mutiny.”
“I don’t know,” said Edie. “I signed a petition online saying I’d never go there.”
“It doesn’t count if you’re going there to plot to overthrow it,” said Anna. “And you’ll have to go there sooner or later for the takeover. We’ll need to go and recruit Troy to start with, and we’ll need to get a good feel for the whole layout of the place and make a map.”
“Arrr!” said Brian. “An ‘X’ will mark the spot!”
“So tomorrow while we’re there, everyone try to memorize the layout so we can draw up a map of the inside of the store. So we’re all agreed to set sail tomorrow?”
“Agreed,” said Edie.
Anna put her hand out in the middle of the table, and Edie put her hand on top of it. Brian and I put our hands on top of that.
“Then I declare the crew of the HMS Pirate Ship to be officially formed,” Anna said. And we all withdrew our hands.
“What do you mean about this HMS Pirate Ship business?” said Brian. “We don’t really have a ship.”
Anna shrugged. “It’s just a gimmick,” she said. “It’s also a redundancy. Her Majesty’s ship Pirate Ship.”
All of a sudden, the music changed from tango to a fast punk song.
“Yes!” Edie said. “Johnny Christmas and the Kindergarteners!”
I looked over at the other corner. Trinity was walking back over to my dad and Warren’s table, where my dad was bouncing around in his seat.
“This is great!” he shouted. “Who’s singing?”
“This is Johnny Christmas!” said Trinity as she started to move to the music herself.
“Totally tubular!” said my dad.
“Oh, God,” I said as I sank as low as I could in my chair.
“Do punks say ‘totally tubular’?” asked Brian.
Edie shook her head, but she was obviously trying not to laugh.
“Seeing as how we’re pirates,” I said quietly, “did anyone happen to bring a dagger? Because it would really help me out if someone would stab me to death right now.”
Trinity was really dancing now; I was impressed by her graceful, conservative pogoing. To my great horror, my dad jumped up to join her, and soon they were both jumping up and down, though only Trinity seemed to have a handle on the concept that you’re supposed to jump up and down to the beat of the music. My dad was just jumping randomly. I’m not much of a dancer myself, but I didn’t know you could
be
bad at the pogo.
“Rock ’n’ roll!” Dad shouted, in a very bad British accent. I prayed that my dad wouldn’t realize the song was called “Crotchgrabber Junction,” since that would probably inspire him to, well, grab his crotch.
“Since when does your dad have a Mohawk?” asked Edie.
“He’s working on a new kind of hair dye that only sticks to hair, not to skin or anything,” I said. “And he tested it on himself.”
“Sweet!” said Edie. “After I did the red streaks in my hair, I never got the stains out of my towel. It looked like I’d cleaned up after someone got shot or something.”
“Well,” said Brian, “isn’t that what punk rock is all about?”
The song sped up a bit. “Leon,” Anna whispered in my ear. “You might want to get him out of here before they start slam dancing.”
That hadn’t occurred to me. I jumped up from the table and practically ran over to them.
“Well, this was fun,” I said, grabbing Dad’s arm, “but we really must be going.”
“But I haven’t had my coffee yet!” said Dad.
“We can do that another time,” I said, dragging him toward the door. “We need to go home now. You need to get to work on your invention.”
“Bye!” Dad shouted as I pulled him outside. He settled down as soon as the cold air hit him. “Man!” he said. “That was fun.”
“It was dangerous!” I said.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “It was just jumping up and down.”
“I know,” I said. “But it’s a gateway dance. The pogo tends to lead to slam dancing, and then you could have really gotten hurt. Those safety pins in
“I don’t know,” said Edie. “I signed a petition online saying I’d never go there.”
“It doesn’t count if you’re going there to plot to overthrow it,” said Anna. “And you’ll have to go there sooner or later for the takeover. We’ll need to go and recruit Troy to start with, and we’ll need to get a good feel for the whole layout of the place and make a map.”
“Arrr!” said Brian. “An ‘X’ will mark the spot!”
“So tomorrow while we’re there, everyone try to memorize the layout so we can draw up a map of the inside of the store. So we’re all agreed to set sail tomorrow?”
“Agreed,” said Edie.
Anna put her hand out in the middle of the table, and Edie put her hand on top of it. Brian and I put our hands on top of that.
“Then I declare the crew of the HMS Pirate Ship to be officially formed,” Anna said. And we all withdrew our hands.
“What do you mean about this HMS Pirate Ship business?” said Brian. “We don’t really have a ship.”
Anna shrugged. “It’s just a gimmick,” she said. “It’s also a redundancy. Her Majesty’s ship Pirate Ship.”
All of a sudden, the music changed from tango to a fast punk song.
“Yes!” Edie said. “Johnny Christmas and the Kindergarteners!”
I looked over at the other corner. Trinity was walking back over to my dad and Warren’s table, where my dad was bouncing around in his seat.
“This is great!” he shouted. “Who’s singing?”
“This is Johnny Christmas!” said Trinity as she started to move to the music herself.
“Totally tubular!” said my dad.
“Oh, God,” I said as I sank as low as I could in my chair.
“Do punks say ‘totally tubular’?” asked Brian.
Edie shook her head, but she was obviously trying not to laugh.
“Seeing as how we’re pirates,” I said quietly, “did anyone happen to bring a dagger? Because it would really help me out if someone would stab me to death right now.”
Trinity was really dancing now; I was impressed by her graceful, conservative pogoing. To my great horror, my dad jumped up to join her, and soon they were both jumping up and down, though only Trinity seemed to have a handle on the concept that you’re supposed to jump up and down to the beat of the music. My dad was just jumping randomly. I’m not much of a dancer myself, but I didn’t know you could
be
bad at the pogo.
“Rock ’n’ roll!” Dad shouted, in a very bad British accent. I prayed that my dad wouldn’t realize the song was called “Crotchgrabber Junction,” since that would probably inspire him to, well, grab his crotch.
“Since when does your dad have a Mohawk?” asked Edie.
“He’s working on a new kind of hair dye that only sticks to hair, not to skin or anything,” I said. “And he tested it on himself.”
“Sweet!” said Edie. “After I did the red streaks in my hair, I never got the stains out of my towel. It looked like I’d cleaned up after someone got shot or something.”
“Well,” said Brian, “isn’t that what punk rock is all about?”
The song sped up a bit. “Leon,” Anna whispered in my ear. “You might want to get him out of here before they start slam dancing.”
That hadn’t occurred to me. I jumped up from the table and practically ran over to them.
“Well, this was fun,” I said, grabbing Dad’s arm, “but we really must be going.”
“But I haven’t had my coffee yet!” said Dad.
“We can do that another time,” I said, dragging him toward the door. “We need to go home now. You need to get to work on your invention.”
“Bye!” Dad shouted as I pulled him outside. He settled down as soon as the cold air hit him. “Man!” he said. “That was fun.”
“It was dangerous!” I said.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “It was just jumping up and down.”
“I know,” I said. “But it’s a gateway dance. The pogo tends to lead to slam dancing, and then you could have really gotten hurt. Those safety pins in
Similar Books
