“Go outside!” ordered Mama Laticia one bright June day. Max was playing his favorite game, Killer Bee: The Attack of the Slug Units.
“Okay,” Max said. That should keep her happy for a while.
“Hey, kid,” said Tashina as she came through the living room on her way to the pool. “It’s really great outside. You should get out more.”
“In a minute.” Max leaned as he avoided the poison slime from a slug attack.
“Whatcha doing?” asked his best friend, Sam.
“I’ve reached the salt mines in the Killer Bee game. I made it to the rank of King Bee!”
“Cool! Hey, you wanna go outside and play ball? Baseball starts in a week.”
“Later.”
“Are you still inside?” demanded Mama Laticia as she came through the living room with a load of laundry. “Get yourself outside right NOW!” Max harrumphed and tossed the controller down.
“Mama L, you know that I’ll melt if I go outside.”
His mother nodded as she started folding clothes. “Maximillian Antron Black, you get yourself outside.”
Max cringed. He hated it when she used his whole name.
“Mo-om,” he whined, as he started for the door. “I’m allergic to sun. I’m allergic to pollen. I’m allergic to bees, bugs, and … and … bird songs. One tiny scratch of a leaf and I’m done for. I’ll melt into a puddle of goo.”
“Uh huh, and you’ll be allergic to a week of no video games too, I’ll bet.”
“I’m going, I’m going.” He peeked out the glass in the front door. The sun shone back, blinding him. He could hear kids laughing as they rode their bikes. He could feel the heat when he placed his hand on the glass. “It’s too hot out there,” he called. “I’m sure I’ll melt.”
“Get outside! If you melt, we’ll figure something out.” Sighing, Max opened the door and stepped outside onto the front step.
“Wow, it’s hot.” Sweat started to slick down his face.
Max got weak in the knees. His shoulders began to sag. And then … he melted. He lay there for a moment, a little black puddle of eight-year-old boy.
Then Max began to yell. “Help me, help me!”
No one answered. He could hear the vacuum. Mama Laticia wouldn’t come. She couldn’t hear him.
“Help me,” he called again, but his mouth was sliding away from his eyes. It plopped down the first step. “Help me, I’ve melted!” he called again.
Tashina walked by, back from the pool, on her way to the back door. For a moment, he thought she heard him. Her head turned toward the front stoop. Then she looked away again. “Max,” she sighed to her friend Ranika. “He’s always playing around.”
“Really, Tashina, I’ve melted!” Max called. “Help me.” But by then the girls were out of hearing range. One of Max’s eyeballs floated toward the hosta plants. The other drifted toward the carport. A curious grackle landed nearby and looked at his ear. He strained the eyeball that was near the carport. He could just see his other ear following his mouth down the step.
“Get away,” he called to the grackle. The grackle grabbed his flip-flop and sped away, cackling. Mama Jalinda drove up. “Help me,” he called again. Mama J came running.
“Oh my, child, you went and melted! Laticia! Get out here, our boy’s gone and melted right on the front stoop.” Mama Laticia ran outside.
“Call the fire department! Call the police! Call an ambulance!”
“Call Animal Control,” said Tashina coming outside. “Don’t they clean up yucky things?” In no time, sirens were heard in the distance. The neighbors came running to stand around and stare at the puddle of boy.
“I’ve never seen such a thing,” remarked Jemeena from next door.
“I hope it’s not contagious,” gasped Yolande from across the street. She gathered her three children and hurried away. The emergency crews came and stood around Max, scratching their heads.
“Maybe we should hose him down,” suggested the firefighter.
“CPR?” asked the EMT.
“How about we just cuff him and take him downtown? That will cool him off,” said a police woman.
“Probably should have gotten out a little more,” advised the wise old uncle from the rocking chair on the porch next door.
“I told you that you should’ve gone out earlier,” said Tashina.
“Don’t be an ‘I Told You So,’ Tashina! Get me a bowl and a spatula,” snapped Mama Laticia.
When Tashina returned, Mama Jalinda and Mama Laticia scooped Max up into a bowl. They carefully collected his ears, eyes, mouth, and nose, and put them in the bowl too. They tried to arrange the parts so it looked like a face.
“He looks like a melted Mr. Potato head,” Tashina giggled.
“Why, when I unmelt, I’m gonna.…”
“Let’s put him in a cooler with ice and see if he will harden up,” suggested Mama Jalinda with a glare at Max’s sister.
They put the bowl in the cooler and dumped ice all around the bowl. Then they set the cooler in front of the air conditioner. Of course they didn’t close the lid.
It was lonely in the cooler, and Max was a little afraid. But he was more afraid of being melted than being alone. Slowly he felt his body starting to come back together. He bumped his head on the AC unit and his foot plunged into the ice water.
“Oowwww!”
His mothers and Tashina came running.
“He still looks kind of funny, if you ask me,” said Tashina. She looked through at Max through her fingers as if she was looking through a picture frame. “Sure enough, I think the right ear is lower than the left.” Max ran to the mirror. Did his ears look funny?
“No one asked you anyway, Tashina. Max, I hope you learned your lesson. You need to get out a little more,” said Mama Laticia.
“Yes, ma’am,” he mumbled and obediently shuffled outside. This time he stayed in the shade until he got used to the heat. He kept an eye out for the grackle that had stolen his flip-flop.
