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the case and suddenly did
a little dance. “Oh! That’s it. See it? In there. See
it?”
    “ Which one?” asked
Philip.
    “ There. That one. The one
with the big red rose on it.”
    Philip and Emery knelt in front of the
case and studied the plate.
    “ I don’t see any crack,”
said Philip.
    “ The thing coming out of
the rose at the bottom.” Leon touched the case. “There.”
    “ That black line?” asked
Emery.
    “ Yeah.”
    He turned to his cousin. “That’s the
stem of the rose.”
    Leon pressed his nose to the glass. He
shrugged. “Looked like a crack to me.”
    “ Your head has a crack,”
said Emery. “What’s the tag say?”
    “ Eiiiii ,” Leon moaned. “Eighteen dollars. I don’t have eighteen
dollars. I only have five dollars.”
    “ Emery and I each have
two.”
    “ That’s only nine dollars.
I’m sunk. I’m really sunk.”
    “ Stop with the sunk stuff,”
said Emery. “You talk like you’re a boat with a hole in the
bottom.”
    “ I am. I don’t even have a
bottom. I’m underwater. I’m drowned. I’m . . .”
    “ Will you shut up, Leon?
Look, do this.” Philip explained and the boys went back to the
front of the store.
    “ Mr. Pete,” Leon
began.
    Pete lowered his newspaper.
“Yeah?”
    “ The plate back there. Ya
gotta help me, or I’m sunk.”
    Philip poked Leon, and Emery whispered,
“No sinking, Leon.”
    Leon explained to Pete the
circumstances surrounding the plate.
    “ I can’t give you the plate,”
said Pete. “I gave the guy who gave it to me eight bucks for
it.”
    “ We’ll give you nine,” said
Philip, and he put his hand on Leon’s shoulder. “He’s going to get
beaten if he doesn’t get the plate back for his mother.”
    “ Yeah,” Emery added. “His
mother’s gonna lock him in his room all summer if he doesn’t get
that plate back. It was her favorite plate ever.”
    “ I gotta get it or I’m
sunk,” Leon said gloomily, throwing his saddest look at
Pete.
    Pete cast his weary eyes toward the
ceiling for a moment. “Lemme see your money.”
    The boys dug in their pockets and
produced a five-dollar bill and four ones.
    Pete took the money and said, “Stay
here.” He walked around from his counter and a few moments later
reappeared with the dish in his hand. “Since I’m making a whole
dollar on the deal, I’ll wrap it up real pretty for ya.”
    “ Gee thanks,” Leon gushed.
“You’re nice. We’ve been helping Mr. Sorino.”
    “ Who’s Mr. Sorino?” Pete
asked as he wrapped old newspapers around the plate.
    “ The man who gave you that
dish,” Leon explained.
    “ That his name?” Pete
asked, reaching for another sheet of newspaper.
    “ You don’t know his name?”
asked Philip. “He gives you a lot of stuff, right?”
    “ Who? The guy who gave me
this?”
    “ Yeah,” said Philip. “He
gives us money to find old stuff he can give to you.”
    Pete taped the newspaper
closed. “He don’t give me that much stuff. Been in a few times with a few
things. Usually pretty good things.”
    “ He doesn’t give you a lot
of old, fixed-up stuff?” Philip repeated, wanting to be sure he
heard correctly.
    “ Look around. Ain’t I got
enough junk already? Here, kid. Be careful what you give away next
time.”
    “ But Mr. Sorino?” Philip
insisted, as two people walked up to the counter, one holding a
lamp, the other holding four old books.
    “ What about
him?”
    “ He doesn’t give you fixed
up stuff?”
    “ No, now get going. I got
work to do.”
    The boys left the store.
    “ That’s funny,” Philip said
as they walked. “He hardly knows Mr. Sorino.”
    “ Maybe he knows Mr.
Sorino’s first name and not his last name,” Emery
suggested.
    “ I don’t think so. You
heard what he said. He hardly sees him.”
    “ This is great. So great,”
Leon bubbled, clutching his package tightly. “Thanks, guys. Thanks.
I’m gonna get you that four dollars back real fast. I’m gonna knock
on doors and take Mr. Sorino lots