“Twenty bucks says you can't get a prom date!” exclaimed Omar.       

“Oh yeah? I'll show you!” hollered Davy over the din of students heading to class. “I can get a prom date JUST LIKE THAT!” he concluded with a snap of his fingers as he continued up the hall to his next class. Then he turned to Joshua and Karen. “That stupid Omar thinks he's going to make an easy twenty bucks off me.”       

Joshua thought for a moment. “So you're going to be earning this one?”       

Davy scoffed at the idea. “No way! I'm sure there are lots of girls who would go to the prom with me. Watch. Hey, Karen, wanna go to the prom with me?”       

“No.”       

Joshua shook his head. “Strike one.”       

“Yeah, well, she was already taken,” added Davy. “You just watch! I WILL get a prom date!”   

* * * 

“So how did it go today?” asked Karen as she pulled her hair into a ponytail.       

“Well...” said Davy, pausing as they came to a red light.       

“Well?” asked Joshua.       

“Well what?” asked Davy as they rumbled to a stop.       

“Well, who did you ask to go to the prom?” countered Joshua.       

Davy thought for a moment. “Well, so far I've asked Ellie, Amity, Michelle, Janelle, Brianna, and a few others.”       

“Any takers?” asked Karen.       

“Yeah, all of them.”       

Joshua was impressed.   

“You mean all of them want to go to the prom with you?”       

“No, I mean they were already taken,” replied Davy as he pulled away from the light.        

“How many were a few others?” quizzed Karen.       

“Dunno, I didn't keep score.”       

“I did,” said Joshua. “So far you've asked thirty-seven.”       

“THIRTY SEVEN?” exclaimed Davy. “No way!”       

“And that's not counting the classes that I don't have with him,” explained Joshua to Karen. “So my figures are probably a little off.”       

“Help me out here, Buckwheat!” scorned Davy. “I've got twenty bucks riding on this! I WILL get a prom date!”  

Karen and Joshua were eating lunch together in the school cafeteria the next day, discussing Davy's odds of getting a prom date.  

“Did Davy ask anyone in your class today?” asked Joshua. 

“Yeah, he asked Merriweather and Haley. Merriweather turned him down flat, and Haley said she would report him to the principal if he ever threatened her like that again.” 

Joshua shook his head. “Well, that ups the figure to about forty-one. He's running out of girls to ask...” trailing off when he noticed that Karen was studying her milk carton. Joshua leaned over a bit and asked, “What are you looking at?” 

“I think he's starting to get desperate.” 

“What makes you think that?” 

Karen held up her milk carton so Joshua could see it.   

“Need a prom date? Call Davy Odell,” he read aloud. 

“How do you suppose he got his picture on a milk carton?” she asked. 

* * * 

  “What happened to your car?” asked Karen. 

Davy climbed over the windowsill. “Oh, I cut the roof off in shop class today. Women love convertibles. And I welded the doors shut, too. These four-door barges get a little flimsy when you cut half the structure away.” 

Joshua tossed his backpack into the car and gave Karen a boost over the door sill. “Did you have any luck today?” she asked. 

“Not yet,” replied Davy as he started the car.  

“So who did you ask today?” asked Joshua. 

“Well, I took a crack at Tory, but she turned me down.” 

“Why would you ask her? She's a lesbian,” said Karen. 

Davy shrugged.  “I know, but I thought maybe she'd switch sides for a good cause.” 

“I think you're getting a little desperate,” chided Joshua. 

“Says you!” exclaimed Davy. “In fact, I'm just getting warmed up!” 

“For what? The big payoff to Omar?” asked Karen. 

Davy scoffed at the idea. “Very funny!  Remember, I WILL get a prom date!” 

Davy and Joshua stopped by Karen's house later that evening, with Davy grumbling that he would get a prom date no matter what.  Then he looked up through the ceiling register.  

“Hey, Kara!” 

Kara peered down through the grate at Davy. “What do YOU want?”      

“Wanna go to the prom?” 

Kara suddenly livened up. “Sure! I'd love to go!” 

Davy turned to Karen. “See? I TOLD you I would get a prom date.” 

“With YOU? What kind of prom date is THAT?” shouted Kara. 

“What?” Davy shouted back. “What's wrong with going to the prom with me?” 

