“What does that have to do with my braces?” Jackson cried.
“Nothing. I just think that Benjamin may have upgraded the wrong weakness. You’re pretty dumb.”
Jackson faked a laugh. “Hilarious,” he said. “I’m being insulted by a bunch of kids whose greatest enemy is milk.”
Soon they found their way to the doctor’s home. It was a large adobe structure set back from the road. Inside, Jackson could hear music playing and children singing. A steady stream of caterers rushed in and out of the front door, carrying trays of cold cuts, tamales, and cheese. Flinch was speaking Spanish to one of them. The man nodded impatiently. Even though Jackson didn’t speak the language, it was clear the man was busy and didn’t have time to chat with a bunch of kids. He rushed off with his tray of roasted corn.
When Flinch spotted the team he rushed over. “He says the party starts in about fifteen minutes and Dr. Munoz is already wondering where we are. I told him we would be ready. We better get dressed on the double.”
Just then a black van pulled up in front of the house. Several muscular men in dark clothes got out and began unloading colorful piñatas. Flinch took an interest in the piñatas and the candy inside, but could not convince one of the deliverymen to give him one for free.
The team entered the house and found a bustling beehive of activity. Some people hung streamers from the ceiling and others rushed about setting up tables. Nearly every surface had a plate of food on it. Jackson was starving, but Ruby would not let him eat. Instead, she ushered the team to a couple of back bedrooms to change into their costumes. The boys went into one and the girls another.
Duncan, Heathcliff, and Flinch raced to the far corners of the room. From his days on the football team, Jackson had changed plenty of times in front of other people and didn’t give it much thought. He was nearly finished when he found a black wristwatch in his pack. It looked just like the one the rest of the team wore.
“I got a spy watch!” he cried as he slipped it onto his wrist.
“Try not to laser your face off,” Duncan said.
After he admired it for a few moments, he noticed his teammates were still dressed in their regular clothes.
“What are you waiting for?” Jackson asked.
“A little privacy,” Heathcliff said.
Jackson could see that Duncan and Flinch were wishing for the same thing.
“Let me get this straight. You guys have saved the world a dozen times since Monday, but you’re afraid to change your clothes in front of each other?”
The boys frowned but then nodded in agreement.
“It’s no big deal,” he said, hoping to calm their fears.
“Don’t presume to tell us that it’s no big deal. Everyone in this room is seven hundred times smarter than you. We know what’s a big deal,” Heathcliff snapped.
Jackson felt like snapping back, but he remembered what Duncan had told him. Jackson had been very mean to Heathcliff. A memory flashed in his mind. The gym locker room … Heathcliff changing … Jackson snatching his clothes and tossing them into the showers.
Heathcliff grabbed up his clothes. “I’ll find somewhere else to change.” He stomped out of the room and was gone.
Jackson knew there wasn’t anything to say. He sat down on the bed and pulled on his boots. He wondered if he would ever be able to win the forgiveness of his teammates.
There was a knock on the door and Matilda’s voice could be heard from the hall. “You guys ready?”
“Just a second!” Jackson shouted, then turned his back. Flinch and Duncan hurried into their clothes and the three of them rushed into the hall. Heathcliff joined them a moment later. When everyone was assembled, they stood back and admired the outfits Ms. Holiday had collected for them. Each of them looked like a real mariachi.
“OK, let’s go rock this party,” Ruby said.
“Uh, one small problem … I don’t play any instruments,” Jackson said. “Not even the clarinet Agent Brand gave me for my fake marching band practices.”
“We’re a pop group,” Duncan said. “We don’t play instruments. We sing and dance.”
“Uh, I don’t sing or dance, either.”
The team made their way to the backyard with Jackson reluctantly following. There they found a sea of partygoers. Everyone was laughing and excited, but when they saw the six mariachis they turned into an excited mob. People pulled at Jackson’s hat and begged for autographs.
A man Jackson immediately recognized as Dr. Munoz approached. “You are late. Set up and get started.”
Ruby nodded and turned to her group. She said quietly. “Let’s sing a few songs, and then Flinch and Braceface will approach him.”
“I get to do something?”
Ruby nodded. “I don’t think you could screw up an interview with a witness. OK, let’s give these people a show.”
“Again, I don’t sing. I don’t dance,” Jackson said, but he was pushed onto the stage anyway.
Flinch stepped up to a microphone. “Buenos dias, everyone. We want to wish Ms. Elizabeth a feliz cumpleanos. We are Del Loco. Before we get started, we have a special present for Elizabeth.”
A young girl stepped forward and Flinch set the guinea pig into her eager hands. She squealed with delight as a gaggle of her friends surrounded her. They each took turns petting the nervous creature.
“We hope you have a good time, and feel free to dance,” Flinch continued.
Suddenly, a song blasted through the speakers. Jackson turned to find the team moving in a complex dance sequence. They were bouncing and hopping around like trained dancers while he stood on the stage like a dumb ape.
“Dance,” Heathcliff said as he nudged him.
“I told you I can’t dance,” he cried.
“Just listen to my instructions,” Matilda said, her voice ringing in his head.
“Left foot step to the right, now lunge, turn to the right and jump!” Jackson followed the best he could, which seemed to quell the anger of a group of young girls staring at him from the crowd.
“Spin on the right foot, spin again, pull back and thrust. That’s it. OK, let’s drive these kids into a frenzy. Braceface, grab that mic and sing.”
Jackson looked at the others. “I don’t sing.” His voice bellowed out over the crowd. A moment later a burrito came flying out of the audience and hit him in the leg. Before things could get ugly, Flinch snatched the microphone and took over the song.
Everyone was dancing and singing and, best of all, completely fooled. Dr. Munoz and his daughter whirled across the dance floor doing a lively two-step. They looked as if they were having the time of their lives.
“Del Loco” played several songs before Ruby kicked Jackson in the shin.
“What was that for?” he groaned as he did a complicated swivel step.
“Look at your watch,” she said.
Jackson eyed the watch. There was a flashing screen that read ACTIVATE GUINEA PIG. He pushed the button and the little screen was replaced with a video camera image. He could see dozens of little girls staring up at him and then realized he was seeing what the guinea pig was seeing. A moment later he watched as the girls squealed and the guinea pig made an escape. In no time at all it had scurried out of the backyard and into the house. Watching its point of view, Jackson saw it weave in and out of the crowd of busy caterers as it went from one room to the next.
Jackson continued his dancing and singing for several more songs, though his focus on the watch made him slam into Matilda during a tricky spin move. He accidentally kicked Heathcliff in the rear end, but finally the furry little camera stumbled into a room filled with file cabinets.
“That has to be it,” Jackson said to himself. The watch flashed a button that said TARGET LOCK and he pushed it. At once a schematic of the house appeared, then a turn-for-turn map to the guinea pig’s location.
Jackson and Flinch stepped offstage and hurried into the house. They found the guinea pig sniffing at a desk chair in a lonely room that overlooked the backyard and the party below. The room must have had twenty file cabinets in it, stacked up to the ceiling.