Laugh Till You Cry (6 page)

Cody felt good about hanging out with Jake. “You could have been in pro ball if you’d wanted to be,” he said.

“Maybe.” Jake got into the car and turned the ignition key. “But I’m doing what I really want to do. From the time I wasn’t much bigger than you, I planned to be in law enforcement.” As he backed the car out of the parking lot and pulled onto Memorial Drive, he said, “Next month I’m going to take the exam for detective.”

“What’s the difference between being a policeman and being a detective?” Cody asked.

“There’s a lot more to learn if you want to be a detective,” Jake answered. “Detectives specialize in different types of crime, and they not only study how crimes are committed and solved, they also have to know as much as possible about the people who commit crimes—their motives and actions and even body language that might be clues to what they’ve been up to.”

“What kinds of clues?”

“A guilty suspect could keep from looking you in the eye or not be able to stop twiddling his fingers or rubbing his nose.”

“You mean looking nervous?”

“Right. But not all perps look or feel nervous. Some of them stay cool. So then you smoke ’em out. You ask a question repeatedly and try to trip them up and see if they give different answers, which could prove that they’re lying. And, most important of all, you find the motive.”

“You mean their reason for committing the crime?”

“That’s it. There always has to be a motive.”

They had gone under Loop 610 and were headed down Westheimer.

“The drive-in’s not far from here,” Jake said. “How about what I suggested? Burgers and all that good stuff okay with you?”

“It all sounds great,” Cody said. He added, grinning, “Speaking of burgers, you ought to meet my cousin Hayden. He thinks the four food groups are Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Chiliburger, and Coke.”

Jake laughed. “That’s a good one. Got any more?”

“Sure,” Cody said, and he told Jake his broccoli joke.

“Maybe I can use those,” Jake said. “Sometime, if
you’ve got the time, I’ll have to try my routine out on you.”

Cody suddenly realized how hungry he was. But it really didn’t matter what or where he ate. He was having a great time just being with Jake.

As Jake drove back to Cody’s grandmother’s house after dinner, he asked Cody, “So what’s going on with this cousin of yours?”

“Let’s not talk about Hayden. Let’s talk about somebody who doesn’t make me turn green and get sick to my stomach,” Cody answered.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it, but Hayden has been bullying you and I’d like to help. Nearly everyone has a bully in his life at some time or another. I wasn’t always this big, you know. When I was a kid, I was the scrawniest one in the neighborhood. You better believe I got picked on. The trick is to be smarter than the bully.”

Cody tried to imagine Jake as a scrawny kid. “It’s just that Hayden is bigger than I am, and he has two mean, stupid friends who like to be bullies, too. Three against one.”

“Right. But this isn’t about being outnumbered. Using your fists is not going to solve this problem. You need to use your mind. Figure out why Hayden is giving you a bad time and then outsmart him.”

“His motive?”

Jake smiled and said, “Yes! His motive. Then think of a way to solve the problem. I know things are tough for you right now, Cody, but hang in there.” They pulled up to the house.

“Thanks, Jake! I had fun tonight.” Cody shut the
door and sighed. He knew Jake was right, and he appreciated the advice, but he was still confused. How could he figure out what Hayden’s motive was? Even if he knew, what good would it do?

He could really solve his problem with Hayden if a monster’s slimy claw came out of the sky, grabbed Hayden by his fat head, and carried him off to another planet.

He let himself in, walked to the sofa, and flopped on it, facedown, quickly rubbing away a couple of tears that had escaped. He couldn’t let go and cry.

He sat up, swung his feet to the floor, and took a deep breath to steady himself. “Hey, Mom,” he said. “Wait till I tell you about the game. I got to pinch-hit and made it all the way to first base.”

Mrs. Carter came out of the kitchen and joined Cody on the sofa. She put an arm around his shoulders and hugged him to her. “I’m glad you had a good time,” she said. “I want to hear all about the game. But first, let me tell you before I forget: Grandma has a doctor’s appointment and some tests late tomorrow afternoon, so when you get out of school, we won’t be home. Instead of coming here, go over to Hayden’s house. Aunt Rosalie said Alma would bake you something good for a snack so you and Hayden can do homework together.”

Cody stiffened. “Mom, I don’t have to go to Hayden’s! I’m thirteen! I’m old enough to stay here by myself!”

