Trouble in Paradise Read Free Page A

popped him.”
    “We’re supposed to stay out of fights,” I said.
    “Sounds like you were barking up the same tree,” Jack said.
    “Maybe, but I didn’t actually fight anybody.”
    “Neither did I. I punched somebody and he ran away. That’s hardly a fight.”
    “Besides, he started it,” Lesley said.
    “Hey, I like this girl,” Jack said, and Lesley smiled. “All I did was finish the fight … well … maybe it’s finished.”
    “Maybe?” I asked. “What else are you going to do?”
    “I’m not going to do anything.”
    I understood what he meant. Maybe the guy who got punched would talk to his friends, and we didn’t have any friends yet … unless you counted Lesley. I figured she could probably deliver a pretty good punch.
    “But even if he comes back with a couple of friends, I’m still okay. I don’t mind being outnumbered three to one,” Jack bragged.
    “Don’t you mean three to two?” Lesley said, pointing at me.
    I waited for Jack to make some smart comment.
    “Yeah, you have a point. My baby brother can handle himself. He could have probably taken the two of them without my help.”
    That wasn’t what I’d expected him to say.
    “Thanks.”
    “Sure … but really … how tough could they be if one punch sent them both packing?”
    He had a point.
    “We’d better get going, Georgie.”
    “Georgie?” Lesley asked.
    “No, it’s George. My name is George.” Oh great, I thought, nothing like starting over in a new place and bringing your old baby nickname with you.
    Jack laughed. “Right, he’s George … but you call him Georgie if you want. Now, give your girlfriend a kiss goodbye, Georgie, and let’s get on our way.”
    “She not my—”
    Lesley reached over and kissed me on the cheek! And before I had a chance to react, she’d turned and was gone.
    “Not a word!” I threatened Jack.
    “Not a word,” he agreed. “But maybe a little song. How does that go again? … uh … yes, I remember. Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie, kissed the girls— ”
    I took a swing at Jack, but he dodged away and I almost fell over.
    “—and made them cry!” he continued.
    “At least I’m pretty sure that Lesley isn’t a German spy,” I said.
    Before I could regret my words, Jack grabbed me by my school blazer, spun me around and pulled me up on my tippytoes so I was facing him eyeball to eyeball.
    “Want to repeat that?” he asked.
    “Not really. I think I’m pretty sorry I said it the first time.”
    His angry look dissolved into a smile and he lowered me.
    “I guess I deserved it,” he said.
    “Not really. I’m sorry.”
    Jack’s last girlfriend—really, his first and only girlfriend—had turned out to be a Nazi agent who was really twenty-two years old. She’d lied about everything, starting with her age. But to be fair, we’d lied, too, in order to protect our family’s cover story.
    “Who was that girl you were with?” I asked.
    “Her name is Louise. She’s very nice. She’s in my class.”
    “Maybe in your grade. According to those two guys, you’re definitely not in her class,” I joked. “I’ve got a bunch of them in my room who are just like that.”
    “I don’t care where they come from or who they think they are,” Jack said, “I just know I’m not taking it from anybody. And you make sure you don’t either, understand?”
    “I understand.”
    “Hey!” a voice came from behind.
    We both turned. Coming down the beach were eight or nine boys, all in our school uniform. Leading the pack were two familiar faces—the guys who had run away. I felt a chill go down my spine. That’s why they’d been running, to get help.
    “We could run. They wouldn’t catch us,” I said.
    “They wouldn’t catch us today, but we’d still have to come to school on Monday. You get going … walk away and I’ll make sure they don’t go after you.”
    For a split second, I almost agreed. “No. I’m not going anywhere without you.”
    “Last chance,”