by Jenny Lee
“It’s not good for your eardrums to listen to music that loud,” Alexander whispered.
“What did you say?” I whispered back.
He frowned and looked back at me. “What? I can’t hear you! What did you say? I don’t think we have to whisper, because it’s got to be even louder inside.”
“What? I can’t hear you because the music is so loud!” Now I was practically yelling.
Taisy waved at us to be quiet. I cupped my hands and peered inside too, but the windows were painted completely black. I leaned in and whispered into Taisy’s ear this time.
“It sounds like there’s a hundred people in there. Those aren’t good odds for us.”
“I don’t think that’s actual people. I think it’s the music. I think it’s a live album. You know, one of those ones where they record a concert,” Taisy whispered back. “I think I’ve heard this record before. My dad listens to it.”
Alexander leaned into me. “I’ve been listening to the words. It’s about prison. The song, I mean.”
“I don’t think it’s a good sign when someone paints their windows black and listens to songs about prison. It means they’re hiding something.”
Taisy nodded. “I know, and I can’t wait to see what it is.” And with that she crept along the wall. “I’m going to go look for another window.”
Interesting—where I feel someone hiding something means they should have their privacy, Taisy is the opposite. She gets only more determined to discover their secret.
Even though I really wanted to go home, I continued on. I hoped this new spirit of changing my attitude didn’t backfire and end badly for me. And by end badly, I mean with me tied up in a garage by a bunch of singing escaped prisoners. As I tried to move, I realized I wasn’t going anywhere. Something had me! I turned around and saw Elvis holding on to the back collar of my shirt with his teeth.
“Phew! I’m glad it’s just you. What’s wrong?”
“What exactly are we trying to accomplish with this particular covert mission? Why aren’t we just going up to the garage door and knocking like civilized people?”
“We’re trying to see what’s going on first. Well, Taisy is. I personally would love to cut bait and leave.”
“I can now smell Billy Thompson in there, so why not just knock and politely inquire if he has your lug nut? Also, you should let him know that listening to Johnny Cash this loudly is not good for his eardrums. Why young people insist on listening to music so loud, I’ll never know. One of the little girls who lived on the farm played her pop music loudly too. If I had to pick, I’d go with Johnny Cash over pop music any day.”
“You know this song?”
Elvis nodded. “It’s a classic. ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ by Johnny Cash.”
“Yeah, I don’t know that one. It sounds old. C’mon, let’s go find them and see what Taisy wants to do next. I’m not in charge.”
“No. I guess not. So what you’re saying is that Taisy has been designated as the alpha of the group, and so you must go along with her wishes. That makes much more sense. Okay, carry on.”
When we rounded the corner, I saw Taisy standing on top of a woodpile stacked along the back wall. She was making her way to a higher window. I’ve spent a lot of time in emergency rooms, and I’ve heard of some pretty stupid maneuvers. People standing on top of phone books, which are on top of stools, while wearing high heels to try to change a lightbulb. People climbing out onto roofs to clean out storm gutters. Meaning, lots of bad stuff happens to people when they climb things they aren’t supposed to. So I didn’t like seeing Taisy up there at all.
“Taisy, come down. It’s not safe! You’re gonna fall.”
“No, I’m not. I was a gymnast. I have awesome balance. One of you come up here so I can boost you up to look into that vent over there.”
Alexander took a step forward, but I pulled him back by his shirt. “No way. That’s nuts. There’s risk and adventure, and there’s total stupidity.” I looked up at Taisy. “Get down, Taisy. I mean it, or I’m going home right now.”
Taisy jumped down from the woodpile. “Sorry, Benj, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Maybe we should just go knock on the door?” I suggested. Everyone nodded, and as we headed around the last corner, we spotted a window that wasn’t painted black. The shade was pulled down almost all the way, but there were still two inches on the bottom where we could look in. We all got on our knees, cupped our hands around our eyes, and peered in through the dirty glass.
