Tj and the Rockets by Hazel Hutchins Read Free Book Online

trance in the middle of the place.”
    â€œThen we could play mind games, word games. That kind of thinking shakes up your brain and helps you invent things. Look. What’s this?”
    He picked up the pen and pad Gran kept in the car and wrote
    BLACK
COAT
    I didn’t have the faintest idea. We stopped at a streetlight. Gran glanced at the paper.
    â€œBlack overcoat,” she said.
    â€œHey, you’re brilliant!” said Seymour. “Maybe you should be the inventor!”
    Gran smiled.
    â€œCan you figure out a way to make a quarter go through a hole the size of a penny?” asked Seymour. “Inventors need to visualize the solution even before they try it. We’ll practice at the store.”
    I had to think of something fast.
    â€œSeymour,” I said, “necessity is the mother of invention.”
    Seymour looked at me. One eyebrow went up and one eyebrow went down.
    â€œThomas Alva Edison,” he said.
    â€œIs that who said it?” I asked.
    â€œI don’t know,” said Seymour. “But his first rule was ‘Never invent somethingthat isn’t needed.’ I forgot about that. And he was one of the greatest!”
    â€œSo follow his advice,” I said. “Go home and find a problem that needs solving and
then
you’ll know what to invent.”
    I must have made a better argument than I thought because he actually asked to be dropped off at his house.
    When I got to the store, Mr. G. was the only one in the front. Dad and Mom were in the storeroom. They were both talking to the security system man this time.
    â€œAre you going to buy it?” I asked when they came out.
    â€œIt’s a lot of money,” said Mom.
    â€œWe’re going to think about it for a few days longer, but we’ll probably go ahead,” said my dad.
    If they did buy it, everyone would know the store was equipped with it and the stealing would stop. I’d never get a chance to prove it wasn’t Seymour!
    I really, really kept my eyes peeled that afternoon. The man with a beard was in. So were the plugged-in teenagers. There were some people who looked like theywere painting a house, and the man I knew was a carpenter and dozens of other people.
    Mr. Wilson came in. I was kind of hoping it was Mr. Wilson, but I followed him around and confirmed what I pretty much suspected. He might be a science nut, but he didn’t shoplift.
    â€œAre you following me around, TJ?” asked Mr. Wilson. “Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?”
    If I’d had the nerve I would have suggested he help us out with our science projects or at least let his students do their own. I didn’t have the nerve.
    â€œYou were right about Gabe’s project,” said Mr. Wilson. “It’s a good one.”
    How did he know what Gabe was doing? I turned back to ask him and—
ka-wham
—knocked over the entire garden seed display. Seed packages flew everywhere.
    While I was picking them up, Amanda’s mother came into the store. Her cat-food refund was waiting for her and she didn’t steal anything. You know you’re reallydesperate when you watch Amanda’s mother for shoplifting.
    The lady with the frizzy gray hair was in to pick up a bar of soap as she always did. She even smiled and said hello, which at least made me feel a bit better about crawling around on the floor after a bunch of carrot seeds.
    It wasn’t until I was about to head home that I noticed something. Mom and Dad had put up a schedule at the back of the store to show when everyone was working. I was written down for Thursday and Saturday. Someone else was down for the same days. He worked a few other days too, but the truth was, if you went by the days things were taken, it still fit.
    That person was Mr. G.

Chapter 9
    Mr. G.! I liked Mr. G. He worked for the store!
    Part of me felt sick to my stomach. Part of me was really, really mad. I’d heard on