The story so far: After starting his own newspaper, Marky Meadows comes face-to-face with the neighborhood bully.

As Marky worked on a news story about the latest Techno Thief burglaries, he thought about what Joe D. said: "Give me my cut: five cents for every paper you sell - every day, or I'll beat you up - every day."

Marky had started to tell his mom about the bully's threat, but held back. He worried it would only make things worse.

Five cents, though, that's a big chunk of our profit, he thought.

"Hey, Marky," Sizemore said, bouncing into the Meadows' family room. "I've been thinking about a way to increase our profit."

Marky wanted to check his head for an antenna sending out worry waves. "I was just thinking about our profit, Si," he said. "What've you got?"

Sizemore pulled out his reporter's notebook. "For our first issue, we spent $64 for copies," he said. "If we use bigger pages, we could save 10 cents per issue!"

"Enough for two bullies!" Marky said, then noticed Sizemore's puzzled look. "Uh, never mind."

I bet Si gets pushed around by those guys, too, Marky thought. Still, I'm too embarrassed to tell him about Joe D.'s "deal."

The doorbell rang, and in a few seconds, Carla joined the boys. "Good news," she said. "Splash-o-rama is taking a full-page ad in our next issue!"

"Cool!" Si said, opening his notebook again. "How much did you charge?"

"Seventy-five dollars," Carla said, and looked at Marky. "You don't have to write a story, either, but he expects us to sell 300 copies."

"From 200 to 300 copies, that's … a big percentage hike," Marky said. "Maybe we can get some kids to sell our papers around town."

Carla sat on a puffy brown chair. "You'll think of something, Marky. You've got a good brain for this business."

When Sizemore and Carla left, Marky barely heard their goodbyes. He was still thinking about Carla's compliment.

After revising a story about the school book fair, Marky got an apple from the kitchen and stepped onto the back patio. He found Jared in the back yard, throwing a baseball to a bounce-back screen.

"I guess you're here to interview the star of yesterday's games," Jared said.

Marky rolled his eyes. As he watched his brother, Marky envied Jared's skill and confidence.

"J, were you ever scared of big kids when you were small?" Marky asked.

Still pitching, Jared said, "I hit the ball hard even when I was little. Then one tough pitcher told me he would bean me with his fastball. I was scared, but I went up to bat anyway. I told the ump the kid would throw at me."

"What happened?" Marky asked, surprised that his brother would admit being afraid.

"He beaned me a good one - right here," Jared said, rubbing his upper arm as if it still hurt. "And the ump tossed him from the game."

"Then what?" Marky asked.

Jared stopped throwing and faced Marky. "I went up to him after the game and said, 'Dude, you can keep throwing at me. I'll take the automatic walk, and the umps will toss you. Or, you can do your job and try to get me out.'"

Marky took a bite of apple. "What'd he do?"

"I faced him several times after that," Jared said, throwing again. "Sometimes I struck out, sometimes I got a hit, and he still beaned me once or twice. I guess it was a combination of getting a grown-up involved and asking the guy to stop."

Later that day, Marky walked into Third Street Arcade, Joe D.'s hangout. The look on the bully's face changed from surprise to a mean glare. As Marky talked, Joe D.'s expression was unreadable. After a minute or two, Marky finished and left.

Later, when Marky returned home, he wondered who had left the front door open. No one else was there. But when he walked into the family room, he knew what had happened. Marky picked up the phone.

"Hello, I'd like to report a theft," he said when the police dispatcher answered. "Somebody stole our TV and our computer - and maybe more."

After giving more information, Marky hung up - wondering about tomorrow's issue of Northside News, which was saved on the family's computer.

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

Chapter 6 Questions for consideration:

1. Splash-o-rama wants the kids to increase the number of newspapers they sell. Why does Splash-o-rama care? How many more newspapers must be sold?

2. Marky thinks that Si might also get bullied by Joe D. Why do you think friends might not want to talk to each other about being bullied?

3. Bullying is when someone uses his or her power to hurt or scare others. What types of power might a bully might? Do you think bullying is a problem for kids only?

4. Discuss how we see a different side of Jared in this chapter. How did he deal with being bullied? What do you think Marky said to Joe D.?

Youngsters who submit written answers to the first three questions will be eligible for a weekly draw for a gift voucher. Send your answers via email to jhind@royalgazette.bm, or fax 295-2766 or drop off at The Royal Gazette, 2 Par la Ville Road, Hamilton. Remember to include all your contact information.