18 - Monster Blood II (2 page)

“Hurry back, Evan,” Mr. Murphy called from behind his desk. “Cuddles is
waiting!”

Evan growled under his breath and stepped out into the crowded hallway. If
Murphy loves that stupid hamster so much, why doesn’t
he
ever clean out
the cage? he wondered bitterly.

A group of kids laughed loudly as Evan passed by. Were they laughing at him?
Evan couldn’t tell.

He started jogging to his locker—when something hit his leg just above the
ankle. His feet flew out from under him, and he toppled face down onto the hard
tile floor.

“Hey—!” Evan cried angrily.

He stared up at a big, tough-looking kid from his class named Conan Barber.
All the kids called him Conan the Barbarian. For good reason.

Conan was twelve, but he looked about twenty years older! He was taller and
wider and stronger and meaner than any kid in the school.

He wasn’t a bad-looking guy, Evan grudgingly admitted. He had wavy, blond
hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face. He was very athletic-looking, and played
all the sports at school.

He was an okay guy, Evan thought wistfully.

Except that he had one very bad habit. Conan loved to live up to his
nickname.

He
loved
being Conan the Barbarian.

He loved strutting around, pounding kids who weren’t his size—which
included
everyone!

Evan had not hit it off with Conan.

He met Conan on the playground a few weeks after moving to Atlanta. Eager to
make a good impression, Evan told him the whole Monster Blood story.

Conan didn’t like the story. He stared back at Evan with his cold, blue eyes
for a long, long time. Then his expression hardened, and he murmured through
clenched teeth: “We don’t like wise guys down here in Atlanta.”

He gave Evan a pretty good pounding that day.

Evan had tried to stay away from Conan ever since. But it wasn’t easy.

Now he gazed up at Conan from his position on the floor. “Hey—why’d you
trip me?” Evan demanded shrilly.

Conan grinned down at him and shrugged. “It was an accident.”

Evan tried to decide whether it was safer to stand up or to stay down on the
floor. If I stand up, he’ll punch me, he thought. If I stay down here, he’ll
step on me.

Tough choice.

He didn’t get to make it. Conan reached down and, with one hand, pulled Evan
to his feet.

“Give me a break, Conan!” Evan pleaded. “Why can’t you leave me alone?”

Conan shrugged again. It was one of his favorite replies. His blue eyes
twinkled merrily. “You’re right, Evan,” he said, his grin fading. “I shouldn’t
have tripped you.”

“Yeah,” Evan agreed, straightening his T-shirt.

“So you can pay me back,” Conan offered.

“Huh?” Evan gaped at him.

Conan stuck out his massive chest. “Go ahead. Hit me in the stomach. I’ll let
you.”

“Whoa. No way,” Evan replied, trying to back up. He stumbled into a group of
kids.

“Go ahead,” Conan urged, following after him. “Hit me in the stomach. As hard
as you can. It’s only fair.”

Evan studied his expression. “You really mean it?”

Conan nodded, tight-lipped. He stuck out his chest. “As hard as you can. Go
ahead. I won’t hit back. I promise.”

Evan hesitated. Should he go ahead and do it?

I may never get a chance like this again, he thought.

A lot of kids were watching, Evan realized.

If I hit him really hard, if I hurt him, if I make him cry out—then maybe
kids around here will have a little respect for me.

I’ll be Evan the Giant Killer. The guy who pounded Conan the Barbarian.

He balled his hand into a tight fist and raised it.

“Is
that
your fist?” Conan cried, laughing.

Evan nodded.

“Oooh—this is going to hurt!” Conan cried sarcastically. He made his knees
tremble.

Everyone laughed.

I may surprise him, Evan thought angrily.

“Go ahead. As hard as you can,” Conan urged. He sucked in a deep breath and
held it.

Evan pulled his arm back and swung his fist as hard as he could.

The fist made a solid
thud
as it hit Conan’s stomach.

It felt like hitting a concrete wall.

Evan’s hand throbbed with pain.

“Hey—!” a man’s voice called angrily.

Startled, Evan spun around—to see Mr. Murphy glaring at him.

“No fighting!” Mr. Murphy yelled at Evan.

The teacher came bouncing up to them and stepped between the two boys.
Huffing for breath, he turned to Conan. “Why did Evan hit you?” he demanded.

