31 - Night of the Living Dummy II Read Online Free Page B

report card was going to be. I had to force myself to stop
thinking about it.
    “Uh… I’ll clear the dishes,” I announced.
    I started to stand up.
    But I stopped with a startled cry when I saw the short figure creep into the
living room.
    A dummy!
    My dummy.
    He was crawling across the room!

 
 
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    I let out another cry. I pointed to the living room with a trembling finger.
“M-mom! Dad!” I stammered.
    Sara was still talking about the art competition. But she turned to see what
everyone was gaping at.
    The dummy’s head popped out from behind the armchair.
    “It’s Dennis!” I cried.
    I heard muffled laughter. Jed’s muffled laughter.
    The dummy reached up both hands and pulled off his own head. And Jed’s
head popped up through the green turtleneck. He still had spaghetti sauce
smeared on his cheeks. He was laughing hard.
    Everyone else started to laugh, too. Everyone but me.
    Jed had really frightened me.
    He had pulled the neck of his sweater way up over his head. Then he had
tucked Dennis’ wooden head inside the turtleneck.
    Jed was so short and thin. It really looked as if Dennis were creeping into
the room.
    “Stop laughing!” I shouted at my family. “It isn’t funny!”
    “I think it’s very funny!” Mom cried. “What a crazy thing to think
of!”
    “Very clever,” Dad added.
    “It’s not clever,” I insisted. I glared furiously at my brother. “I always
knew you were a dummy!” I screamed at him.
    “Amy, you really were scared,” Sara accused. “You nearly dropped your teeth!”
    “Not true!” I sputtered. “I knew it was Dennis—I mean—Jed!”
    Now everyone started laughing at me! I could feel my face getting hot, and I
knew I was blushing.
    That made them all laugh even harder.
    Nice family, huh?
    I climbed to my feet, walked around the table, and took Dennis’ head away
from Jed. “Don’t go in my room,” I told him through clenched teeth. “And don’t
mess with my stuff.” I stomped away to put the dummy head back in my room.
    “It was just a joke, Amy,” I heard Sara call after me.
    “Yeah. It was just a joke,” Jed repeated nastily.
    “Ha-ha!” I shouted back at
them. “What a riot!”
     
    My anger had faded away by the time we started Family Sharing Night. We
settled in the living room, taking our usual places.
    Mom volunteered to go first. She told a funny story about something that had
happened at work.
    Mom works in a fancy women’s clothing store downtown. She told us about a
really big woman who came into the store and insisted on trying on only tiny
sizes.
    The woman ripped every piece of clothing she tried on—and then bought them
all! “They’re not for me,” the woman explained. “They’re for my sister!”
    We all laughed. But I was surprised Mom told that story. Because Mom is
pretty chubby. And she’s very sensitive about it.
    About as sensitive as Dad is about being bald.
    Dad was the next to share. He brought out his guitar, and we all groaned. Dad
thinks he’s a great singer. But he’s nearly as tone deaf as I am.
    He loves singing all these old folk songs from the sixties. There’s supposed
to be some kind of message in them. But Sara, Jed, and I have no idea what he’s
singing about.
    Dad strummed away and sang something about not working on Maggie’s farm anymore. At least, I think that’s what he
was saying.
    We all clapped and cheered. But Dad knew we didn’t really mean it.
    It was Jed’s turn next. But he insisted that he had already shared. “Dressing
up like Dennis—that was it,” he said.
    No one wanted to argue with him. “Your turn, Amy,” Mom said, leaning against
Dad on the couch. Dad fiddled with his glasses, then settled back.
    I picked up Slappy and arranged him on my lap. I was feeling a little
nervous. I wanted to do a good job and impress them with my new comedy act.
    I’d been practicing all week, and I knew the jokes by heart. But as I slipped
my hand into Slappy’s back and