“We should be safe out there with that pack of kids waiting for the bus,” I said.
Olek nodded. I dug the tranquilizer pen that Agent Chum Bucket had given me out of my bag. Just in case.
“Okay, let’s go together. Don’t look at any of those guys standing around on the lawn. Remember, they won’t suspect two kids who look like longtime friends with nothing to hide,” I said.
“Right,” he said. “Is very cape and knife.”
I almost laughed in spite of the fact that I felt like I was going to have a heart attack or something. I was pretty sure he’d meant cloak and dagger.
“Okay, so as we pass, laugh like I just told you some joke,” I said.
He nodded.
We opened the door and started walking out. We got no more than eight steps when two of the fake phone service technicians came out of nowhere and walked right by us. As they passed, Olek laughed and then I did, too, my grip on the pen tightening.
“And then he actually did it!” I said, pretending I was telling some hilarious story. “He actually puked on his parents, in their bed, while they were sleeping! On purpose!”
Olek laughed again, but this time it sounded even more genuine. The two guys walked by without even looking at us. We joined the group of kids waiting for the late buses.
“It works?” Olek whispered.
“Yeah, I think so,” I whispered back. “But don’t turn around to check. It might look suspicious.”
All in all, I felt like it had been a pretty good first day. I guess there was always the possibility that those guys really had been phone-company employees and not enemy operatives at all, but I was going to consider it a victory regardless.
Once we got home, I plopped down onto my bed, and Olek sat on the floor. We played video games for several hours, until my mom called for us to come up and help her with dinner. After we’d eaten, Olek and I went back to my room again to hang out. I opened my computer to check my email, and as soon as I did, I got a Skype call from Dillon.
“Want to come over?” he asked.
“No, I’m pretty tired,” I said. “I evaded capture from two secret enemy agents today.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he said.
Olek, who was across the room and out of view from my computer’s camera, smirked at me.
“Really, though, I just have a lot of homework,” I said.
“I’m telling you, doing your homework is only helping them.”
“Helping who?” I humored him.
“The secret league of animal rights activists who are planning a takeover of our school,” he said. “You know, since there’s a top secret animal testing facility built miles underneath the school building and all. Anyway, they’re wearing us down with the assignments, so we’ll be weak when they finally make their move! I already told you this.”
“Yeah, but Dillon, I have to do enough of my homework to at least get Cs or my parents will ground me.”
“Fine, suit yourself. Being grounded is better than becoming a slave to a bunch of animal rights radicals. But whatever.”
I laughed, and so did Olek.
“Who’s that? Is someone over there?” Dillon asked.
“Yeah, Olek is staying with me for a little bit, remember?” I said. I had told him and Danielle about Olek’s “infestation problem.”
“Oh, yeah, well you guys can both come over?” he suggested hopefully.
Then Danielle’s face popped into the screen.
“Come on, Carson, we want to go check out that new milk bar over by the circus. I heard they have bubblegum-flavored milk!”
I thought that sort of sounded gross, but perhaps I was going about this the wrong way. I think I was saying no because being out in public and trying to hide a protected witness was exhausting. Just telling one little lie is easy, but lying constantly to your friends with no room to make even one mistake was a lot harder than it had seemed.
But the thing was, my primary directive was to make Olek fit in. To act like a couple of normal kids as much as possible. And hiding out in my house all the time like a couple of bearded hermits who are building a castle out of dry skin flakes or something was not helping Olek appear like a normal kid. The right thing to do, whether or not it was the easy thing to do, was to go.
It was my mission directive after all.
“What do you think, Olek? Want to get some milk?”
“Yes, please, thank you,” he said.
“Yeah, okay, we’ll be over in a little bit,” I said to Dillon and Danielle.
They smiled.
“All right, see you soon!” Danielle said.
I closed the computer. Olek was grinning ear to ear.
“What?” I asked.
“I never have American milk-bar beverage before,” Olek said. “I cannot wait for this to begin.”
“Well, then, let’s get going.”
CHAPTER 31
MEDLOCK’S CUSTOM MILK BAR WAS A REASONABLY SHORT bike ride from Dillon and Danielle’s house. It was already dark outside by the time we got there. I hated that about fall and winter in North Dakota. I didn’t know what it was like in other parts of the country, but here it got dark fairly early starting in the fall, and by winter it would be completely dark by 4:30 p.m. each afternoon. Even after spending my whole life here, it still bothered me.
But this new milk-bar place was brightly lit and packed with families and kids. It was huge, with several rows of red booths, and nearly all of them were filled. It had opened right before the school year started and had been pretty popular. Apparently it was modeled to be like an old-fashioned ice cream place, except that instead of ice cream their specialty was custom-made milk. Although apparently they served old-fashioned ice cream made from their milk as well. I didn’t know what made old-fashioned ice cream old-fashioned. To me ice cream was ice cream, and I’d never had ice cream I didn’t like.
We got in line, which practically stretched out the door. But that made sense—it was prime dessert time. As we waited, I noticed that most of the employees were teenagers. Except for one guy who was like thirty, who I guessed was the manager or owner.
