7 Simon’s Search

CHAPTER SEVEN SIMON'S SEARCH 15° F ROSIE WAS BUSY with the Math Fair all day Saturday. Simon had basketball practice at noon on Sunday. So we didn't meet up until Sunday afternoon. By that time, it wasn't slushy on the sidewalk anymore—it was icy. We met Simon at his garage to get started. We checked the thermometer outside the door before going in. "It's fifteen degrees," I said.

Simon yelled, "It's going to be even colder tomorrow!" He had to yell because he was inside his mom's car. We could see him through the windshield. All the car doors were open. "Why are you in there?" Rosie called. "I'm trying to go to the big monster truck show in Chicago with my dad!" Simon called back and then scrunched down out of sight. "Remember? For his birthday." This explanation made, umm, no sense to Rosie and me. We hurried into the garage and looked inside the

car. Simon was in the back seat. Both of his arms were shoved elbow-deep into the back-seat cushion. "Simon, what are you doing?" Rosie asked. She tried not to laugh. "The monster truck show," Simon said and grunted, pushing his arms even deeper. "For Dad." "How is shoving your arms into the back seat of your mom's car going to get you to a monster truck show in Chicago?" Rosie asked. "The tickets are expensive," Simon explained, still pushing and grunting. "And Dad's birthday is in two weeks."

"But Simon, why are you—?" Rosie said and mimicked him, pushing her arms forward in the air and grunting. "I need money to buy the tickets," he answered. "They're twenty-five dollars apiece. I need to get fifty dollars." "In your mom's car?" I asked. "Sometimes you can find money in here," Simon explained. He squeezed his eyes shut and searched with his fingers. "Coins fall out of people's pockets and go down into the seats."

"Simon," Rosie said. "To find fifty dollars in coins, you'd have to—" Simon interrupted Rosie. "Aha!" he yelled and yanked his hands out. He held up a quarter for Rosie and me to see. "Jackpot!" "Only forty-nine dollars and seventy-five cents to go," Rosie said. "Not that much," Simon replied as he climbed

awkwardly out of the car. He pulled some more coins from his pocket. "I found some in the front seat too. And in the cushions of the living room couch! And in my jeans on Friday." We couldn't tell exactly how much money Simon had, but we knew it wasn't anywhere near fifty dollars. Right then a freezing gust of air blew in through the garage door. Simon rushed to close it. That bitter- cold air blast reminded us why we were there. "Okay," Rosie said and rubbed her hands together. "We better get started."