Rebel McKenzie Read Online Free PDF Page A

brownish mustache above his lip. He finished his drink with a healthy belch.
    â€œNot bad,” I said. “For a kid.”
    â€œDaddy is the best burper, but Mama always gets mad.”
    Little did my nephew know he stood in the presence of a champion burp-talker. I’d have shown him, but I was afraid he’d be struck down with awe. Better let him get used to my dazzling talents a bit at a time.
    â€œOkay,” I said. “Go out and play.”
    Rudy hesitated by the front door. “I don’t wanna go by myself. Ain’t you coming, too?”
    â€œIn a few minutes. I have to wash these dishes and make our beds. Now, go on.”
    After Rudy slunk outside, I whipped the bedspreads over rumpled sheets, then rinsed the dishes under a lukewarm tap. Good enough. Next I raced into the bathroom to take my shower.
    Doublewide was using the facilities. I hadn’t seen him do his business in daylight, so I leaned against the doorjamb to watch.
    His hind legs splayed on the rim of the toilet seat as he leaned forward on his front feet. His tail was raised like a pump handle. He gazed straight ahead and seemed to be concentrating very hard. Then he finished and hopped down. I was disappointed he didn’t flush.
    Finally I had the bathroom to myself. Water trickled from Lynette’s showerhead and I had to dance around to get wet. Then I changed the bandages on my heels and went outdoors.
    The sky was white with heat and it wasn’t even nine o’clock. Another searing day. Yippee.
    I sat on the bottom porch step to practice listening. Even if I had to spend my summer Up the Creek, so to speak, I needed to keep my talents sharp.
    Last year a man came to our school to give us hearing tests. He ran a big machine, and I signaled every time I heard something through the earphones. Sometimes the sounds were so faint I wasn’t sure I heard them, but I signaled anyway.
    Finally the man looked at his assistant and said, “There’s no way she can be cheating. She can’t see me adjust the dials.” Then he turned to me and said, “You have extraordinary hearing, young lady. You hear almost as well as a dog!”
    Since then I’ve been training my superhuman ability by figuring out sounds and where they are coming from.
    Chip, chip, chip . That was easy. Someone was using hedge clippers two trailers down. I listened harder. Fwooooooosh . That was somebody spraying a garden hose over on the next street. I blocked those sounds and closed my eyes.
    Ulp. Ulp. That was a weird sound, like a guppy being strangled. It came from the direction of the backyard. I walked around the side of the trailer.
    Rudy lay flat on his back in the brown grass. A scrawny girl with limp red hair had pinned his shoulders down. Her bony elbows poked up like chicken wings. She wore a pink shorts outfit and ruffled pink ankle socks with white sandals. A long string of drool swung from her mouth directly over Rudy’s face.
    She sucked the drool back up with a slurp and said, “What’d I tell you about looking at me?”
    â€œNot…to,” Rudy said weakly.
    â€œAre you gonna do it again?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œNo, what ?”
    â€œNoLaceyJaneBossoftheWorldandGrandviewEstates,” he gasped.
    But the girl let the drool slide back over her lip. Rudy thrashed from side to side. Then I remembered Rudy telling me about the bully next door.
    This was the famous bully? This chicken-winged girl named Lacey Jane? What kind of a name was that for a bully?
    I marched over and jerked the girl up by the scruff of her pink top. The drool string snapped, landing in Rudy’s hair.
    â€œEwww!” he cried, rubbing his T-shirt over his hair.
    â€œHey!” the girl said, wiping spit off her chin.
    â€œThat’s my nephew you’re sitting on,” I told her.
    â€œEarwax? I was just teaching the little twerp who’s boss.”
    I gave her The Look—one eye