"Ummmph! In the goal, Marky — not in the coach."

Coach Stephens tossed the soccer ball back on the field and examined his stomach for bruises.

"Yeah, sorry Coach," Marky Meadows said, jogging away from the sidelines. "I can't kick very straight."

As he thought about it, right there in the middle of the U10 tournament game, he realised he also couldn't throw straight in baseball or shoot straight in basketball. Heck, he couldn't always think straight in class, either.

"Marky, hel-lo!" Simone yelled as she raced past him to get to the ball. She faked right and moved left, leaving the defender in the dust. "We're playing a game here, remember?"

"Right!" Marky shouted — just before he tripped over the fallen opponent.

After the game, Marky rode silently beside his brother, Jared, a muscular 16-year-old. "At least your team won, honey," his mother, Lily, said kindly from the front passenger seat of their blue van. "You'll play better tomorrow."

Jared made a quiet snort. "Your teammates were collecting money to send you to the movies tomorrow," he joked.

"No teasing, Jared," warned Mr. Meadows, driving through downtown Skiprock City. "Being all-state baseball doesn't mean you can act like a jerk."

"OK, Dad," Jared said, then looked at Marky and sneered.

Why do I even play sports? I can never be as good as Jared, thought Marky, feeling especially unmuscular. It's like that with everything, though. I wish there was something I could do right.

"Would you look at that!" Lily Meadows said, jolting Marky out of his funk. As the van stopped for traffic, she pointed to a freshly painted building. "Something is finally moving into the old hardware store. I wonder what it's going to be!"

"Dude, it'll be a pizza place," Jared said, licking his lips.

"I hope it's one of those fancy coffee shops," Paul Meadows said. "And don't call your mother 'dude.'"

"It says 'Webb Site' on the window," Marky said.

Mrs. Meadows smiled. "I hope they don't sell spiders there," she said. "Why don't you find out, Marky? You're good at investigating things."

Marky was never sure when his mother was joking. "It's probably a computer place — like web sites?"

"See? You're already on the trail," she said brightly, her brown curls bouncing as she spoke.

As the Meadows pulled in their driveway, Marky thought about what his mom said about investigating. Ms. Wallen, his teacher, often asked him about the weather, or what song was No. 1, or who the local college team was playing. He could always find the answers in the newspapers from the library that he brought to the classroom each day.

After he changed out of his soccer clothes and cleats, Marky found his mom in the basement. "OK if I go to Sizemore's?" he asked. "He's playing in his yard."

"It's fine with me. Just make sure his mom knows you're there," Mrs. Meadows said.

Outside, Marky looked both ways, wiggled his nose to straighten his eyeglasses, and then crossed the quiet street to his best friend's yard.

Sizemore was juggling three tomatoes. Marky noticed that others had splatted on the ground; none were left on the plants. "Hey, Marky, how'd the game go?" Sizemore asked.

"We won — no thanks to me," Marky said, careful not to get too close to Sizemore. "I thought of a little moneymaking project for us, Si, something my mom said I'd be good at."

"That's cool. A lemonade stand? Collecting cans?" Sizemore asked, quickly catching and tossing the tomatoes. Neither boy noticed that a pair of bigger kids had walked up behind Marky.

"Naw, I want to do something big," Marky answered. "Mom said I'm a good investigator. I want to start a newspaper."

Before Sizemore could answer, one of the big kids stepped up and caught a tomato. "I want to start a newspaper," he said in a high voice, mocking Marky. "Nerd, you couldn't start a go-kart."

Marky was startled by the boys, bullies from school named Joe D. Lubbers and Al Oopstein. "We're just talking here, Joe D.," Marky said.

"Oh, yeah? Well, nobody's listening, losers," Joe D. said, and then smashed the tomato on Marky's head. "Print that in your paper."

&Copy; RP Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.

Paper Cut chapter 1 quiz/

1. How old do you think Marky is? How did the author tell you? What other details do you know about Marky?

2. If Marky read your local newspaper today, what types of useful information could he give his teacher?

3. It's difficult to deal with a bully like Joe D. List five things Marky could do after the tomato trouble. Which do you think he will do? What would you do?

4. Make a list of the things a new business owner would have to do when moving into an old building.

5. Sizemore mentions two ways for kids to earn money. Using your own moneymaking idea, create a business plan. Be sure to include what you would do or sell, your start-up costs and how much you might earn. Share your plan with someone else and ask for feedback.