Rebel McKenzie Read Online Free

gonna have my picture taken with him and Mud Hog. And then we’ll go to Tastee Freez.” Rudy zoomed the race car back to its spot in the row.
    He didn’t seem to realize that he lived here now and wouldn’t see his daddy next weekend, even if Chuck did manage to win a race by some miracle. Virginia is a long way from Alabama.
    â€œSee my comic?” Rudy flipped open a tablet and showed me a smudgy pencil story with pictures. “I’m gonna be a comic drawer when I grow up.”
    â€œI thought you were gonna be a race car driver.”
    â€œI can do both,” he said, tossing the tablet on my side of our enormous room.
    â€œSupper’s ready!” Lynette called.
    Doublewide quit washing in mid-lick and bounded off the bed like a kangaroo. For his size, he sure could move quick. He skidded into the kitchen, then jumped up on the extra dinette chair, waiting for his meal just like a person.
    â€œNo animals at the table,” Lynette told Rudy as she set plates down.
    â€œDoublewide is part of the family,” Rudy said. “Rebel’s here. She’s family.”
    â€œRebel is not a cat.” Lynette put my plate in front of me and shooed the cat. Doublewide didn’t twitch a whisker.
    I stared at my plate. Shriveled pieces of meat were drowned in bright red sauce over mushy noodles. “What is this?”
    â€œHot dog spaghetti,” Lynette said, passing around a saucer of soft white bread smeared with margarine. “Rudy’s favorite. Don’t you like spaghetti?”
    â€œRegular spaghetti, yeah.” I poked at a little green thing with my fork.
    â€œCanned peas,” Lynette said. “Stop picking at your food.”
    I finally took a bite. It tasted better than it looked, though it was kind of sweet.
    Rudy speared a pea on his fork. “There’s a guy on the next street with a big ol’ bump on his neck like a football. I seen him. I bet he has to eat like this.” He wrenched his head sideways and opened his mouth wide as a bullfrog’s.
    â€œRudy, don’t tell stories,” Lynette said.
    â€œIt’s not a story! I seen him with my own two eyes. He had a scarf on, but you can still see the bump. The lady next door to him won the jackpot at bingo last Friday. Three hundred dollars and a real silver pickle dish.”
    â€œYou sure know a lot about people, considering you’ve only been here two days,” I said.
    â€œRudy, you haven’t been pestering the neighbors, have you?” my sister asked.
    He shook his head. “Uh-uh. I heard about that man from—somebody. I went over to see him, is all.”
    I wondered who this mysterious somebody was.
    â€œAnd don’t go gossiping about the neighbors,” Lynette warned him. “People will have a bad impression of us.”
    After supper, she gave Rudy two Oreos and sent him outside to play. Then we tackled the dishes.
    â€œRebel, I didn’t tell you everything about my little boy.” Lynette squirted Ivory soap into the running tap. A fine stream of bubbles floated upward. One popped on my arm, leaving a damp circle.
    â€œLike what?” A lump of dread rose in my throat. Was Rudy a pint-sized ax murderer?
    â€œHe’s crazy about his daddy, but Chuck is hardly ever around. Chuck doesn’t mean to hurt Rudy’s feelings, but that’s just the way he is.” She rinsed a yellow monster truck cup and plopped it in the drainer. “So Rudy got more—delicate-like, I guess you could say. He sleepwalks.”
    â€œHe walks in his sleep?” I’d heard of people sleepwalking but never knew anyone who did. “What if he walks in his sleep tonight? What’ll I do?”
    â€œHe doesn’t do it every night. Only once in a while. And if he does, just lead him back to bed, easy. You don’t want to wake him up.”
    â€œWill he look like he’s awake?”
    Lynette nodded. “He’ll