He laughed. “Of course not. I'm just sorry I'm missing all the action. But it sounds like you're doing just fine without me.”
“Well, my dad's helping out. I'm calling him my substitute sidekick!”
Mr. Green laughed. “That's great. And speaking of substitutes, how's Miss Newby holding up?”
“Okay, I guess. How's your brother doing?”
“Great! We're calling him Bionic Boy. I should be back next week.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh. I'll see you then. Meanwhile, keep up the good work!”
“Thanks, Mr. Green.”
“Now get a move on or you're going to be tardy!”
“Right!” I said, and hung up.
Ready or not, it was time for school.
CHAPTER 20
Bye-bye, Big Butt
By the time I got to school, there was a big crowd of kids gathered on the playground.
Not one ball was bouncing on the blacktop!
I worked my way through the crowd until I could see what was going on. And then I saw him, smack-dab in the middle of everybody.
Bubba.
“Stand back!” Kevin and Max were telling kids. “Nobody touches it!”
“Is it for real?” Ian asked.
“Yeah, it's for real!” Bubba said. “You think I could fake this?” He was holding up his auto-graphed poster, careful to only handle the edges.
“How'd you get it?” Trinity asked. “I can't believe you actually met Chase Morton! That is so, so cool!”
“Yeah!” everyone said. “How'd you meet him?”
“He has his ways,” Kevin said, like he was the smartest kid around. “Now back up! Quit crowding!”
“Aw, it's a fake,” someone from the back yelled. “There's no way that's real!”
“Shut up, stupid!” Bubba yelled back. “It's a hundred percent authentic!”
“Oh, right,” the voice snickered.
“Who's sayin' that?” Bubba asked. “I want to know who's sayin' that!”
Max started pushing through the crowd, saying, “All right, who's the smart mouth?”
“Hey!” I called. “Don't fight! Bubba really did meet The Gecko. I… I've got proof!”
“Huh?” everyone said, then turned to look at me.
Kevin sneered, “You?”
I called over to Bubba, “I've got a copy right here. Do you want it?”
Bubba kind of bit his lip, then looked down and nodded.
Everyone started whispering.
So I peeled off my backpack and pulled out a big envelope.
The whispering stopped.
Everyone crowded in.
“Back up!” Bubba growled. “Now!”
Kids scurried back, and I said, “I, uh…I couldn't get online last night” I stepped closer and handed over the envelope. “So I made you this.”
Bubba took the envelope.
He opened it.
Then he broke into a smile and held the picture of him and The Gecko up high. “See?” he said. “Proof!”
Everyone ooooohed.
They aaaaahed!
Then Kevin piped up with, “Wait a minute. The Nerd took that? What was he doing there?”
The ooooohing and aaaaahing stopped.
Kids looked at Bubba.
At me!
At Bubba!
At me!
And finally Bubba cleared his throat and said, “Nolan's the one who got me in to see The Gecko.”
“Who did?” a lot of kids asked.
Bubba nodded my way. “Nolan did. He got me inside. Introduced me. Even let me play The Gecko in Tekken 3. He was… he was really cool.”
Mouths were gasping.
Eyes were bugging!
Nobody could believe their ears!
Especially Kevin. He squinted at Bubba and said, “Wait a minute. You're saying the Nerd—”
“I'm saying Nolan” Bubba said, giving him a deep, dark glare, “did me a big favor, okay?”
“O… kaaaaay,” Kevin said, and backed off.
For the rest of the day, people treated me… differently. They weren't trying to be my best friends or anything, but people wanted to know.
About meeting The Gecko.
About playing him in Tekken 3.
About taking Bubba to meet him, too.
After everything Bubba had done to me—all the names he'd called me and the punches he'd thrown at me and the stuff he'd stolen from me— they just didn't get why I'd done it.
I didn't explain it. How could I explain that the search for truth and justice wasn't just about getting even? It was about being bigger than your-self. Stronger than your weaknesses.
So I just shrugged and told them, “Because he really wanted to meet him, that's why.”
Later that day, I thought about what Mr. Green had said about finding the key to Bubba's kindness. Maybe after everything I'd tried, this was finally it.
Not that I expected Bubba to become Mr. Nice Guy. He'd probably always be more like True Ogre than Yoshimitsu.
But this was a start. A good start.
So after school I went home and did something I never thought I'd be able to do.
I took Bubba's Big Butt off the World Wide Web.
I'll be okay without it.
Plus, it leaves more room to shred on the next guy who tries to mess around with truth and justice.
Oh, yeah!
CHAPTER 21
E-mail #2,543
Hey, Shredderman,
Rumor is the Mole's out of business. Blacklisted. You rock, man.
Your #1 fan, Chase Morton
P.S. I told myself it couldn't be you, but Sticky says it's true. No wonder I couldn't beat you in T-3.I was battling a real, live superhero! Shred on, man!
P.P.S. (Don't worry—no one suspects, and I won't tell.)
Published by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children's Books
a division of Random House, Inc., New York
Text copyright © 2005 by Wendelin Van Draanen Parsons
Illustrations copyright © 2005 by Brian Biggs
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission
of the publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Visit us on the Web! www.randomhouse.com/kids
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools,
visit us at www.randomhouse.com/teachers
eISBN: 978-0-307-55967-8
v3.0
Wendelin Van Draanen, Meet the Gecko
(Series: # )
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends