Cody was tongue-tied and brain-locked all at once.

“But how did you…?” he finally blurted.

“Mr. Hoffman told us,” Steve Parker said. “Jessica came home from school with a bruised foot. She said it was from a karate kick. Her dad made her tell him what happened.”

Cody stared down at his plate. Now he had really lost his appetite—possibly forever. His dizzying ride on Dante’s Headlock Tilt-A-Whirl was about the last thing he wanted to discuss with his parents. But, judging by the expressions on their faces, there would be no changing the subject.

So Cody ran through the whole embarrassing story, starting with the competition at third base, Dante’s threats, and the evening he sent Cody on his swan dive through the gravel. Then Cody told them about this latest run-in with York Middle’s Bully of the Year candidate and Jessica’s heroic intervention, like she was some kind of new Karate Kid.

When he was through, his mom and dad looked at each other and shook their heads softly.

“Maybe in ten years or so, when she gets out of college, we can get Jessica to join the police force,” his dad said. “Sounds like a pretty brave girl.”

Cody nodded morosely. He poked idly at his burger and said quietly, “Way braver than I was.”

His mom patted his arm and said, “Tell us about this Dante.”

“For starters he’s big and mean, with long, stringy black hair,” Cody said. “Sort of like a young Professor Snape. You know, in the Harry Potter movies? Only uglier.”

“Yikes.”

“He’s older too. He looks like he shaves.”

“That would explain a few things,” his mom said.

“And he always looks ticked off. Like instead of saying hi, he wants to knee you in the groin.”

“Sounds like a charmer,” his mom said.

“He’s got two older brothers too,” Cody said. “Vincent and Nick.”

“Bet they have the same sweet personality.”

“The kids call them the Rottweiler Twins,” Cody said.

His mom nodded and said, “Because they’re so cute and fuzzy.”

“Mess with Dante,” Cody went on, “and they mess with you—only twenty times worse. That’s what all the kids say.”

“Great,” his mom said. She sipped her iced tea. “A nasty teenager with muscle behind him. Maybe your dad should get a jail cell ready right now.”

Steve Parker nodded, but remained quiet.

“But it’s funny,” Cody continued. “I’ve seen this look on his face. Like he’s scared, only he doesn’t want anyone to know.”

“Maybe he is scared,” Kate Parker said. “Everyone’s scared of something.”

The waitress arrived and began clearing the dishes. When she had finished and gone off to get the check, Cody’s dad leaned forward and clasped his hands together in front of him. He furrowed his brow and cleared his throat.

Cody recognized the body language right away: his dad was in full problem-solving mode. This is what policemen do; they take action. If a bad guy commits a crime, they think: How do we arrest him and throw him in jail? If an injustice has been committed, their first reaction is, how do we fix it?

“Okay,” he said quietly, “now it’s time to get Dante to leave you alone. And you have to be the one to do it. Agreed?”

Cody nodded. “That’s the part that’s scary,” he said.

“Yep, I remember the feeling,” his dad said. “If we called your principal or your teachers, it could get worse, not better. We need to try something else first. We just need a plan.…”

He stirred his coffee, seemingly lost in thought, and went on. “He’s bigger than you. And stronger too. So a physical confrontation might not be, um, wise.…”

“Not unless you want to see me in the emergency room,” Cody said mournfully.

“Jessica probably scared him ’cause she knew martial arts—or looked like she knew them, anyway,” his dad said. “But you say he’s seemed scared at other times.…Maybe we can work with that. The key is to find something that unsettles him. Like snakes did with Max Wheeler…”

“I have a feeling Dante eats snakes for breakfast,” Cody said. “Maybe for lunch and dinner too.”

“Unless we try something really radical…” his dad said suddenly.

He pulled a ballpoint pen from his shirt pocket and scribbled a couple of sentences on a napkin. Then he pushed the napkin in front of Cody.

Cody couldn’t believe what it said, so he read it twice. Then he passed it to his mom, who scanned it and burst out laughing.

“That’s the big plan?!” Cody said. “That’ll get Dante to leave me alone?!”

“I’ve seen it work before,” his dad said, grinning. “Sometimes you have to think outside the box.”

“OUTSIDE THE BOX?!” Cody almost shouted. “Dad, that’s outside the planet! No, that’s outside the entire universe!”

Then again, what did he have to lose? If he continued to let Dante torture him, he’d end up like one of those nerdy kids who went through life cringing and trying to disappear before someone said something mean to them or tripped them in the hallway or pushed them into a locker.

He stared down at the napkin again. It was the wackiest plan he had ever heard of.

“Okay,” he said. “But if this doesn’t work, it was nice knowing you both.”