So I decided I was gonna just have to suck it
up and do the paper myself.
I started doing some research on the computer,
but at about midnight, the worst possible thing
happened: The power went out.
That’s when I knew I was in some serious trouble.
I knew I’d flunk History if I didn’t turn in a
paper. So even though I didn’t want to, I decided
to take Rodrick up on his offer.
pop
blink
146
I scraped together $500 in Mom Bucks and
went down to the basement. But Rodrick didn’t
let me off that easy.
Rodrick told me his new price was $20,000 in
Mom Bucks. I told him I didn’t have it, so he
just rolled over and went back to sleep.
At that point, I was really desperate. So I
went upstairs and grabbed a big handful of
thousand dollar bills and brought them down to
Rodrick’s room. I gave him the money, and he
turned over the paper. I felt really bad about
what I did, but I just tried not to think
about it and went to sleep.
My fee has
gone up.
147
Wednesday
On the bus ride to school, I took Rodrick’s paper
out of my bag. But I took one look at it and
knew something was seriously wrong.
First of all, the poem wasn’t typed out. It was
in Rodrick’s own handwriting.
That’s when it hit me: Dad only started doing
Rodrick’s papers for him once he got to high
school. So that meant this paper was Rodrick’s
own work.
I started reading Rodrick’s paper to see if I
could still use it. But apparently, Rodrick was
even worse about doing his research than me.
uh oh.
148
A hundred years ago
by Rodrick Heffley
Sometimes I sit and wonder
About stuff I don't know
Like what the heck the earth was like
a hundred years ago.
Did cavemen ride on dinosaurs?
Did flowers even grow?
Well we could guess but that was back
A hundred years ago.
I wish they built a time machine
And they picked me to go
To check out what the scene was like
A hundred years ago.
Did giant spiders rule the earth?
Were deserts filled with snow?
I wonder what the story was
A hundred years ago.
See me!
I guess I learned my lesson about buying a
paper off someone. Or at least off of rodrick.
When third period rolled around, I didn’t have
anything to turn in to Mr. Huff. I guess that
means I’ ll be taking summer school for History.
And my day got a whole lot worse after that.
When I got home from school, Mom was waiting
for me at the front door.
You know that stack of bills I paid Rodrick
with? Well, he tried to cash them all in at
once to get money for a used motorcycle. I’m sure
Mom knew something was fishy, since Rodrick has
never earned a single Mom Buck on his own.
150
Rodrick told Mom where he got the money, and
she dug around my room until she found my stash
under the mattress. Mom knew she never put
$100,000 into circulation, so she confiscated all
my cash, even the ones I earned for real. I guess
that’s the end of the Mom Bucks program.
To be honest with you, I’m kind of relieved.
Sleeping on that pile of cash every night was
really stressing me out.
Mom was mad that I tried to put one over on
her like that, so she gave me a punishment. But
I got that out of the way before dinner.
Mom says we
have to clean
the whole
garage.
shoot.
151
Thursday
Today was Thanksgiving, and it started off like
it always does: with Aunt Loretta showing up
two hours early.
Mom always makes me and Rodrick “entertain”
Aunt Loretta, and that means talk to her until
the rest of the family shows up.
The biggest fights me and Rodrick have ever had
were over who has to greet her first.
152
The rest of the family started trickling in around
11:00. Dad’s brother, Uncle Joe, and his kids
were the last ones to show up around 12:30.
Uncle Joe’s kids all call Dad the same thing.
Mom thinks it’s really cute, but Dad swears that
Uncle Joe tells his kids to do it on purpose.
Things are pretty tense between Dad and Uncle
Joe, because Dad is still mad at Uncle Joe for
something he did last Thanksgiving. Back then,
Manny had just started potty training, and he
was doing pretty good. In fact, he was probably
about two weeks from being out of diapers.
Hi Aunt
Fwank!
153
But Uncle Joe said something to Manny that
changed everything.