Conan shrugged. His blue eyes went wide and innocent. “I don’t know, Mr.
Murphy,” he replied in a tiny, forlorn voice. “Evan just walked up and hit me as
hard as he could.”

Conan rubbed his stomach and uttered a short whimper. “Ow. He really hurt
me.”

Mr. Murphy narrowed his beady black eyes at Evan. His chubby face turned
bright red again. “Evan, I saw the whole thing. I really don’t understand you,”
he said softly.

“But Mr. Murphy—” Evan started.

The teacher raised a hand to silence him. “If you were angry about what
happened in class,” Mr. Murphy said, “you shouldn’t take it out on other kids.”

Conan rubbed his stomach tenderly. “I hope Evan didn’t
break
anything!” he murmured.

“Do you want to see the nurse?” Mr. Murphy asked.

Conan shook his head. Evan could see he was having trouble keeping a straight
face. “I’ll be okay,” he said, and staggered away.

What a phony! Evan thought bitterly.

Did Conan know the whole time that Murphy was standing there? Probably.

“Go take care of Cuddles,” Mr. Murphy told Evan, frowning. “And try to shape
up, Evan. I’m going to be watching you.”

Evan muttered a reply and trudged back into the classroom. Sunlight streamed
in through the wall of windows. A strong breeze made the window shade flap over
the open window near the teacher’s desk.

Feeling angry and upset, his stomach churning, Evan made his way through the
empty room to the hamster cage. Cuddles wrinkled his nose in greeting. The
hamster knew the routine by now.

Evan gazed into the metal cage at the brown-and-white creature. Why do people
think hamsters are cute? he wondered.

Because they wrinkle their noses? Because they run around and around on
wheels like total jerks? Because of their cute little buck teeth?

Cuddles stared up at him with his little black eyes.

He has Mr. Murphy’s eyes, Evan thought, chuckling to himself. Maybe that’s
why Murphy likes him so much.

“Okay, okay. So you’re kind of cute,” Evan told the hamster. “But I know your
secret. You’re just a big fat rat in disguise!”

Cuddles wrinkled his nose again in reply.

With a loud sigh, Evan went to work. Holding his breath because he hated the
smell, he pulled out the bottom tray.

“You’re a messy little guy,” he told the hamster. “When are you going to
learn to clean up your own room?”

Still holding his breath, he dumped out the old newspaper shavings and
replaced them with fresh shavings from the box in the supply closet.

He returned the bottom tray to its place as Cuddles watched with great
interest. Then he poured fresh water into the water bottle.

“How about some sunflower seeds?” Evan asked. He began to feel a little more
cheerful, knowing his job was almost finished.

He removed the seed cup from the cage and made his way across the room to the
supply closet to get fresh sunflower seeds.

“Okay, Cuddles,” he called, “these look yummy!”

He started to carry the seeds back to the cage. Halfway across the room, Evan
stopped and uttered a startled gasp.

The cage door hung wide open.

The hamster was gone.

A choking sound escaped Evan’s lips as he stared at the empty cage.

His eyes darted frantically around the room. “Cuddles? Cuddles?” he called in
a frightened voice.

Why am I yelling? he asked himself, spinning around in a total panic. The
dumb hamster doesn’t know its name!

He heard footsteps out in the hall.

Mr. Murphy?

No, please—no! Evan pleaded silently.

Don’t let it be Mr. Murphy. Don’t let him return until I have Cuddles safely
back in his cage.

Cuddles was Mr. Murphy’s most precious possession. He had told this to the
class time and again.

Evan knew that if anything happened to Cuddles, Mr. Murphy would be on Evan’s
case for the rest of the year. No—for the rest of his
life!

Evan froze in the center of the room, listening hard.

The footsteps passed by the room.

Evan started breathing again.

“Cuddles? Where are you, Cuddles?” he called in a trembling voice. “I have
some delicious sunflower seeds for you.”

He spotted the furry, brown-and-white creature on the chalk tray under the
front chalkboard.

“There you are! I see you!” Evan whispered, tiptoeing toward it.

Cuddles was busily chewing on something. A small piece of white chalk.

Evan tiptoed closer. “I have seeds for you, Cuddles,” he whispered. “Much
tastier than chalk.”

