by Mark Elliott
Ray and Jay got to the doorway at the same time, so Ray shoved Jay out of his way, and then just outside the door Jay pushed Ray into the bushes, and then Ray slammed Jay up against the side of the garage, and then Jay knocked the Cubs hat off Ray’s head.
“Boys, stop it!” said Mrs. Grayson. She glared at the boy wearing the sunglasses. “Ray, you stop this tough-guy act right now, or you can just stay home, got it?”
Jay pointed at Ray and said, “Jay started it.” And he realized that he might get himself grounded. For telling what Ray had done.
Their dad said, “Just get in the van, both of you.” He slid the side door open and pointed toward the third seat. “Jay, back there. Ray, sit in the middle.”
So Ray sat in the backseat, and Jay sat in the center seat. And as the minivan backed out of the driveway, Jay turned around, pulled the sunglasses down, winked at Ray, and gave him a big thumbs-up sign. Because their disguises were working great. So far.
CHAPTER 11
WEEKEND WARRIORS
Dinner at the mall went fine—no kids from school were sighted anywhere near the pizza place. And the early show at the Cineplex? No problem—the place was filled with complete strangers.
It was after the movie, on the long walk back through the mall to the shoe store. That’s when things got dangerous.
Ray, dressed as Jay, and Jay, dressed as Ray, were walking about fifty feet behind their parents so it would look like they were at the mall on their own. And from somewhere over near the food court, a voice yelled out, “Hey, Jay—wait up!”
Ray stopped and turned around, and there was Sean with two other boys from school, coming his way. Fast.
But Jay? When he heard that voice call out his name? He didn’t stop, didn’t turn to look, didn’t react at all. Jay kept walking straight ahead, just some kid in a red sweatshirt. And a second later he took a sharp left and went through the open doorway of a huge entertainment store.
So by the time Mr. and Mrs. Grayson turned around to see who had called out to one of their sons, they believed they were looking at Jay, wearing his blue Cubs cap, talking to some redheaded kid and two other boys.
But they didn’t see Ray’s red hoodie anywhere. And that worried them. Losing sight of a boy at the mall made all their warning bells ring.
Sean got within range of Ray and called, “Hey, how’s it goin’?”
He smiled and said, “Pretty good.” Which was a lie.
As the four boys formed up into a loose circle, Sean nodded toward the other two guys. “That’s Ed—you met him at lunch today. And this other loser is Kent.”
Kent punched Sean on the arm and said, “You’re the loser.” Then to Ray he said, “Hi.”
Ray nodded, then looked over his shoulder and saw that his parents had stopped, and now his dad was hurrying back toward him. Ray guessed he had about twenty seconds before impact. So he said, “Listen, that’s my dad coming at us. I’ve gotta go get some shoes.”
Sean said, “Cleats?”
Ray looked confused. “Cleats? Why?”
Sean said, “For soccer. James said you’re gonna be at practice on Monday.”
Ray nodded and said, “Right. On Monday. Yeah, I need . . . cleats.” And he thought, Jay’s gonna pay for this.
Sean said, “Check out the Adidas. They cost a lot, but they’re worth it.”
Ray nodded again. “Adidas. Right. Well, listen, I gotta go with my dad. See you guys later.”
“Yeah,” Sean said. “See ya.”
And the three boys turned and headed back the way they had come.
Four seconds later Ray’s dad was next to him, a worried look on his face. “Where’s Ray?” he asked.
Ray jerked a thumb left toward the entertainment store. “Probably in there.”
And Jay, who had been watching from behind a big cardboard cutout of a drooling alien, stepped into the open, smiled, and waved at his dad.
His dad did not wave back. Or smile.
Jay hurried out of the store and said, “What’s going on?”
Dad said, “What’s going on is, until we get back to the car, both of you are walking right behind Mom and me, got it? No ducking into stores, no stopping to talk, no wandering away on your own. Now march.”
Jay said, “Dad, we’re twelve years old.”
