The Counterfeit Tackle Read Online Free PDF Page B

of gumption,” said Mr. Nettles. “There’re a lot of kids who’d like to see that pro game. Matter of fact,
     I would, too. But the tickets were all sold out by the time I wanted to buy any. Well, see you later, boys. Let’s go, Pete.”

8
    W ELL, my great impersonator,” Mom said as Buzz closed the kitchen door behind him, “I see you’re still in one piece.”
    Buzz dropped the football helmet and shoes on the floor and began to pull off his jersey.
    “I’m not too sure if I am,” he said. “Wait’ll I take off all this equipment. Maybe it’s holding me together.”
    After he had the jersey and shoulderpads off he was pretty well sure that he was really in one piece. He carried the stuff into his bedroom, finished undressing,
     then carried his clean clothes into the bathroom.
    “Did anyone get suspicious about you?” Mom’s voice carried to him from the kitchen.
    A proud smile flicked across Buzz’s face. “Not a bit, Mom. There were a few times when I did things and said things that almost
     put me in hot water for a minute, though. Sometimes I forgot what Corky had told me about crouching in the line, and Coach
     Hayes bawled me out. Well — not really, but he said he had never seen me in line with my head and shoulders up like that before.”
    Mom laughed. “And, of course, henever had,” she said. “Buzz, I’ve never seen the likes of you in my life. Take your bath and get dressed. By the way, was
     Pete Nettles at the game?”
    “I’ll say he was. So were his mother and father. You don’t think he’d miss seeing Corky play, do you? Or Goose?”
    “That’s what I thought,” said Mom. “So don’t be surprised if Pete shows up and wants you to go out with him.”
    “Oh, no!” cried Buzz. “If he finds out I wasn’t Corky he’ll broadcast it to every kid in the neighborhood. Me and Corky both
     will be in
steaming
hot water then!”
    “Don’t worry about Pete,” Mom said reassuringly. “He likes Corky too much to tell on him like that. Take your bath. We can
     talk later.”
    After a warm, refreshing bath he dried himself, dressed and combed his hair.He remembered what Mom had said about the strong possibility of Pete’s coming over, and wished Dad and Corky were home. But
     they weren’t, and he had no idea when they would be.
    Then he thought of something that had popped into his mind every once in a while during the game. Never before in his entire
     life had so many guys been so friendly toward him. And it was all because of one thing: they thought he was Corky.
    He thought back to the basketball games in which he had played. Not even in them had the players been friendly toward him.
     Of course they had not been unfriendly. But none of them had ever gone out of the way to slap him on the back or say nice
     words to him as the players had during the football gametoday. It made him feel… well, real good inside.
    They weren’t bad guys at all. They didn’t act anything like they usually did when they saw him on the street. They acted…
     well, different. Almost as if they weren’t the same kids.
    He tried to explain some of this to his mother. “I know Corky and I are different in certain ways, Mom,” he said, after he
     had given her a few examples of what had happened. “But we can’t be that different, could we? Not if we look so much alike
     that nobody can tell us apart.”
    His mother looked at him silently. There was just a flicker of a smile on her lips.
    “You do look almost exactly alike,” she agreed. “But inside, you are made up of different stuff. This stuff is what givesyou a certain personality. It’s this personality that comes out of you when you do things, when you say things, or when you
     meet people. It’s this stuff inside of you two boys that makes you different from each other. It’s like two houses that look
     exactly alike but have different families in them.”
    Buzz weighed her words. He nodded silently. “I’m getting the idea,