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whole class got lice, and that’s why he had to get a buzz cut before he started kindergarten.
    Monty read the next fill-in-the-blank out loud: “Pets,” he said.
    â€œDo you have a pet?” asked Leo.
    Monty forgot that he was supposed to be the one asking the questions. “A rat,” he boasted. “I just got him.”
    â€œWhat’s his name?”
    On Monday Monty had named the rat Mack, but now he wasn’t so sure. Looking around, he let his mind float until it bumped into something new. From here he could see the spot on the school where he’d written the word
poop
in black marker. “Officer Rat,” he said. “Like a policeman.” He told Leo how Officer Rat would eat apples right from his hand.
    â€œCan I see him?” asked Leo. “Can I come over?”
    Monty hesitated. He liked Leo just fine. But Kindergarten Buddies was during school. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hang out with a little kid after school. “Maybe,” he said, not promising.
    â€œWhen?” pushed Leo.
    â€œI don’t know,” said Monty. “It’s complicated.” He tried to explain that the rat was at his dad’s house, but today was the day he and Sierra switched to their mom’s after school. So he didn’t think he and the rat were even going to be in the same house for a while.
    â€œWhy?”
    Monty told Leo how he’d known his mom would say no if he asked her for a pet, so he hadn’t. He’d asked his dad. Monty knew his dad would say we’ll see, then probably, and then yes. His mom had agreed, on one condition: the pet stayed at his dad’s house. But somehow, he needed to change his mom’s mind.
    â€œHow?”
    â€œI don’t know,” said Monty. “I’m in deep doo-doo, Leo.”
    â€œDeep doo-doo!” shrieked Leo. Then tucking his hands under his chin like a begging dog and making a funny face, he suggested, “Do puppy-dog eyes!”
    â€œThat’s pretty good!” said Monty. He didn’t think he could do it as good as Leonard Schwarz the third, but unless Monty came up with a better idea, he might have to go with puppy-dog eyes.
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    By the time school ended Monty hadn’t come up with anything better, and he still hadn’t by the time the bus glided past his dad’s street, or by the time he got off a few streets later at his mom’s. He headed around to the back door, where the yellow-headed sunflowers stood guard. Monty picked out a seed and nibbled it. It was pretty cool how the sunflowers’ pollen had fed the monarch butterflies, and now their seeds fed the squirrels that climbed up the tall stalks. And him. And he bet the rat would like sunflower seeds, too.
    The rat. Time to go inside and beg.
    â€œMom!” he called out. “Hey, Mom!”
    No answer. He saw a note on the fridge:
Monty—I’m working. See you about 4:30.
That meant his mom was here, but he couldn’t talk to her. She’d be in the room where she did her massage therapy. Monty wasn’t supposed to knock unless it was an emergency. Nobody else was around, either. Bob was still at work, Sierra was at soccer, and Aisha would be with a sitter. The house was quiet, except for the faint sound of massage music drifting through the walls. It sounded like birds chirping and church bells gonging.
    Monty went upstairs. He plunked down on his bed and grabbed a comic book, but he’d already read it. He started a drawing but didn’t feel like finishing. He actually took out his homework—math sheets—but he couldn’t concentrate. All he wanted was to get this puppy-dog eyes business over with.
    Finally he heard a door slam, which meant the client was leaving and his mom was going to pick up Aisha. A little bit later he heard the door again and ran downstairs. There was his mom, holding Aisha. The kitchen smelled like apples. The last time