Cuddles held the stick of chalk in his front paws, turning it as he chewed.

Evan crept closer. Closer.

“Look. Seeds.” He held the plastic seed cup toward the hamster.

Cuddles didn’t look up.

Evan crept up closer. Closer.

Close enough to dive forward—

—and
miss!

The hamster dropped the chalk and scampered down the chalk tray.

Evan made another frantic grab—and came up with nothing but air.

Letting out a frustrated groan, Evan saw the hamster dive to the floor and
scamper behind Mr. Murphy’s desk. The hamster’s feet skidded and slid on the linoleum floor, its
toenails clicking loudly.

“You can’t get away! You’re too fat!” Evan cried. He dropped to his knees and
peered under the desk.

He could see Cuddles staring back at him from the darkness. The animal was
breathing rapidly, its sides swelling with each breath.

“Don’t be scared,” Evan whispered soothingly. “I’m going to put you back in
your nice, safe cage.”

He crawled quickly to the desk.

The hamster stared back at him, breathing hard. It didn’t move—until Evan
reached for him. Then Cuddles scampered away, his tiny paws sliding on the
floor.

Evan jumped angrily to his feet. “Cuddles—what’s your problem?” he demanded
loudly. “This isn’t a stupid game!”

It wasn’t a game at all, Evan knew.

If he didn’t get the hamster back in the cage, Mr. Murphy would flunk him for
sure. Or suspend him from school. Or get his family kicked out of Atlanta!

Calm down, Evan urged himself. Don’t panic.

He took a deep breath and held it.

Then he saw the hamster on the window ledge just inside the open window.

Okay, Evan—go ahead and panic! he told himself.

This was definitely panic time.

He tried to call to the hamster. But his voice came out a choked whisper.

Swallowing hard, Evan edged slowly toward the window ledge.

“Come here, Cuddles,” he whispered. “Please, Cuddles—come here.”

Closer, closer.

Almost close enough to reach the hamster.

Almost close enough.

“Don’t move, Cuddles. Don’t move.”

He reached out his hand slowly. Slowly.

Cuddles glanced back at him with his soft black eyes.

Then the hamster jumped out the window.

Evan hung back for only a second.

Then he jumped out the window after the hamster.

Luckily, the science classroom was on the ground floor. Evan landed face down
in a low evergreen hedge. Struggling and squirming, it took him a while to climb
to his feet.

He took several steps over the grass, then turned and stared back along the
bottom of the long hedge. “Cuddles—are you under there?”

Evan squatted down to get a better view. The hedge stretched the entire
length of the school building. Cuddles could hide under there forever.

And if I don’t find him, Evan told himself bitterly, I’d better hide under
there forever, too!

To the right, Evan could hear voices from the playground. Happy, shouting
voices. Carefree voices.

Still squatting, he turned toward the happy voices—and saw a fat brown ball wobbling over the grass toward the
playground.

No. Not a ball. “Cuddles!”

That fat hamster isn’t getting away this time! Evan decided, jumping up and
starting to chase after the creature. I’ll catch him if I have to
sit
on
him!

A picture flashed into Evan’s mind of Cuddles, flat as a pancake after Evan
had sat upon him. A little, round, furry hamster rug.

Despite his panic, the thought of Cuddles as a rug brought a smile to Evan’s
perspiring face.

As he ran, he kept his eyes on Cuddles. The hamster was wobbling rapidly over
the grass toward the playground.

“Oh, no!” Evan cried out in horror as Cuddles darted in front of two girls
speeding across the grass on bikes.

Laughing together, they didn’t even see the hamster.

Cuddles is about to be road kill! Evan thought, shrinking back. He shut his
eyes and waited for the
squish.

But the bikes rolled smoothly on. And when they had passed, Evan spotted
Cuddles continuing his journey to the playground unharmed.

“Cuddles—come back here!” he shouted furiously.

The hamster appeared to speed up. He tumbled onto the baseball diamond, all four paws scurrying over the dirt of the
third-base line.

Several kids stopped their game to stare.

“Stop him! Grab the hamster!” Evan shouted desperately.

But the kids only laughed.

“Know how to catch him?” a joker named Robbie Greene called to Evan. “Make a
sound like a sunflower seed!”