Marcus Makes it Big

CHAPTER 1
THERE IS A LIMO IN FRONT OF MY BUILDING!
I could NOT believe it.
There was a limo driving up our street
A LIM-O-ZINE! A stretch!
A long, black, movie-star-carrying kind of ride.
It wasn’t there for the reason you’d think. It wasn’t ’cause some rich dude took the wrong exit off the express- way. Or a bunch of high school kids chipped in to rent one for prom.
It wasn’t even Prom Night! It was seven in the morn- ing! On a Tuesday!
And this is the wild thing: that limo was coming FOR
ME!
It was picking ME up!
(Plus my dad. But he was just along for the ride.)
Now, I bet you’re thinking: the day a real-life limo pulls up outside your door? To take you someplace important enough to send a LIMO?
That must be the greatest day of your life!
Right?
And in some ways it was.
A whole lot of amazing stuff was happening to me. But by the time that limo pulled up in front of our building, I wasn’t feeling too amazing.
Fact: I felt like the Swamp Zombie.
You know that comic? About the dude who turned into a plant? Wasn’t even human anymore? Just a big nasty blob of slimy leaves and rotten old gunk?
That’s how I was feeling when that limo rolled up.
Like a grimy, smelly Swamp Zombie. Head spinning. Guts churning. With actual stink on me.
Driver dude got out of the front seat. Came around to open the door for me and Dad. Just like in the movies. Dad gave him a big smile. Said, “Thank you, sir!”
Driver dude smiled back. Gave Dad a nod. Said, “Yessir! Welcome aboard!”
Then they both looked at me like, Get on in there!
Before I climbed in, I said a little prayer.
This is what it was:
Lord, please don’t let me barf in this limo.
It wasn’t a joke. I was feeling about ninety percent guaranteed to toss my breakfast all over the back of that stretch.
And the reason I was such a mess…
See, what had happened was…
Aw, man! I started this story in the wrong place. Let me back up.