Bones was standing behind me and, after some thought, he blurted out his answer to the question on the screen. “I got it, Lump! My mom!”

I just looked at him, and he looked back at me, waiting for me to type it in. He was serious . . . and I guess I was more jealous than mad at him for giving an obviously wrong answer.

I let him down easy. “Okay, Bones, but I think it’s something a little more geared to Stevie’s world.” The right answer was too obvious. I typed in “Steve Jobs.” Before I hit enter, I looked back at Bones for approval. He understood and nodded yes.

I hit the enter button and—my screen went blank again. Stevie’s phone looked like it had gone dead, too. Suddenly words flashed on the screen: “Translate the Note” and then “Find the Code.” We read it together out loud as it appeared again on the screen.

“Translate the Note . . . Find the Code.”

Stevie’s phone went blank, and the screen saver on my computer came up (our team pig pile after our 11-8 win against Glen Ridge for the New Jersey State Championship). I did everything to try to turn the phone back on, but it was dead.

Bones started frantically searching his pockets. Lint came flying out of it along with some loose change but nothing else. He looked at me with great disappointment and said,

“Lump, I think I screwed up again. I lost the note.” The note. I had forgotten about it. Then I got an awful feeling in my stomach. Bones had given me the note . . . and I had jumped into the pool with it, making me just as big a dope as him.

Page 135