Chapter 8

chapter eight Every single day now, I drive around town, blaring Big Mama's horn. I do it in the morning, alone, before Quint and Dirk are awake. And every few blocks I whip out the big bullhorn— "June Del Toro! Are you out there? June Del Toro! Can you hear me?" No luck. It's starting to feel like a wild-goose chase. Or a wild-June chase. Today I drive past 12th Street. Which reminds me—it's almost August 12th. Quint's birthday! I've never planned a birthday party before. That's what moms and dads and girls are for. So, a lot of pressure here. Can't junk this up. A party should be big and crowded, so that the birthday person feels admired, appreciated, and accepted. I mean, that's how I always see them in the movies and on TV and stuff.

现在的每一天，我都开着车在镇上转悠，摇着大妈的喇叭。 我在早上做这件事，独自一人，在昆特和德克醒来之前。 每过几个街区，我就会拿出大喇叭——“June Del Toro!”你在吗？ 琼·德尔·托罗！你能听到我说话吗？”没有运气。 我开始觉得这是白费力气了。 或者是疯狂的六月追逐。今天我开车经过12街。 这倒提醒了我，快到8月12日了。 五胞胎的生日!我从来没办过生日派对。 这就是妈妈、爸爸和女孩的职责。 所以这里有很大的压力。 不能把这个搞砸了。派对应该盛大而拥挤，这样过生日的人才会感到被欣赏、欣赏和接受。 我是说，我总是在电影和电视上看到他们。

So... I was thinking about trying to catch a bunch of the zombies and do something like this... Eh, scratch that. I'll continue thinking...

所以…我想抓一群僵尸，然后做这样的事情…… 呃，刮一下。我会继续思考……

Rover is awesome. I always wanted a dog, but when you're a foster kid who's always bounced around, you don't get things like dogs. You might land with a family that has a dog, but you start playing with it and having a blast and next thing you know—off to a new family and no more dog. But now I've got my own dog—a monster dog. I'm trying to teach it tricks. It's going so-so. pover, fetch! Gulp!

罗孚棒极了。我一直想养条狗，但当你是一个被寄养的孩子，总是到处乱跑，你不会得到像狗这样的东西。 你可能会找到一个养狗的家庭，但你开始和它玩，玩得很开心，然后你就知道了，你去了一个新的家庭，没有狗了。 但现在我有了自己的狗——一只怪兽狗。 我想教它一些把戏。 情况一般。观点,获取!杯!

Hmm. "How about play dead! Quint shuffles over and interrupts our games. His eyes are bloodshot and there are big bags beneath them. I don't think he's slept in days. He hands me a piece of paper. "It's a shopping list. We need everything on this list, OK?" The list is full of bungee cords and metal tubes and rope and all sorts of junk. "What's all this for?" I ask. Quint grins his weirdo grin. "Inventive purposes. But trust me, Jack, you'll like it." I'll need to go to Home Depot for this. That's a journey. I climb up into the tree house. Dirk is

嗯。“装死怎么样！”昆特走过来，打断了我们的游戏。 他的眼睛充血，眼睛下面有大眼袋。 我想他已经好几天没睡觉了。 他递给我一张纸。 “这是一份购物清单。我们需要这张单子上的所有东西，好吗？”那张单子上全是蹦极绳、金属管、绳子和各种垃圾。 “这一切都是为了什么？”我问。 昆特露出奇怪的笑容。 “创新的目的。但是相信我，杰克，你会喜欢的。” 我得去家得宝买。 这是一段旅程。我爬上树屋。 德克是

sitting in the corner, reading a Hulk comic. "Let me know if you need help with any of the big words," I say. Dirk scowls. "What do you want?" "We've got stuff to get," I say. "C'mon." Dirk shakes his head, groans—but he gets up. He throws on his old gray sweatshirt, pulls on his monster-bashing gloves, and follows me down out of the tree house. He stomps over to Quint, who's sitting at the picnic table, going over some blueprints. "Hey, goober," Dirk barks. "How come we gotta go get all this stuff for you? Why don't you go get it?" Quint says matter-of-factly, "Because I'm more valuable here." "You think you're more valuable than me, huh?" Dirk says. "No, I said I'm more valuable here. Similar sentences, but they mean very different—" "I'll show you mean—" Dirk starts. Quint holds up his hand. "Dirk, you have no reason to be angry at me. You clearly have some

坐在角落里看绿巨人漫画 我说：“如果你需要帮助，就告诉我。” 德克皱眉。“你想要什么？”“我们还有东西要拿，”我说。 “来吧。”德克摇了摇头，呻吟着，但他还是站了起来。 他穿上灰色的旧运动衫，戴上打怪物的手套，跟着我下了树屋。 他大步走到昆特面前，昆特正坐在野餐桌旁审阅一些蓝图。 “嘿，笨蛋，”德克叫道。 “我们为什么要去帮你拿这些东西？” 你为什么不去拿呢？”昆特实事求是地说：“因为我在这里更有价值。” “你觉得你比我更有价值，是吗？”德克说。 “不，我说我在这里更有价值。 相似的句子，但意思却大不相同——”“我来告诉你是什么意思——”德克开口了。 昆特举起他的手。“德克，你没有理由生我的气。 你显然有一些

sort of chip on your shoulder, and—" "Wait, he does?" I look at Dirk. "Is it a chocolate chip?" Quint rolls his eyes. "Jack..." I stand on my tippy-toes and examine Dirk's shoulder. "Or is it a sour cream and onion chip? Either way, I'll eat the chip. I mean, even if it's salt and vinegar." "IT'S NOT AN EDIBLE CHIP ON HIS SHOULDER, JACK! It's just a dumb saying." "Well, Quint, your dumb saying now has me hungry for chips. That's your fault. Soooo... I think you should cook dinner tonight." Quint glares at me, hard, like he's trying to laser beam his way through my eyeballs. "And if you cook us dinner," I say, "Dirk will agree not to be a jerk. Right, Dirk?" You see how I did that? I'm kind of a master of mediation. Dirk glares at me for a moment, then he looks to Quint. "Just tell me the real reason you won't go out there." Quint shrugs. "I'm scared."

有点像你肩上的担子，而且——““等等，他是吗？”我看着德克。 “是巧克力片吗？”昆特翻了个白眼。 “杰克……”我踮起脚尖，端详着德克的肩膀。 “还是酸奶油和洋葱片？” 不管怎样，我都要吃薯片。 我的意思是，即使是盐和醋。” “杰克，他肩膀上又不是一块可吃的薯片！”这只是一个愚蠢的说法。” “好吧，昆特，你的傻话现在让我想吃薯片了。 那是你的错。如此如此…… 我想你今晚应该做晚饭。” 昆特狠狠地瞪着我，好像要用激光射穿我的眼球。 “如果你给我们做饭，”我说，“德克会同意不做混蛋的。 德克?”看到我是怎么做的了吗？ 我算是调解大师了。 德克瞪了我一会儿，然后转向昆特。 “告诉我你不去那里的真正原因。” 五胞胎耸了耸肩。“我害怕。”