Philip and the Sneaky Trashmen (9781619502185) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Sorino.”
    “ We’re . . .” Emery
began.
    Philip poked him. “Good idea, Leon.
Well, we gotta go. Bye.”
    Leon pulled his wagon along the
sidewalk, whistling as he went.
    “ What’d you poke me for?”
Emery asked, rubbing his ribs. “That hurt.”
    “ You were gonna tell him
about what we were doing. Look, now we know what he’s doing. We can do
it, too, if we want. He doesn’t know what we’re doing, so he won’t bother us or
find stuff outside houses before we do. We already have three
houses written down. The TV house, the big table house, and the
sofa house. Let’s go find some more.”
    The boys had to give up their search an
hour later, when the trash truck arrived and cleaned out the
neighborhood.
    “ We got six places on the
list, right?” asked Emery.
    “ Six, right. Let’s take the
list to Mr. Sorino.”
    The boys ran the whole way. The same
truck they had seen earlier stood in the driveway of Mr. Sorino’s
house. The back-up lights on the truck flashed, and the boys
watched the truck slowly move into the street, straighten out, and
drive away. They ran up to Mr. Sorino, who still stood in the
driveway.
    “ Here’s the list,” Philip
said, handing him the paper.
    Mr. Sorino studied the list, and Philip
felt good when he saw a smile creep across the man’s
face.
    “ Very nice, boys.” He dug
into his pocket. “This list is absolutely worth another dollar.
Here you go.”
    After handing the boys their money, Mr.
Sorino started toward his porch. “I have to make a few phone calls.
Thanks.” He waved the list. “Keep looking. Come on,
Gordon.”
    “ We will,” Philip called
after him. Gordon scooted through the dog door, and Mr. Sorino
followed him inside.
    Emery tapped Philip on the shoulder.
“Hey, look.”
    Philip turned. A decrepit wooden clock
sat on top of the trash in a big, black, plastic trash can. They
walked over and inspected it.
    “ It’s Leon’s clock,” said
Emery. “Gotta be.”
    “ I guess Mr. Sorino
couldn’t fix it.”
    “ Guess not.” Emery lifted
the clock up. “Hey, is this your stuff under it?”
    Philip poked around in the ripped open
side of the white bag on top. “Looks like. Yeah. There’s the ant
sandwich.”
    “ I guess he couldn’t fix
any of your stuff either.”
    “ It was pretty junky stuff. I gotta go
home. Aunt Louise is coming, and I’m supposed to be there to say
hello.”
    “ Is she the crazy one you
told me about?”
    The boys began walking. “Totally crazy.
That’s why my mother went nuts looking for that pin and cleaned the
house like the President was coming to visit. The worst part is
boys and girls.”
    “ Boys and girls? What’s
that mean?”
    “ She thinks boys and
girls—there shouldn’t be a difference. Everything equal. Pink
shouldn’t be girls; blue shouldn’t be boys. They should get the
same toys—no girl toys or boy toys.”
    “ You said she always brings
presents, though.”
    “ Gaaaa! The dumbest presents ever. She gave me a doll for Christmas
when I was five, a girl doll, and a big dollhouse the Christmas
after that. My dad tells me I cried when I got the doll. By the
time I got the dollhouse, I was used to it. Her last visit she gave
me two T-shirts; a pink one with my baby picture on it and a blue
one with Becky’s baby picture. I won’t wear them.”
    Emery laughed. “A dollhouse! That’s
funny.”
    “ It’s not funny to me. It’s
worse than not even getting a present. I gotta smile and say thank
you and act like it’s the greatest gift ever. Then I put it where I
never have to see it again.”
    Emery laughed again. “Let me know what
she gives you this time. Call me when you can. How long’s she
staying?”
    “ She lives like two hours
away so she always stays two nights.”
    They had reached their own
street.
    “ Okay. Good luck,” Emery
said, and he ran up his path to the front door.
     
    ~ * ~
    “ Thank you, Sis. I’ll wear
it tomorrow night when I take you to dinner.”
    Philip