Philip Gets Even (9781597050807) Read Online Free PDF Page A

hide them in Mr. Conway’s pocket. But he
reached in too hard and felt something funny happen.
    “Uh oh,” he said.
    “Now what?” said Philip. He peeked back and
Johnny Visco was still staring.
    “I think I ripped my pocket.”
    Everyone was rising at Tracy’s invitation to
join her in the back room to see the winning projects.
    When Emery stood, he felt the steady plummet
of M & Ms down his pants leg and onto the floor, followed by
the tiny crunch of people stepping on the candy.
    Johnny Visco walked slowly by and stared down
at the floor, now littered with brightly colored M & Ms, some
smashed and some whole. Philip and Emery, doing their best to
ignore him, cringed at the sound of feet crunching the M & Ms
they had dropped.
    Philip and Emery entered the back room and
led Mr. Conway off to the side. They watched Johnny Visco get two
steps inside the room and stop as if he’d walked into a wall.
    “Hey!” he cried. Everyone got very quiet, not
expecting anyone to shout in a fine place like the Agora Gallery of
Fine Art.
    “Hey!” Johnny Visco bellowed again. “Somebody
ate my art!” He pushed through the crowd and held up the nearly
empty blue bowl. “My M & Ms are gone and so are most of the
cupcakes. And I know who took them. It was those two over there.
They’ve been eating them all along. So has that old buzzard.” And
he pointed directly at Philip, Emery, and Mr. Conway. “The old
buzzard’s still eating them.”
    “Oh, my,” said Tracy, who had moved next to
Johnny Visco. “Someone has gotten to your installation,
haven’t they?”
    The silence of the moment was broken by the
tiny click-clack of a few more M & Ms dropping from Emery’s
pant leg. He gave them a quick kick.
    Now everyone began pointing at the nearly
empty bowl of candy and the nearly empty plate of cupcakes, and
talking all at once, their eyes followed the trail of smashed M
& Ms that led right to Emery.
    Mr. Conway was still popping M & Ms into
his mouth one at a time and waiting for the ceremony to
continue.
    “Sir,” said Tracy. “Sir.” And she walked over
to Mr. Conway.
    “Did a fine job, didn’t they?” said Mr.
Conway, pointing to Everyday Things and then to the
boys.
    “What are you eating, sir?”
    “Eat? No, no thank you. Got plenty of M &
Ms. Want some?”
    “See? See? It was all of them,” Johnny Visco
screamed. “I saw them! That old buzzard is still eating
them.”
    “Where did you get them, sir?” Tracy asked,
trying to ignore Johnny Visco.
    Mr. Conway smiled and put one hand on
Philip’s shoulder and the other hand on Emery’s shoulder. “These
are the two fine artists responsible.”
    Philip and Emery pushed Mr. Conway’s hands
away and wished they could just disappear.
    “They stole my art. They ate it,” Johnny
Visco cried. “Do something.”
    Tracy asked for an explanation from the boys,
but the boys were paralyzed with embarrassment. Then she questioned
Mr. Conway again.
    “Explain, you say. I can explain,” said Mr.
Conway. “ Everyday Things is the name of the painting. And it
was their idea to...”
    “Sir, I don’t want the painting explained,” Tracy said in a loud voice. “I want the M &
Ms explained.”
    Mr. Conway gave her a look.
    “Explain M & Ms? Silliest thing I ever
heard of.” He shrugged. “Well, you take a little chocolate and
cover it with this colored candy. Print an ‘M’ on it and, Bingo! M
& Ms. Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.” He threw a
handful of M & Ms into his mouth and held up a clean hand
before Tracy’s eyes.
    Tracy stared at him, her eyes and mouth
gaping.
    Now, the two adults who’d come with Johnny
Visco began demanding an explanation. Mr. Conway talked on about Everyday Things. Philip and Emery tried to explain how they
came to take the candy and cupcakes by mistake. The rest of the
crowd began talking among themselves, explaining what they thought
had happened. Some people in the back began to laugh. And above it
all Johnny Visco