The minute Nick saw me coming he scrambled down the short flight of steps and started to bark. “Pipe down, will you?” I grunted as I rode into Bull’s driveway. “Don’t you know me yet, for crying out loud? I’m your old buddy, Sean.” He stopped barking, sniffed at my bike and my shoes, then followed me to the steps, his tail wagging like crazy. “So what’s wrong?” I said to Bull. He was sitting against a post, his stomach in three rolls underneath a red T-shirt. He had taken up wrestling two years ago, but seemed to have gained fat instead of muscles. “Had a fight with the Octopus,” he said. “What? You, too?” He looked at me. “You had a fight with him, too?” “Yes. Less than three hours ago.” I explained what happened. “Well, he took my skateboard,” Bull said. “That is, he and the monkeys that were with him took it.
