by Beth Bowland
I nudged Ivelisse. “Do you know that girl?”
Ivelisse squinted. “She looks familiar.”
“I don’t know her either, but she’s hot from what I can see,” Chu added.
Andre was showing all of his teeth. He was cheesing so hard at her. As we approached them, I tried to get a better look at the girl. Ivelisse waved to Andre. He returned the wave. That’s when the girl turned around. Ivelisse’s face lit up with recognition. I too recognized her.
What was the Porsche Remington doing here?
Chapter 5
PORSCHE WAS A RISING STAR in the Atlanta area. I’d seen her perform several times around the city and on local TV. She was long, tall, and skinny like a pencil, very pretty, with deep-set mysterious eyes, crazy high cheekbones, and a smile that toothpaste makers dream of hiring. Perfectly applied makeup enhanced her already perfect mocha complexion. She was thirteen like Andre. I’d heard rumors that she auditioned for a couple of the big music producers in the area and was supposedly releasing a CD. But why was she in our park?
“Hey.” Andre motioned to us. “Come over and meet our new neighbor,” he said.
New neighbor?
“Guys, this is Porsche Remington. She just moved into the house across the street from the tennis courts.”
Porsche flashed a dazzling white smile. “Hi.”
Andre continued the introductions. “Porsche, this is Ivelisse Sanchez, Chuong Willene, and Katrina Hollister. They all live within the cul-de-sac.”
Porsche looked at me. “I’ve heard about you, Katrina.”
I immediately hoped that Andre had told her he liked me. I smiled at Andre. “Oh, really?”
“Yes, your mother was our realtor. She told us some funny stories about you and your sister.” Porsche started laughing.
My jaw dropped. What? I couldn’t believe Mom had told Porsche embarrassing stories about me, or more importantly, hadn’t told me that she was moving in. Now Porsche probably thought I was some dumb kid.
“Well, I’m going to head home,” Porsche said. She turned toward Andre. “Thanks for the info, Andre. See you around.”
When she was out of hearing distance, the dogs started howling.
“Yo, dude, you gotta hook me up with that!” Chu was still staring at Porsche.
“Nah, she’s out of your league,” Andre said, “but, uh, I think I may get to know her.”
I straightened up. “I hear she’s supposed to cut a CD, which means she’ll be a celebrity. Why would she want to talk to you?” I controlled the urge to smack that grin off his face.
“Why wouldn’t she want to talk to me?” Andre paused and looked toward Porsche. “Nice!” He nodded and smiled.
I stood there wishing I were a superhero—like that Cyclops dude from the X-Men. I’d point my optic blast right toward Andre’s butt. I bet that would get rid of his goofy grin.
Ivelisse nudged me. “What are you thinking about?”
I shrugged. “Nothing much. Let’s keep walking.” I was going to be pretty busy this summer, keeping my eye on the father/son Jackson team.
The next morning, Kiara left early for the library to get some new book. I sat alone at the breakfast table smooshing my scrambled eggs around on my plate. I hadn’t slept well the night before. I tossed and turned all night, having the strangest dream. I’d dreamt a giant coffin walked down the hallway and banged on my door. Yes, the coffin had hands and feet.
I kept staring at my eggs, wondering what the dream meant, when I heard knocking at the front door. As I walked down to the foyer, I could see Mr. Maxwell waving to me. There was glass on either side of the double wood doors, so there was no way we could ever pretend we were not home. You could see all the way through into the kitchen.
“Yes?” I yelled through the glass.
“Is your mother home?”
“No, but I’ll tell her you stopped by.”
Mr. Maxwell gave me a salute and off he went, stopping in the front yard. I wasn’t sure what this guy’s obsession was with grass. He slowly moved toward the side of the house, so I went into the living room and continued to peek out the window at him. Mr. Maxwell reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small vial of liquid. He looked around as if to see if anyone was watching, then he sprinkled it out near the bushes and walked off.
I ran out the back door and made a beeline for Chu’s house. As I rounded the corner, I found Chu dressed in a black ninja suit sneaking around the side of his house. His ensemble included a black mask and a pair of those fighting nunchuk sticks tucked in his belt.
