"What
was that?" I had an awful urge to stick my pinkies in both ears and dig,
because my brain didn't want to acknowledge what Pete had just told me.
"Pi
Surprise." He sighed, like he had gone through this a few times already in
his mind, and practicing hadn't helped.
"Why
would you want to do that? Especially after Gordon told us about all the
complaints they've been getting."
"Because
it has to be done really early in the morning --"
"I
repeat, why would you want to do it? You're the one who doesn't run on
solar batteries, remember?"
Getting
up early to bomb someone's lawn with decorations was part of the package. It
had to be done early, so the workers wouldn't get caught and sent away by the
unwilling recipients of the embarrassment.
"Because
it won't get in the way of going out in the afternoon, and it'll never get in
the way of my other job."
"Okay,
that makes sense."
Pete
turned to look at me, to make sure I wasn't being sarcastic.
"Are
you able to handle the work on your bike? Because I'm not getting up at
four-dark-thirty to drive you around. I'm proud of you that you're being
responsible for your expenses … and I can't believe I'm sounding more and more
like …" I laughed.
"You were going to say you sound like Mum and Pop, but you don't, because they would never talk like that," he said, sinking down into the nearest chair with a big grin.
"Just sounding like a parent. Man, is this what happens when there's a baby on the way? The air changes and does something to your brain so you start sounding like an adult?" I shook my head and held up a hand to stop him responding with whatever smart-aleck comeback was making him grin like that. "Okay, I'm proud of you. Even though you couldn’t pay me enough to take a job like that. Staying up late to fly patrol is one thing, but getting up early? Nuh uh. Not me."
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