Curveballs (Chapters 1 to 199)

6.28 Game Over - Crossed House Puzzle

"I think this is good enough"

"Thanks, Lyz! But I still smell like pee...", Mack complained and I sniffed at my hand.

"Ugh, but it's not just urine I'm smelling", I winked.

"That's not exactly better"

"Don't worry", I soothed him and sprayed his crotch with the perfume from my backpack. I smiled at him while he nosed the air.

"That's good. You did it, Lyz! Thank you so much!", he shouted and made a jump in joy before looking at me and stopping. We both looked at the even bigger stains on my pants.

"Well, I can't be saved I guess", I just stood there and shrugged.

"There has go to be a way"

"And what is it? The only thing I could do to not get caught in pissed pants by Mila and your Mom would be stripping off my clothes and walking around naked..."

"I'd like that", he winked.

"But then you'd have wet pants again", I countered and we both chuckled. But then Mack left me and went back to the path. My eyes followed him and his eyes suddenly lit up.

"They're leaving!", he shouted towards me and smiled.

"What!?", I asked incredulously and joined him to see it with my very own eyes. Mack's Mom, Mila, another woman and a boy were packing their stuff and then leaving the playground towards our homes.

"Now all we gotta do is wait a few minutes!", Mack smiled and checked his crotch again. Meanwhile I wasn't sure what that meant for my case.

"Mackie?"

"Yeah?"

"Am I screwed?"

"What? No, no..."

"Okay? What are we going to do about this?", I wondered pointing at the big wet patches on my blue jeans.

"Let me think..."

"So you actually got no idea..."

"Wrong...I just need to connect some dots first..."

"So are we going to do the crossed house puzzle then...?", I chuckled with a grim sense of humor.

"Got it!", Mack cut me off.

"Don't put me on the rack..."

"Look at the street. All the family homes are on the same side"

"Yeah, because the kindergarten and the mill are on the other side"

"Exactly! I haven't seen a soul at the mill in days to the point I think it's closed. And the kindergarten's play area is on its backside. So no one will look towards the street anyway. Only early in the morning and during the afternoon people are on this side when the parents arrive"

"But why isn't Mila there, too?"

"Because she had an appointment with the pediatrician"

"So you don't think parents will come and pick up their kids?", I asked sheepishly.

"Now? No way. You don't have a little sister. They're taking their nap now", he told me with a smile.

"Okay, so construction workers and kids won't laugh at me...got that..."

"It's not just that. This also means we will only need to cover you from one side. So I suggest you use your backpack as a shield for the left front while I'll block the view of your left back side with my body", Mack explained like that was no big deal. But in reality he had just presented the perfect plan. Before that I had been pretty sure that I would get embarrassed in front of a few pairs of eyes, but now it looked like I had a chance to remain unharmed in our neighborhood.