Page 82 of Jake Forever
I was a little hurt, maybe, but that wasn't exactly their fault. They were guys. They didn't know how this was supposed to go.
Now, my sister, she would've known for sure. If I'd offeredhermy pizza, she would've asked, "Are you sure you don't want it?" And then, she would've wheedled the truth out of me, and not only about my appetite.
Soon, I would've been telling her everything that had gone wrong today. The list was long. It might've taken a while, but she definitely would've listened. But my brothers? It was like they didn't even care.
Still laughing, Steve said, "Admit it. You're mad."
"Oh, shut up," I told him. "I am not."
Okay, maybe I was alittlemad, but it was mostly at myself.
Steve and Anthony exchanged a look. It was Anthony who said, "Don't worry. There's another one outside."
I blinked over at him. "What?"
"Another pizza," he said. "We called, had them double the order."
I paused. Now this made zero sense.
But Steve was saying, "Yeah. You never order enough, so we figured we'd teach you a lesson."
I glanced toward the penthouse doors. "When you say, 'outside,' what do you mean, exactly?"
In my mind, I saw visions of crushed pizza boxes strewn across the city-street. Considering my brothers, it wasn’t as far-fetched as it sounded.
Steve pushed himself up from the sofa and strode to the penthouse double doors. He flung the nearest one open and reached down into the hall. A moment later, he emerged with another pizza box.
Confused, I stared at the thing. "Wait, where'd that come from?"
Returning, Steve said, "I already told you." He tossed the new box on top of the old box. "From the pizza place."
More confused than ever, I opened the box and looked inside. Yup, there it was, another pizza, exactly like the old one. Suddenly starving, I reached for a slice.
Not taking any chances, I took a bite before I even put it on my plate. When I finished chewing, I gave my brothers a perplexed look. "But I was the one who answered the door. There was just the one."
Across from me, Steve was making a fresh pizza sandwich. "Yeah. I know. But we tipped him double to leave the second one after you shut the door."
"But how could you tip him?" I asked. "You didn't even see him."
"Tipped in advance," Steve said. "Used a credit card."
I stared at him. "You have a credit card?"
Steve shoved his latest pizza sandwich into his mouth. "Doesn't everyone?" He finished chewing and said, "Alright, now, spill it. What's wrong?"
