Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 Just as I thought, by four o'clock in the afternoon, Jaden still hadn't shown up at my house. Frankie, Ashley, and I sat around my dining-room table, our faces cupped in our hands, staring at poor half-done Stanley. My dad had played a video for us on how to install motors step-by-step. But after he took his computer into the kitchen to work, all of the steps slid out of our brains like melting ice cream. "We tried as hard as we could," Frankie sighed, "but this motor stuff is just too hard for

正如我所料，到下午四点，杰登还没有出现在我家。 弗兰基、艾希礼和我围坐在餐桌旁，双手托着脸，盯着可怜的半成品斯坦利。 爸爸给我们放了一段视频，教我们如何一步一步地安装马达。 但当他把电脑带进厨房工作后，所有的步骤都像融化的冰淇淋一样从我们的脑海中消失了。 “我们已经尽了最大的努力了，”弗兰基叹了口气，“但是这个马达的东西太难了

us." "We're out of time," Ashley said. "But we shouldn't feel bad, we're only second-graders. I bet by the time we're in fourth grade, we'll be able to send a robot to the moon." "There's always a chance that Jaden will still show up," I said. "Maybe he stopped to buy some grapes." "Let's face it, Zip," Frankie said. "If he's not here by now, he's not coming." Well, that wasn't exactly true, because no sooner had Frankie finished his sentence than the doorbell rang. All three of us jumped up like we were on a trampoline and bolted for the door. I flung it open, expecting to see Jaden. But it wasn't. It was a woman with big curly hair who looked kind of familiar. I had seen her waiting outside after school, but I didn't know her name.

我们。”“我们没时间了，"艾希礼说。 “但我们不应该感到难过，我们只是二年级学生。 我敢打赌，等我们上四年级的时候，我们就能把机器人送上月球了。” “杰登还是有可能出现的，”我说。 “也许他停下来买葡萄了。” “让我们面对现实吧，次波，”弗兰基说。 “如果他现在还没到，他就不会来了。” 但事实并非如此，因为弗兰基刚把话说完，门铃就响了。 我们三个都像在蹦床上一样跳了起来，奔向门口。 我把它打开，期待着看到杰登。 但事实并非如此。是一个长着一头大卷发的女人，看起来有点眼熟。 我看见她放学后在外面等着，但我不知道她的名字。

"Are you a friend of my mom's?" I blurted out. "No, but I'd like to be. Are you Hank? I'm Jaden's mom." I looked to see if Jaden was behind her, but the hallway was empty. "So you came to say that Jaden couldn't make it?" I tried not to let my disappointment show, but I didn't do a very good job. "Jaden," she said to no one. "Come and say hi. Hank really wants to see you." I stepped out into the hall to see who she was talking to. Jaden was standing in the corner, next to Mrs. Fink's apartment. He was

“你是我妈妈的朋友吗？”我脱口而出。 “不，但我很想。你是汉克吗？ 我是杰登的妈妈。”我看了看杰登是否在她后面，但走廊里空无一人。 “所以你是来告诉我杰登来不了了？”我尽量不表现出我的失望，但我做得不是很好。 “杰登，”她没对任何人说。 “过来打个招呼。汉克真的很想见你。” 我走到大厅里，想看看她在跟谁说话。 杰登站在角落里，紧挨着芬克太太的公寓。 他是

trying to hide, but he also didn't do a very good job. "Jaden!" I screamed. "You made it! Come on in! We've been waiting for you." I turned and ran into the living room, then suddenly realized that Jaden wasn't behind me. I spun around and went back to the front door. Jaden hadn't moved. "It takes Jaden some time to get comfortable in a new situation," his mom said softly. "Oh, no problem," I said to Jaden. "I can fix that. I'll bring you my special pillow to sit on. It's so comfortable, it will make your butt smile." Jaden just looked at me. Then, for the first time since I'd met him, he burst out laughing. "That was funny," he said. "If you think I'm funny, wait until you hear Frankie. He's hilarious. Come on in. We've got my robot all set up, but we don't know how to attach the motor."

试图隐藏，但他也没有做得很好。 “贾登·!”我尖叫起来。“你做到了！”请进！我们一直在等你。” 我转身跑进客厅，然后突然意识到杰登没有在我后面。 我转身回到前门。 杰登没有动。“杰登需要一段时间来适应新环境，”他妈妈轻声说。 “哦，没问题，”我对杰登说。 “我可以解决。我把我特制的枕头拿来给你坐。 它太舒服了，它会让你的屁股微笑。” 杰登只是看着我。然后，他突然大笑起来，这是我第一次见到他。 “这很有趣，”他说。 “如果你觉得我很有趣，等着听弗兰基说。 他是滑稽的。请进。 我们的机器人已经全部安装好了，但我们不知道如何安装马达。”

That got Jaden's attention. Without another word, he took off and flew by me into our apartment. "You can come, too," I said to his mom. "My dad's working in the kitchen. He's not that much fun to talk to, but at least he's a grown-up." Jaden's mom laughed and gave me a little hug. She seemed really happy. "Or you could go to my sister's room and visit with her and her pet iguana," I said, "but only if you like things that hiss—because they both do." "I'll just pop my head into the kitchen to say hi to your father," she said. "Then, if you don't mind, I'll sit in the living room and read while you kids work on the robot. I always bring a book. Jaden likes to know I'm nearby." After she came in, I raced to the dining room, where Jaden had already sat down in front of Stanley. He pulled out the same little screwdriver he had with him at school.

这引起了杰登的注意。 他二话没说，从我身边飞进了我们的公寓。 “你也可以来，”我对他妈妈说。 “我爸爸在厨房工作。 跟他说话没什么意思，但至少他是个成年人。” 杰登的妈妈笑了，给了我一个小小的拥抱。 她看起来真的很开心。“或者你可以去我姐姐的房间，陪她和她的宠物鬣蜥，”我说，“但前提是你喜欢发出嘶嘶声的东西——因为它们都喜欢。” “我要去厨房跟你爸爸打个招呼，”她说。 “然后，如果你们不介意的话，我就坐在客厅看书，你们几个孩子在摆弄机器人。 我总是带一本书。杰登喜欢知道我在附近。” 她进来后，我跑到餐厅，杰登已经在斯坦利面前坐了下来。 他拿出了他在学校随身携带的小螺丝刀。

"Wow, Jaden, you sure came prepared," Ashley said. Jaden didn't answer. He just took the motor and studied it, untangling the six colored wires that came out of it. "We took that motor from an old front loader truck of mine," I explained. "Excellent," he said. "Then it has lifting elements, or as you might call them, arms." "Actually, we call them a plastic fork and a baby spoon," I said. It wasn't the funniest joke in the world, but it made me laugh. Jaden's face didn't change. He was in full-focus mode.

“哇，杰登，你真是有备而来，"艾希礼说。 杰登没有回答。他只是拿起马达，研究它，解开从马达里出来的六根彩色电线。 “我们从我的一辆旧前装载机卡车上取来的马达，”我解释说。 “太好了，”他说。“然后它有提升元素，或者你可以称之为手臂。” “实际上，我们管它们叫塑料叉子和婴儿勺子，”我说。 这不是世界上最有趣的笑话，但它让我笑了。 杰登的脸没有变。 他正处于全对焦模式。