A Boy Called Duct Tape Read Online Free PDF Page B

it?” Earl was smiling like he’d just won the Missouri lottery.
    “We need to think about your offer,” I said, holding out my hand. I was certain the coin was worth more. Much more—like $6,175 more.
    “Let us talk it over, Mr. Blood,” Kiki said. “We’ll come back this afternoon.”
    “Ya do that very thing,” Earl said. “Talk it over, and I’ll hold the coin until ya come back. That way it wouldn’t get scratched nor damaged nor lost.” He stuck the coin in his pants pocket.
    Pia had heard enough. “That sucks! I want my coin!” she declared, raising up on her tiptoes and extending her hand across the display case.
    “Ain’t ya afraid ya might lose it, little sister?” Earl asked with a shady smile.
    “We won’t lose it,” I said.
    “That’s right,” Pia persisted. “We won’t lose it. Now give it back.”
    “Ya drive a hard bargain, kid,” Earl said, giving me a wink. “I’ll give ya a hundred bucks for it right now.” He stepped to the cash register, opened it, and removed a hundred-dollar bill. He came over and slapped the bill onto the counter.
    “Land sakes, a hundred dollars!” Burl crowed, his eyes laser-focused on the bill.
    “Ya ever see a hundred-dollar bill, kid?” Earl said.
    “Plenty of times,” I lied. “But we still need to talk it over.”
    “I want my coin!” Pia squawked, her arm still stretched across the glass counter.
    “Okay, okay,” Earl told Pia. “Don’t get your drawers in a ruffle, little sister. Take it.” Earl removed the coin from his pants pocket and flipped it in Pia’s direction. Leaning back on her heels, Pia snatched it out of the air. She stuck the coin in her pocket, and we left without another word.
    Outside on the sidewalk, Kiki said, “If Earl Blood was willing to pay a hundred dollars for that coin, I’ll bet it’s worth a lot more.”
    I had to bite my tongue.
    “Kiki, how much do you think it’s worth?” Pia asked.
    “Don’t say another word, Pia,” I grumbled. “It’ll probably be all over town by noon that we found the coin in James Creek. Can’t you keep a secret?”
    “It sort of slipped out,” Pia said, looking down at her feet.
    Kiki offered to buy everyone a cherry limeade, and we went into Lyda’s Café and found an empty booth. As we waited for our order, Pia removed the precious coin from her pocket and laid it on the table.
    But something odd had happened to the coin.
    “Ohmigosh!” Pia whispered, her eyes wide.
    I looked at the coin. It looked strange. “What the heck?” I picked it up and examined it, and then in a loud voice said, “What happened to it?”
    Several of Lyda’s customers looked over.
    “What?” Kiki asked.
    “This isn’t the twenty-dollar gold piece!” I blared, holding it out for Kiki to see. “It’s some old coin they gave away at last year’s Outlaw Days Festival. It isn’t worth a bucket of pig sweat!”
    Kiki took the coin and read the inscription on it. “Outlaw Days 70th Anniversary. Jamesville, Missouri.” She looked at me, an anxious glint in her eyes “It’s a souvenir coin.”
    “Blood switched coins!” I said, almost shouting.
    “How?” Kiki asked.
    Pia had held on for as long as she could, but the loss of the coin was more than she could bear, and she burst into tears, her face as sad as I had ever seen it.
    “Ah, man,” I moaned. “He tricked us. I don’t know how, but he did.”
    “That creep,” Kiki hissed.
    I reached across the table and laid my hand on my sister’s shoulder. “I’ll get your coin back, Pia.”
    “P-P-Promise?” she gasped between sobs, her face slick with tears.
    “Promise,” I said, my jaw clenched.
    I jumped up from the table, bolted out of the café, and dashed next door to the Blood Brothers pawnshop. I was ready to go to war, if necessary, to recover Pia’s coin.
    But I was too late.
    The door was locked and a sign in the window read:
    SORRY, WE’RE CLOSED
    I pressed my face against the glass door and peered