“So, are you guys going to get ice cream or are you gonna try the custom milk?” I asked.
“I’m going to try the milk. I’ve heard it’s amazing,” Danielle said.
“Just ice cream for me,” Dillon said.
“I’ll probably get both actually!” Danielle said.
“I never have ice cream before,” Olek said.
“What!” Danielle said. “How could you live this long without ever having ice cream? This is going to change your life forever, Olek.”
“You’ve really never had ice cream?” Dillon asked. “Is ice cream illegal in your country or something?”
I threw an elbow at Dillon and he yelped. But it didn’t matter. Olek just laughed it off. I think he sort of understood Dillon by now and just took it as a joke.
“No, I have ice cream, just not American ice cream. In my country, ice cream is not always dessert food. In my country, number one ice cream flavor is boiled goose skin.”
“Eeewwww,” Danielle said.
“Seriously?” Dillon asked.
Olek nodded. “Yes, but this is not my favorite flavor. My favorite flavor is kidney bean.”
We all laughed, even though I was pretty sure Olek had not been joking.
We were just a few people away from ordering now.
“What kind do you want?” I asked Olek. “I’ll get yours.”
“That’s so sweet of you!” Danielle said.
I just grinned and tried my best not to let my face get too hot. The truth was my mom had given me some money before we’d left, so it’s not like I was personally buying it for him. But still.
“But keep in mind, they don’t have boiled duck or kidney bean flavor,” Dillon said, I think genuinely trying to be helpful.
“I like chocolate,” Olek said.
“Sounds good,” I said.
&nb
sp; Then we were up.
“What can I get you kids?” the older guy working the counter asked.
I ordered chocolate ice cream for me and Olek.
“You’re not going to try our custom milks?” he asked. “I mean, our ice cream is good, but our custom milk is really our specialty. I designed them myself, you know.”
I noticed that his nametag said Mule Medlock. I remembered the name of the place was Medlock’s Custom Milk Bar.
“You’re the owner?” I asked.
“Yes, sir. Custom milks! The idea just came to me one night in a dream. Think about it: Everything is custom-made these days to suit everyone’s unique tastes. Why not milk? Any kind of milk, any flavor, we can make it. We’ve got all different kinds. One percent, two percent. I could have some one-and-a-half percent mixed. We also have many flavors—mint, mango, tarragon. Want peppermint seven-and-a-half percent? We can do that. Or popcorn-flavored twenty percent? We got you covered there, as well. Literally, whatever the customer wants.”
“Uh, okay, what do you recommend?”
“I know just the thing,” Mule said.
He turned around and dug inside of the cooler and took out two glass milk bottles. He poured us each a small sample size of milk. One was pale purple, the other pale orange.
“Okay,” he said, “try these. Here, a mango five percent, and this one is a grape seven-and-a-half percent.”
He slid the little cups across the counter.
I picked up my cup of milk and took a drink. It was thick, way thicker than the skim milk my parents normally bought. But it was also amazing. I expected it to just be like a milkshake or smoothie, but it was something else entirely. It was smooth, creamy, cold, and had the perfect amount of grape flavor.
“Wow,” I said, genuinely meaning it.
“Right?” he said with a smile.
Olek took a drink of his and then promptly downed the rest of it.
“Oh, this is like drinking cash money!” he said, practically shouting. “May I try more please, Mr. Mule?”
“Of course!” Mule said, delighted, “I’m so glad you like them! Here, try the peanut-butter-banana three percent. And, please, call me Medlock.”
He poured Olek a cup of thick yellowish milk. Olek took a drink and then finished it again quickly with a slurp.
“This taste way better than boiled goose skin ice cream!” he said.
Medlock just beamed, clearly proud of his work. Dillon and Danielle laughed at Olek’s reaction. Medlock poured them each a sample as well. They took a drink and joined our ranting and raving about how good it was.
“Carson, you must try peanut banana!” Olek exclaimed.
I’d never seen him so excited. Mule Medlock poured me a sample before I could even reply. I took a drink. It was even better than the grape milk.
“I want to change my order,” I announced. “Forget the ice cream. I’ll have a medium peanut-butter-banana milk.”
“Yes, me, too,” Olek said.
Dillon and Danielle also ordered milks instead of ice cream.
“Sure thing!” Mule said and then got our orders ready. He put them all on the counter. “Here, on the house. Just be sure to tell all your friends and family.”
“Wow, thanks!” I said.
We grabbed our orders and then headed toward a booth in the back corner.
“This stuff is awesome!” Danielle said, taking a huge gulp of her milk.
“No kidding,” I said. “What do you think, Olek?”
We all looked at Olek, but he couldn’t even talk because he was basically inhaling his milk. He had a huge grin on his face as he drank. We laughed.
“That good?” Dillon said.
“Is like liquid treasures!” Olek said.
That was a pretty fitting description, I had to admit. This was a pretty nice addition to the town. I mean, maybe things wouldn’t end up being so boring here after all? First I find out that there’s a top secret government agency in my town that I get to be a part of. Then I find out there’s this cool new milk bar in town. And, I made a new friend who couldn’t be more funny and interesting. My boring North Dakota routine was taking an insanely cool detour.
