Read Online Summer School! What Genius Thought That Up? by Henry Winkler - Free Book Online

thought.”
    I look at it this way. Any grown-up who spends his time wondering what would happen if he went cruising around the universe on a beam of light has to be my kind of guy.

CHAPTER 14
    FRANKIE AND ASHLEY CAME OVER after dinner. I thought they were just stopping in to see Papa Pete. They love it when he pinches their cheeks and calls them his grandkids, too. But it turned out that they had more on their minds.
    â€œFrankie and I have been thinking,” Ashley began as she sat down on my rolling desk chair.
    â€œThat’s a fantastic thing to do,” Papa Pete said. “You never know what will happen when you think.”
    â€œThis is serious, Papa Pete,” Ashley said.
    Papa Pete pretended like he had a zipper across his mouth and zipped it shut. He motioned for Ashley to continue.
    â€œSo Frankie and I have been thinking that the King Kahuna Huna costume could use a little work.”
    â€œYou’re kidding?” I said, faking surprise.
    â€œYou don’t like the LEGO boats hanging off my arms?”
    â€œNo, dude. I’m all for LEGO boats,” Frankie said, “if you’re four and in the bathtub. The thing is, Zip, we’re trying to class up the act. Make it slick.”
    â€œWe want the costumes to be more authentic,” Ashley said. “King Kahuna Huna should be wearing palm leaves and coconuts and Hawaiian flowers.”
    â€œAnd where are we going to get that stuff?” I asked.
    Papa Pete raised his hand, and we let him unzip his lips.
    â€œBig Eddie’s Costume Store,” he said. “It just so happens Big Eddie is one of the Chopped Livers.”
    The Chopped Livers are Papa Pete’s bowling team. I don’t mean to brag, but they’ve been number one in the Senior Bowling League at McKelty’s Roll ’N Bowl for three years straight.
    â€œA costume store,” Ashley said. “Great idea. Can you take us there?”
    â€œLet me make a call,” Papa Pete said.
    He went into the living room and came back two minutes later with a big smile on his face.
    â€œBig Eddie officially closed the shop ten minutes ago, but he said he’d stay open for a while as a special favor.”
    â€œBig Eddie sounds like a real stand-up guy,” Frankie said.
    â€œNaturally,” said Papa Pete. “He’s a Chopped Liver.”
    When I told my parents where we were going, I was worried that they’d make us take Emily and Robert along. But luckily, the geek and geekess were busy in Emily’s room, trying to teach Bruce the Gecko his dance moves for the talent show. They were having trouble because every time they had his little front legs hooked on the toothpick they were using to keep him upright so he could dance on his back legs, he fell off. Then he’d scoot under the lettuce leaf and hide. I guess geckos just weren’t cut out for ballroom dancing.
    We dashed out of the building before Emily and Robert changed their minds. Big Eddie’s was a couple of blocks away, near the corner of Amsterdam and 71st. Papa Pete walks fast, and we had to skip to keep up with him. Correction.
    Ashley skipped. Frankie and I jogged. We’re not really the skipping type.
    Big Eddie’s is a tiny stop, sandwiched in between Royal Dry Cleaners and a Chinese take-out restaurant. When we got there, we stopped in front to look in the window. It was jam-packed with really cool stuff like vampire masks and fake blood capsules and slimy green monster hands and plastic fangs.
    Suddenly, the door to the store flew open and a huge man who filled the entire doorway popped his head out. He was wearing a patch over one eye, and had a bloody scar running all the way down his cheek.
    â€œHelp!” he shouted. “I’m bleeding!”
    Ashley screamed. Frankie and I jumped backward. Papa Pete burst out laughing.
    â€œPapa Pete, he’s hurt,” I said.
    â€œYou mean this?” the giant man said, pointing to