Kung Fooey (4 page)

“Go ahead,” I said.

Stella murdered me with her eyes, then huffed and slipped behind the steering wheel of Clarence’s big pink car.

Clarence went around to the other side and ducked into the passenger seat.

Stella started the car and gunned the engine.

Varrroooom!

Julio and Darci took a step back.

Stella glanced in the rearview mirror. A loud squeal came from the tires as she screeched out of the driveway.

C
larence grabbed the dashboard as Stella bounced to a jolting stop halfway into the weeds on the other side of the road.

Ho!

Julio and Darci froze.

Streak scurried back into the garage.

Dust rose around the car as it sat there
idling. Stella looked grim, her hands gripping the wheel.

I jumped up and down. “Yee-haw!”

The car jerked forward. A foot. Another foot.

Then the engine died. Stella covered her face with her hands.

“I told you this would be good!” I shouted to Julio. “I told you!”

Julio was still speechless.

Clarence blinked and reached over to touch Stella’s shoulder. He said something.

Stella nodded and dropped her hands from the steering wheel. She looked over at us.

I covered my mouth and pointed at her, making like I was laughing.

“Don’t,” Julio said, grabbing my arm. “She might make that guy come get us.”

“I know kung fu,” I said.

Stella started the car.

Clarence motioned for her to head slowly up the street. He hung on to the dashboard with one hand.

Stella jerked the car forward and got it going smoothly. She drove up the street about as fast as I could walk. Julio, Darci, and I followed them. Streak came out of the garage and trailed us, too, but kept her distance.

“I can’t believe Clarence lets her drive his car,” I said.

Clarence loved his car. He was always inspecting it for scratches and nicks. He even carried rags in his trunk to wipe dust off the paint. The car was a classic.

So why would he let Stella even
touch
it?

Stella picked up speed.

We started jogging to keep up. Streak was feeling braver now, running ahead, barking.

Up the street, Willy and Maya were tossing a Frisbee around. Stella and Clarence headed toward them. Willy and Maya moved to the side of the road, and Stella drove past without hitting them.

“What’s going on?” Willy asked when we ran up.

“Clarence is teaching Stella how to drive,” I said. “She drove into the weeds down by my house. Come on. We’re following them.”

We jogged after the pink car, keeping up as it drifted from one side of the road to the other. Streak backed off.

“Stella’s not too good yet, is she?” Maya said.

“Clarence is going to kill her if she hits anything,” I said. “Even if she just scratches the paint.”

Stella must have been feeling pretty confident, because when we got up by the park, she was going fast enough to get a ticket.

We slowed to a walk, breathing hard.

Julio stopped. “We’re getting too close to Tito’s house. I hope he’s not home.”

We all knew not to go any closer, so we headed into the park, watching out for the pokey burrs that stabbed into our feet. The park had a rusty swing set and a metal slide.

“Throw me that Frisbee,” Julio said, running out into the field.

We all made a big circle and tossed it back and forth, except for Darci, who went for the swings. Streak tried to steal the Frisbee a few times and finally got it. It took all four of us to get it back.

A few minutes later, Stella and Clarence cruised back down the street on the other side of the park. Stella was driving like a real driver, except she was going too fast. When she got to the stop
sign, she stopped with a jolt. Then she put on the blinker, turned the corner, and zoomed around the park again.

Clarence nodded at us as if everything was just fine.

“Man,” Julio said, watching Stella speed past. “She got a lead foot. If that was my car I’d be chewing my fingernails.”

I humphed. “Was me, I’d hide the key.”

Stella and Clarence sped by three more times before heading home.

We started to run after them but quickly slid to a stop.

Tito was sitting with his friends Bozo and Frankie Diamond in somebody’s yard between us and our street.

And all three of them were looking right at us.

T
ito was grinning his what-can-I-do-to-these-punks grin.

I looked for a way out.

There wasn’t any. “What should we do?”

Julio frowned. Meeting up with Tito was never fun. “Go knock on doors until somebody lets us hide in their house?”

Willy laughed.

“I don’t get it,” Maya said. “How can you be afraid of a doofus like him? Come on, guys, do like what Mr. Purdy always says—soldier up. Tito’s not that smart.”

“It’s not his brain that worries me,” I said.

“Follow me. I’ll protect you.” Maya grabbed Darci’s hand and headed down the street.

“This should be interesting,” Julio mumbled.

“I know kung fu,” I said, only this time no one laughed. I snapped my fingers for Streak to follow me.

Tito, Bozo, and Frankie Diamond were sprawled on the grass like cats in the sun. Tito was still grinning.

Bozo gave us his most criminal stink eye.

Frankie Diamond, like always, just looked amused. I didn’t get that guy. He was calm and cool; his hair was always perfectly combed; he wore a nice shiny silver chain around his neck. Sometimes he was friendly. Not like Tito at all. Still, they liked each other.

We tried to pass by like nothing was up.

“Heyyy,” Tito said, smiling even bigger when we got close. “It’s the Coco-dork gang. Whatchoo punks doing in my neighborhood?”

Maya and Darci kept walking and didn’t even glance at him.

“Hey, tough girl,” Tito called. “Be nice. Tito might ax you out someday. You might be my girlfrien’… when you old enough.”

Maya turned, stuck her finger down her throat, and pretended to gag. Gak!

Frankie Diamond threw back his head and laughed.

Tito grinned. “You never know, ah?”

Maya and Darci kept on going.

But when we tried to pass, Tito put up his hand.

We stopped, even though he was lying on the grass and
we were out on the street. We could have run for it.

But we weren’t stupid.

Tito hooked his finger at us. “Come, punks. Talk to Tito. I’m bored.”

Maya turned and walked backwards. “He’s not bored. He’s nobody. Don’t listen to him.”

Tito liked that. “Hey, girl,” he said. “When this nobody talks,
everybody
listens.” He grinned at us. “Ain’t that right, little punks?”

Julio, Willy, and I nodded. Yeah, sure, Tito, whatever. It was either that or get beat up at school.

Tito tapped the grass with his hand. “Come. Sit.”

We sat.

Maya and Darci left us to our fate.

Tito pointed his chin toward Streak, who lay on the grass next to me, panting. “What kind dog that? Chihuahua, or what?”

I shrugged. “Just a mutt.”

“Tito,” Bozo said. “Ax um if it bites.”

Tito looked at me. “Well?”

“She won’t bite.”

“She? How come you didn’t get a boy dog? Only girls get girl dogs.”

I shrugged. “I like this one.”

Frankie Diamond made kissing sounds and snapped his fingers for Streak to come to him.

Frankie was sitting cross-legged, and Streak jumped into his lap. He scratched her chin.