Read Online Revenge of the Bully by Scott Starkey - Free Book Online

mush.
    â€œDid you hang the flyers in the back hallway?” Rishi asked me.
    Before I could respond I saw the kid with the gray sweatshirt slowly walking up to us. He always ate alone, so I was surprised to see him approaching our table. Was he actually going to say something? Maybe apologize for taking the flyer down? When he reached me he removed a piece of paper from his notebook and placed it on the table. It was the flyer, only he had sketched a perfect drawing on it of what I guessed was borscht parmesan. The drawing was in full color and looked as good as any painting I had seen in a museum back in New York City. You could even see steam rising from the food! It looked so good that it actually made me hungry. Slim whimpered as I took back my nachos.
    Rishi, looking over my shoulder, shouted, “This is brilliant. Great job, Rodney, enlisting an artist to help us market the restaurant. I should have thought of it myself! Are you going to introduce me?”
    â€œUhh . . .” I faced the kid in the sweatshirt. “Hi, I’m Rodney. This is Rishi. My pouting friend over there is Slim.” Slim gave a little wave.
    The kid looked scared but eventually managed a quiet, “I’m Pablo.”
    â€œPablo, I like that name. I like your work even more.” Rishi grabbed Pablo’s hand and started shaking it. “Come, sit with us. You drew that picture just this morning?”
    Pablo nodded. “It took about ten minutes.”
    â€œTen minutes! Did you hear that, Rodney?”
    I nodded. I smiled. I noticed a slight smile begin to form on Pablo’s face.
    Rishi said, “Pablo, do you think you could do some more food drawings for me?”
    The next thing I knew, Rishi and Pablo were deep in conversation. It was hard to catch everything they were talking about, especially since Pablo spoke so quietly, but I did hear him say something about converting the image to a digital file and I could tell Rishi really liked that.
    â€œPablo,” Rishi said, grinning, putting his hand on the kid’s shoulder, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Then he looked around. “Hey, where’s the flyer?”
    Josh was holding the drawing to his face and sniffing it. In all the excitement I hadn’t seen him walk over to us. “What are you doing?” I asked.
    He didn’t answer. Instead he stuck his tongue out and started licking the picture. A stream of drool fell from his mouth to the floor.
    â€œYou’ll have to pardon our friend . . . ,” Rishi started to tell Pablo, but it was too late. The sight of a drooling giant towering over the table was too much for him.
    â€œWhere’d he go?” Slim asked.
    I pointed to a shaking gray hoodie in the corner of the cafeteria.
    â€œDon’t worry,” Rishi remarked, “I’m sure we’ll be seeing quite a bit of Pablo. In fact, Rodney, you’ll be seeing him tomorrow.”
    â€œHuh? What are you up to, Rishi?”
    â€œI just hired him to sketch your first touchdown! I wonder if the Akron Beacon Journal uses freelance artists. . . .”
    Slim must have noticed my face turn white as I remembered the game. “Can I?” he asked.
    â€œTake them!” I shouted. With all the vultures flying around my stomach, the last thing I needed was a pile of soggy nachos.

Chapter 7
    MY FIRST BIG GAME
    My dad was right about the whole town coming down. The stands were packed. Half the crowd wore black for Garrettsville, the other half blue for Streetsboro. Black and blue. Not a promising sign. My stomach tightened and I glanced at the four porta-potties behind the end zone. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to make any sudden visits.
    I decided to turn my mind to more pleasant thoughts and tried to pick out a familiar face or two in the stands. The first one I spotted was the Boss. Not so pleasant. He was flanked by Cheese and Willy. All three wore dark sunglasses and