Thomas and Amani Summer Reading Club Mystery

Chapter Eleven - Home Again

The foulest, lagoon smell ripped into Thomas' nose. His eyes shot open as his stomach heaved. A fuzzy, black and white watermelon was pointed at his face. A trumpet of gas was emanated from an asterisks in the centre.

"Aaah, like get that tapir out of my face, dude, before it dupies on me," Thomas shouted, pushing the watermelon way.

The baby tapir chirped, kicking its back legs. Teyo's face appeared over the top of it. Then Amani's, Chaska, Library Sue's and a new face that Thomas had never seen before. The woman was in her late thirties, with dark brown eyes, long black hair with streaks of silver, plump lips, and a small nose.

"Hey Thomas," said the woman.

Thomas sat up, scrambling back from the woman. His eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped.

"Kachi-Kachi?" he said, recognizing her voice. "Like dudet, you got skin on!"

Kachi-Kachi grinned, showing her perfectly straight, white teeth. Like she totally looked a hundred per cent better with skin! Thomas thought. Wait a minute...

"I thought you were dead!" he said.

Kachi-Kachi's grin widened. "I wasn't actually dead, Thomas Brown, I was just under a terrible enchantment that made me appear dead. I'm so grateful that you broke Princess Lykopis' curse. Now I can spend time with my family."

She hugged Thomas. Her body emanated heat. Yup, she was totally a living, breathing meat suite like the rest of them. Thomas grinned, wrapping his arms around her to return the hug. She kissed the top of Thomas' head.

"I'm glad to see that you don't faint when all women hug or kiss you, Thomas Brown," Teyo said. "Though I was hoping to use the baby tapir again. I think it enjoyed farting in your face."

Thomas glared at Teyo. "Like dude, never use the tapir. That is worse than a Canadian skunk!"

Teyo set the baby tapir down. He ran a hand threw his hair and gave Thomas a sheepish look.

"I was out of smelling salts," he said. "Do you always faint when an attractive woman kisses you?"

Heat flared in Thomas cheeks. He shrugged, "I'm not sure. She's the first non-family member that has ever kissed me before."

Amani laughed. "Probably like the first damsel you've ever rescued."

"Hey," Teyo said. "I helped like a lot."

"Whatev," Amani said. "Now that Thomas is awake, can we leave for home? My mom is so like having cardiac arrest by now."

Thomas climbed to his feet. "Like dido for my parents. We gotta get back...or should we? Like we're probably going to be grounded until college."

Amani grimaced. Thomas' butt seeped a bit of gas that sent the tapirs dancing around him and sniffing him with wet snouts. The others giggled.

"It looks like you have a few hot girls," Teyo said, indicating the tapirs. "Did you know that the males purposely roll in rot to make themselves smell terrible? Apparently, it's very attractive to female tapirs."

Thomas crossed his arm and rolled his eyes. "Just great. Are you telling me that these tapirs are all females?"

Teyo nodded. Of course they were. Thomas did his best to push the tapirs away. They had to get home.

"We'd better go, we've got a long ways to walk in order to get back to that magic door," Thomas said.

Teyo's eyes widened. He scratched the back of his head and glanced down at his shoes.