Ragtag Team by Maxwell Nicoll

Author:Maxwell Nicoll
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2021-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

TAMIKO

“Dad? Are you almost ready?”

Tamiko’s heart thumped against her chest. Part of it was nerves, part adrenaline. Either way, she was anxious to get moving. It wasn’t every day that she and Ollie planned on breaking into Linton’s office. But that’s exactly what they were going to do tonight.

That morning, Tamiko had asked her dad to drive her and Ollie over to Slamdown Town after school.

Obviously she couldn’t tell her dad why, but he usually didn’t ask too many questions.

“Going to the arena on a school night?” he’d asked. “That sounds fun. Can I come? What’s the occasion? Should I dress business or casual?”

Ever since he’d been let go from his job he’d been obsessed about anything and everything Slamdown Town. And since Tamiko was a huge wrestling fan (and a secret wrestler, to boot) it was mentioned a lot.

“Wrestling’s only on Saturdays, Dad.” She tried to think of a convincing lie. “I’m trying to get the high score on Brawlmania Supreme. Ollie’s going to coach me through it. It’s easier without so many other fans there.”

Little did he know that she’d already claimed that spot.

“Oh, video games. Of course. Silly me. You don’t need me for that.”

He’d been really weird about video games, too. She figured it was because, despite the hours she’d spent training him, he still didn’t know how to play them. Even the easy ones. Which was why gaming was something she did exclusively with her mom.

“Yeah! I’m super-duper close to beating it. Pretty please, Dad?”

“Well, okay! I’ll drive you,” he’d said before handing her a lunch bag and sending her out the door to the bus. Now it was after school and she was ready to go.

“Dad? Did you hear me?”

“Hey, bug,” he yelled from the basement. “Can you come down here? There’s something I want you to see. It’s a surprise!”

She ran downstairs and discovered her dad’s head poking out from behind a makeshift curtain. In front of the curtain, on her dad’s workbench, were heaps of clothing (some of it intact, most of it in tatters), scissors, glue, and an industrial-grade sewing machine.

“Dad?”

“Take a seat and prepare to be wowed,” he said, pulling the curtain closed and hiding behind it. “Presenting the newest wrestler at Slamdown Town. The one, the only, Snack Guy!”

He pulled the curtain back and skated out into the open.

Tamiko’s jaw dropped.

She was used to seeing her dad in costumes, but this was something else. To start, he was wearing his old Slamdown Town concession stand uniform. But over that, he’d built a giant serving tray with oversize, fake hot dogs, nachos, and soda cartons. He wore a cape of empty chip bags and, on his head, had placed a jumbo-size popcorn tub as a hat. He’d slipped on some roller skates and, across his chest, had written SNACK GUY in gold sparkly letters.

“Well, what do you think?” he said as he skated around her.

“I’m . . .”

“Speechless? I know, right? How cool is this! Now I’ll be able to hang out with you again at Slamdown Town each weekend.

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