Yes he cheered meeting her halfway She dug into the cart Still wearing a smile she came up with the package and a few other letters for Malcolm’s family Her look quickly changed as she glanced behind Malcolm She now shuddered in terror Her eyes grew large and her mouth formed a perfect O Malcolm knew of only one creature that could put that look of horror on a person’s face He had a feeling that what stood behind him was the most terrifying thing on Earth
Blackmail A hand clamped down on Malcolm’s shoulder and he quickly spun around His sister Cocoa stood there sneering It was exactly as he’d feared What’d you do with it she barked She wore electric blue eye shadow and lip gloss so orange it reminded Malcolm of a hazard sign Some had smeared onto her front teeth She dug her plum purple fingernails into Malcolm’s collarbone Malcolm grew pale Go away
Not until you tell me what you did with it Cocoa leaned so close he could smell the tuna fish sandwich still lingering on her breath Just tell her Dandy begged He slowly backed away like he might scream and sprint off at any moment I don’t even know what she’s talking about Malcolm said Cocoa squinted at him I’m talking about my iPod loser I know you took it True Malcolm had snuck her iPod out of her room He’d heard of people picking up spirit messages on walkie-talkies and in TV static Ghosts liked communicating through electronics He figured if Cocoa could download music on it then maybe he could rig it to download ghost voices So he’d simply converted her iPod into an apparition-receiving device Once it was
perfected he’d planned to call it iHaunts Voices from Beyond Give it back dweeb Cocoa demanded Uh-hum Mail Carrier Nancy cleared her throat Here’s your mail Malcolm reached for it but Cocoa was quicker She snatched it away so fast Malcolm felt like he was in a time warp Hey he cried as Cocoa headed back up the sidewalk That’s my package Yeah You can have it when I get my iPod back She gave him a sneer that could only be seen in a carnival spook house Even Mail Carrier Nancy cringed Do something Malcolm told Dandy Dandy stuck his finger back in his ear She’s your sister Mail Carrier Nancy clutched her cart Good luck boys She hurried away
