Page 78 of My Life with the Walter Boys
“And that is?” I asked, pulling on black pants.
“We always toilet-paper the principal’s house.”
***
“Shhhh,” Isaac whispered as everyone crowded into Lee’s and his room later. Alex explained that his cousins’ room was the best for sneaking out because of the giant oak tree right by the window.
“All right, does everyone have their roll of toilet paper?” Cole asked, looking around at everyone—everyone except me.
“Yup,” Danny answered, holding up a roll. “I also grabbed that box of plastic forks that Mom was going to use for our graduation party so we can fork the yard.”
“Awesome!” Lee said, high-fiving his cousin.
“Hey, Jackie, what the heck is on your face?” Alex whispered, looking at me.
“War paint,” I answered him, pulling a pencil of black eyeliner out of my pocket. “Want some?”
“Heck yes,” he said, grinning. I pulled the cap off with a pop and slowly began to draw two black lines, one under each of Alex’s eyes.
“Hey,” Isaac said, looking at us, “I want some too!”
“Okay,” I said, smiling. “Anyone else?”
Everyone nodded their heads yes and waited for me to add the war paint. The only person who didn’t want it was Cole.
“That’s so lame,” he said when I asked him if he wanted some. Hurt, I shoved the pencil back in my pocket and turned away from him.
“All right, everyone,” Isaac said, trying to fill the awkward silence. “Down the tree and out to the truck.”
Danny nodded his head and pushed open the window before climbing out and down the tree.
“Watch how he does it,” Alex said, pointing out where his brother placed his feet and hands to climb down.
“Okay, next!” Danny half shouted, half whispered when he was down.
Cole quickly scrambled out the window, followed by Lee, then Isaac.
“Ready?” Alex asked me as I stepped up to the windowsill. I could feel the chilly night air drifting in, and I buttoned my sweater up for warmth.
“I guess,” I said nervously.
“Don’t worry. It’s easy,” he told me. Nodding my head, I hiked a foot up and out the window. Then I pulled myself up and carefully grabbed onto a branch. “It’s okay. Keep going,” Alex said.
Taking a deep breath, I scooted off the windowsill and clung to the tree. Slowly I lowered my left foot onto the thick branch below it.
“We don’t have all night,” someone grumbled from below. It sounded like Cole.
“Don’t worry about him,” Alex whispered. “He’s just being pissy.”
Alex helped me down the tree by telling me where to put my feet. When they finally hit the soft grass, we headed over to where the rest of the guys were standing.
“Took long enough,” Cole said when Alex finally dumped the bag of toilet paper into the back of the truck.
“Just shut up, Cole,” Alex said with a scowl.
“Can you two both chill for a minute?” Isaac said to them. “You guys can have this argument when we get back, but I’d like to get out of here without getting caught.”
Cole and Alex glared at each other, but both stayed silent.