“Where do I begin?” Kara scoffed back at him. 

“Oh yeah? Give me just ONE good reason why you won't go to the prom with me.” 

“Jimmy Ferguson.” 

Davy was silent for a moment. “Jimmy Ferguson? JIMMY FERGUSON? Why would you go to the prom with HIM?”  

“Because he asked me first, so there!”  And with that, Kara slapped the shutters closed in the register, ending the conversation. 

Just then Karen's father, Carl, entered the room. “What are you making so much racket about?” 

Davy plunked himself into a chair. “Oh, Kara won't go to the prom with me. What kind of daughter are you raising up there?” 

“A very smart one,” came the sarcastic reply. “Besides, what makes you think that I would let YOU take my daughter to the prom?” 

“Because I'm huggable, loveable, and adorable?” 

Carl greeted this with a hard stare, so Davy tried a different tactic.   

“Ok, how about because I'm like the son you never had?” 

“That's right, you ARE like the son I never had, and never want, either!” 

Just then Annie, Karen's mother, entered the room, to whom Davy complained, “Mom, Dad doesn't want me!” 

Annie looked at him in surprise. “What?” 

“Davy thinks he's the son that Dad never had,” explained Karen. 

“Maybe that's why I have the mailman's eyes,” quipped Davy to Joshua. 

“You do NOT have the mailman's eyes!” exclaimed Carl. “I know that for a fact because I've raised you like...like...” he trailed off. He looked at Karen and Joshua and asked, “Why do you two hang around with this kid?” 

Then Davy turned to Annie. “Hey, as long as you're here, wanna go to the prom with me?” 

“NO, you can't take my wife to the prom, either!  What makes you think that you can even ask?” 

Davy shrugged. “Because you won't let me take your daughter?” 

“No son of mine is going to take my daughter OR my wife to—”  Carl lapsed into silence when he realized what he was saying. He looked at Annie and sighed, “He did it again, didn't he?” 

“I'm afraid so.” 

“In that case, I'm going to take some aspirin and go to bed,” he replied as he left the room. 

“Save some aspirin for me, honey,” called Annie after him as she followed him. 

“Nice going, Batman,” said Karen as she patted Davy on the head. “Two more strikes against you.” 

“Maybe you should just admit defeat.. You don't have many options left,” added Joshua. 

“HA!” cried Davy as he jumped up out of his chair. “ME? Lose to Omar? NEVER!  It's not over yet! I WILL get a prom date!” 

* * * 

  “Dear, would you bring the salad to the table?” 

“Sure, Mom,” replied Joshua as he went back to the kitchen. “Dad, did you want anything while I'm at it?” 

“No, I'm all set, thanks,” said his father. 

Joshua quickly returned with the salad and placed it on the table before sitting down. Joshua's father asked, “How was your day?” 

Just as Joshua was about to reply, the kitchen door burst open. “That stupid Omar, I'll show him!” shouted Davy as he stormed into Joshua's house. 

Joshua's parents looked up in surprise as Davy pulled a chair up to the table and began to help himself to dinner. Joshua, on the other hand, casually glanced over and asked, “Why, what happened?” 

“Well, I asked that airhead Caitlyn if she would go to the prom, and she spilled the beans,” he replied as he stuffed a biscuit in his mouth. 

“What beans?” 

“She said she wouldn't go with me if I was the last guy in school, and neither would any other girls because Omar told everyone to turn me down,” Davy fumed as he stuffed his face. 

Joshua thought about this for a moment. “So he put in the fix for you.” 

“Yeah!” exclaimed Davy, spilling his food across the table. “But I'll fix his little red wagon REAL good! I'll call Immigration and have his student visa revoked and get him deported! That's what I'll do! He isn't as smart as he thinks he is now that I'm on to him!” 

Davy reached across the table and grabbed Joshua's glass of milk. “Some people sure have a lot of nerve!” he grumbled as he chugged it down.   

“Thanks for the grub, Bub, gotta run again! And remember: I WILL get a prom date!” And with that, Davy charged out the door, leaving Joshua's parents in a state of shock and a swath of destruction at the dinner table to boot. 

Joshua just shrugged and plucked a cherry tomato from the mess. “Well, that was my day, Dad. How was yours?”