My Pops Is Tops! (6 page)

Authors: Nancy Krulik

BOOK: My Pops Is Tops!

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“Come on, Max, break already,” John urged.

Katie sighed, pulled the stick back, and . . .

Bam!
She jabbed the white cue ball way too hard. It went soaring off the table! When it landed, the ball kept rolling right toward the Ping-Pong table.

Oh, no!

One of the Ping-Pong players was taking a step backward with her paddle. She didn’t see the pool ball coming toward her . . . until it was too late. “Whoa!” she cried as she tripped over the cue ball. The woman lost her footing and fell to the floor, right on her rear end.

Katie raced over to help her up.

“What is wrong with you?” the woman shouted up at Katie.

Katie gulped. This was
so
not good!

“Looks like you’ve lost your touch at pool, too, Max.” Nate chuckled.

Katie couldn’t take it anymore. She was so upset, she forgot she was supposed to be her grandfather. She just felt like a fourth-grade girl who was being made fun of. And so she did what any fourth-grader would do in this situation.

“Stop being so mean to me!” she shouted. Then she ran out of the room and headed for home.

Chapter 10

Katie ran as fast as her grandfather’s legs could carry her. When she reached the corner before his house, she stopped and bent down slightly to catch her breath. She rubbed the top of her thighs with her hands. They were kind of achy.

Poor Pops. When he got back into his own body, he was going to be pretty sore from all the running.

And that wasn’t even the most horrible thing Katie had done to her grandfather today. She’d embarrassed Pops in front of his friends. She hadn’t meant to. But Katie wasn’t Pops. She wasn’t good at the same things he was.

Katie and her friends had been wrong to think kids were better than grandparents when it came to competitions. There
were
things older people could beat kids at. Things like Scrabble and pool. Probably plenty of other things, too.

Just then, Katie felt a slight breeze on the back of her neck. The cool wind felt nice as it gently blew on her.

But then, suddenly, the breeze wasn’t so gentle anymore. It was getting stronger and stronger. Now it was a powerful tornado.
A tornado that was swirling just around Katie.

The magic wind was back!

Katie grabbed onto a nearby mailbox and held on tight, just to keep from being blown down the block. The magic wind blew and blew, harder and harder. It whirled and swirled, lifting Katie’s legs right off the ground.

And then it stopped. Just like that. Katie was back.

So was Pops. And boy, was he confused!

“How did I get here?” he asked Katie, shaking his head and looking puzzled. “The last thing I remember, I was still in bed.”

“You . . . um . . . you ran here from the clubhouse,” Katie told him.

Pops rubbed his legs. “That explains why I’m stiff,” he said. “But what was I doing in the clubhouse?”

“Playing Scrabble and pool,” Katie said.

“That really happened?” Pops asked her. “I thought I was dreaming.”

“It happened,” Katie said with a frown.

“I did pretty badly, huh?” Pops asked her.

Before Katie could answer, Nate and John came walking up to them.

“There you are, Max,” John said.

“You ran out of there so fast, we couldn’t catch up,” Nate added. “We didn’t know you were a track star!”

“We were just joking with you, Max. We weren’t being mean,” John told him. “But what happened to you today?”

Pops sighed. “I’m not really sure,” he said. “It’s all kind of fuzzy.”

“Anybody can have a bad day,” Katie piped up. She frowned slightly. Pops had had a
really
bad day—all because of her.

But Katie had a great idea about how to change all that. “I bet if Pops went back to the clubhouse right now, he could beat both of you at anything!” she exclaimed with pride.

Pops smiled at Katie. “Have you fellas met my granddaughter?” he asked Nate and John.

“No,” John said.

“I’m Katie,” she told the men, holding out her hand.

“When did you get here?” Nate asked her.

“Last night,” Katie said. “But I was . . . er . . . I was still sleeping when Pops went to play with you.” Okay, so that was a lie. But she couldn’t tell them what really happened, could she?

“Just as well you weren’t there,” Pops said. “It was pretty embarrassing.”

“Let’s go back now,” Katie told him. “It’s a rematch!”

“Seven ball in the corner pocket,” Pops said as he leaned over the pool table and steadied his cue. With one smooth motion, he tapped the white ball. It rolled smoothly across the table and knocked the seven ball into the pocket in the corner of the table. “Now it’s just the eight ball left,” Pops told Nate and John.

Katie smiled proudly. Her grandfather had already won the first two games easily.

Plink.
The white cue ball knocked the black eight ball into the pocket.

Make that
three
games!

“And that about does it,” Pops said cheerfully. He smiled at Nate and John. “You want to play again? Or maybe try a game of Scrabble?”

John shook his head. “That’s okay, Max. A man can only take so many beatings in one day.”

“I’ll say,” Nate agreed. “Obviously our Max is back!”

“He sure is!” Katie cheered. “And my Pops’s tops!”

Chapter 11

“Okay, Katie, are you ready to win this three-legged race?” Pops asked Katie on Sunday morning.

Katie bent down and made sure her leg was tied tightly to Pops’s. “You bet,” she said.

“We’re going to win it for Japan!” Pops agreed, pointing to his white T-shirt with the big red circle on it.

“On your marks, get set, go!” shouted Mr. Kane, the school principal.

And they were off! Katie was amazed at just how fast Pops could move when he got going. He was practically dragging her down the field. But it was working. Katie and Pops were in the lead.

Then Jeremy and his mother came up alongside them in their Liechtenstein shirts. They were moving really fast. Any minute now they would catch up to Katie and Pops!

“Come on, Pops, faster!” Katie cried out.

Pops picked up the pace.

But so did Mrs. Fox and Jeremy. They were neck and neck with Katie and Pops. Katie pushed harder. The finish line was in view now. Just a few more steps and . . .

Jeremy and his mom crossed the line just before Katie and Pops.

Pops stopped and caught his breath. Katie was breathing hard, too. She bent down and untied the scarf from their legs.

“Silver medal. Not bad,” Pops said between heavy breaths.

Jeremy walked over and shook Katie’s hand. “You almost won,” he told her. “It was a good race.”

“It sure was!” Pops said. “I can’t wait for the next one.”

“I’ve got to get a cup of water first,” Katie said. “Do you want one, Pops?”

He nodded. “Thanks.”