Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose stared at Sammi. "Um, what do you mean, who's gonna dress you?" Dink asked. "In my country, my servants dress me and undress me," Sammi said.

"Yeah, right," Josh said, grinning. "And my servants do my homework for me!" "Do you really have servants?" Ruth Rose asked Sammi. Sammi nodded. "I have five servants of my own. My father has twenty!" "Twenty servants!" Josh yelled. "Are you guys rich?" Sammi sat on Dink's bed. "We are very rich," he said. "My father is…" Sammi didn't finish what he was going to say. Instead, he burst into tears. "Great, Josh, you made him cry!" Dink said. "I did not! I just asked him if he was rich!" Ruth Rose sat next to Sammi. "Why are you crying?" she asked. Sammi didn't answer. Big tears rolled down his cheeks. Dink tossed the sweat clothes onto the bed. Then he ran into his bathroom and came out with a wad of tissues. "Here," he said. Sammi took the tissues and wiped his eyes. "Do you miss your mom and dad?" Ruth Rose asked Sammi. "Is that why you're crying?"

Sammi took a deep breath and wiped at his tears. "I don't know where my parents are," he said. "They were kidnapped last week." "KIDNAPPED!" the three other kids yelled. Sammi nodded. "My father's enemies snuck into the palace and took him and my mother." "Palace?" Josh said. "You live in a palace? What are you, a prince or something?" Sammi nodded. "Yes. My father is the king of Costra. I am Prince Samir Bin Oz. I will be king someday." Sammi started crying again. No one said anything. Even Loretta stopped running around in her cage.

Dink stared at Sammi. "You're a prince?" he finally asked. "Does my mom know all this, Sammi? I mean, about your folks being kidnapped and everything?" The boy shook his head. "Only my tutor knows," he said. "My parents were kidnapped at night. I was sleeping. The next day I was snuck out of the palace and sent here so I would be safe." "Safe from what?" Ruth Rose asked. Sammi looked at her. His eyes were red and his nose dripped. "From the kidnappers," he said. Just then, Pal started barking from the front porch. "They're here!" Sammi cried. He jumped off the bed and ran into the bathroom. Dink looked out the window. Pal was barking at a car. It was a taxi. Dink watched it turn the corner and disappear. "Come on out, Sammi," Dink said. "It was just your tutor leaving." Sammi stepped out of the bathroom. His eyes looked scared. "I am sorry," he whispered. "No problem," Dink said. "Why don't we go down and play?"

He pointed to the sweat clothes on the bed. "Do you really need help getting dressed?" Sammi took a deep breath and grinned. "No. I am in America now. I will learn to dress myself." While Sammi changed, the other kids went outside and tossed the Nerf ball in Dink's backyard. "It must be so cool to be a prince!" Josh said. "Just imagine ordering all those servants around!" Dink bopped him with the Nerf ball. "Josh, Sammi doesn't care about all that stuff," he said. "He misses his parents." "I know," Josh said, "but still, just think. He could get ice cream in the middle of the night by snapping his fingers!" Sammi came out dressed in Dink's sweat clothes. Pal, tied to a tree, tried to lick Sammi's foot as he walked by. Sammi jumped out of reach. "Is he trying to bite me?" he asked. Josh laughed. "Naw, he's just saying hi," he said. "Pal wouldn't hurt a flea. Go ahead, pet him."

Sammi stepped closer and gave Pal a pat on his head. Then he sneezed. "I like him," Sammi said. "But I am still allergic." The kids taught Sammi the rules of touch football. They played until Dink's mother called them in to eat. Promising to come over the next morning, Josh untied Pal and headed for home. "Bye, Sammi!" Ruth Rose said. She cut through the hedge to her house next door. "Your friends are nice," Sammi said. "Do you play together every day?" "Sure," Dink said. "Don't you play with your friends in Co… in that place you come from?" Sammi shook his head. "I have no friends. I stay in the palace and study with my tutors." No friends? Dink stared at Sammi. He couldn't imagine not having Josh and Ruth Rose to hang out with. "We better go wash up," Dink said, looking at his dirty hands. "I hope you like burgers and fries." "Burgersandfries?" Sammi said. "What is burgersandfries?"