Chapter 10

Chapter ten That day and the next, I spent every spare minute in the clubhouse with Frankie and Ashley, going over the magic trick again and again. Finally, on Friday night at exactly 8:17 p.m., I got it right. And not only that, I got it right three times in a row. Costume on. Hand into velvet bag. Find secret pocket. Pull out handkerchief chain. Say zengawii and produce rubber snake. Wave hands in the air and take a bow. I did it all. "See, Zip," Frankie said. "I told you that if you kept your mind on it, you could do it. And you did it!" "You are now officially the Westside Wizard," Ashley added. "There's only one thing left to do. Hand over your beard." "Excuse me," I said in my wizardy voice. "It took me a long time to grow this."

"Now isn't the time to be cute, Hank," Ashley said. "I have to fill that hole with another cotton ball. You're going to have twenty-five kids looking at you tomorrow. That's fifty eyeballs." While Ashley glued a cotton ball onto my beard, Frankie and I opened a package of chocolate-chip cookies I had brought down to the clubhouse with me. As I chewed my cookie, I couldn't stop a smile from spreading across my face. "Dude, don't smile so wide when you're eating," Frankie said. "I can see chocolate

chunks stuck to your teeth." "I can't help it, Frankie. I just feel so proud for learning something I thought I could never do." "You're going to be great," Ashley said. "Those little kids will be amazed. And Emily is going to be so happy, she won't know what to say." "Oh, that will never happen. She hasn't stopped talking about it all week." The last thing Ashley, Frankie, and I did that night was carefully pack the costume into a shopping bag so I could sneak it back into the apartment without Emily seeing it. We arranged to meet in our clubhouse at a few minutes before noon the next morning. When I got back to the apartment, Emily and my mom were busy decorating the living room for the party. My mom was blowing up balloons, and Emily was using her colored markers to draw pictures of snakes and lizards on them. She wasn't a bad artist. One of her drawings actually looked like Boris the blue

tailed skink. Without even looking up, Emily said, "What's in the bag, Hank?" I swear that girl has eyes glued to the side of her head. "Nothing," I answered, hurrying into my room and closing the door. My mom followed me into my room.

"Hank," she said. "I know what you're up to. Frankie's mom and I have been talking, and I know that you're planning a surprise for Emily." "You didn't say anything to Emily, did you?" "Of course not. I wouldn't spoil your plan. But I just want to warn you: It's not easy to entertain twenty-five first-graders. I hope you know what you're doing." "Don't you worry, Mom. The wizard is with us." "Well then, good luck to you, honey. Oh, I mean, to him." As my mom walked out the door, Emily stuck her head in.

"Have you checked with the wizard lately?" she asked. "I can't wait to meet him. I've never met a real wizard before." "Me neither," I said. Emily looked surprised. "Wait a minute, Hank. I thought you said you knew him." There it was... my foot in my mouth. Actually, both my feet were in there. When would I learn to keep my big mouth shut?