Tadashi Hamada reached back and shoved a helmet on his little brother Hiro's head. He gunned the scooter's engine and took off through the crowd.

 

It was hard for Tadashi to be patient with his little brother sometimes. He turned and smacked¹ the top of Hiro's helmet. "You graduated high school when you were thirteen, and this is what you're doing? You're wasting that big brain of yours!"

 

It was well known that both the Hamada brothers were tech prodigies², but Hiro—he was something special. He was a bona fide genius. Not that he did much with his brain other than build fighting bots.

 

"I'm on a roll, big brother," Hiro replied, grinning. "There's no stopping me now."

 

Just then, a police car with its red lights flashing pulled up and blocked the end of the alley³.

 

"Oh, no," Tadashi groaned⁴, realizing they'd been caught up in a gambling⁵ raid. It wasn't long before he and Hiro were headed to jail, along with Yama and everyone else the cops were able to catch.

 

A short time later, Tadashi sat in his cell, staring across the hall at Hiro. Because of Hiro's age, he was given his own cell, while Tadashi was locked up with Yama and his goons. Hiro could see that Tadashi was furious.

 

Finally, a police officer yelled, "Tadashi and Hiro Hamada!" The boys stepped out of their cells and glanced sheepishly at their aunt Cass. She'd come to pick them up, and she looked worried.

 

"Uh, hi, Aunt Cass," Tadashi said.

 

She rushed to embrace them both. "Are you guys okay? Tell me you're okay!"

 

"We're okay," Hiro said, ducking his head. She twisted both their ears. "Then what were you two knuckleheads thinking?"

 

It was a long ride home. Aunt Cass started in on them as soon as she got behind the wheel. "For ten years, I've done the best I could to raise you. Have I been perfect? No."

 

Hiro and Tadashi nodded. They had expected her to lecture them, and they knew they deserved it. They hated making her upset.

 

"Is it like the blind raising the blind? Yes," she continued as she parked her pickup⁶ in front of the café she owned, the Lucky Cat. It was on the first floor of an old Victorian, and they all lived together in the apartment upstairs.

 

"We're sorry," Tadashi said as they got out of the truck.

 

Hiro knew he had to say something, too. "We love you, Aunt Cass."

 

Hiro and Tadashi cringed at the closed sign hanging in the window. They knew she'd had to close up to get them out of jail.

 

"Well, I love you, too!" she grumbled⁷ as they entered the café. She grabbed a giant pastry⁸ from the counter and took a bite. "Stress eating! Because of you," she mumbled⁹ with her mouth full. Then she walked upstairs to their apartment with her fat cat, Mochi, following her.

 

Hiro and Tadashi also went upstairs, to the bedroom they shared. Hiro gathered some tools that were scattered¹⁰ on his desk while Tadashi watched.

 

"I hope you've learned your lesson," Tadashi finally said.

 

"Absolutely," Hiro said.

 

"You've got your priorities straight?"

 

"I really do," Hiro replied, making an adjustment to his robot, then heading for the door.

 

"Wait. Where are you going?" Tadashi asked. Hiro smiled. "There's another bot fight across town. If I book it, I can still get there on time." Tadashi threw up his hands in frustration¹¹.

 

"Seriously? Are you gonna keep hustling¹² bot fights, or are you gonna do something with your life?"

 

Hiro fidgeted for a second. "What, like go to college like you so people can tell me stuff I already know?"

 

Tadashi shook his head. "Unbelievable. What would Mom and Dad say?"

 

Hiro shrugged¹³. "They wouldn't say anything. They're gone."

 

The answer hurt. But it made Tadashi realize he was the only person who could steer¹⁴ Hiro in the right direction. "Fine," he said. "I'll take you." "Really?" Hiro said, surprised.

 

"I can't stop you from going, but I'm not going to let you go on your own."

 

Tadashi rode off with his brother on the back of his scooter. But suddenly, he made a turn.

 

滨田泰迪转过头，随手在他弟弟小宏的头上胡乱套了一个头盔，然后发动摩托车加大油门冲出了人群。

 

泰迪有时对他的弟弟很难做到有耐心。他转过头在小宏的头盔上拍了一下：“你十三岁从高中毕业后，就一直做这些?你在浪费你的聪明才智!”

