Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 Frankie and Ashley went into my room to look for parts for Stanley's body. I went into Emily's room to see what I could find. I found a box of princess Legos that someone had given her for her birthday. She had never even opened the box. Emily is not the kind of person who wants to build a pink princess castle. Now, if it had been a lizard Lego kit, she would have built it in two seconds. "What do you think you're doing?" a voice from behind me said. I'm sure you already guessed that it was Emily's voice. Even though she and Katherine had returned from the bathroom, Katherine's teeth seemed as yellow as ever.

"I really need this box of Legos to build my robot," I begged. "They belong to me." "I know, but you've never even taken the ribbon off. Come on, Emily. You're not ever going to use these Legos." "What are you going to give me for them?" "I'm giving you the wonderful feeling of getting to help your older brother." "Three nights of you doing the dishes," she fired back. "That's the deal." Normally, I would not have made that deal, but I was running out of time.

"Fine," I said, tucking the Lego box under my arm and bolting for the living room. Frankie and Ashley were waiting for me with a pile of things they had gathered. "We got some cool stuff," Frankie said. "Look, here's some pencils and rubber bands." "What are those for?" I asked. "Stanley's not going to write anything." "The pencils are going to make his arms longer," Ashley said. "If they aren't long enough, he won't be able to scoop up the socks." "And look at this," Frankie went on. "We also took the remote control and a motor from your old yellow front loader truck. I hope you don't mind if it never runs again."

"That's okay," I said. "Cheerio chewed off the digging bucket, anyway. What good is a front loader without a bucket? It's like hot chocolate without the chocolate." "We also took two wheels off your old monster truck," Ashley said. "How come only two? Stanley needs four wheels." "The front wheels were missing in action," Frankie said. "But we could get the other two wheels off your cement mixer." "I love that truck," I said. "Every time I got sick and stayed home from school, Mr. Cement

Mixer always made me feel better. I can't take him apart, not even for Stanley." "Well, we need to find something that's round and rolls," Ashley said. "Anyone have a bright idea?" "Golf balls?" Frankie suggested. I shook my head. "We don't have any. My dad says golf gives him a rash. I never asked him where." "Some parent things you just don't want to know," Frankie said with a nod. "How about pizza cutters?" Ashley said. "They're round." "Too sharp," I answered. "Besides, we only have one of them." "Think, guys," Ashley said. "What's round and rolls?" "Meatballs," Frankie said. "A Frisbee. Marbles. Doughnuts. A sandwich roll." "Or toilet paper rolls," I said, joining in the list. "Are those strong enough to hold Stanley?" Ashley asked.

"Legos aren't that heavy," I answered. "And besides, we only need Stanley to work for a few minutes. It's not like he's got to roll all the way across the Brooklyn Bridge." "Let's try it," Frankie said. "It's the best idea we have." We all jumped up and raced to the bathroom. "What we need is the cardboard tube inside the roll of toilet paper," I said. "We'll cut it in two pieces, wrap the pieces in Scotch tape to make them stronger, and presto, Stanley will have himself two front wheels. Okay, team. Let's start unrolling."