Enly and the Buskin' Blues by Jennie Liu

Author:Jennie Liu [Liu, Jennie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction - Middle Grade, Fiction, Middle-Grade Fiction, Middle-Grade Novel, Middle-Grade Novels, novel, Novels, music, family, friendship, busking, performance, contemporary, humor, misadventures, Chinese Americans, multicultural
ISBN: 9781728479392
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Published: 2023-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

12

Supreme Cream was just on the next corner. Luckily it was close to dinnertime, so there weren’t any customers inside. The door chimed as I entered. Spencer was sitting on a stool by the cash register, his head bent over his AP calculus textbook with his glasses off. His boss, knowing that Spencer was such a serious student, didn’t mind if he studied when business was slow. When it came to Spencer, people always admired his determination and wanted to help foster his talent.

“What are you doing here?” Spencer said when he put his glasses back on and saw me. “No, you can’t have any free samples.” Free samples were always allowed to everyone except for me. When Spencer first started working, I came in demanding to try all the flavors. Spencer put a stop to that by telling Mom that I was distracting him at work.

“I don’t want ice cream. Listen, so I had this lottery ticket and two guys who said they knew you stole it from me. It was worth—”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Spencer said. “Start over. How’d you get a lottery ticket? I thought you had to be eighteen to buy them.”

I launched into the whole story, starting with the busking, though I didn’t mention my fight with Pinky. Spencer blinked double-time when I said three thousand dollars. His mouth dropped open at the part about the two guys. Then frown lines crinkled on his forehead when I said they’d claimed to know him.

“What were their names?” Spencer asked.

“Archie and Randy,” I told him. “We didn’t get their last names.”

Spencer groaned and shook his head.

“I know, I know. I shouldn’t have let them take it,” I said. “But it was because I thought they knew you. They talked about Math Club.”

“Oh, I know who they are.”

I took a big breath and exhaled, absolutely relieved. “You do?”

“Archie Sanger and Randy O’Neil.” He rose from his stool and slammed his calculus book shut. “Total jerks! They both live in the neighborhood. But they’ve sure never been in Math Club. They ride my bus, and I have Personal Finance class with them.”

“You mean they’re still in school? They told us that they graduated last year. That they were old enough to cash out the ticket.” I was starting to feel mixed-up again.

“I doubt they’re eighteen,” Spencer said. “Unless they failed a year or two, which I don’t think they have. They’re in my grade.”

“So that means they can’t cash the ticket either!”

“Maybe not, but their parents sure could. Why didn’t you give it to Mom?” Spencer asked me.

I sighed. “Because she’d take the money for college. Your college. But I wanted to use it for music camp this summer.”

“Oh brother!” Spencer groaned again.

“I have plans too, you know! We can’t all be super brains.”

“You’re as smart as I am. Just lazy.” He was repeating what Mom always said about me.

“I’m not lazy! I just don’t want to think about college yet. I’m only in middle school. But what about the scratcher? You’ve got to help me get it back!”

Spencer shook his head.

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