WITHOUT BOTHERING TO SAY hello to Rubén and his mom, Loop spread the pictures on the table. “Look. Here’s proof that I’m totally reading Frankenstein.” And then he explained why the monster had mismatched body parts and how he had created a unique version because instead of copying, an artist takes bits and pieces from different places to create something new. “Just like Dr. Frankenstein created something new,” he found himself saying. “Only my ‘new’ thing isn’t ugly like his.” He looked at his own pictures. “Well, maybe it is ugly, but I made it like that on purpose.”

This made his mom and Rubén laugh.

“You have all these rough drafts and put a lot of work into this,” Rubén said. “That’s good.”

His comment gave Loop hope. “That’s why I deserve a little break now. Don’t you think?”

Rubén nodded.

“So I can go to Conjuring Cats?” Loop asked, all excited.

“Sure, why not?”

He was about to head out when his mom jumped in. “Wait a minute. We’ve discussed this. You are not finished with the book, and—”

“Let him go,” Rubén insisted. “He’s been working all day.”

“Yeah,” Loop said. “It can’t be ‘all work, no play’ all the time.”

“It certainly can,” his mother said.

Rubén took her hand and kissed it. “Por favor, mi amor.”

She always gave in when Rubén flirted with her. “Fine,” she said. “Since you guys are ganging up on me, what choice do I have? It’s two against one.”

In magic, a skilled card handler will ask the spectator to choose a random card, but it’s never truly random, since the card that gets picked is the one the magician wants. It’s called a force. It worked for magicians, and it worked for Loop, too, because he’d forced his mom to give him the answer he was looking for—a giant yes for Conjuring Cats.

Loop cheered, and Rubén raised his fist. Loop almost gave him a fist bump, but he changed his mind at the last minute and offered a handshake instead. “Thank you,” he said, all formal.

Rubén looked disappointed, but he shook Loop’s hand anyway and kept an upbeat voice. “You’re welcome,” he said.

Loop went to his room to grab his wallet. As he was leaving the house, he heard his mom complain to Rubén. “If you keep spoiling him, he’ll never respect you.”

Loop shook his head. It’s not about respect, he thought. It’s about trust.

He didn’t want to dwell on his family’s Big Lie, so he focused on reviewing the magic routine he’d been planning for the convention. Fifteen minutes later, he reached Conjuring Cats, but he didn’t go into the Vault right away because he wanted to buy some supplies.

“I need latex skin, a rubber knife, and some fake blood,” he announced as soon as he saw Mrs. Garza.

“You know where they are,” she said.

He went to the aisle where they kept costume supplies and quickly grabbed the latex skin and fake blood, but he couldn’t decide what kind of weapon to buy. He thought he wanted a knife, but then he saw axes and swords. They would totally improve the “awesome” level of his routine. He picked up a sword and then an ax and pretended to stab and hack. They didn’t weigh anything because they were made of plastic. “Nah,” he decided. Swords and axes were for lopping off heads, amputating arms, and slicing people in half. He had no intention of doing major bodily harm in his routine. “Just minor bodily harm.” He chuckled to himself. Yup, he needed to stick to his original plan, so he turned his attention to the knives, settling on one called the Terror Blade. It had a picture of a man with wild hair, lunatic eyes, and a muzzle. “This is perfect!” Loop said.

As he paid for his items, he chatted with Mrs. Garza, asking about Mr. Garza’s gig and complaining about staying home all week. Then he headed to the Vault, expecting it to be empty, but as soon as he pushed back the purple velvet curtain, he saw Dominic. When he remembered how Dominic had ruined his chop cup, he got insanely mad, just like the psycho on the Terror Blade package.

Loop’s teeth were clenched, but he still managed to snarl, “You!”