29 - Monster Blood III (7 page)

Kermit and Andy followed Evan into the backyard, cheering and shouting, “You
made it! You’re free!”

Evan turned to face them. “But now what?” he asked. “Now what do I do? I’m nearly as tall as the garage. How tall am I
going to grow?”

Kermit stepped closer to Evan. “Look—I’m standing in your shade!” he
declared.

Evan’s shadow fell across the yard like the shadow of a tree trunk. “Kermit,
give me a break,” Evan muttered. “I have a little bit of a problem here, you
know?”

“Maybe we should get you to a doctor,” Andy suggested.

“A doctor?” Evan cried. “What could a doctor do for me?”

“Put you on a diet?” Andy joked.

Evan leaned over her, squinting down at her menacingly. “Andy, I’m warning
you. One more bad joke, and—”

“Okay, okay.” Andy raised her hands as if trying to shield herself from him.
“Sorry. Just trying to keep it light.”

“Evan isn’t light. He’s heavy!” Kermit chimed in. His idea of a joke.

Evan let out an unhappy growl. “I don’t think a doctor can help me. I mean, I
couldn’t fit into a doctor’s office.”

“But maybe if we brought the can of Monster Blood along, the doctor could
figure out an antidote,” Andy suggested. “Some kind of cure.”

Evan started to reply. But shrill voices on the other side of the tall wooden
fence at the back of the yard made him stop.

“Cut it out, Conan!” a girl pleaded.

“Yeah. Leave us alone, Conan!” Evan heard a boy shout.

Evan lumbered over to the fence and peered into Conan’s yard. He saw Conan
Barber furiously swinging a baseball bat, swinging it hard, forcing a little boy
and girl to back up against the fence.

“Let us go!” the little girl screamed. “Why are you so mean?”

Conan swung the bat, bringing it close to the boy and girl, making them cry
out.

Evan leaned over the fence. His broad shadow fell over Conan. “Want to play
ball with me, Conan?” Evan thundered.

The two little kids spun around. They stared up at the enormous Evan. It took
them a long time to realize they were staring at a real, giant human.

Then they began to scream.

Conan’s mouth dropped open and a strangled gurgling sound escaped his throat.

“Hey, Conan, how about a little batting practice?” Evan asked, his voice
booming over the backyard. Evan reached over the fence and plucked the bat from
Conan’s hand.

The little boy and girl ran away screaming. They darted through the hedge at
the side of Conan’s yard and kept running until they vanished from view.

Evan took the bat and snapped it in two between his hands. It cracked apart like a toothpick.

Conan froze in place, staring up at Evan in disbelief. He pointed a trembling
finger. “Evan—you—you—you—” he stammered.

Evan tossed the two pieces of the cracked bat at Conan’s feet, forcing Conan
to hop out of the way.

“You ate Monster Blood!” Conan accused. “That sticky green stuff. The stuff
that Cuddles the hamster ate last year! You ate some—didn’t you!”

Evan didn’t want to be reminded of Cuddles the hamster. The little creature
had turned into a huge, vicious beast after eating Monster Blood. Cuddles had
returned to hamster size only because the Monster Blood was old and stale.

But the Monster Blood Evan had swallowed was new and fresh.

Now
I’m
a huge, vicious beast, Evan thought sadly.

“Are you crazy? Are you totally messed up? Why did you eat Monster Blood?”
Conan demanded.

“It was an accident,” Evan told him.

Conan continued to stare up at Evan, but his fearful expression faded. Conan
suddenly started to laugh. “I’m glad it happened to you and not me!” he
exclaimed.

“Huh? Why?” Evan demanded.

“Because I’m afraid of heights!” Conan replied. He laughed again. “I always
thought you were a nerd, Evan!” Conan declared. “But now you’re a BIG nerd!”

Evan let out an angry growl and lurched forward. He tried to climb over the
fence. But he didn’t step high enough. Conan’s fence splintered beneath Evan’s
heavy sneaker.

“Hey—!” Conan cried in alarm.

He tried to turn and run, but Evan was too fast for him.

Evan grabbed Conan under the shoulders and lifted him off the ground as if he
weighed nothing.

“Let go! Let go of me!” Conan screamed. He kicked his arms and legs like a
baby.

“I never knew you were afraid of heights,” Evan said. Holding Conan in both
hands, he raised him high in the air.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Conan cried. “What are you going to do?”

