The Judy Moody Double-Rare Collection - Megan Mcdonald [44]
“It’s okay,” said Judy. “I chased you and I found you and you’re safe now.” Stink clutched her shirtsleeve and wouldn’t let go.
“Thank you,” she said to the driver. “Thanks for stopping. C’mon, Stinker. Let’s go home.”
When Judy and Stink got home — over an hour late — Mom was mad-with-a-capital-M. “I thought I asked you to come straight home after school,” Mom said. “You scared me half to death!” She said she was scared and worried sick, but she did not look sick. Just M-A-D.
She did not even give Judy a chance to explain. “Judy, you know better than this. Go to your room. Now!”
“Stink should go to his room, too. He’s the one who fell asleep and —”
Mom’s lips turned into a thin white line. “I don’t want to hear it!” said Mom. She pointed upstairs.
Judy slunk up to her room, crawled into bed, and got under her baby quilt. She, Judy Moody, Friend of Sybil in History, was in trouble again. Trouble with a capital T. Worse than the Boston Tub Party.
Grownups! They sure acted like they wanted you to be all independent, but as soon as you were, they went and changed their minds. Independence. HA! All it did was get her in trouble.
Maybe if Judy just declared UN-independence, everything would go back to the way it was. At least she wouldn’t have to clean up so much. And get run over by P.U. garbage trucks while chasing runaway buses.
Judy tried to do her homework, but all the spelling words looked like scrambled eggs. She tried chewing gum for her ABC collection, but all it did was stick to her teeth. She tried starting a scrapbook of her trip to Boston, but even the Declaration of Independence looked sad.
To cheer herself up, Judy wrote a postcard to Tori:
Judy tiptoed to the top of the stairs to see if she could hear anything. Mom was talking to Stink. Traitor! He was probably blaming the whole thing on her. Redcoat!
Judy climbed back up to her top bunk. “Here, Mouse,” called Judy. At least her cat wasn’t mad at her. At least her cat was not a traitor.
Mouse hid under the bottom bunk. “Here, Mousie, Mousie.” Mouse still did not budge. Even her cat was declaring independence.
Judy’s whole room was in a mood. For sure and absolute positive.
After about a hundred years, Stink rattled the doorknob. “Open up!”
“Go away, Stink,” Judy told him.
“Open up, honey.” That did not sound like Stink. That sounded like Mom. Nice Mom, not Will-You-Ever-Learn Mom.
“We just want to talk to you, Judy.” That sounded like Dad. Kind Dad, not You-Are-in-Big-Trouble Dad.
“Am I in big trouble?” Judy asked the door. “Because if I am, then I declare UN-independence. I promise I will NOT make my bed or do my homework or be nice to Stink. And I will definitely not rescue him anymore. EVER!”
“Judy, open the door so we can talk about this,” said Dad.
Judy opened the door. Mom rushed to hug her. Dad ruffled Judy’s hair and kissed the top of her head.
“Stink told us what happened,” said Dad. “That was a very brave thing you did.”
“It was?”
“I’m sorry, honey,” said Mom. “It gave me quite a scare when you two didn’t come right home, so I didn’t even stop to listen. You had a hard choice to make, and you really used some good, independent thinking.”
“I did?”
“You sure did,” said Dad.
“I was scared, too,” said Judy. “I thought a big meany dog might bite me or a garbage truck might run me over or I’d fall and break my head or something. I just kept thinking about Sybil Ludington and how she was scared, too.”
“We’re very proud of you, Sybil,” Dad said. “I mean Judy.”
“Proud enough to give me more allowance and stuff?”
“Dad and I will talk things over,” said Mom. “Maybe you are ready for a little more independence.”
She, Judy Moodington, was not in big-or-little-T trouble. And she showed independent thinking. Just like Sybil Ludington.
Star-spangled bananas!
After all the excitement, Judy was feeling much too independent to do homework. She got out her Judy Moody Declaration of Independence.