Their dad nodded. “Which is why you’re going to do exactly what I say. March.”
So the boys marched.
They got to where their mom was waiting, and after they all started walking along together, Ray said to Jay, “Hey, guess what, Ray?”
And Jay said, “What?”
And Ray said, “I’m gonna get some cleats at the shoe store.”
“Cleats?” said Jay. “How come?”
“Because I’m going to soccer practice. After school. On Monday,” Ray said. “But maybe you already knew that—Ray.”
And their mom, who was only five feet ahead of them now, turned her head to look at Ray and said, “Soccer? That’s great, Jay.” And then looking at Jay, she asked, “How about you, Ray? Aren’t you on the team?”
And Jay said, “Um, no. Just . . . Jay.”
She said, “But I’m sure you’re as good at soccer as Jay is. You should join the team too.”
Speaking for Ray, Jay said, “I don’t like soccer, Mom. So I’ll just watch. From the bleachers.”
“Well, I don’t want you coming home alone,” Mom said, “so you’re going to have to find something to do after school. And I still think you should try out for soccer. It’s a great sport.”
And when she turned away, Ray said, “Yeah, Ray, it’s a great sport.” And as he said “great,” he slugged Jay on the arm. Hard.
And then he whispered, “Anything else you want to tell me, any other little surprises?”
Jay shook his head. “Nope,” he whispered back. “Melissa thinks Jay is kind of a dork now, and on Monday Jay is going to soccer practice after school. That’s all. Not bad for one day’s work, huh?”
And for that little joke, Jay got another punch on the arm. From Ray. Dressed as Jay.
And when Ray punched him that second time, Jay didn’t yell, “Ow!” and grab his arm like he usually would have. Because at this moment, that would have meant getting himself in trouble.
So at the shoe store, Ray, dressed as Jay, picked out some soccer cleats. For the real Jay. And Jay, dressed as Ray, picked out a great new pair of sneakers. For the real Ray.
Except on Monday, when the real Ray wore his very own new sneakers to school, everyone would think they belonged to Jay. And he’d be carrying the real Jay’s new soccer cleats. For after school. Because on Monday, the real Ray would be going to school as the fake Jay. Again.
That is, if the Grayson brothers could get through Saturday and Sunday without strangling each other.
CHAPTER 12
FLIP FLOP FLIP
Saturday was a perfect September day—blue sky, low humidity, about seventy degrees. And that meant it was time to do yard work. And housework. And more unpacking.
And that meant that Ray and Jay had to coordinate their whereabouts so they wouldn’t be outside in the same area at the same moment. Which turned out to be important.
Because while Ray was mowing the front lawn, a guy from his Thursday gym class rode by on his bike. He waved and yelled, “Hey—I live on the next block! See you round.”
And while Jay was stacking the third bundle of flattened cardboard boxes in the recycling pile at the front curb, a girl he remembered from music class waved at him out the window of a passing car.
It was a long, busy morning, and there was still a lot left to do. But while they were eating lunch at about one thirty, their dad said, “How about we knock off for the afternoon, walk over to the park, and play some baseball?”
Which sounded great. Except for the rule about not being visible in the same place at the time. Ray and Jay went up to their room, and after a short argument, they agreed to flip a coin to see who got to go. An
d Ray won the toss.
So Jay had to stay home and hide in the house. Plus work on the social studies report, because that was the excuse he gave for not wanting to go play baseball. Which was one more lie—a big one. To spend a sunny afternoon researching the cultures of Mesopotamia was not what he wanted to do. And after about an hour of off-and-on work, he lay down on his bed and took a long nap.
The best part of Jay’s Saturday was waking up from his nap to discover that a big bag of Chinese food had just been delivered, and dinner was served.
He sat down at the kitchen table and reached for his favorite Chinese food—the fortune cookie. Jay knew he was supposed to wait and have it last, but he never did.
His mom said, “So what’s your fortune?”
“It says, ‘If your path becomes difficult, never despair.’”
