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Back Me Three Save as PDF
Chapters (34)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 10 Rules for Living a Lucky Life
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. Acknowledgments

“Dad, why don’t you explain about Larry’s mom?” yelled Kate.

I felt like someone threw a bucket of ice on me. And lit me on fire. And stabbed me a bunch of times.

I got up. Larry’s mom. Your mom.

“Rodney,” said my dad.

“Rodney?” said my mom.

“Rodney!” said everyone.

I didn’t answer. I just got up and left.

I don’t know what to say, man. So I won’t say anything.

Rodney

23

Hey, No One,

I didn’t say a word on the way home. Not even Kate spoke, which was fine with me.

But when we got to our dumb, stupid new house in our dumb, stupid new town where everything is bad, something surprising happened. After she put away all the snacks we didn’t eat, which was a lot, my mom went into her room. When she came out, she was pushing a bike for me.

It was a BMX. The frame was painted copper and it smelled like metal and oil and rubber.

“I noticed your friend rides this kind of bike. It will be easier for you to do things with your friends if you have one too.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I said. And then I felt sort of surprised because something good happened and that made me start to cry a little bit.

“Oh, baby,” she said, and she hugged me, which was hard because the bike was between us. But she got it done, because my mom is awesome.

“Make sure you wear a helmet,” said Kate, who was sitting at the kitchen table watching us at the same time as she was FaceTiming with Lavender and Cavendish. “You have exactly no brain cells to spare if you have a crash.”

She might be right.

I asked if I could go for a ride. It wasn’t going to be dinnertime for an hour or so. Mom said to hold up for a second. She went back in her room and came out with a new silver-and-black full-face helmet, which is not what BMXers wear, when they wear helmets at all. But I still liked it.

I rode down the street as fast as I could. In some places the air was still warm from the sun, and it was cool where shade was spreading off the mountain. I rode so fast I couldn’t think about anything.

Rodney, Man of No Words and No Thoughts. Man of no friends.

I rode past the front of the school where the reporters got us and I flipped it the bird.