Read Online Philip and the Superstition Kid (9781452430423) by John Paulits - Free Book Online

days.
     
     

Chapter Twelve
     
    Emery’s mother had made the boys promise to
be home by six o’clock, when the baby sitter was due to arrive. It
was nearly six when the two boys walked up the block toward Emery’s
house.
    “ Well, no disaster
happened with Leon not along,” Philip said with
satisfaction.
    “ No, but what about the
trissikaphobia? I think we still got it. Leon is pretty sure he
gave it to us.”
    Any other time, Philip might have argued.
But by now, he wasn’t so sure Emery was wrong.
    “ You think we still could?
I mean really,” Philip argued weakly. “Nothing bad happened today,
maybe because we didn’t bump into any thirteens today.”
    Emery scowled in Philip’s direction and
said, “Oh, didn’t we? Who was the thirteenth person picked in
today’s ballgame?”
    “ You,” Philip answered
softly after thinking a moment.
    “ And who struck out five times?”
    “ You.”
    “ So that was a thirteen,
wasn’t it?”
    Philip shrugged. He had no argument to
offer. All he could say was, “I hit a home run.”
    “ Oh, yeah. Let me tell you
about that. What number did you bat?”
    “ I batted
fourth.”
    “ So the second time you
batted what did you bat?”
    “ Huh?”
    “ Nine on a team. You
batted fourth. The second time up you batted . . . ?”
    Philip’s eyes widened. “Uh, thirteenth.”
    “ What did you do the first
time up?”
    “ Home run. I told
you.”
    “ What did you do the
second time when you batted thirteenth?”
    “ Emery, I struck out! But
I didn’t strike out again after that.”
    “ So how many times did you
bat thirteenth?”
    “ Just once, I
guess.”
    “ And you struck out and
didn’t get a hit the rest of the time because the trissapikaphobium
spoiled everything after you batted thirteenth.”
    Emery’s logic silenced Philip and sent him
into deep thought.
    Finally, Philip said, “You think Leon’s
still in the closet?”
    They had reached Emery’s front door. “Let’s
go see.”
    When they went inside, the smell of pizza
greeted them.
    Emery’s parents were all dressed up and
standing in the living room talking to a young girl.
    “ Oh, no. Not her,” Philip
said.
    “ Yipes,” Emery
echoed.
    “ Come here, Emery,
Philip,” said Emery’s father.
    “ This is Amanda. I think
you know her. She’ll be watching over you tonight.”
    Philip and Emery stared. Amanda was the
strangest looking girl in the neighborhood. Her black hair was cut
at all different lengths and angles. She had four earrings in her
right ear and six in her left. She had a tattoo of an eagle on her
right arm and the tattoo of a skull on her left arm.
    Philip had seen Amanda many times and the
tattoos on her arms always changed. Philip guessed that her parents
wouldn’t let her get real tattoos so she got the kind that faded
over time.
    Amanda wore black jeans and a black tee
shirt with the sleeves cut off. The T-shirt read NOW OR NEVER in
big red letters. A tiny silver ring that also came and went like
the tattoos was attached to her nose.
    Philip gave Amanda a weak smile. She scared
him.
    Amanda curled the right side of her upper
lip in return.
    “ The pizza just arrived.
It’s in the kitchen,” said Emery’s mother, walking into the
hallway. “I want my jacket. Where’s Leon?”
    “ Uh, he’s around,
Mom.”
    “ Make sure he gets some
pizza,” she said, opening the closet door.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
    “ What, honey?” Emery’s
father cried.
    Everyone turned and looked. There stood Leon
inside the closet. He smiled and gave a brief wave, and then he
stepped into the hallway. There were cracker crumbs imbedded in
some grape jelly on his lips and chin.
    Emery’s mother stared at him in horror as
the people in the living room moved into the hallway.
    Mrs. Wyatt gulped and said, “What were you
doing in the closet, Leon? Why are you wearing a dress?”
    Leon looked at Philip and Emery for
help.
    Suddenly, a loud burst of laughter brought
everyone up short. Amanda