Kazu Jones and the Denver Dognappers by Shauna Holyoak

Author:Shauna Holyoak
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2019-04-22T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

By the time I got home from school, I was over our cafeteria victory and angry that Madeleine Brown had made fun of me and my detecting. Just thinking about it sent a stinging flush to my cheeks.

I slammed our front door behind me.

Genki heard and ran down the stairs. But then he read my mood and lay down by my feet, licking the bare skin at my ankles.

From where I stood I could see Mom at the kitchen counter making baked manicotti. In one hand she held a pasta shell and in the other a plastic bag full of the cheese filling. Two long rows of the stuffed shells lined the casserole dish at her side. I breathed in the happy scent, and exhaled a bit of anger. Baked manicotti was my favorite.

Pearl Jam blasted from the portable speakers on the counter, Mom’s third-favorite band behind the Smashing Pumpkins and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. She probably didn’t even hear the door slam.

“What’s wrong?” Mom asked, squeezing the mixture into the last shell. She wedged it into the casserole dish and looked at me.

When I didn’t answer, she wiped her hands on the towel hung over her shoulder and turned off the music.

The silence swallowed the room. “Today stunk!” I said.

She walked toward me, a big smile stretching her cheeks. “I may have something that will make you feel better.”

I was ready to list everything about the day that had upset me, my complaints about Madeleine Brown stacked on my tongue. Without anywhere to go, I swallowed them down, and it left my chest tight and hot.

Mom pointed to the window seat before turning back to her chore. Laid out on the navy cushions was a Velma costume, complete with an oversize orange turtleneck, a red skirt, orange knee-highs, and red Mary Janes. It was perfect and horrible at the same time.

“I don’t want to be Velma anymore,” I whispered.

Mom froze. “Why not?” The smile had completely melted from her face. But my cheeks still burned as I remembered Madeleine’s sneer.

“Because it’s stupid,” I blurted. “It’s a baby costume.” Everything I said was wrong, but I meant it. I was surprised those two things could happen at the same time.

Mom didn’t reply, but got back to work covering the manicotti with marinara sauce, her eyes down. I felt silly, stranded in the entryway to our house with my backpack still on my shoulders.

As I slipped off my shoes and turned toward the stairway, Mom spun around, her face red. “Shitsurei!” How rude. She leaned forward on the counter, palms down. The pose made her look big and angry. Spit angry.

“I give up, Kazuko!” Her lips trembled as she spoke. “You’re constantly getting into trouble, and you never want to spend time with your family anymore! And when I go out of my way to get you something you asked for less than a week ago, you tell me it’s stupid.”

Genki whimpered at my feet and then walked toward the dining room, where he would probably quiver under the table for about forty minutes.

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