Home Alone 3 by Todd Strasser & John Hughes

Author:Todd Strasser & John Hughes
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780590957120
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 1997-07-15T04:00:00+00:00

26

That night, Alex was allowed to join the family at dinner. Mrs. Pruitt slapped slices of pizza on paper plates, served the meal to her kids, and sat down.

"Now listen, kids," she said. "Dad will be home tomorrow night. I have my quarterly client meeting from lunch until five o'clock. I want Stan and Molly to come home right after school and stay with Alex."

Molly was the first to protest. "No way! I have gymnastics."

"I have hockey," Stan said.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Mrs. Pruitt said with an aggravated sigh.

"I thought you were putting the bite on Mrs. Hess to watch Alex," Stan said.

"That makes a lot more sense, Mom," agreed Molly. "She's more responsible than Stan or me.

"She's just our backup," Mrs Pruitt explained. "Unless it's an emergency, I'd rather not have to call her."

"Listen, guys, I'm fine by myself," Alex said.

"There you have it," Stan said with a nod. "It's settled. The twerp stays by himself."

"No, he doesn't," Mrs. Pruitt said in a tone that didn't invite any more argument. "You two work it out. I don't care how. But one of you has to come home after school."

"Great," Molly groaned. "As if this family wasn't fractious enough, now you pit me and Stan against each other for the sake of Blister Buns."

"Work it out," Mrs. Pruitt replied tersely. "End of conversation."

Stan just smirked and turned to his little brother. "Hey, Alex, could you pass the false alarms? Ooops! Sorry, I mean, the peas."

"Very funny," Alex said sourly.

"That subject is also closed, Stan," Mrs. Pruitt informed her oldest son.

"Hold on, Mom," Molly protested. "I respected your wish that we not pour any more salt into Pajama Man's copious wounds, but since Stan has inadvertently exhumed the subject, I respectfully request that I be allowed a last, final, farewell remark about Alex's law enforcement faux pas. I promise this remark will be amusing and warm-hearted."

"All right," Mrs. Pruitt allowed. "One final remark and then we drop it forever."

Molly smiled and turned to Alex. "I just want you to know, dear little brother, that not everyone at school thinks you're an immature, attention-seeking, fraidy-Cat, whiny-butt baby."

Alex narrowed his eyes and braced himself.

"It just so happens," his sister went on, "that the kindergartners think it's extremely cool that you got to meet the chief of police."

Another dig. Alex knew it was coming, even if his mother didn't. The phone rang. Mrs. Pruitt answered it. "Hello?"

Alex took the opportunity to shoot his sister a juicy wet raspberry.

"Alex?" his mom said into the phone. "Yes, he's been home with the chicken pox."

Alex looked over his shoulder at his mom, wondering who she was talking to.

"You live on which street?" his mom asked. She covered the phone with her hand and turned to Alex. "Do you know a Bradley Clovis?"

Bradley Clovis? The kid was a three-way dork. Alex gave his mom a cautious nod.

"His mother's on the phone," Mrs. Pruitt said. "Did you take a toy car from him?"

Toy car? Bradley Clovis? The realization of what was going on hit Alex like a slap in the face.

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