“Let’s see if you know how to fly!” Evan exclaimed.

“Noooooo!” Conan’s shrill cry rose up over the yard. He kicked and thrashed
as Evan raised him even higher. “Put me down! Put me down!”

“Okay,” Evan agreed. “I’ll put you down.” He set Conan down on a high tree
branch.

Conan clung to the trunk for dear life, trembling and crying. “Evan—don’t
leave me up here! Please! I told you, I’m afraid of heights! Evan—come back!
Evan!”

A huge grin on his huge face, Evan turned away from Conan. “That was a lot of fun!” he called down to his friends.

Conan continued to weep and wail up in the tree. Evan took a few steps toward
the front yard. “That was excellent!” Evan said, still grinning. “Excellent!”

“Where are you going?” he heard Andy call up to him.

“Yeah! What are you going to do now?” Kermit asked eagerly.

“This is kind of cool!” Evan declared. Having his revenge on Conan had put
him in a better mood. “Let’s go see if we can have some more fun!”

“Yaaaay!” Kermit cried, racing to keep up with Evan.

Evan ducked his head to keep from banging it on a low tree branch. He took
several big steps toward the street.

“Oh!” He stopped and cried out when he felt himself step on something. He
heard a cracking, then a crunch beneath his enormous sneaker.

He turned to see Kermit raise both hands to his face. “Oh, no!” Kermit
shrieked. “You squashed Andy! Evan—you squashed Andy!”

Evan gasped and jerked up his foot.

Kermit let out a high-pitched laugh. “Gotcha, Evan!”

Andy came running over from the driveway. “That wasn’t funny!” she scolded
Kermit. “That was a really dumb joke, Kermit. You scared Evan to death.”

“I know!” Kermit laughed, very pleased with himself.

Evan let out a sigh of relief. He bent down to see what he had stepped on.
Conan’s skateboard. It lay crushed and splintered, flat on the grass.

He turned angrily to Kermit. “No more stupid jokes,” he thundered. “Or I’ll
put you up in the tree with Conan.”

“Okay. Okay,” Kermit mumbled. “You think you’re tough just because you’re so
big.”

Evan held up a pointer finger. “Careful, Kermit,” he warned. “I could knock
you over with one finger.”

“Conan is still yelling for help back there,” Andy reported.

Evan smiled. “Let’s see who’s hanging out at the playground. Maybe we can
surprise some other kids.”

Evan crossed the street, taking long, heavy strides. He felt as if he were
walking on stilts. This is kind of cool, he told himself. I’m the biggest person
in the world!

He passed by the neighbors’ basketball hoop, which stood on a pole at the
curb. Hey—I’m at least six feet taller than the basket! he realized.

“Hey—wait up!” Andy called breathlessly. “Don’t walk so fast!”

“I can’t help it!” Evan called back.

A small blue car rolled by, then squealed to a stop. Evan could see a woman
and two kids in the car. They were all staring out at him.

A little girl on a bike turned the corner. She started pedaling toward Evan.
He saw the look of surprise on her face when she spotted him.

She braked her bike hard, nearly toppling over the handlebars. Then she
wheeled around and sped out of sight.

Evan laughed.

Another car screeched to a halt.

As he started to cross another street, Evan turned to see who was in the car.
He didn’t watch where he was going.

A loud
crunch
made him stop.

With a gasp, he peered down—and saw that he had stepped on a car.

“Oh, no!” Evan cried. His sneaker had crushed in the top of the car—as if
it were made of tinfoil.

Evan backed away in horror. Was someone inside?

He dropped to his knees to stare in the window. “Thank goodness!” he cried
when he saw that the car was empty.

“Wow!” Kermit exclaimed, walking around and around the smashed-in car. “You
must weigh at least a ton, Evan!”

Andy stepped up beside Evan, who remained on his knees. “Be careful,” she
warned. “You’ve got to watch every step.”

Evan nodded in agreement. “At least I think I’ve stopped growing,” he called
down to her.

As they reached the playground, Evan saw several kids shouting and pointing
excitedly at a tall maple tree on the corner.

What’s going on? Evan wondered.

As he lumbered closer, he saw the problem. Their yellow kite had become stuck
up in the tree.

“Hey—no problem!” Evan boomed.

The kids screamed and cried out in surprise as Evan stepped up to them. They
all backed away, their faces tight with fear.

