to my dresser. “It's like a makeup store in here!” she declared. She started picking up jars and tubes and examining them. “This is totally cool.”

“If you're going to try all my makeup, you have to give me something in return,” I said.

Jackie laughed. “Okay. I'll give you Jilly!”

“Ha ha,” I said. I reached out my hand. “Let me try on your necklace.”

Jackie hesitated.

“Just for a minute,” I said. “You've never let me try it on. I just want to see how it looks on me.”

Jackie shrugged and carefully pulled off the necklace of tiny glass beads. “No magic tricks?”

“No magic tricks,” I promised.

She handed it to me and went back to pawing over all my new makeup.

“It's so beautiful,” I said, gazing into the mirror, adjusting the delicate, sparkling beads around my throat. “I'd do anything to have one just like it.”

I caught Jackie's smile in the mirror. “Anything?”

“Well … ”

“Maybe I'll leave it to you in my will,” Jackie said.

“Do you have a lot of homework?” Judy asked.

“Tons,” I said, sighing. “I tried getting started on it when I got home. But my mind kept spinning. I couldn't concentrate.”

Judy stood at the birdcage, petting Chirpy. She narrowed her eyes at me. “You're not still upset about that fortune-teller, are you?”

I laughed. “Thanks a bunch, Judy. Thanks for reminding me. I haven't thought about that all day!”

“You're evil,” Jackie muttered, brushing thick, black mascara on her lashes. “You're so evil, Maggie.”

“Shut up,” I snapped. “That was totally dumb, and you know it. I don't know why I let it upset me.”

Judy opened the cage and gently lifted Chirpy out. She let the canary perch on her finger. “Plumper would love you,” Judy told the bird. “For lunch!”

“Don't mention that cat to me!” I cried. “That was so horrible! Your cat is a psycho!”

Judy frowned. “I'm really sorry about that. You know, I came over to ask if you'd help me with the Pet Fair.”

“Not if I have to go near that cat!” I said.

“I'll keep Plumper away,” Judy promised. “Will you help out?”

“I guess,” I replied.

I glanced out the window. What's taking Glen so long? I wondered. Why doesn't he get finished?

Watching him moving back and forth, back and forth, I silently wished there was a way to speed up his mower.

“Hey—!” Judy's startled cry interrupted my thoughts. I spun around to see Chirpy fluttering in the air.

Judy grabbed at the canary with both hands. “Come back! Come back here, birdy!”

Chirping loudly, the canary flew up to the ceiling, hit the ceiling light, bounced off, and flew to the closet.

Judy and I both chased after him. “Come back!” I cried. “What's wrong with you?”

All three of us tried to grab the flittering, fluttering bird. Each time we nearly had her, Chirpy darted out of our reach.

At first it was kind of funny. But after ten minutes of chasing after the bird, it wasn't funny anymore. It was just frustrating.

“I don't believe this!” I cried breathlessly. I made another grab for the bird—and just missed! “Chirpy—stop it! You've never done this before! Come back! I could kill you for this!”

“Whoa. Don't say that!” Jackie declared. “Wouldn't you feel terrible if you said that and then Chirpy died?”

“I didn't mean it. It's just a stupid expression,” I said. I stopped to catch my breath.

And Chirpy flew into her cage.

Judy slammed the cage door shut. “Gotcha!”

I was still breathing hard. I suddenly realized I still had Jackie's necklace around my neck. I took it off and handed it to her.

“Why don't we go down to the kitchen—” I started to say. But that's as far as I got. Because we all heard a scream of alarm from outside.

I dived to the window with Judy and Jackie right behind me. Peering out, I saw Glen chasing after his lawn mower. The mower was zigzagging wildly, roaring away from him. He was running after it full speed, shouting his head off.

My heart pounding, I shoved open the window. “Glen—!” I called. “What's happening?”

I don't think he could hear me over the roar of the mower.

He lunged forward and grabbed the handle. But the mower jerked away from him.

“Hey—helllp!” he shouted.

Jackie and Judy both giggled beside me. But I could see that Glen was really struggling, and very upset.

He grabbed the mower handle again and held on for dear life. But the mower roared forward, digging deep holes in the lawn.

Glen tried frantically to pull it to a stop. But the mower zigzagged crazily, out of control, pulling Glen with it.

I slapped my hands to my ears as the mower shot into a tree with a deafening crash. It hit so hard, the whole tree shook.

I saw Glen hit the ground. He landed on his back.

And then over the roaring whine of the mower, I heard Glen's horrified shriek:

“My foot! IT CUT OFF MY FOOT!”

“Nooooo!” I let out a scream and pushed away from the window.

All three of us went flying down the stairs—and out to the front yard.

“Glen—are you okay?” I screamed.

He was sitting on the grass, hunched over. He had his shoe off and was rubbing his left foot with both hands. As we ran down to him, the mower rocked against the tree, sputtered, and died.

“Your foot—?” I gasped.

“Sorry. I panicked a little,” he said softly. “It's just a small cut. It hurt so much, I thought—”

“False alarm,” Jackie said. “You scared us to death!”

“But what happened?” Judy asked.

“Beats me,” Glen replied. “I don't understand it at all.”

“Did you turn up the speed or something?” Judy asked.

He shook his head. “It just took off. It was so … freaky! It … it's impossible! Lawn mowers aren't built to go that fast!”

He carefully slipped his shoe on and climbed to his feet. He took a few steps, testing his foot. “It's okay,” he said.

He wiped sweat off his forehead, then raised his eyes to the mower. It had shot into the tree so hard, it left a deep gash in the tree trunk.

“Wow,” Glen muttered. “Weird.”

He made his way to the mower and wrapped his hands around the handles. He pulled it slowly off the tree. Then he turned to me. “Tell your mom I'm sorry, okay? The mower made a real mess here.”

“Okay, I'll tell her,” I said. “But—”

“Tell her I'll get the mower fixed and come back.” He started to push it to the driveway.

“Don't you want to come in for a minute?” I asked. “Get something to drink?”

He pushed back his bushy hair. “No. I'd better get this thing home so my dad can look at it. Maybe he can figure out why it went berserk. See you.”

I watched Glen push the mower down the driveway to the sidewalk. Then I turned and followed Jackie and Judy back into the house.

As we stepped inside, Jackie snickered.

“That was so scary!” I said. “What's so funny?”

Jackie's eyes flashed. “I thought you liked Glen, Maggie. Did you use your evil powers on his lawn mower?” She laughed.

“Stop it!” I cried angrily. “I mean it, Jackie. Stop saying that! You know I don't have evil powers! So stop it! It isn't funny!”

Her eyes went wide. I could see she was surprised by how angry I got.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I didn't mean it. I was only joking. Really. I was just trying to lighten up—”

“Well, don't!” I interrupted.

She put a hand on my shoulder. “I'll never mention it again. Promise.”

We made our way back upstairs. The window was still open, and a cold wind filled my bedroom. The curtains fluttered and flapped.