 

众所周知，滨田兄弟俩都是科技神童，可小宏有些特别，他是个真正的天才。除了制造格斗机器人之外，他在别的方面没怎么动脑筋。

 

“我手气正好着呢，哥，”小宏笑着回答道，“现在没什么能阻挡我。”

 

就在这时，一辆警车闪着红灯停在路口，挡住了巷口。

 

意识到他们因突袭检查赌博而被捕，泰迪叹息道：“哦, 不!”很快，他和小宏被送进监狱，山哥以及被警察抓住的其他人，也一同被送了进来。

 

一会儿之后，泰迪坐在他自己的牢房中，瞪着关在走廊对面的小宏。小宏因为年龄尚小，被关在单间的牢房里。而泰迪却和山哥以及他的同伙关在了一起。小宏看得出泰迪怒火冲天。

 

最终，一位警官喊道：“滨田泰迪，滨田宏!”男孩们走出各自的牢房，胆怯地瞥向他们的卡斯阿姨。她来接他们了，她看起来很焦虑。

 

“呃，嗨，卡斯阿姨!”泰迪说道。

 

她冲过去抱住了他们：“你们没事吧?告诉我你们都还好!”

 

小宏的脑袋躲闪着说道：“我们很好。”她拧着他俩的耳朵说道：“那你们两个傻瓜是脑子进水了吗?”

 

车开了很久才到家。卡斯阿姨一坐在方向盘前就开始唠叨他们：“十年了，我尽我最大的努力把你们拉扯大。我是个完美的家长吗?不是。”

 

小宏和泰迪点了点头。他们希望阿姨训他们一顿，因为他们知道自己活该。他们不想阿姨难过。

 

“是不是像瞎子养瞎子?是的。”她一边把她小卡车停在她开的幸运猫咖啡馆前，一边继续唠叨着。这家咖啡馆位于一座维多利亚式旧公寓的一楼，他们都住在这座公寓的楼上。

 

他们走下卡车时，泰迪说道：“对不起。”

 

小宏知道他也必须得说点什么。“我们爱你，卡斯阿姨。”

 

小宏和泰迪局促不安地看到挂在窗户上的停止营业的标识。他们知道阿姨必须提前打烊，才能把他们从监狱里带出来。

 

他们一边走进咖啡馆，卡斯阿姨一边抱怨道：“好吧，我也爱你们!”她从柜台里抓过一大块糕饼咬了一口。“化压力为食欲!都是因为你们俩。”她吃得满嘴都是，含糊地咕哝着上楼了，后面还跟着她的肥猫毛球。

 

小宏和泰迪也上了楼，走进他们共同的卧室里。泰迪看着小宏收起原本散落在他桌子上的一些工具。

 

最后泰迪说道：“但愿你吸取教训了”。

 

“当然了!”小宏说。

 

“你已经知道轻重缓急了?”

 

“是的。”小宏回答道，调整了一下他的机器人，就径直朝门口走去。

 

“等等，你去哪里?”泰迪问。小宏笑着说：“在城市的另一边还有一场机器人格斗。现在报名我还能赶得上。”泰迪无奈地摊开双手。

 

“你说真的?你是想要继续靠机器人格斗来拼命赚钱，还是想做些有益于你人生的事?”

 

小宏坐立不安了一会儿:“什么，跟你一样去读大学，让别人教我一些我已经知道的东西吗?”

 

泰迪摇了摇头：“难以置信。爸爸妈妈会怎么说?”

 

小宏耸了耸肩：“他们什么也不会说的，因为他们已经不在人世了。”

 

这个回答很伤人。却也让泰迪意识到，他是唯一能给小宏指引正确方向的人。“好吧，”他说，“我带你去。”“真的吗?”小宏惊讶地问道。

 

“反正我也拦不住你，但我也不能让你一个人去。”

 

泰迪骑着摩托车，后面载着他弟弟。可突然间，车子转了个弯。

点击收听单词发音