“I know,” she answered. “Rosalie is trying now to be helpful and Grandma was delighted with her offer. Go along with the plans, please, Cody. It will make things so much easier for all of us.”

Cody nodded agreement, although it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do. “Okay,” he said.

“Thanks, honey,” Mrs. Carter said, and squeezed his shoulder. “Now, tell me about the ball game.”

Cody described the park and the baseball diamond and the way Jake had slammed the ball out of the field, but he had a scared feeling in the pit of his stomach. If he wasn’t careful, having a snack with a snake like Hayden could end up with Cody himself being the snack.

On Wednesday Cody did as Jake had cautioned. He made sure that while he was at school, he was never alone. Now and then he thought he saw some of the kids watching him with suspicion, but he pretended not to notice.

Lunchtime was the hardest. He bought the cafeteria lunch and balanced a tray containing dishes of something brown, something yellow, and something green, not paying much attention to what they were. Stopping by a table with two empty places, he began to put down his tray.

“Okay if I sit here?” he asked Emily, who sat across from Jennifer.

Emily looked up, flipping the end of her long ponytail back from her shoulder. “Those seats are saved,” she said.

“No, they’re …,” Jennifer began in surprise, but she stopped short as she glanced up, over her shoulder, at Cody. “Oh,” she said. “Sorry. I forgot. They’re saved.”

Cody felt his face turn red with embarrassment. Without a word he walked to the far end of the cafeteria, away from Emily’s loud whispers.

Plopping down his tray at the end of one of the tables, Cody kept his eyes on his food and began to eat.

A few minutes later Hayden slid onto the bench opposite him. Brad sat next to Cody, elbowing him to the end of their bench, and Eddie crowded in beside Brad.

“Made any more interesting phone calls lately?” Hayden asked Cody in a voice loud enough so that the kids around them could hear.

Cody put down his fork. With his tongue, he pried away the gluey macaroni and cheese that was stuck to the back of his front teeth, then said, “You know I didn’t make that call.”

Hayden leaned close, and Brad did, too. Eddie just grinned. “What call?” Hayden asked, his eyes wide with faked innocence.

“You’re my cousin, you know. We have the same grandmother. Why don’t you just leave me alone?” Cody asked.

“That’s no fun,” Hayden said, really annoyed.

Cody polished off the milk that was left in his carton. “Let’s talk about something else,” he said.

“Like what? Like your
Hamlet
project? You couldn’t find anyone to work with, could you?”

“It doesn’t make any difference.”

“Sure it does.” Hayden grinned and added, “It does make a difference. So we’re cousins, and I have to look out for you. I even have to babysit you this afternoon while your mama’s not home.”

Cody heard a snicker behind him. He didn’t know who was enjoying Hayden’s big mouth. He said suddenly, “I’d better confess about making a phone call.”

The kids seated nearby became silent. Cody went on in a louder voice, “The call I made was to Channel Two’s
news hotline to tell them Houston has a new bus. It’s called the Hayden. It used to run on gas from eating too many burritos, but it was polluting the city, so now it runs on hot air. The news people told me I had the wrong channel. Anything that concerns Hayden belongs on Animal Planet.”

A couple of people laughed. Eddie tried to smother a giggle as Hayden scowled.

“Let’s get out of here,” Hayden snapped. He got up from the table. “C’mon guys.”

Brad and Eddie did as he ordered, and Brad managed to give Cody a shove, knocking him off the end of the bench.

Cody picked himself up from the floor. He took his tray to the clean-up window at the other end of the cafeteria and left. He wished he could escape the looks and whispers and sit quietly in the sheltered stairway outside the building, but he couldn’t. He realized that it was more important than ever that he stay in sight of the kids in the school, as Jake had told him to do.

Cody sat in the library, in full view of anybody in the hall passing the floor-to-ceiling glass walls, and opened a book. He pretended to read but started to make up jokes about Hayden.

He’s so stupid that he thought he had to study to pass a blood test.

He’s such a jerk, when he heard people talking about the terrible Midwest tornadoes, he thought they meant a football team.

Someone pulled out the chair next to him and sat down. The person chuckled and said, “I heard what you told your cousin. That was pretty good.”