His dad nodded. “Good advice. Please pass the spring rolls.”
The whole family was hungry, so there wasn’t much talk for the next few minutes. And when the phone rang, no one jumped to get it because every mouth was full. Mr. Grayson answered it on the fourth ring.
“Hello?”
He listened a moment, then gave the handset to Jay. “It’s someone named Alex.”
Jay gulped down a bite of chicken and said, “Alex—hi.”
“Hi, Jay. You eating? ’Cause I can call back.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“I wanted to see if you’re up for a stick session. At the rink tomorrow.”
“A stick session?” Jay asked.
“Yeah, it’s free skate time, except you can have sticks and pucks. And you have to wear a helmet. You want to come?”
“Yeah, I do,” Jay said, “except I don’t have a helmet. Or a stick.”
“I’ve got tons of that stuff,” Alex said. “So we’ll pick you up about one o’clock, okay? My dad’s driving.”
“Sounds great,” Jay said, “but hang on a second.”
He covered the mouthpiece of the portable phone with his hand, looked at his mom and dad, and said, “Alex is in my homeroom, and he wants me to go skating with him tomorrow about one o’clock—is that okay?”
His mom said, “What about your social studies report? I looked at that assignment, and you didn’t get much done this afternoon. I think you’d better not.”
“But it’s not due until Wednesday, Mom.”
She shook her head. “Sunday afternoon is for homework—you know that. And that report’s nowhere near done.”
Jay turned away from the table and talked quickly into the phone. “Listen, Alex, I’ll call you back in about five minutes, okay?”
“Sure,” he said. “Talk to you later. Bye.”
“Bye.” Jay pushed the off button and put the phone on the table.
His mom shook her head. “I am not changing my mind, so you can call that boy back right now.”
Jay knew that tone of voice. “Fine,” he snapped, and he pushed back from the table, grabbed the phone, stomped up to his room, and slammed the door. He flopped onto his bed and was all set to call Alex back, when Ray burst into the room and grabbed the phone out of his hands.
“What are you doing?” Jay said.
Ray sat on the edge of the bed. “Listen,” he said, “I know this stinks for you, but I asked Mom if I could go skating with Alex. Instead of you. Since I’m all caught up on my homework and everything. And she said I could. So I’m gonna call him back, okay?”
Jay sat up on the bed and stared at his brother. “You? He invited me to go skating, not you. And the only reason you don’t have homework is because I’m the one who’s really going to school.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Ray said. “Who talked about hockey with Alex all through homeroom on Thursday? Me. So he’s asking me to go skating just as much as he’s asking you. And tomorrow, all I have to do is meet Alex at his car out in the driveway. You stay out of sight, and he’ll never know the difference. Besides, I’m tons better at skating than you are.”
Jay wanted to grab the phone back from Ray and stuff it up his left nostril. But then a better idea popped into his mind.
“You know what? Here’s how it’s gonna work: You pretend to be me and you stay here and do homework. And as far as Mom’s concerned, it’ll be you going to the ice rink. Except it’ll be me. And it’s fair because I’m the one who stayed in the house all afternoon while you went and played baseball today. So tomorrow I get to go skating—and that’s the only way that’s fair. Right?”
Ray didn’t answer.
“Right?” Jay said. Louder.
“Fine,” said Ray, his teeth clenched. He whipped the phone at Jay’s leg. “I hope you have a rotten time.” And he got up and stomped out of their room.
As Jay picked the phone up off the floor, his leg hurt a little. But he didn’t care one bit, because he was going skating.
It really was the fairest solution, and Ray knew that, so by bedtime on Saturday, he and Jay were on speaking terms again. And by Sunday afternoon, they had the switch all set.
Jay was wearing Ray’s red hoodie again, plus his Cardinals hat—the same outfit he’d worn to the mall on Friday night. And Ray was wearing one of Jay’s blue shirts and a pair of his jeans. Jay had also made sure to grab the skates that were marked with Ray’s initials.
