Enter the Zombie by David Lubar

Author:David Lubar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

11

That Smarts

Rodney was waiting for me in front of the school Monday morning, when I went to meet up with my friends. I clenched my fists, just in case, but kept my hands at my sides. If I had to defend myself, I figured I could do even more damage without a boxing glove. But even Rodney wasn’t stupid enough to start something on school property.

“That was a lucky punch,” he said. He poked my shoulder and glared.

“Yeah, I felt pretty lucky,” I said. That was true. I was lucky my bones had been hardened, and I was lucky I’d been able to catch Rodney by surprise while he was waiting for me to crumple from the low punch.

“There’s something wrong with you,” he said. “You’re not a normal kid.”

I shrugged. “I’ve been hearing that for years.”

He threw a punch at my head, but stopped short. “You didn’t even blink.”

“I’ve got nerves of steel,” I said.

“Whatever’s going on, I’m gonna figure it out,” he said. “And then they’ll make us the winners. You cheated. There’s no way you could ever beat me for real. You’re just a big lousy cheater.”

He walked off. I watched him go join Eddy. That worried me. Rodney wasn’t smart enough to figure anything out by himself. But even though Eddy was nowhere near as smart as Abigail, he still might be able to put things together.

“Wow,” Mookie said. “Rodney really lives in his own little universe. I guess it’s a Rodneyverse.”

“He can’t imagine anyone ever beating him at anything,” Abigail said. “That’s typical for a bully. So to him, he just can’t admit you actually won the boxing match fairly. He has to believe you cheated.”

“I guess if you think about what happened, I really did sort of cheat. But not the way he thinks.” I pulled my shirt collar away from my neck and looked at my shoulder. There was a small dent where Rodney had poked me.

“And he cheated, too,” Mookie said, “trying to hit you below the belt. That was pretty slimy.”

“He did more than try,” I said. “I wasn’t standing on my toes because I wanted to be a ballet dancer. But I’ll bet he can convince himself it was okay to do that.” I put my thumb on one side of the dent and my first finger on the other, then stretched my skin until the dent popped out.

“Absolutely,” Abigail said. “A famous philosopher once said, ‘No one does wrong willingly.’ ”

“He’d never met Rodney,” Mookie said. “Or Mr. Lomux. Hey, speaking about doing wrong, look who’s coming over.”

“Now what?” I watched Shawna cross the school lawn. She’d been mean to each of us at some point during the year. But she’d gotten a bit nicer after her horrible experience at the Halloween party, when I’d slipped my snapped-off finger into her glass of orange soda. I know it was a terrible thing to do to, but I’d had no choice.

Abigail’s words echoed back through my brain: No one does wrong willingly.

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