Mrs. Dinh helped Jerry pack his pajamas, his toothbrush, and a change of clothes for the next day.
“Don’t forget Otter,” she reminded him.
Otter was a puppet Jerry’s dad had brought him all the way from California. He was big and soft and had a hole in the back where you stuck your hand to make the arms move. Jerry slept with him every night.
But should he bring him to Stookie’s house? What if Stookie made fun of him?
“Uh, I don’t know, Mom,” Jerry said.
“Why don’t you pack him, just in case?” his mother suggested. “You know what I always say: Better to have him and not need him than to need him and not have him.”
Jerry smiled. “Okay,” he said, sticking Otter into his knapsack. He shut off his bedroom light, and together they walked downstairs.
“Have fun!” Mrs. Dinh called as Jerry walked the short way to Stookie’s house.
“Come on in!” Stookie said when he answered the door. Jerry said hello to Stookie’s parents, then the two boys hurried upstairs to Stookie’s room.
Stookie pushed open the door with a grand gesture. “What do you think?”
“Cool!” Jerry cried. And he meant it. Stookie’s room was covered with sports posters and banners. One bed had sheets with soccer balls on it, the other had basketballs. But the neatest thing was the structure in the corner. It was three levels high and enclosed with clear plastic. Plastic tubes led up to each level where there were wheels, platforms, and other things to climb on.
“What is that?” he asked.
“That’s where my gerbils live,” Stookie said proudly. Jerry looked closer. Sure enough, one gerbil was scurrying up a tube. The other was buried in the wood shavings that lined the bottom.
“Gerbils are pretty easy to take care of, and they’re really fun to watch,” Stookie continued. “All you have to do is make sure they have enough water in their bottles and food in their trays. I usually fill the water at night and the food in the morning.”
He lifted the mesh top of the cage and pulled out a bottle. He showed Jerry how to fill it, then returned it to its holder. “Just make sure you close this top,” Stookie warned as he lowered the mesh cover. “If these guys get out, they can make a mess.”
“Gotcha,” Jerry said. “What are their names?”
“That’s Peanut Butter,” Stookie said, pointing to the climbing gerbil. “Marshmallow is the one sleeping.”
“Are they boys or girls?”
“Boys. Mom made sure when we bought them.” Stookie grinned. “She didn’t want any baby gerbils in the house, she said.”
“That’s right.” Jerry and Stookie looked up to see Mrs. Norris in the doorway. “You boys ready to come have some popcorn and watch a movie?”
“You betcha!” the boys chorused. They left the room, Jerry taking one last look at the gerbil habitat.
I’ll take good care of you guys, he promised the animals silently.
