Travis was amazed at how quickly Chase Jordan seemed to have become best friends with Nish. To Travis, they were direct opposites: one red-headed, one dark; one slim, one a bit heavy; one quiet, one loud; one seeking to escape the spotlight, one willing to do anything for attention. But then, had he not read somewhere that opposites attract?
By day’s end, the two very different peewee hockey players seemed lifelong buddies. They had toured The Wall together, had played Frisbee hockey together, and had even stuck together when Mr. Dillinger took them all off to Dave & Buster’s, a special, three-storey extravaganza of video games, sports fun, and restaurants. Mr. Dillinger called it “A Special, Once-in-a-Lifetime Stupid Stop.”
They had virtual reality battles and played all the latest video games. They ate hot dogs and hamburgers and fries, and Nish taught Chase how to regulate his belches after chugging an entire Coke so he could walk along and burp loudly every third step. During lunch, Nish told Chase about his many adventures with plastic puke and X-ray glasses and nude beaches, and then he and Wilson taught Chase a trick they claimed they’d invented in Tamarack: cupping their palms together, squeezing out the air, and then flexing their hands to produce quick little farting sounds.
“Works great in class,” Nish said as if he were giving a university lecture on the art of hand-farting. “Teachers never know who’s doing it. Drives them crazy.”
Chase Jordan listened intently, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. He mastered the “art” of hand-farting and was soon belching and burping and snorting like a Nish understudy in a play called The Most Ignorant Twelve-Year-Old on the Face of the Earth.
What would the President think? Travis wondered. Never mind that, he told himself. What would poor Mrs. Nishikawa think, her son corrupting the son of the President of the United States?
But he knew the truth. Mrs. Nishikawa would think it only natural that a member of the First Family would fall for the charm of her one and only darling son. And if there was trouble, she’d think it was the President’s kid who had corrupted her little angel.
It hardly surprised Travis at all when Nish announced, just before the Owls all tucked in for the night, that he had struck a special deal with Chase Jordan.
“Chase’s gonna pay me back for all I’ve done for him,” Nish announced after the light was out.
Travis bit his tongue. “All I’ve done for him?” Travis repeated to himself. Where did Nish get off thinking this was all his idea?
Fahd, however, couldn’t resist. “How?” he asked.
Nish lay in the dark snickering to himself.
Finally, Travis was caught. He had to know. “How?” he said, slightly annoyed.
Nish sighed deeply, immensely satisfied with himself.
“The Old Nisherama’s gonna streak the White House.”