Now, we couldn’t see very much, but the first thing I could make out was one of those bench press weight machines. I recognized it because we have a set in the garage for the twins. Then I noticed something on the floor that completely blew my mind.
“Are you seeing what I think I’m seeing?” I asked Alexander.
“I’m not sure, but if you’re seeing what I think I’m seeing, I can see why you’re asking me if you’re seeing what you’re seeing, because I’m still unsure if I’m seeing what I’m seeing. I think.”
It had to be fate that Alexander and I had found each other, because weirdly, I understood exactly what he was saying.
Before we could confirm that we were both on the same page, Taisy said exactly what we were both thinking. “Um, am I crazy, or is that part of a leg on the floor over there?”
I nodded my head up and down so hard, I felt my eyeballs shake in their sockets.
“D-d-d-do you think it’s real? It can’t be real, right?” I asked.
“I don’t see any blood,” Taisy whispered. “I mean, it can’t be real. Billy Thompson may be a lot of things, but there’s no way he’s the guy who chops off a leg, cleans up all the blood, and then leaves it lying on the floor like it’s nothing.”
“But maybe that’s why he plays his prison music so loudly. So we can’t hear the people scream,” I said.
“It’s definitely not real. I would be able to see it better if someone bothered to clean these windows.” For a moment I was relieved. But then I realized that either way, a leg on the floor was weird.
“Okay, it’s not real,” I whispered. “But how much better is it that there’s a fake leg lying there on the floor?”
“Well, at least it’s got a cool sneaker on it,” said Taisy.
“So let me get this straight,” I said. “You’re more concerned that the leg lying on the floor has a cute sneaker on it? Seriously? Because I could care less about the sneaker that is attached to the leg that is not attached to a body!”
“I wish I could wear high-top sneakers, but they just don’t look right on me. I’m too short.” Alexander sighed.
“You guys! Who cares about the stupid shoe! What I want to know is why is there a foot and part of a leg lying on the floor of Billy Thompson’s garage? My own feet tingle just looking at it. This has gotten totally creepy. We’ve got to be at the wrong house. Alexander, are you sure you saw the address right?” I stood up and dusted off my knees.
“I don’t make mistakes. This is it. I swear. But maybe this garage isn’t Billy’s? Maybe they rent it out to someone who likes fake feet and working out?”
“Guys! Guys! Come look!” Taisy waved us back down.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to see anything more. But I got back on my knees, cupped my hands over my eyes, and peered back into the tiny sliver of window. Now there was someone sitting on the bench-press bench, and right next to him was a guitar. But we still couldn’t see his face.
“Oh, that’s definitely Billy. That’s the shirt he had on today,” Alexander whispered. “I recognize it because there was a brown stain on the front bottom right that looked like Mr. Peanut.”
I looked in, and sure enough, there was a stain on the front in the shape of a peanut wearing a top hat. Just then the person sitting in the chair leaned forward, picked up his left leg, and pulled off his sneaker. Then I saw something really crazy. Where his foot should have been, suddenly there was nothing there at all. Holy
moly, I thought, is Billy Thompson so strong that he just pulled off his left foot in his shoe? I didn’t even know that was possible. Wait a second, what was I thinking? That wasn’t possible. Billy Thompson just removed his entire left foot. And not only did he remove his foot, part of his shin came off with it. Even as I watched it happen, I wondered if it was all just a crazy dream. I felt light-headed. I started to spin. I felt warm.
“Oh man, if he takes off his head next, I’m so out of here!” Alexander said.
And then I fainted.
13
When I opened my eyes a few seconds later, Taisy and Alexander were standing right over me. Elvis reached down, grabbed me by my belt buckle, and pulled me back up onto my feet. I was a little wobbly, so he leaned me up against the wall. The song was playing again, but not as loud this time.
“What did I miss?”
“Billy Thompson plays the guitar,” Taisy informed me very matter-of-factly.
Alexander chimed in, “And by the looks of it, he’s pretty good. This is a complicated song to play.”