A few minutes before one, Jay was waiting by the front door with the skates, and Ray was standing off in the doorway of the dining room.
“Listen,” Ray said, “be sure to ask Alex how to do crossovers—you still don’t do that right, and it really helps you build up speed.”
Jay nodded and said, “Yeah, I’ll ask him. And next time we’ll both go with him.” Which was a very nice thing to say to a brother who had to stay home.
A horn honked from the curb, and Jay yelled out, “They’re here—I’m going now.”
His dad muted the baseball game and called from the living room, “Have a good time, and be sure to pay for your own admission, okay?”
Jay pulled the door open. “I will, Dad.”
Mom called from the upstairs office, “Wait a second, honey, I’m coming down.”
She came and looked out through the screen door, then waved toward the car. “You be a good guest, all right? And no rough stuff.”
Jay said, “I know, Mom, I know,” and he pushed the screen door open to leave.
Ray said, “See you, Ray,” and turned to walk upstairs. To do homework.
Without looking back, Jay said, “Later, Jay,” and started out the door.
“Oh—Ray?” his mom said. “Be sure—” But she didn’t finish that sentence.
Because as she said the name “Ray,” both boys turned their heads to her and said, “What?” In unison.
She looked from one boy to the other, and then back. Then her eyes flashed, and she grabbed Jay by the arm and pulled him back into the front hallway.
“Very cute,” she said.
Jay looked surprised. “What?” he said. “What are you talking about?”
She glared at Jay. “Do we need to do the freckle-check here?” Turning to the boy by the stairs, she said, “Do we—Ray?”
There was no way out. Their mom knew they had tried to trick her, and that was that.
So Ray immediately said, “I was just trying to be nice, Mom. Because Jay didn’t get to play baseball yesterday. And I wanted to help with his report.”
She shook her head. “No. Jay has to stay and do his own work.”
Ray said, “But . . . like, I can still go, right? Please?”
She paused a second, then said, “Yes, but only because I’m sure Alex’s father had to drive out of his way to come pick you up. But both of you can count on hearing more about this. Now—Ray, get going. And Jay, upstairs.”
So Jay took off the Cardinals hat, handed Ray his own skates, peeled off Ray’s red sweatshirt and gave it to him, and went upstairs. To work on the social studies report.
And a second later he heard the screen door slam.
But as Ja
y went into his room, sat down at his desk, and flipped his notebook open, he wasn’t mad at Ray for taking his place at the last second. Alex wanted to skate with a friend. And Ray was an excellent skater. They’d both have a good time.
Still, as Jay stared at the assignment sheet and looked at the due date again, he realized that after he did a great job on this report, who would be turning it in on Wednesday? Ray.
Because Wednesday was not going to be a Jay day at school. Wednesday was going to be a Ray day.
And to Jay, it was starting to feel like every day was a Ray day.
And it didn’t feel good. In fact, it felt a little like . . . despair.
CHAPTER 13
TOP SECRET
On Monday morning Ray dragged Jay out of his bed at seven thirty, and then hurried him along so they could leave together for school twenty minutes early. Which Jay didn’t like. That meant he had to hide out that much longer in the cardboard igloo in the garage. At least Jay wouldn’t have to listen to Ray tell him again how much fun the skating had been. Because Jay was fed up with everything that Ray had to say. About anything.
But Ray didn’t care what Jay thought. Ray was a man with a Monday morning mission. He had to find Melissa before homeroom and then try to repair the damage Jay had done during science class on Friday.
Ray got to school before the buses, and he took a position inside the wide front doors of the school. He had a clear view of the whole unloading area.
Spotting Melissa was easy. She came down the steps of bus number three, a soft blue hat and scarf framing her face. And when Ray saw her smile at a friend, he remembered how it had felt to have that smile aimed his way.
In addition to being pretty, Melissa was apparently popular. The moment she got off the bus, four other girls flocked around her, and together the group made their way toward Ray. And as they came through the second set of glass doors, he waited, waited, and then made his move, walking so that he crossed her path.