Eric, Eric, and Eric

Illustrated by Tim Heitz

"**Eric, Eric, and Eric**" is the twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-second chapter of *Wayside School Is Falling Down*.

## Synopsis

Mr. Kidswatter confronts the three Erics about a mean note one of them wrote towards him.

## Plot

One day, Mr. Kidswatter demands to have Eric be sent to his office over the newly installed loudspeaker. Mrs. Jewls is confused, she asks when a loudspeaker was installed, and Jenny tells her Louis put it in yesterday. Mrs. Jewls is still confused because she has three Erics in her class. She doesn't know which one Mr. Kidswatter means, so she decides to send the fattest Eric, Eric Fry. Eric Fry trembles as he nervously and angrily walks downstairs, finding it unfair how every time an Eric gets in trouble, he ends up taking the blame. He enters Mr. Kidswatter's office, standing against the wall as far from Mr. Kidswatter as possible, but Kidswatter has Eric Fry move closer. Mr. Kidswatter tells Eric Fry that they can do it the easy way or the hard way, but Eric Fry has no clue what Mr. Kidswatter is talking about. Mr. Kidswatter decides to do it the hard way, and starts asking Eric Fry a series of questions.

First, he asks Eric the last time he sharpened his pencil, but he has trouble remembering out of fear. He then asks Eric where he was the previous day at 12:15, and Eric recalls that he was eating lunch and playing kickball. He asks if Eric kicks with his left foot, but Eric says he's right-footed. Kidswatter asks if Eric has ever gotten his hair cut at Charley's Barber Shop, and Eric claims he had two weeks ago. Mr. Kidswatter feels as if he finally has the answer, and asks Eric Fry if he knows what a Mugworm Griblick is, but Eric Fry frantically says it can't be him, and that there are two other Erics in his class.

When Mr. Kidswatter learns that Eric Fry is not the correct Eric, he demands Mrs. Jewls to send down another Eric, so Mrs. Jewls sends down the short and chubby Eric Ovens. Eric Ovens worriedly walks down the stairs, wondering why his parents had to name him Eric above any other name. Eric Ovens sits in the chair and notices Eric Fry is missing, and asks what happened, but Mr. Kidswatter claims he'll ask the questions. He asks if Eric Ovens had a spelling test last Friday, something Eric Fry revealed in his claims, and Eric Ovens is fearful to know how Mr. Kidswatter figured that out. He asks when Eric last sharpened his pencil, and Eric recalls sharpening it that morning after Maurecia stepped on it. Kidswatter asks if Eric played kickball yesterday, but Eric says he played tetherball. Kidswatter asks if Eric is left or right-handed, and Eric says he's right-handed. Kidswatter proceeds to throw a stapler at him, and Eric catches it in his right hand. Mr. Kidswatter decides to ask if Eric had ever gotten a haircut at Charley's Barber Shop, Eric claims he hasn't, but he'll go right now if Kidswatter wants, but Kidswatter holds him in the office. Mr. Kidswatter asks Eric if he's heard of a Mugworm Griblick before. Eric Ovens' response is a terrified scream, and this reaction makes Mr. Kidswatter realize that Eric Ovens is the wrong Eric as well.

Back on the thirtieth story, Mr. Kidswatter demands to see the last Eric, to which the skinny Eric Bacon swiftly hops out of his seat, and bounces down the stairs without any worries whatsoever. He walks straight into the principal's office, swiftly taking a seat in the chair, not questioning where the other two Erics are. He looks into Kidswatter's mirrored sunglasses, and combs his hair, neatly cut the day before at Charley's Barber Shop at 12:15. Mr. Kidswatter asks the last time Eric sharpened his pencil. Eric immediately responds that it was November 11th, three minutes before five in the afternoon, because that was when his watch stopped. He asks where he was yesterday at 12:15, and Eric says he was sipping tea in the garden. He asks if Maurecia stepped on someone's pencil that morning and whose, and Eric says she stepped on everyone's pencil. Mr. Kidswatter asks if Eric is left-handed or right-footed, and Eric states he kicks with his right hand and writes with his left foot. Mr. Kidswatter asks if Eric has ever been to Charley's Barber Shop, but Eric says he's wearing a wig. Mr. Kidswatter asks if he knows what Mugworm Griblick means, but Eric states he doesn't know, but he can look it up in a dictionary if necessary. Kidswatter said he already tried and that and couldn't find it.

Since none of the Erics gave the right responses, Mr. Kidswatter decides to release the other two Erics from under his desk, and notes one of them must be lying, and that whenever he catches them, they will be so sorry. Mr. Kidswatter gives one last chance to fess up. Eric Fry and Eric Ovens shiver with fear, but Eric Bacon simply has everyone leave and leads them back upstairs to Mrs. Jewls's class. After letting them go, Mr. Kidswatter reexamines the evidence he found; a small white card on his desk, which was what those questions were all about. The card is from Charley's Barber Shop, which said that someone named Eric had an appointment on Tuesday (the previous day) at 12:15. On the back, a left-handed person had written with a sharp pencil "Mr. Kidswatter is a Mugworm Griblick."

## Characters

* Mr. Kidswatter
* Mrs. Jewls
* Louis (mentioned)
* Jenny
* Eric Fry
* Eric Bacon
* Eric Ovens
* Eric Ovens's parents (mentioned)
* Maurecia (mentioned)

## Trivia

* Due to "A Bad Case of the Sillies," "A Wonderful Teacher," and "Forever Is Never" all being listed as chapter 19, this chapter is listed as chapter 20, 21, and 22.
* Presumably, Eric Bacon wrote the note due to a number of reasons.
	+ He was the only Eric that wasn't scared or nervous at all.
	+ The narrative said he got his hair cut at Charley's Barber Shop at 12:15 the previous day. So if that's true, he must've been lying about drinking tea in his garden and having a bald head.
	+ He claimed to write with his left foot, which would still technically count as "left".

## Gallery

Joel Schick illustrationAdam McCauley illustration
### Foreign editions

Peter Allen illustration (UK)Peter Allen second illustration (UK)Satoshi Kitamura illustration (Japan)