Philip and the Loser (9781619501522) Read Online Free PDF

be out of business after seven
throws.”
    The boys stood quietly contemplating failure
until Philip’s mother opened the back door.
    “ Emery, your mom called. She wants you
home.”
    “ She needs help with my baby sisters,
I’ll bet,” said Emery glumly. He looked over the broken cat and the
other six cats lying on their faces on the picnic table and softly
said, “It looks like a cat cemetery.”
    Philip scowled and muttered, “Stupid game
anyway. We’ll make a different game tomorrow.”
    “ I’ll come over early,” Emery said.
“We’ll think of a new game. We still have lots of time. Tomorrow’s
only Saturday.”
    Philip picked up the seven cats and dumped
them into the black plastic trash can inside the garage. “Yeah,
tomorrow we’ll think of something.”
    Emery and Philip parted, downcast but not
ready to give up.
     
     

Chapter Seven
     
    The next morning Philip and Emery met in
Philip’s backyard at ten o’clock.
    “ What’ll we do now?” Emery wondered.
“The cat game took all afternoon and ended up a big mess-up. Even
Leon couldn’t have messed things up more than we did.”
    “ Well, it was your idea,” said
Philip.
    “ No, no. It was
your
idea.”
    Philip couldn’t really remember whose idea it
was. “Well, if it was my idea, then it’s your turn to come up with
the next idea.”
    “ Oh,” said Emery, realizing he’d
trapped himself. “Maybe it
was
my idea then,
the cats.”
    “ No, no. You said it was my idea, so
you have to have the next idea.”
    “ Hi, fellows.”
    “ Hi, Dad.”
    “ Hi, Mr. Felton.”
    “ What’s cooking today?” Mr. Felton
asked.
    “ We have to think up a game for Mrs.
M.’s fair,” Philip explained. “It’s a school project.”
    “ Oh, yes. Your mom mentioned. Well, you
have a nice day for it,” he said, looking at the sky. “But I
thought you made up a game yesterday.”
    “ We did, but it didn’t
work.”
    “ What game did you make?
    “ The one where you throw balls at those
standing-up cats.” Philip threw Emery a glance.
“
Emery
thought of it, but it . . . the cats .
. .” He shrugged. “It didn’t work.”
    “ So what now?”
    “ How about throwing rings on sticks?”
said Emery.
    “ There you go. That’s a good game,” Mr.
Felton said encouragingly. “Well, good luck. Your mother and I are
off with the baby to the supermarket.”
    “ Dad,” Philip called. “Can we use your
old wood if we have to?”
    “ Sure. But be careful. Don’t hurt
yourself.”
    Philip turned and walked toward the garage.
“Let’s go see what’s there.”
    “ Look,” said Emery. He pointed to a
large flat piece of wood leaning against one wall of the garage. He
went and got it. “If we can stick pegs on it, this’ll work
good.”
    Philip went to the far corner of the garage.
He grabbed a small, white trash bag and brought it back to Emery.
“Look at these.”
    Inside the bag were round sticks of different
lengths.
    “ Hey, perfect,” said Emery, all
excited. “All we have to do is glue a bunch of them to the board,
find some rings to throw, and we’re done.”
    He and Philip laughed. “This is going to be
so easy,” Philip said. “I’ll go get some super glue.”
    Philip rushed inside the house and rushed
back out again. The boys laid the board on the picnic table.
    “ Here, hold this,” said Philip, giving
Emery the medium-sized tube of glue. “Open the bag, and I’ll pick a
stick.”
    Philip closed his eyes and reached inside the
white plastic bag as if he were picking out a winning ticket and
pulled out a short stick.
    “ Where shall we glue this one?” Emery
asked, putting down the plastic bag and taking the cap off the tube
of glue.
    “ Mmm. Let’s start on the outside.
Here.” Philip touched his finger to one of the four corners. He
turned the stick toward Emery. “Put some glue on the bottom.” Emery
squeezed the tube hard and
psszztt,
a blob of
glue shot toward Philip and hit him on his right