The Submarine Pitch by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [CHRISTOPHER, MATTHEW F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316096041
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

7

Mrs. Benson phoned him the next morning. She had bought the paint, she said, and he could come over and finish the job anytime that it was convenient for him.

Bernie remembered that the Rangers were playing the Sharks at four o’clock. If he got started right away — it wasn’t quite eleven — he should have the job completed before one, giving him time enough to rest before the game.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll come right over.”

He finished the job, using all of one can and a small portion of the other. Mentally he figured that he had worked four hours altogether. At five dollars an hour that added up to twenty dollars. Subtract ten dollars from that, plus tax, for the extra paint Mrs. Benson had to buy, and that would leave him about ten dollars. Ten lousy dollars, just because that crumb, Vince, had caused him to spill half a can of paint.

Mrs. Benson came out and looked at his job. She didn’t like the sight of the spilled paint and asked Bernie to dig it up with a shovel. Other than that she said his paint job was fine. She didn’t say “excellent,” she just said “fine.” Which wasn’t as good, and which could mean that she probably wished she didn’t have to give him the ten lousy dollars.

He got the shovel and dug up the paint, smoothing up the dirt afterward till it was impossible to tell that paint had been spilled there. Then he went to the house to tell Mrs. Benson he was finished.

She smiled at him and handed him an envelope. “Thanks, Bernie,” she said. “Whenever I have any other work around the house I can’t do myself, I’ll call on you.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Benson,” he answered. “I’m sorry about spilling the paint.”

“Oh, forget it,” she said. “It could happen to anybody.”

He started away, somehow feeling that no matter how much work Mrs. Benson might have in the future, she would never call on him again.

He had almost reached the sidewalk when he heard the door open and Mrs. Benson’s voice. “Bernie! Just a minute! I almost forgot something!”

She was holding a napkin with a doughnut in it. “Here,” she said, smiling brightly. “I made some to take to our women’s club last night, but I made sure to save another one for you. You do like them, don’t you?”

Bernie’s face brightened up like a lamp. “I sure do, Mrs. Benson!” he exclaimed as he accepted it from her. “Thanks!”

He ate it on his way home; it tasted just as good as the one he had yesterday Mrs. Benson was a peach, he decided.

He got home, took the envelope to his room, and went to the bathroom to wash up.

“Well,” said AnnMarie, finishing a sandwich at the kitchen table, “did you earn so much you’re going to keep it a secret?”

“After all the deductions,” said Frankie, leaning against the doorjamb, “he figures he’ll get about ten bucks.”

“Well, there’s no sense crying over spilled paint,” said Mrs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.