Charlie Bumpers vs. the Squeaking Skull by Bill Harley Page B

can’t go trick-or-treating with me. Don’t you want to go with me?”
    “Not really,” I said.
    “You have to,” she said. “It’s what we always do.”
    “We don’t always have to do it like that.”
    “What do you mean?” She gave me a suspicious look. Her mouth opened in a big O like she couldn’tbelieve what I’d just said. Cracker crumbs fell out of her mouth onto her shirt.
    “I don’t know,” I said. “We won’t go out on Halloween together forever.”
    “We always go out together,” she protested. “It’s what we do.”
    I didn’t say anything. Suddenly I realized that going to Alex’s would be a lot trickier than I’d thought.
    My mom was going to ask what we’d be doing there. If I told her about the scary movie, she’d say it wasn’t a good idea.
    Matt would find out and then he’d tease me about being a dorky chicken.
    But worst of all, the Squid was going to be really upset about me not going with her. And then my parents would feel bad for her and make me feel bad, too.
    I was going to have to be very careful.
    After I finished my homework, I found my mom alone in the kitchen. She was cutting up some celery to put in the salad for dinner. It seemed like a good time to talk to her.
    “Mom,” I said, “do we always have to go trick-or-treating all together?”
    “What do you mean?” she asked. She wasn’t really listening hard yet, which was good.
    “I mean I always have to go with Mabel.”
    “What’s wrong with that?” The chopping slowed down a little.
    I didn’t want Mom to listen too closely, because then she would start to ask questions.
    “Well, she’s kind of slow, so we can’t get around to as many houses as I want. And then when you or Dad come along, you talk to the grown-ups, and that slows us down even more.”
    She stopped cutting and looked up. Bad sign! I wished she would keep her mind mostly on the celery.
    “Charlie, what is it you want to do?” she asked.
    Uh-oh,
I thought.
Here goes.
“I … um … I want to go with just my friends,” I muttered.
    Matt came into the kitchen. “Hey, when’s dinner?” he asked.
    “When the cook is done cooking,” Mom grumbled.
    I didn’t want to talk with Matt in the room. But Mom went right on with her questions. “So you want to go trick-or-treating with just Tommy?”
    “Sort of,” I said.
    “You can’t go with just Tommy,” Matt said. “You have to take Mabel.”
    “I always have to take Mabel,” I said.
    “That’s because you’re her older brother,” Matt explained, like he was a teacher or something.
    “So are you,” I complained. “Why don’t
you
take her?”
    “Because this year I’m in charge of candy distribution. Plus, I’m going to dress up like a ghoul and sit on the front porch and scare kids.”
    “Really?” I asked.
    “Yep,” Matt said. “I’ll scare them so bad they’ll wet their pants.”
    “Matthew Bumpers!” Mom snapped. “You will not do that!”
    “But, Mom!” Matt protested. “You said I could.”
    “I said you could hand out candy. I did
not
say you could scare children.”
    “It’s Halloween!” Matt said. “The whole point of Halloween is to scare kids.”
    “What about me trick-or-treating with friends?” I asked.
    “Who else do you want to come over?” Mom asked.
    “Well—”
    Just as I started to answer, the Squid skipped into the kitchen.
    “—Alex invited me to come over to his house,” I finished.
    “And you would go trick-or-treating over there?” Mom asked.
    “Yeah,” I said. “Tommy’s going, too.”
    The Squid stopped and stared at me. “What?” she asked.
    “Nothing,” I said.
    “Your big brother Charlie doesn’t want to go trick-or-treating with you,” Matt said.
    “What?” the Squid asked again. Her voice was getting higher and higher.
    “That’s not true,” Mom said.
    Just then, the back door opened. “Sorry I’m late,” Dad said.
    “Charlie isn’t going trick-or-treating with me!” the Squid