It was six months before Manny would even step
foot in the bathroom again.
Every time Dad changed a dirty diaper after that,
I heard him cursing Uncle Joe under his breath.
We had dinner around 2:00, and then people
went into the living room to talk. I didn’t feel
like talking, so I went in the family room to play
video games.
Better look out for
the "potty monster,"
little fella!
154
Eventually, I guess Dad had enough of the
family, too, so he went downstairs to work on his
Civil War battlefield. But he forgot to lock the
door to the furnace room, and Uncle Joe walked
in after him.
Uncle Joe seemed pretty interested in what Dad
was working on, so Dad told him all about it.
Dad gave Uncle Joe this big speech about the
150th Regiment and the role it played at
Gettysburg, and spent about a half hour describing
the whole battle.
But I don’t think Uncle Joe was really listening
to Dad’s speech.
nice
toys,
big
brother!
155
Thanksgiving didn’t last too much longer after that.
Dad went upstairs and turned up the thermostat
until it got stuffy and everyone cleared out. And
that’s pretty much how Thanksgiving ends every
year at our house.
december
Saturday
You remember how I said Mom and Dad were
going to eventually find out about Rodrick’s
party? Well, it finally happened today.
Mom sent Dad out to pick up the pictures from
Thanksgiving, and when Dad got back, you could
tell he wasn’t happy about something.
156
The picture in Dad’s hand was from Rodrick’s party.
It looked like one of Rodrick’s friends accidentally
took a picture with Mom’s camera, which she keeps
on the shelf above the stere
o. And when he took
the picture, it captured the whole scene.
157
Rodrick tried to deny that he had a party. But
everything was right there in the picture, so
there really wasn’t any point.
Mom and Dad took away Rodrick’s car keys and
told him his punishment is that he’s not allowed
to leave the house for a whole month.
They were even mad at me, because they said I
was Rodrick’s “accomplice.” So I got hit with a
two-week video game ban.
Sunday
Mom and Dad have been all over Rodrick’s case
ever since they found out about his party.
Rodrick usually sleeps until 2:00 in the afternoon
on weekends, but today Dad made Rodrick get
out of bed by 8:00 A.M.
Making Rodrick get out of bed early is a pretty
big blow to him, because Rodrick loves to
sleep. One time last fall, Rodrick slept for thirty-
six hours straight.
158
He slept all the way from Sunday night until
Tuesday morning, and he didn’t even realize he
missed a whole day of his life until Tuesday night.
But it looks like Rodrick has found a way around
the new 8:00 rule. Now, when Dad tells Rodrick
to get out of bed, Rodrick just drags his stuff
upstairs with him and he sleeps on the couch
until it’s time for dinner. So I guess you gotta
give this round to Rodrick.
Hey ... where's
Monday night
football?
159
Tuesday
Mom and Dad are going away again this weekend,
and they’re dropping me and Rodrick off at
Grandpa’s. They said they were gonna let us
stay home, but we proved we can’t be trusted on
our own.
Grandpa lives over in Leisure Towers, which is
this old folks’ home. I had to spend a week
there with Rodrick a few months ago, and it was
the low point of my whole summer.
Manny is staying with Gramma this weekend, and
I’d give anything to trade places with him.
Gramma always has her fridge stocked with soda
and cake and stuff like that, and she has cable
tv with all the movie channels.
160
The reason Manny is going to Gramma’s is because
Manny is Gramma’s favorite. And all you need to do
is take one look at her refrigerator for the proof.
But if anyone ever accuses Gramma of showing
favorites, she gets all defensive.
I love all my
grandchildren
the same.
161
And it’s not just the pictures on the fridge,
either. Gramma has Manny’s drawings and stuff
hanging up all over the house.
The only thing that Gramma has from me is
this note I wrote her when I was six. I was
mad at her because she wouldn’t give me any ice
cream before dinner, so here’s what I wrote:
Gramma has kept that note all these years, and
she’s still holding it over my head.