For a moment, I wondered if what I’d seen had been all a dream. I tried to speak, but my throat was really dry. “Does anyone have any water?” I asked, and Alexander nodded. He opened his rolling bag, pulled out a flask, and handed it to me.
“A flask?”
“I needed something flat to fit in my bag. Don’t worry, it’s just apple juice.”
“So did I miss anything else besides Billy’s musical talents?”
“It got even weirder. We saw Billy put on an entirely different foot, with a totally different shoe on it,” said Taisy. “It wasn’t the high-top foot that was on the floor, it was a foot that had a Nike high-performance cross-trainer on it.”
“Okay, why are we still talking about Billy’s shoes? He took off his foot! And then he put on a different foot!”
“With a different shoe.”
“Oh right, yes, I keep forgetting about the shoe part. You know why? Because I was still stuck on the part where he took off his foot! How could we not know that Billy Thompson has a fake foot?”
“Shhhhhhh! Benj, keep your voice down,” whispered Taisy.
“I guess he lost his foot somehow and now he wears a prosthetic one, that’s all,” Alexander said simply. “But I’m guessing it happened to him a long time ago, because you can’t tell at all. Maybe he was born like that? Maybe an alligator bit it off? Or a shark? Or maybe he got between an alligator and shark and they were fighting over him,” he added excitedly.
“I don’t know about all that, but you’re right he has no problem walking or running. There’s been plenty of times that he’s chased me down the hall,” I said. “I feel weird about all of this. It’s just so surprising. I’ve never met anyone who was missing a limb. Well, that’s not actually true. Once while I was waiting to get an X-ray, I sat next to a guy with only one arm, but he didn’t have a fake one, he just had an empty sleeve. Maybe I’m feeling so weird because I’m hungry. I usually have a snack after school when I get home. Does anyone have anything to eat? I think my blood sugar level is getting low. It might make me cranky soon.” I sat down against the garage wall.
“Soon? I’d say you were already there.” Taisy smiled, and I gave her a look. “What? I just call it like I see it.”
Alexander went through his bag again and tossed me something wrapped in tinfoil. “Here—it’s from my emergency chocolate stash.”
“You have an emergency chocolate stash?”
“It’s not for me, it’s my mom’s. She has me keep it for her, because if she has it in her purse, then she’ll eat it all.”
I nodded. This made perfect sense to me. I had a feeling my mom and Alexander’s mom would get along like gangbusters. I opened up the tinfoil and offered a piece to Taisy.
“I’m not supposed to snack during the day.”
“Really? Now’s when you’re going to start following the rules?”
“Fine.” She grabbed a square and popped it into her mouth.
Alexander reached over and broke off a large chunk. “Well, if everybody’s ruining their appetite for dinner, then I want some too.” He snapped his piece in half. “Here, Elvis, you want a little too?”
And then Alexander tossed a tiny chunk of chocolate in the air toward Elvis. Everything went in slow motion from there. Taisy and I both screamed, “Noooooo!” Taisy dived, and I mean dived, way out, like she was catching a ball between first and second base. Right before the piece landed in Elvis’s mouth, she knocked it away with her hand. Then she slammed facedown into the ground. It was pretty unbelievable, and also extremely impressive. Talk about taking one for the team.
“Taisy? Are you okay?” I popped the remaining square into my mouth and rushed to her side. She rolled over when I touched her shoulder, and she was smiling.
“I’ve still got it!” she said with a laugh.
“If by got it, you mean the crazies, then yeah, you do.” I said, now smiling myself. “Alexander, I’m going to need some backup.” Alexander and I each offered her a hand. She was so much bigger than us, it took two of us to pull her up. I turned to see Elvis sniffing around the ground.
“Elvis! No. You know you can’t eat chocolate!”
Taisy explained to Alexander that chocolate, especially dark chocolate, was poisonous to dogs. Alexander looked upset.
“Oh right, the chocolate milk. I should have remembered. I’m really, really sorry, Benji. I would never have tried to poison your dog on purpose.”