Evan reached up easily and tugged the kite loose from the tree limb. Then he
leaned down and gently handed it to the nearest kid.

“Hey, thanks!” A grin spread across the kid’s freckled face.

The other kids all cheered. Evan took a bow.

Andy laughed. “You need a red cape and a pair of blue tights,” she shouted up
to him. “It’s Super Evan!”

“Super Evan!” the kids shouted as they ran off happily with their kite.

Evan leaned down to talk to Andy. “If I stay big like this, do you think I
really could get a job as a superhero?”

“I don’t think it pays very well,” Kermit chimed in. “In the comic books, you
never
see those guys getting paid.”

They crossed the street and headed toward the playground. Evan glanced at the
redbrick school building on the corner. It’s so small, he thought.

He suddenly realized that he stood at least two stories tall. If I walk over
there, I can see into the second-floor classrooms, he thought.

How will I go to school? Evan wondered. I can’t squeeze through the door. I
won’t fit in Mrs. McGrady’s room anymore.

Feeling a wave of sadness roll over him, he turned away from the school
building. He heard cheers and shouts. A softball game was underway on the
practice diamond.

Evan recognized Billy Denver and Brian Johnson and some of the other kids. He
always had to beg to play softball with them. They never wanted Evan on their team because he wasn’t a very good hitter.

He strolled over the grass to the practice diamond. Andy and Kermit ran
behind him, struggling to keep up.

Brian was starting to pitch the ball. But he stopped short when he spotted
Evan. The ball dropped from his hand and dribbled to the ground.

Players on both teams gasped and shouted.

Evan strode up to Brian on the pitcher’s mound. Brian’s eyes bulged in fear
as Evan drew near. Brian raised his hands to shield himself. “Don’t hurt me!” he
pleaded.

“Hey—it’s Evan!” Billy exclaimed. “Look, guys! It’s Evan!”

Kids from both teams gathered around, murmuring excitedly, nervously.

Brian slowly lowered his hands and stared up at the giant Evan. “Wow! It
really
is
you! Evan—how did you
do
that?”

“What happened to you?” another kid cried.

“He’s been working out!” Andy told them.

The kids laughed. Very tense laughter.

Andy always has a joke for everything, Evan thought.

“Uh… want to play?” Brian asked. “You can be on my team.”

“No. My team!” Billy insisted.

“No way! He’s on my team!” Brian shouted. “We’re one man short, remember?”

“Don’t say
short
around Evan!” Andy joked.

Everyone laughed again.

Billy and Brian continued to fight over which team would get Evan. Evan stood
back and enjoyed the argument. He picked up a wooden bat. It had always seemed
so heavy before. Now it felt as light as a pencil.

Billy won the argument. “You can bat now, Evan,” he said, grinning up at him.

“How can I pitch to him? He’s a giant!” Brian complained.

“Pitch it really high,” Evan suggested.

“Evan, do your mom and dad know you grew like this?” Billy asked, walking to
home plate beside Evan.

Evan swallowed hard. He hadn’t thought about his parents. They’d be getting
home from work soon. They weren’t going to be happy about this. How would he
break the news to them? he wondered.

And then he thought: I won’t
have
to break the news to them. They’ll
see for themselves what has happened!

He stepped up to the plate and swung the bat onto his shoulder. “Wish we had
a bigger bat,” he muttered. It was a little larger than a drinking straw.

“Get a hit!” Billy shouted from behind the backstop.

“Get a hit, Evan!” several other players called.

Brian’s first pitch sailed past Evan’s ankles.

“Higher!” Evan called out to him. “You’ll have to throw it higher.”

“I’m trying!” Brian grumbled. He pulled the softball back and tossed it
again.

This time, the pitch flew past Evan’s knees.

“It’s hard to throw that high,” Brian complained. “This isn’t fair.”

“Strike him out, Brian!” the first baseman cried. “You can do it. Evan always
strikes out!”

It’s true, Evan thought unhappily. I do usually strike out.

He gripped the little bat tighter, poising it over his shoulder. He suddenly
wondered if being so big would make a difference.

Maybe he’d just strike out
bigger
!

Brian’s next pitch sailed higher. Evan swung hard. The bat hit the softball
with a deafening
thwack
—and cracked in two.

The ball sailed up, up, up. Off the playground. Over the school. And out of
sight, somewhere in the next block.