Cody turned in surprise to see a guy he knew only as
Bobby, who usually needed a haircut and who mostly kept to himself. “I also heard that you made a phone call yesterday and set off a bomb scare,” Bobby said.

“I didn’t!”

Bobby shrugged. “They think you did. Wish I’d been here to see all the excitement. Police came and everything. Right?” He gave a loud sniff and rubbed his dripping nose with the back of one hand.

Cody glared at Bobby. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“How come?”

“Because I don’t like being blamed for something I didn’t do.”

Bobby grinned.

Angry now, Cody snapped, “You said you weren’t here. Why weren’t you?”

“Bad cold.” Bobby wiped his nose on his hand again.

“Well, then, you could have made the call easier than me,” Cody said.

Bobby didn’t answer. He just kept smiling.

Cody stood, sweeping up his books. There was no way he was going to let Bobby taunt him. Fortunately, the bell rang, and Cody headed for his next class.

Eagerly, he kept looking for Jake to appear. He’d be visiting the school each day, and Cody was counting on seeing his friendly smile.

It wasn’t until Cody was passing Ms. Jackson’s room later, on his way to P.E., that he heard Jake’s deep laugh. Cody stopped, backed up two steps, and glanced through the open doorway. He saw Jake leaning against Ms. Jackson’s desk, apparently sharing a joke with her, because both of them were smiling.

Quickly, before either of them could notice him, Cody hurried on toward the gym.
Why’d Jake go to see
her?
Cody thought resentfully. Ms. Jackson was nice enough, he supposed, but she was a teacher. He felt as if his friend had gone over to the enemy. He’d expected Jake to come talk to him.

There was no sign of Hayden and his buddies as Cody reluctantly trudged home after school. He hesitated on the sidewalk between his grandmother’s house and the Nortons’. His mother had made it clear that he was expected there, and he didn’t have a choice. His mother just didn’t understand about Hayden.

For that matter, Cody didn’t understand Hayden. Jake had said that bullies had a reason for being bullies. He had also said that perps had a reason for being perps. What reason did Hayden have for being so mean and trying to get all the kids to think that Cody had made that phone call? What was Hayden’s problem? As Jake would ask, what was his motive?

The front door to Hayden’s house opened, and Rosalie Norton stepped out on the small porch. “There you are, Cody,” she said. “Hayden has been home for at least fifteen minutes. I was beginning to worry about you.”

As Cody walked toward her, she kept talking. “I’ve got a committee meeting to attend in just half an hour, and it’s not far—the Junior League building—but I want to make sure that you’re settled at the dining room table with your homework before I leave. Alma’s been baking some Mexican wedding cookies. They’re buttery and full of chopped pecans, rolled in powdered sugar as soon as they’re baked. You’ll like them; Hayden does.”

As they walked into the dining room, Hayden looked up from where he was seated, his books in front of him, and smirked at Cody.

Cody put his books on the table, as far away from Hayden as he could get, pulled out one of the carved mahogany chairs, and sat down.

“You better get started on your
Hamlet
project,” Hayden said. “It’s due in two days.”

Cody shrugged. “Is yours done already? It only has to be two pages. That won’t take long.”

“It will if you don’t have any ideas. I bet you haven’t thought of an idea yet.”

Cody frowned at Hayden. “I do have an idea,” he said, and opened his notebook.

“Bet you don’t.”

“Now, Hayden,” Mrs. Norton said. “Cody’s a fine student and highly responsible about getting his homework done on time. You could use him as an example.”

Cody tried to ignore Hayden’s scowl and studied the first suggestion on Ms. Jackson’s list, which he had copied from the board. His mom had said to get along with Hayden. Okay. He’d try. He said to Hayden, “I’m writing about the last scene, in which Hamlet finally does what his father’s ghost asked him to do and avenges his father’s murder.”

Alma came to the door of the dining room and greeted Cody, then said to Mrs. Norton, “My powdered sugar is gone. I’ve looked everywhere for it, and I can’t find it.”

“Maybe we’re out of it,” Mrs. Norton said.

“No. We have a new bag—the large, two-pound size. It was on the list with my last shopping order. I remember unpacking the grocery sacks as soon as they were delivered. I put the powdered sugar away myself on the top shelf of the pantry, where I always keep it.”