" The first thing he usually did when he got home was shower, but today he could scarcely make it into the house because the boys were blocking the steps.
“How y’doin’?” he said, maneuvering around them and going inside. The boys got up and followed him.
“Anything exciting happen today?” Jake inquired.
“I told Mrs. Blake I wouldn’t deliver her mail unless she kept her dog in the house,” Father said. “Almost got my pants torn off by that beast of hers. Other than that, no.”
“Anybody die?” asked Peter. Wally reached over and pinched his arm, but it was too late.
“Not that I know of. Why? Did I miss something?”
“I guess we’re getting bored,” Jake said quickly. “Nothing exciting ever happens around here.”
“Well, you could always go check out that new family,” Father suggested. “Mr. Malloy is the new football coach at the college, I hear, and they’ve got three daughters about your ages.”
“Did you meet them?” asked Josh.
“No, but I will before too long. Want me to say something for you?”
“No!” cried the four boys together.
Father smiled a little as he took off his shirt. “Okay, then. We’ll just let things develop and see what happens.”
What happens, Wally thought, is that someone’s going to find the body, and someone is going to ask questions, and someone—namely Wally himself—was going to jail. All because of two words. Two words! Dead fish. He swallowed, but it didn’t get rid of the rock in the pit of his stomach. "

― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor , The Boys Start the War (Boy/Girl Battle, #1)