took ages to get going because she couldn’t find her keys. Dad just shook his head and grinned at me.
“Women,” he said. “Where would they be without us men?” He was carrying a half-asleep Roger up the stairs.
“Some help you are!” she called back, as she began to root around in the recycling bin.
“Bet you left them in the car,” Dad called back in his jaded voice.
He was right, of course.
“The annoying thing is that he is always right!” Jo laughed, as we finally got going. I don’t like it when she laughs. It’s annoying. But then she took a wrong turn, stalled when the lights turned green and hit the tyres on the kerb. By the time we got there in the end, I was beginning to think that Dad might be right about women drivers.
“See you, Tao. Enjoy the film,” she called as I hopped out of the car.
I nearly forgot and smiled and said thanks but Kate had opened the front door so I just said, “Bye”.
Chapter 5
The Eleventh Thing: This thing is the
Big Thing
and it’s the first thing that I told you about so you don’t have to bother reading about it again … unless you’ve forgotten or you skipped that bit – then you’ll have to go back to page 9.
Chapter 6
The Twelfth Thing: The cinema is only down the road in Stepdon village and so we were there in no time. David was first, of course. He’s the fastest and it’s always a race. We call him “the Cheetah”.
“The Cheetah wins again,” he whooped.
“Cheater, more like,” said Kalem, who was last, as usual.
“Bad loser, more like,” said David, while I paid for the tickets. Kalem and David are my best friends, but they don’t always get along so well with each other.
“Kate showed us the rodent,” said Kalem while we waited for the film to start.
“Mousey?” I said. “Great, isn’t he? Dad gave him to me for my birthday. Best present ever.”
“Mousey!” jeered David. “That’s a rubbish name. Call him ‘the Rodent’ like Kate does. She wouldn’t even go into the same room as him. She just pointed.”
“Mousey is just what I call him until I think of a good name,” I told David.
“How about Mousey Tongue,” suggested Kalem and laughed out loud at some joke that only he got. “He was a Chinese guy – like you, Tao.”
I might be Chinese, but I never heard of a name like that. David raised his eyes to heaven and twirled his finger on the side of his head to show how mad Kalem was.
“Call him the Rodent,” he said. “That’s a proper name for a mouse. The Rodent Strikes Back!” he added dramatically.
“The Attack of the Raging Rodent!” I added.
Then the film started and the talk stopped, but the name Rodent stuck.
The Thirteenth Thing: The film was brilliant. There was some really awesome martial arts fighting in it and all the way home David was practising his chops and kicks.
“Hi …YAA!” he yelled and leapt into the air, his foot outstretched and his hands rigid.
“Hi …YAAAHOOO!” I yelled and kicked a lamp post.
“That’s rubbish, Tao,” said David.
David is a bit of an expert at martial arts. He’s tried a few different classes, but he hasn’t found the right one yet. So far he has a white belt in karate, a white belt in judo and a white belt in kick-boxing.
“And that’s got to add up to at least one black belt,” he claims.
“It adds up to a whole lot of nothing,” says Kalem. David gave him a karate chop on the arm for that, but Kalem didn’t even seem to notice.
Back in the house, Kate lit the candles on a big lumpy cake she had made herself. This time I got to blow them out by myself and the boys cheered and David wanted to give me the birthday bumps, but Kalem said they would need more than two to lift me, so I escaped. When we’d eaten about half the cake (it was delicious – the worse Kate’s cakes look, the better they taste) and I’d opened my presents (a football – because I needed to practise, said David, and an underwater torch – for the
“Women,” he said. “Where would they be without us men?” He was carrying a half-asleep Roger up the stairs.
“Some help you are!” she called back, as she began to root around in the recycling bin.
“Bet you left them in the car,” Dad called back in his jaded voice.
He was right, of course.
“The annoying thing is that he is always right!” Jo laughed, as we finally got going. I don’t like it when she laughs. It’s annoying. But then she took a wrong turn, stalled when the lights turned green and hit the tyres on the kerb. By the time we got there in the end, I was beginning to think that Dad might be right about women drivers.
“See you, Tao. Enjoy the film,” she called as I hopped out of the car.
I nearly forgot and smiled and said thanks but Kate had opened the front door so I just said, “Bye”.
Chapter 5
The Eleventh Thing: This thing is the
Big Thing
and it’s the first thing that I told you about so you don’t have to bother reading about it again … unless you’ve forgotten or you skipped that bit – then you’ll have to go back to page 9.
Chapter 6
The Twelfth Thing: The cinema is only down the road in Stepdon village and so we were there in no time. David was first, of course. He’s the fastest and it’s always a race. We call him “the Cheetah”.
“The Cheetah wins again,” he whooped.
“Cheater, more like,” said Kalem, who was last, as usual.
“Bad loser, more like,” said David, while I paid for the tickets. Kalem and David are my best friends, but they don’t always get along so well with each other.
“Kate showed us the rodent,” said Kalem while we waited for the film to start.
“Mousey?” I said. “Great, isn’t he? Dad gave him to me for my birthday. Best present ever.”
“Mousey!” jeered David. “That’s a rubbish name. Call him ‘the Rodent’ like Kate does. She wouldn’t even go into the same room as him. She just pointed.”
“Mousey is just what I call him until I think of a good name,” I told David.
“How about Mousey Tongue,” suggested Kalem and laughed out loud at some joke that only he got. “He was a Chinese guy – like you, Tao.”
I might be Chinese, but I never heard of a name like that. David raised his eyes to heaven and twirled his finger on the side of his head to show how mad Kalem was.
“Call him the Rodent,” he said. “That’s a proper name for a mouse. The Rodent Strikes Back!” he added dramatically.
“The Attack of the Raging Rodent!” I added.
Then the film started and the talk stopped, but the name Rodent stuck.
The Thirteenth Thing: The film was brilliant. There was some really awesome martial arts fighting in it and all the way home David was practising his chops and kicks.
“Hi …YAA!” he yelled and leapt into the air, his foot outstretched and his hands rigid.
“Hi …YAAAHOOO!” I yelled and kicked a lamp post.
“That’s rubbish, Tao,” said David.
David is a bit of an expert at martial arts. He’s tried a few different classes, but he hasn’t found the right one yet. So far he has a white belt in karate, a white belt in judo and a white belt in kick-boxing.
“And that’s got to add up to at least one black belt,” he claims.
“It adds up to a whole lot of nothing,” says Kalem. David gave him a karate chop on the arm for that, but Kalem didn’t even seem to notice.
Back in the house, Kate lit the candles on a big lumpy cake she had made herself. This time I got to blow them out by myself and the boys cheered and David wanted to give me the birthday bumps, but Kalem said they would need more than two to lift me, so I escaped. When we’d eaten about half the cake (it was delicious – the worse Kate’s cakes look, the better they taste) and I’d opened my presents (a football – because I needed to practise, said David, and an underwater torch – for the
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