I eased up behind him and caught him threatening a tree.
“Woooosahhh, so you think you can defeat me, oh one of mighty stature!” He slowly circled the trunk of the tree as he removed the fighting sticks from his belt. “You have offended my family, and you have offended the Shaolin temple!”
He let out a scream and swung his weapon toward the tree. The stick bounced off the tree, smacked him in the face, and he fell to the ground.
“Ouch! Ohh, owiee.” He dropped the fighting sticks, cupped his face, and cried out. “Yeow! That smarts!”
I busted out laughing. “Chu, I’m surprised you still have brains left in your head.”
He looked at me and scowled. “Dude, that tree has been taunting me for weeks.”
I shrugged. “Seriously? I think you need psychiatric help.”
His eyes widened. “Weird. My mom said the same thing.”
“Hey, have you heard Andre say anything special about Porsche?” I asked.
“He’s not said anything to me, but I see them together a lot.” Chu tucked the fighting sticks into his belt. “She’s got the hots for your loverboy.” He chuckled.
“My loverboy?” I asked, slightly embarrassed. I thought I’d been playing it cool.
Chu fluttered his eyelashes and made kissy lips. “Your eyes get all googly when he’s around.”
“Oh, whatever.” I reached down and helped him up. “Mr. Maxwell was just at my door. I think he’s up to something.”
“I’ve got an odd feeling he had something to do with those mushrooms,” Chu said.
I straightened my ponytail and shrugged. “I dunno. I think you watch too much of that Syfy Channel. What are you doing today besides bullying trees?”
Chu moaned as he plopped down in one of the lawn chairs and removed his mask. “I’m staying as far away from my stepdad as possible. He’s acting all weird.”
“How?”
“Aw, he wants to spend some quality father-son time together.”
“And the problem is?”
Chu leaned back against the chair. “The only time he wants to spend quality time with me is if Mom gives him some type of chore to do. Today he’s supposed to clean out the garage because Grandma Thuy is coming into town this weekend. That means I’ll have to clean the garage while he watches his movies.”
We could hear someone rustle around in the kitchen. Chu hopped up.
“C’mon, let’s get out of here,” he said. “I ain’t cleaning out a garage. It’s all of his junk in there.”
We jumped off the patio and ran toward the park. Chu might be short, but that boy could run. It was hard keeping up with him.
“I can’t believe you ran away. Won’t you get into trouble?” I asked, collapsing against the fence.
“I don’t care. Mom only said for me to clean my room and bathroom, and I did that already.”
I saw Porsche Remington not too far from us sitting on a bench with an older lady. She sorta reminded me of my grandma in Chicago. When Porsche saw us, she said something to the woman and headed over toward us.
“Well, hello, Katrina—and Chuong?”
Chu got the stupidest grin on his face. Wassup with boys getting goofy over this girl? I mean she was cute, but she ain’t all that. Porsche continued smiling.
“Did I say your name right?”
“Close enough,” Chu said. “You can call me Chu if you like.” He grinned harder.<
br />
On the outside, I had a pleasant smile on my face, but on the inside, I was rolling my eyes at him.
“What brings you to the park today?” I asked, silently hoping she would leave.
Porsche pointed toward the woman on the bench. “My grandmother came over to visit, so we decided to go for a little walk. Would you like to meet her?”
Chu and I nodded and followed her over to where the woman was sitting.
“Grandma, I want you to meet some friends of mine,” Porsche said to the woman.
The woman looked up at us and smiled. “Hello, children. I’m Miss Emma.” Her eyes glistened, and her smile lit up her entire face. I could tell she was a super-nice grandma who gave great hugs.
“Hello,” I said.
“Nice to meet you.” Chu nodded and smiled at her. “My grandmother is coming to visit us tomorrow.”
“Oh, how nice,” Miss Emma said.
