Caleb giggled at the sound of it, then covered his mouth like he wasn’t supposed to laugh. “Scum…bag.” He whispered it again, just to see if it felt funny in his mouth.
I lay back, staring at the ceiling. “If he’s the reason Mom cries sometimes when she thinks we’re asleep… then yeah. He’s a scumbag.”
Caleb went quiet for a minute. Then he whispered, “We should get back at him.”
That made me sit up again. “What do you mean?”
“Like…” Caleb’s eyes lit up the way they do when he thinks of magic tricks. “We could… sneak into his palace and hide stinky herbs in his fancy clothes so he smells bad all day.”
I smirked. “Or put itching powder in his crown.”
“Or turn him into a toad!” Caleb said, bouncing. “Then put him in a jar!”
I rolled my eyes. “We can’t turn people into toads.”
Caleb cr
