The Pool Party Read Online Free PDF Page B

jeweler’s eyepiece, and sized up his two customers. “May I help you gentlemen?” the man asked in a polite voice. His eyepiece dropped into his palm. The owner shook it like dice before he placed it in his shirt pocket.
    Rudy and Alex looked around, not sure if the man was talking to them.
    “Yes, you two fine customers. How may I be of service?”
    Alex nudged Rudy. “Go ahead, ask him.”
    “Well, sir, is this worth anything? It was made in 1949 in Denver.” Rudy uncurled his fist. In his sweaty palm lay the nickel that his father had found while cutting the lawn. Rudy handed the nickel to the man, who brought out his eyepiece and studied the nickel. He hemmed and hawed and ticked the nickel against the glass case. He looked up at the boys. “My dear sirs—” he started to say.
    Alex nudged Rudy again. “See! You’re going to be rich! Will you buy me a Gameboy?”
    “Rich!” Rudy screamed. “I’m going to be rich! Really?”
    The two did a quick dance, gave themselves high fives and, gripping the glass case, asked, “How much is it worth?”
    The man put his eyepiece back into his shirt pocket. “A nickel,” the man concluded.
    “Yeah, we know it’s a nickel,” Rudy said. “But how much?”
    “I’m afraid that your nickel is worth a nickel.”
    Alex closed his eyes in disbelief. “It can’t be. It’s so old.”
    “I’m afraid that’s the truth.”
    “No, it can’t be,” Alex argued again. His face looked desperate. He had talked Rudy into walking two miles to the coin shop because he was sure—dead sure—that the nickel was worth a lot.
    The man fumbled through his pockets and brought out a nickel. He looked at thedate. “Here, my good friends, is another nickel minted in 1949. You can have it. It’s yours.”
    Rudy took the nickel and peered at it. He gazed intently and concluded, “It is from 1949.” Rudy handed it back to the man and turned to Alex. “See, I told you it’s not worth anything!”
    “How did I know? Remember, you’re smarter,” Alex said, shrugging his shoulders. “It just seemed so old.”
    “I’m sorry that I can’t help you,” the man said, and turned from the boys to answer the telephone.
    When they left the coin shop, a policeman was writing up a ticket where they had parked the inner tube.
    “Híjole!”
Rudy screamed. He ran over to the policeman. “Are you giving us a ticket?”
    “Is this your inner tube?” the policeman asked. His badge sparkled in the afternoon sun.
    “Yeah,” Rudy admitted.
    The policeman flapped his ticket book closed. “You can’t chain it to a meter. Better move it.” The policeman scratched his head and then added, “That’s a heck of an inner tube.”

    “Yeah, I guess so,” Rudy said despondently. When the policeman left, Rudy took the 1949 nickel from his pocket and fed the meter. “I may as well put it to use. This car is going to get a ticket if I don’t.” The meter was ticking down to four minutes.
    From the coin shop, Rudy and Alex rolled the inner tube to Francher’s Creek, a canal-like river that snaked through south Fresno. “You want to test it for leaks?” Alex asked.
    “Probably. Our jeans will dry out quick if they get wet. Anyway, mine could use a wash,” Rudy agreed.
    They heaved the inner tube into the edge of the creek and got on, Rudy first. Once Alex boarded, they pushed off. They paddled with their hands and with a stick they found floating in the water. They were giddy with excitement. The inner tube floated westward,on a slow but steady current.
    “This is fun.” Rudy smiled. He cupped his hands and scooped up water. It looked clear and clean, but he hesitated to drink it.
    “Yeah, this is
bad,
” Alex agreed.
    They floated down the creek, their feet dangling in the water. They waved at three small kids on the banks, but their happiness turned sour when the kids started throwing rocks at them. The rocks, though, fell short of their target, and Rudy and Alex just laughed and