queen of green. And everybody except for Justine was afraid to disagree with Jimmy Blatzo.
âHow many times do I have to tell you?â she said. âWe are friends.â
âMichael and I wonât call you Blatzo,â Safdar said.
âWe know we are not your friends,â Michael said.
Jimmy Blatzo looked at Michael and Safdar. âI didnât give you permission to speak.â
âI forgot,â Safdar said.
âMe too,â Michael said.
âYou are still speaking.â Jimmy Blatzo stopped and sniffed. âHey, who stepped in dog poop?â
Justine checked the bottom of her shoes. Michael checked his shoes. Safdar checked his shoes. Jimmy Blatzo checked his shoes.
Nobody found dog poop on their shoes.
Justine sniffed and sniffed.
She walked behind Jimmy Blatzo. A big brown patch was smushed across Jimmy Blatzoâs butt.
âI was afraid of that,â she said. âYou were sitting in it on the grass.â
Michael and Safdar were smart enough not to laugh.
Chapter Two
At school the next morning, Justine walked down the hallway before the bell rang. Jimmy Blatzo tapped her on the shoulder. âYou didnât tell anybody about the dog poop on my pants, right?â
âA promise is a promise,â Justine said. âBut whatâs the big deal if people find it funny?â
âItâs my job to scare people, not make them laugh.â
Two boys walked past. Jimmy Blatzo raised his arms like a monster and growled. The boys jumped and ran away.
âSee?â he said. âLike that.â
âNice,â she said. âNow come to the library with me.â
âYeah,â he said. âRight after I slam a door on my fingers. Do you think I want people to see me walking with you? Youâre a couple of grades younger than me.â
âIâm serious,â Justine said. âWe need to do something about the dog poop in the park. Safdar told me that kids were making snowmen last winter and found little brown chocolate bars in the snow. Except they were not chocolate bars.â
Jimmy Blatzo laughed. âOne kid didnât know what it was. He used it for the snowmanâs nose. Some of the dog poop melted in his mittens. His mother freaked. It was great!â
âNo,â she said. âThe kidâs mother was right. Dog poop is unsafe, especially for little kids. And itâs not good for the environment.â
Jimmy Blatzo frowned. âI see a problem here.â
âThank you,â she said. âWeâre going to write a letter to the paper about this.â
âThatâs the problem,â Jimmy Blatzo said. âI knew you were going to make me help you with something.â
âLetâs get to the library before the bell rings,â Justine said. âMrs. Reynolds can help us with our research.â
âJust google it,â Jimmy Blatzo said.
âYou canât believe everything you google.â
âI donât even know where the library is,â he said.
âYou spell your name B-L-A-T-Z-O, right?â
Justine said. âI wonât break my promise about telling anyone about the dog poop on your butt. But I can write a note. I donât want to spell your name wrong.â
Jimmy Blatzo groaned as loud as he did when she hit him in the stomach with the football.
âFollow me,â she said. When they reached the library, it was locked and dark inside.
âWeird,â Jimmy Blatzo said. âMrs. Reynolds is always here early. Sometimes she makes me tea. She always helps me find great books. She knows exactly what I like to read.â
âHa!â Justine said. âI knew you knew where the library was. Let me guess, your job is to scare kids, not love books?â
Two girls walked past. Jimmy Blatzo raised his arms and growled. They giggled.
âLast week in the library, those two girls made me move out of the comfy reading chair so they