“I know that, Alexander. It’s no biggie. It was such a small piece, and besides, Super Taisy saved the day.” I turned to check on Elvis and saw that he had tracked down the piece of chocolate Taisy had knocked away. When he looked up at me, I had never seen him more serious.
“Benjamin, I wasn’t going to eat it. I was smelling it. And my suspicion is unfortunately correct. There were walnuts in the chocolate.”
Uh-oh. This was bad. But I knew he was right, because I already felt the effects. The tips of my fingers started to tingle, and my throat felt funny.
Elvis stared at me intently. “Do you have an EpiPen?”
I nodded. I always carry two at all times, for just this type of emergency. I am allergic to lots of different things, and I get all types of different reactions. Sometimes I get hives, sometimes my feet and hands get puffy, once my entire stomach turned red, but the worst allergy I have is to walnuts. Walnuts make my throat close up, which, given the fact that you need to breathe to live, is not a good thing.
Elvis barked, “Tell Taisy where it is. Now!”
“Taisy, I think we have a big problem.” My voice was a little shaky.
“We sure do,” she said.
I turned around to see Billy Thompson standing behind me. He was gripping Alexander and Taisy by their shoulders. He did not look happy, but I held up my hand and stopped him before he could speak.
“The chocolate had walnuts. I’m allergic to walnuts. I have an EpiPen in my backpack. I need it now. Where’s my backpack?”
Taisy broke away from Billy’s grasp and ran around looking for it. “I don’t see it! I don’t see it. Alexander, where’s Benji’s backpack?”
Alexander closed his eyes for a second, and then he opened them again. “He left it at the duck pond.”
Elvis took off like a cannon for the park. He barked back at me, “Call Dino!”
“Taisy. Call Dino,” I whispered. I was really having problems breathing now, and I dropped to my knees.
Taisy screamed at Billy and pushed him toward me. “Don’t just stand there! Go help him!”
“I don’t even know what’s going on!” Billy helped me sit down on the ground.
“He’s allergic to walnuts, and he’s going into anaphylactic shock!” Alexander yelled. “He could die.”
Taisy screamed at her phone. “Uncle Dino! You have to help us. Benji accidentally ate a walnut and he’s sick!”
She must have had him on speakerphone, because I could hear him
shouting back at her to calm down and speak slowly.
“Here, look!” She pointed her phone at me, and I saw Dino’s face on the screen.
I waved at him weakly. “Hey, Dino.”
“Taisy! Isn’t there an adult around?”
Taisy looked at Billy. “Are your parents home?”
Billy shook his head. “I don’t have a dad, and my mom’s working.”
“No, there aren’t any adults.”
“Benji should have an EpiPen with him. I’m going to have to walk you through what you need to do, okay? He’ll be just fine in a minute. It’s going to be okay.”
“He doesn’t have it! I mean, he does, but it’s in his backpack, and he accidentally left it in the park. Elvis went to go get it. It’s not far, and he should be back soon. But what if it’s not there? What if someone took it? Tell me what to do! Please.”
Alexander knelt down next to me. His brown eyes watered and his face wrinkled up. He was trying not to cry. “His lips are turning blue! I don’t think that’s a good thing.”
I heard Billy shout, “The dog is coming! And he’s got the backpack. He’s just across the street. Man, that dog can run!”
Thirty seconds later, Taisy shook my backpack upside down and everything poured out of it. “I can’t find it! What does it look like? Is this it?” Alexander ran over to help and opened the front pocket. He pulled out one of the EpiPens and revealed the needle. The universal reaction when kids see needles is total fear. Billy, Taisy, and Alexander all said, “Whoa.”
Dino was still on the phone, but I couldn’t hear him anymore, mainly because I was on the verge of blacking out. Dr. Helen told me if this ever happened, it was very important to stay calm, because panic only makes everything go faster. I tried to focus on breathing as well as I could through my rapidly closing windpipe.
“So I’m supposed to just stab this into his heart?” asked Taisy. “I don’t think I can do it. How will I even know where is heart is through his shirt?”