“Thank you, ma’am.” Philip grabbed the five dollars.
“It’s for a good cause,” Emery put in. He turned to Philip and smiled. Then he called out, “Only five dollars. Get your picture drawn only five dollars.”
Philip followed suit and people lined up.
By the time five o’clock rolled around and the fair drew to a close, Leon had drawn thirty-two faces, and when Philip handed Mrs. Moriarty the profits, she stared at him, momentarily speechless. When she found her voice, she said, “Philip, one-hundred-sixty dollars! Amazing! You made more money for us than any other booth in the fair.”
“Well, Leon was the real star,” said Philip.
“Leon, thank you ever so much,” said Mrs. Moriarty. “Please come with Philip and Emery sometime and visit me. Do you like candy?”
“Yeah, I like candy a lot, yuk yuk,” Leon answered, giving one of his big, goofy laughs and showing off his broken tooth.
A few moments later Leon tucked his drawing paper under his arm and he, Philip, and Emery started home.
“I did good, didn’t I?” Leon giggled. “How did you know I like to draw?”
Philip knew his brotherhood report on Monday would be super. Mrs. M. had promised to write a note for Emery and him to attach to their reports telling Mr. Sagsman how much help they had been to the women’s club fair. Philip thought he might even put something in the report about being friends with Leon. Philip felt so relieved at how things turned out he didn’t even mind walking with Leon. “I knew you liked to draw because all Kleebises like to draw,” Philip said, aiming a big smile at Leon.
“Kleebis forever, woo hoo,” yelled Leon.
“On, no,” Emery mumbled. “Not this again.”
But Philip could only laugh. Maybe his father was right about hidden talents. And maybe Mr. Sagsman was right, too. If you gave people a chance and tried to get to know them, they were mostly all right. And Leon was kind of funny. And he did have an awful lot of bad luck.
“Hey, Leon,” said Philip. “Remember when you crashed over the desk outside our classroom?”
“Yeah,” Leon laughed. “Boom! And you fell down in the garbage?”
Philip laughed. It seemed funny now. He said, “And I was shaking garbage off so you and Emery started shaking, too, and the three of us were jumping around like hyenas when Mr. Sagsman saw us?”
Even Emery had to smile and say, “And remember when Leon ate the cookies off the floor?”
All three boys had to stop walking, they were laughing so hard.
Leon took a breath and said, “And I didn’t have shoes in your house and couldn’t find them?” The boys laughed like crazy.
Emery sputtered, “And the chair, the chair on the lawn bit him.”
The three boys held their sides in glee.
“And . . . and . . .” Leon could barely speak. “. . . and I busted up both your games.”
Philip stopped laughing. “That wasn’t so funny,” he said. He remembered how angry and desperate he’d felt. “But I guess it’s funny now it’s over. Right, Emery?”
“Yeah. I guess. Maybe.”
“Kleebis forever, woo hoo,” Philip shouted.
“Kleebis forever, woo hoo,” Leon shouted.
Emery gave a roll of his eyes and muttered, “Oh, what the heck. Kleebis forever, woo hoo.”
The three boys walked down the street laughing and shouting out the Kleebis song.
“Kleebis forever, woo hoo.”
The End
About the Author
John Paulits has published numerous books of fiction both for children and adults. This is his ninth PHILIP AND EMERY novel for Gypsy Shadow. See John’s website for more information.
WEBSITE: www.johnpaulits.com
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BLOG: http://johnpaulits.wordpress.com/wp-admin/edit.php
OTHER: http://www.manicreaders.com/JohnPaulits/
Philip and the Loser (9781619501522) Page 6