Chu frowned. “It won’t be a nice visit. Grandma Thuy hates my stepdad. She’s still mad at my mother for marrying an American.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. We all know some mothers have a tendency to be somewhat overbearing in their children’s lives and may come across harsher than they realize,” Miss Emma said, and then she glanced over at Porsche.
“You’ve got that right.” Porsche looked down at her shoes and sighed softly.
Miss Emma rubbed her hand across Porsche’s shoulders. “Chu, I hope you have a nice visit with your grandma, in spite of how she feels about your stepfather.”
For a split second I thought I saw Porsche tear up. I felt awkward and wanted to leave. “Okay, well, we’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, see ya later,” Chu added.
Porsche forced a smile and looked away.
I wondered what was wrong with Porsche. I mean, I would think her life was perfect just like she was. Not filled with any drama junk like she’d put into mine, snagging on my man.
Chapter 6
“VERONICA, SWEETHEART…”
Huh? What? Did I actually hear Mr. Keith’s voice?
“Go away!”
Veronica? This could not be possible.
I jumped out of bed and went over to the window that faced out front. What the heck? Mr. Keith was chasing Veronica, who was coming around the loop toward our house.
“Veronica, this is insane. Please, come back home,” Mr. Keith said.
“Go away, dog breath,” she screamed.
Mr. Keith turned around and headed back toward their house.
“Hey…” Chu yelled out his side window that faced mine.
Both our bedrooms were on the second floor, and our side windows faced one another. We may live in a fancy-smancy, gated community, but the houses were so close you could spit and hit your neighbor’s house.
I guess I wasn’t the only one awakened by all the ruckus. I slid my window open.
“Yo, wassup with our crazy neighbors?” Chu was sporting the mad-scientist hair, one side of it smooshed flat against his head. He wore his pajama bottoms pulled all the way up to his scrawny chest. It was a funny sight to behold.
“Dang, Chu, you’re not what I’d call a pretty sleeper. You look rough.” I stifled a laugh.
“Hey, it looks like Veronica is going to your house,” Chu said.
“No way.” I ran to the other window, and, sure enough, Veronica was marching up to our front door.
Ding…dong.
“Chu, I’ll update you after she leaves.”
Chu stretched and yawned. “I’m going back to bed. She’s probably only going to cry about girly stuff.”
“Yeah, probably. I’ll catch up with you in the a.m., or, uh, later in the a.m.”
“Veronica, girl, what on earth are you doing?” I heard my mother say downstairs.
I crept down the hallway toward the stairs and sat next to Kiara, who was already sitting there, her ears in full spy mode.
“You’re so nosy,” I whispered.
“Yup.”
We eased our way down a few more steps, giggling at each other. Veronica clung to my mother. “Oh, Haven! He’s after me.”
“What are you talking about, Ronni?”
“Dogbreath wants to kill me.” Her mouth gaped open as tears streamed down her face.
“Girl, have you been drinking?”
“Shhh…” Veronica slurred.
Mom helped her to the couch, and Veronica slumped against the pillows. Mom waved her hand in front of her nose.
Kiara and I crept down a few more steps, just far enough to have a clearer view into the living room. Mom went into the kitchen and placed a mug of water into the microwave.
“Who’s that looking at me?” Veronica pointed toward the wall.
“Honey, that’s a painting of a man,” Mom said. “Where are your glasses?”
Veronica felt around her face, as if her glasses were hiding somewhere on it. Mom added some instant coffee to the cup, stirred it, and handed it to her before she sat down.
“Do you have a little something to warm this up with?” Veronica stared into the cup.
“I think you’ve already had enough of something to warm you up,” Mom said. “Okay, Ronnie. Explain to me what happened.”
“Well, I was in the family room waiting for Keith to get home. When he walked in the door, I asked him where he’d been. He said he was out shooting pool with his buddies. I told him he has the prettiest smelling buddies on the earth, because he reeked of women’s cologne. That started the fight. He got mad and went upstairs. I was too upset, so I poured myself a teeny tiny glass of wine.”
“Teeny tiny, huh?” Mom cut her eyes at her.
“Then I went out and sat by the pool.” Veronica sat straight up. “That’s when I saw him.”
