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“Everything,” Cleb said. “When he presses the button on the steering wheel, lava spills out the back and runs over the road so other cars can’t follow.”
“Wow,” I said.
It was the response he was hoping for.
“And another button makes him fly out of the car and sometimes he can turn the car into a spaceship or submarine.”
He had a vivid imagination. I thought that might be the case. The action figures sounded very much like James Bond from Earth. I used it to form a plan of action.
“Do you like playing with your spy toys?” I said.
He nodded.
I checked over my shoulders to make sure no one was listening. I leaned in close and whispered.
“I have a secret to tell you,” I said.
“What?”
I shook my head.
“I can’t tell you unless you promise you won’t tell anyone,” I said.
“I promise.”
“It’s really, really important no one knows. Can I trust you?”
“Yes,” he said. “You can trust me.”
“Words are cheap,” I said. “I need proof I can trust you with my super deep secret. On my homeworld, we do this when we make a promise.”
I crossed my fingers.
“It means that when I make a promise, I have to keep it, no matter what,” I said. “Do you know what happens if I don’t?”
He shook his head, mesmerized.
“Something bad will happen!” I said.
“What bad thing?”
“Nobody knows. That’s what makes it so scary. Maybe it will be something small and you’ll fall over. Or maybe it will be something big and your nose will fall off.”
He gasped and placed a hand over his face.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “It’ll grow back. But until then, you have to wear a fake nose. And they’re very uncomfortable and very smelly.”
“How is it smelly if you don’t have a nose to smell it with?” he said.
Damn. This boy was sharp.
“Even though you lose your nose, you keep your sense of smell,” I said. “But you can’t smell nice things. You can only smell bad things.”
“Oh no!”
“So, if you want to know my secret, you have to cross your fingers like this,” I said.
He hesitated a moment before doing it. Then I placed my crossed fingers against his.
