Trouble Magnet (3 page)

“Hey,” Maya said, grabbing Julio's arm. “Look.”

A cop car with its lights flashing skidded to a stop in front of Kalapawai
Market. A huge policeman stepped out. He hitched up his pants, grabbed a notebook, and went into the store. The lights kept flashing.

“Ho, man!” Julio said. “They got robbed!”

W
henever I see a cop car with flashing lights I almost stop breathing. “Maybe he'll bring a prisoner out in handcuffs.”

“Shhh,” Julio said. “Watch.”

A few minutes later the cop came out of the store … with someone we knew.

“Ho,” I whispered. “It's Tito.”

“He finally got caught,” Julio said.

Tito Andrade was a sixth grader at our school, Kailua Elementary. For years he'd been vacuuming stuff out of our pockets-pennies, nickels, dimes, candy, beef jerky, dried squid.

Tito robbed me once. He did it with a smile and said, “Thanks for the donation, Coco-dork.” I didn't complain, and for sure I didn't tell the principal. If I had, Tito would've made me pay. And not with money.

Tito's head was bowed. Long dark hair hung into his eyes.

“He doesn't look too happy,” Julio said.

As the cop put Tito in the backseat of his car, a lady from the store came out to talk.

“Do they take sixth graders to jail?” I asked.

“No,” Julio said. “They take them to pro bation.”

“Where's that?”

“It's like a bad-boys’ home.”

The cop and the lady talked by the cop car.
All I could see of Tito was his head in the back window.

Finally, the lady waved her hand, saying, No big deal.

The cop looked at Tito in the car.

“He's going to let him go,” Julio said. “Watch.”

Julio was right. The cop opened the back door and helped Tito out. Tito blinked and looked around.

“He fell asleep,” Maya said.

Julio humphed. “Prob'ly seen that backseat a hundred times.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Like his second home.”

“You know what's his middle name?” Julio said. “Sinbad.”

“How you know that?”

“I saw his health form in the school office-Tito Sinbad Andrade.”

“Perfect. He sins, and he sins bad,” Maya said.

We cracked up.

Tito turned and looked across the street.
When he saw us laughing, his eyes narrowed.

We stopped laughing. Quick. That wasn't smart, I thought.

Tito was still looking at us as the cop put his hand on Tito's shoulder. They talked for a while. Tito nodded, and I imagined him lying, saying, I'll be good, Officer, don't worry, I won't steal nothing, I'm honest.

He must have been a good talker, because the cop finally got back into his car, turned off the flashing lights, and drove away … without Tito.

Tito watched the police car head down the road.

Then, slowly, he turned and looked across the street.

“Uh-oh,” Julio said.

Tito swaggered over and stood looking down on us. “Whatchoo insects was laughing at?”

I acted surprised. “Us? We weren't laughing.”

“No lie, I heard you.”

I scratched my head like I was confused, buying time. Think, think. “Uh, uh, the cop was funny, Tito, not you.”

Tito eyed me. How come I was the one to speak up? I should have let Julio do it. I searched for more.

“Uh … uh, the cop had … uh … he had a hole in his pants … in the butt.”

“Why you tell me that? You think I'm stupit?”

“No, Tito. For real. It was a big hole, and you could see his underpants.”

Julio snorted.

“Yeah?” Tito said. “Okay, what color was his underpants, ah? Tell me that.”

“Uh … blue.”

Tito's eyes narrowed to slits.

Maya stared at Tito, unafraid. Tito ignored her.

Julio jumped in to change the subject. “What did the cop want, Tito?”

Tito shrugged. “They thought I took something.”

“Did you?”

Tito grabbed Julio's shirt. “You accusing me?”

“No—no, Tito, I never.” Julio threw up his hands in surrender.

I stepped in. “They got it wrong … right?”

Tito let go of Julio and got down into my face. “I know you was laughing at me, Coco-dork. You lucky I'm in a good mood right now, because if I wasn't, I would mess you up.” He spat on the grass. “You see me in school tomorrow, stay out of my way.”

“Sure, Tito, no problem.”

He walked away, glaring over his shoulder.

I should have kept my mouth shut.

Julio fell back, spread-eagle on the grass. “Ho, man, we almost got killed!”

“He doesn't scare me,” Maya said.

I cringed. Now Tito was going to watch us like a shark. We'd just put ourselves on his radar.

Be-beep. Be-beep. Be-beep.

I groaned when my alarm went off at six-thirty the next morning.

I covered my head with my pillow.

It was Friday. Meet Your Teacher Day.

Real school started on Monday.

Be-beep. Be-beep.

“All right, all right.”

The clock was on the windowsill, leaning against the screen. I had bunk beds and slept on the top, so I had to reach down to slap it off.

I got up and pulled on my jeans, then dug around for my special Little Johnny Coconut T-shirt. Might as well start fourth grade right.

I grabbed my new backpack and headed for the door.

It wouldn't open. Dang. Locked in again. I got my pocketknife and jimmied it into the thumb lock.

The lock popped open. “Yes!”

Darci was standing on a stool in the bathroom trying to brush her hair. I squeezed in next to her and found my toothbrush. “How come Mom's not doing that for you?”

“She said I had to learn how to brush it myself.”

I did my teeth and tossed the toothbrush back into the drawer. Darci's brush got tangled in her hair and she couldn't get it out.

“Want some help?”

Darci dropped her hands. The brush stayed in her hair.

I worked the brush out slowly and handed it back to her. “Put water on it first. I saw Mom do that.”

Darci stuck it under the tap and tried again. It worked.

“There you go.”

I went into the kitchen.

“Congratulations!” Mom said. “You passed the alarm clock test. It's a big day, Cal.”

“Yeah, sure.” I said it like it didn't matter. I couldn't sound all excited, like some small kid. I grabbed the orange juice out of the fridge and guzzled it right from the carton.

“Calvin!” Mom snapped.

“Sorry.” I put the juice back.

“Listen,” Mom said. “I'll drop you and Darci off on my way to work, but you have
to walk her home after school. I'll be back around six.” Mom worked at Macy's in the Ala Moana Shopping Center on the other side of the island.

“I want you to keep an eye on her until I get home. Can I count on you, Calvin?”

“Sure, Mom.” The walk home was only a mile or so.

“When Stella gets here, she'll watch Darci after school. But today she's your respon sibility.”

“I can do it.”

“Just don't forget… Oh, and Ledward's coming over this afternoon to help you clean out the storage room.”

I scowled, remembering. I had to move in with the roaches, spiders, lizards, ants, earwigs, mice, centipedes, and wet-cardboard stink. “Mom, why can't Stella and Darci share a—”

“No, Cal.”

I sighed. “Fine.”

“Please walk Darci to her class this
morning, too. Just for today, so she knows where to go.”

“Sure.”

Mom smiled. “Thank you, Calvin. I need your help.”

“I know, Mom.”

She brushed my cheek with the back of her fingers. “You're excited about fourth grade, aren't you?”

“Yeah, Mom. That's me … excited.”