“Who?” Mom asked.
Veronica eyes widened. “Him!”
“Him who?” I said aloud.
Kiara slapped her hand over my mouth. Neither of us breathed for a few seconds, thinking Mom heard me, but apparently, she didn’t.
“Veronica, who or what did you see?” Mom asked again.
“The Grim Reaper.” Veronica slowly looked around the room, her eyes darting back and forth before they stopped on the painting of the man again.
Mom didn’t give a response right away. She only stared at Veronica. Kiara and I were barely breathing.
Mom opened her mouth to speak, then stopped and chewed on her bottom lip for a few seconds before continuing, “What exactly did this person look like?”
“Well, he was tall, wore a long jacket and goggles, and was carrying a giant mushroom.”
Mom leaned back against the sofa, crossed her legs, and stared toward the ceiling. “Giant mushroom?”
Kiara and I looked at each other, silently knowing what the other was thinking. Mr. Maxwell.
“Sweetie, that doesn’t sound like the Grim Reaper. Did you have your glasses on?”
“No, I don’t think I did, but I saw him just the same.” Veronica took a long sip from the mug. “I think Keith is trying to drive me crazy and take all my money. Just like that man did to Ingrid Bergman in that movie Gaslight.”
“Veronica, I don’t believe Keith is trying to drive you crazy, nor do I think you saw the Grim Reaper. I think you may have had a little too much to drink, and you’re imagining things.” Mom rubbed Veronica’s back. “Do you want to stay here tonight?”
She let out a long, shaky sigh. “No, I’d better head home before Keith freaks out.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Mom said.
When they got up, Kiara and I scurried back up the stairs. We went into my room and watched as Mom and Veronica headed down the path toward her house.
“Hmm. I wonder what Mr. Maxwell is up to right about now. I know it was him that Veronica saw,” I said. “But we have no way to prove it.”
“Well, if we see another giant mushroom, maybe one of us can stand guard while the other goes and grabs someone who’s more of a reliable witness than Veronica.”
The next morning as I made my way downstairs, I saw Mom standing outside talking to Mr. Maxwell. He waved to me, and my mother turned to see whom he was waving to. While her head was turned, he gave me the strangest smirk, kinda creepy. As soon as my mother turned back around, he looked normal again. I backed away from the door until I heard them saying goodbye.
Mom walked inside. “Good morning, Kat.”
I followed her into the kitchen. “What did that man want so early this morning?”
“His name is Mr. Maxwell.”
Kiara joined us in the kitchen. “Good morning, Mom.”
“Morning, Pumpkin.”
“Mr. Maxwell was outside talking to Mom this morning,” I said to Kiara.
“He stopped by to tell me that while on his morning walk he noticed some weeds in the front of the bushes and pulled them up for me. Wasn’t that nice of him?”
“Weeds?” I said, glancing at Kiara.
“Yes, weeds. Okay, well, I’m going to get into the shower,” Mom said and went into her room.
Kiara nudged me. “What’s up? What are you thinking about?”
“Chu has some crazy idea that Mr. Maxwell has something to do with those mushrooms.”
Kiara sat tapping her fingers against the table. “Kat, I wonder if Mr. Maxwell was at Veronica’s house last night, doing something to her yard. Let’s go down there.”
Running out the patio door, I hightailed it over to Veronica’s yard with Kiara right on my heels. Veronica’s back gate was open. We approached slowly, then stopped in our tracks. Mr. Maxwell was standing there talking to Mr. Keith. In his hand was a garbage bag full of something. A few minutes later Mr. Maxwell left. We backed away and knelt down beside the Rosenthals’ garage.
“Top of the morning to you, girls,” Mr. Maxwell said as he passed by us on his way to his house.
“Busted,” Kiara mumbled.
He tossed the garbage bag over his shoulder and continued home whistling to himself. Once he passed by, we ran down to Mr. Keith.
“Well, hey. You girls are up early,” Mr. Keith said.
“Yeah, Mom thought it’d be good if we got out early for some fresh air,” I said.