Maria had a huge pink purse that used to belong to her mother.
“I’ll let you borrow it on one condition,” she said.
That condition meant I had to let her be a part of my plan.
“Policemen like a second witness,” she said. “Don’t you watch TV?”
Maria had a point.
“And purses are usually carried by girls,” she added.
I hadn’t thought about that. “Okay,” I told Maria. “You can be my partner.”
“Great!” she said. “Let’s get Gio.” “Why do we need Gio?”
“I promised Mama I’d pick him up at the sledding hill,” Maria answered.
A few minutes later, we were listening to Gio cry.
“I don’t want to stop sledding!” His face was so red from the cold that he looked like a cherry.
“Aren’t you hungry?” I asked. “There’s great food in the gym.”
“They have guacamole,” Maria said.
Gio stopped crying and turned his cherry face up. “Let’s go!”
Some people can be bought with guacamole. Gio is one of them.
When we got to the gym, everyone was eating off green plates and wiping their mouths with green napkins. I saw a big green cake in the shape of a four-leaf clover on the table. It had a rainbow with a pot of gold on it.
“That looks like one lucky cake,” I said. “Where did it come from?” “A nice man at the supermarket,” Mom said. “He saw the news story on the TV and thought we might like to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day a little early.”
“Why not?” I said, picking up a green plate.
Superheroes are always on the job, but they still need to eat. Maria followed me to the table with the giant pink purse dangling off her arm. Gio was right behind her.
“Guacamole!” Gio smiled. “My favorite!”
As he piled up his plate, Erika came over and cut into line.
“Hey!” she said. “Leave some for other people.”
This was the third time in two days Erika had bothered Gio. With Gio, it’s three strikes and you’re out. He put his arms around the guacamole bowl.
“You can’t have any,” he shouted. “You’re a bully!”
“Gio,” Maria warned. “That might not be a good idea.”
It all happened faster than Zapato Power. Gio took the guacamole and dashed out the gym door. Erika tried to stop him. Maria went to save him. They all grabbed at the bowl. Before I could blink, guacamole was all over Erika, Gio, and Maria.
“Yuck!” Erika said, wiping green stuff off her face.
“Double yuck!” Maria said, dropping her pink purse in the hallway. It was covered in guacamole too.
We all ran to grab green napkins.
By the time we came back, the guacamole-covered purse was gone!
“Call the police!” Maria cried, wiping mushy stuff off her shirt. Some grown-ups took out their cell phones as Mr. Vaslov rushed over to us.
“What happened?” he asked, staring at Erika’s face. She had guacamole on her eyebrows.
“Get me more napkins!” she demanded.
Gio ran away to hug his mother.
I pressed the button on my wristband. It was time to get out of there.