“I will miss this place when I go back home!” Olek said.
“We can come back tomorrow,” I said.
“No, Carson, I think he means when he goes back home to his own country,” Danielle said.
“Yes, precisely,” Olek said.
“Wait, but you’re not . . .” I started.
And then it hit me. Of course Olek wasn’t going to stay here forever. It was so obvious but somehow it hadn’t dawned on me until that moment. He was just here under witness protection until his parents could testify at that trial. Which was just three days away now. And then this would all suddenly be over. Olek would be gone, back with his family. And I’d go back to my old life. The realization hit me pretty hard.
“Are you excited to go back home?” Dillon asked.
“Yes, very much. I miss my dad. But it also makes me sad, because I will miss my new friends very much.”
“Oh, Olek, we’ll miss you, too!” Danielle said, getting up to give him a hug. “But you’re not leaving for a while, right? I mean, how long did you say your dad’s contagious goat disease would last for?”
“Right, I be here for whole school year,” Olek said.
I exchanged a look with him as he said this. We both knew that wasn’t true. It was just his cover story. I knew better. Olek was basically only here until his parents testified and then that would likely be it. It was the first time I had thought about it, and it basically crushed me. My friendship with Olek the past few days had helped give me everything my life had been missing. Excitement, intrigue, and the chance to be a part of something big. Something important. But I realized sitting there, right then, that even more than that stuff, I was just going to miss hanging out with Olek.
“This is so good!” Dillon said, slurping the rest of his milk through the straw. “I want more!”
“Yes, me as well!” Olek said. “May we order large bucket of milk to go? I will take bath in this tonight.”
I was too bummed to even laugh with the rest of them, so instead I just took another drink of milk and tried to focus on the next few days and not think about anything beyond that. If I really only had three days left with Olek, then I’d have to make the most of them.
CHAPTER 32
THE NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL, THE ONLY THING ON MY MIND WAS getting either Agent Nineteen or Blue alone so I could talk to them about the phone technicians we’d seen the day before after school. They probably had seen them as well, but I thought I should tell them anyway, just in case.
I headed for the music room before first period. Nineteen was there, but so was another kid. It looked like Mr. Jensen was helping him take apart and clean his saxophone.
“Hey,” I said, as I walked into the classroom, “Uh, Mr. Jensen, can I talk to you for a minute? About the school play?”
Agent Nineteen looked at me and I could tell right away that he knew it was about Agency business.
“Can it wait? I’m busy helping Charlie with his sax.”
“Not really, I have detention after school, so this is the only time I can talk,” I said.
He sighed. “Sorry, Charlie. I’ll be right back.”
He led me back into his office and then into his real office through the secret entrance that opened when he played a jingle on the piano. It seemed like overkill to me. We could have just whispered or something.
“We can’t be too careful,” he said as he closed the door behind him, practically reading my mind. “So, what is it?”
I told him as quickly as I could about seeing several suspicious guys dressed as phone company technicians outside the school the day before. Then I told him about how they hadn’t seemed to notice us at all.
“It was right of you to come tell me,” he said. “We noticed them as well and are checking out the lead. We don’t want t
o move too aggressively or they may suspect they’re getting close. The good news is the plan seems to be working very well. We have noticed a significant reduction of Pancake Haus activity in and around the school today. We have reason to believe they’re moving on to the other middle schools in town. Good work, Zero. You’re doing a great job so far.”
“Thanks,” I said, nodding.
For the rest of the day I didn’t see anything suspicious, guys in suits or phone technician uniforms or black sedans or anything of the sort. Which made sense if what Agent Nineteen had said about the plan working was true. It was sort of odd, though. The days until the ITDO trial were ticking away and things only seemed to be getting more normal as it approached. In most spy movies I’d seen, it was the opposite. Things usually escalated in some crazy way as the time ran out. Yet, for two days, Olek and I and my friends just hung out, went to movies, played games, and pretty much acted like normal kids.
Wednesday was exactly the same. We went to school, went to class, went to detention. Nothing suspicious at all.
After detention, Zack, Ethan, Danielle, and Dillon caught up with Olek and me and asked if we wanted to play basketball on the outdoor school court.
I didn’t particularly love basketball, but Ethan and Zack were obsessed with pretty much all sports and they talked Dillon, Danielle, and me into playing with them from time to time. I figured what better way to make Olek look like a normal American kid with nothing to hide than to hang out and play a normal American sport?
“What is object of game?” Olek asked as we all stood there, picking sides.
Zack groaned. It had just been decided that it would be me, Zack, and Olek versus Dillon, Danielle, and Ethan. Zack was really competitive, so I’m sure finding out that one of his team members didn’t even know how to play was the worst thing that could happen to him at that moment.
“You just try to score on the other team,” Zack said.
“How I make score?” Olek asked.
Zack let out a small growl and dribbled the basketball really hard a few times.
“You need to get this ball through that hoop,” he said.
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