I hate
you Gram-
ma
And this is what my
wonderful grandson
Gregory made for me!
162
I guess every grandparent has their favorite,
and I can understand that. But at least
Grandpa is up front about it.
Saturday
Well, Mom and Dad dumped me and Rodrick off
at Grandpa’s today, just like they said they
were gonna do.
I started looking for ways to entertain myself,
but there’s nothing in Grandpa’s condo that’s
fun to do, so I just sat down with him and
watched tv. But Grandpa doesn’t even watch
real shows. He just keeps his tv tuned to the
security camera that’s in the front lobby of his
building.
Gregory
is my
favorite!
163
And after a few hours of that, you start to
go a little nuts.
At about 5:00, Grandpa made us dinner. Grandpa
makes this awful thing called “watercress salad,”
and it’s the worst thing you ever tasted.
It’s basically a bunch of cold green beans and
cucumbers floating in a pool of vinegar.
Oh, sure! Barry Grossman
has time to go out for a
three-hour walk, but he
doesn't have time to
return my vacuum!
164
Rodrick knows I hate watercress salad more than
anything, so the last time we stayed at
Grandpa’s, Rodrick made sure to pile it on my plate.
I had to sit there and choke down every bite so
And guess what I got as a reward for cleaning
my plate?
Greg loves
watercress
salad!
here
you go!
plop
165
Tonight, Grandpa gave us our salad, and I
acted like I was gonna eat it. But then I
just stuffed it all in my pocket when no one
was looking.
It felt pretty disgusting when the cold vinegar
started running down my leg, but believe me it
was about a thousand times better than having
to eat it.
After dinner, the three of us went into the living
room. Grandpa has all these really old board
games, and he always makes me and Rodrick play
them with him.
He has this one game called “Gutbusters,” where
one player reads a card, and the other player
tries not to laugh.
drip
166
I always beat Grandpa, mostly because the jokes
don’t make any sense to me.
I always beat Rodrick, too, but that’s because
Rodrick loses on purpose. Whenever it’s my turn
to read a card, he makes sure he has a big
mouthful of milk.
Putting economic
policy before fiscal
responsibility
is like putting
the cart before
the horse.
haw, haw,
haw!
bwahahaha!
167
At 10:00, I was ready for bed. But Rodrick
called the couch, and that meant I had to sleep
with Grandpa again.
All I can say is, if Mom and Dad were trying
to teach me a lesson for covering for Rodrick,
well, mission accomplished.
Sunday
Rodrick has a big Science Fair project due
right before Christmas break, and it looks like
Mom and Dad are making Rodrick do this one all
by himself.
Could you put
my teeth in
that glass?
168
Last year, Rodrick’s science project was called
“Does Watching Violent Movies Make People Think
Violent Thoughts?”
I guess the idea was to have people watch horror
movies and then draw pictures afterward to show
how the movies affected them.
But it was really just an excuse for Rodrick and
his
friends to watch a bunch of horror movies on
school nights.
Rodrick’s friends got the movie-watching part
done, but they didn’t draw a single picture. And
the night before the Science Fair, Rodrick didn’t
have anything to show for himself.
Scream!
Chomp!
169
So me, Mom, and Dad had to bail Rodrick out. Dad
typed up the paper, Mom made the poster board
stuff, and I had to draw a bunch of pictures.
I did my best to imagine what teenagers would
draw after watching violent movies.
The thing that really stinks is that I
caught heat from Mom when she saw my drawings,
because she said they were “disturbing.” And
that’s why I was only allowed to watch G-rated
movies for the rest of the year.
But if you want to talk about “disturbing,” you
should’ve seen some of the stuff Manny was
coming up with those days.
170
One night, Rodrick accidentally left one of his
horror movies in the dvd player, and when
Manny went to turn on cartoons the next day,