Kevin tried to open the door. It was locked.
“We have to get Max,” Donna said. She looked at the lighted number above the elevator doors. “He’s on the third floor.”
“It’s my leg, Doctor. I think it’s broken,” the twins heard the voice say from inside the closet.
Donna and Gary ran toward the stairs.
“Wait,” Kevin said. “The elevator is coming down.”
Donna, Gary, and Kevin waited by the elevator door. Diane dropped the bowling pin on the newspaper and waited with them. The door opened and the twins all began talking.
“Max, you have to open that door.”
“Someone is locked in there.”
“His leg is broken.”
“And there’s a doctor locked in there, too.”
Max smiled and said, “Little Jackie is in there. I put him there so I can look in on him when I’m not busy. He’s just fine. That’s my supply closet. It has a window. And I left him some seeds and water.”
“Seeds and water,” Diane said. “That’s cruel.”
“How can you be like that?” Donna asked. “Locking someone up and giving him seeds to eat!”
“And I’ll bet he broke his leg trying to climb out the window,” Gary said.
Max laughed. He reached for his keys and opened the closet door. “I’d like to introduce you to Jackie,” he said.
The twins looked inside the closet. They saw a large gray bird with a short red tail. He was standing on a perch inside a large cage. The floor of the cage was covered with empty sunflower seed shells and small pieces of apple.
Max told the twins, “Little Jackie is Dr. Jack Cassel’s bird. Dr. Cassel is away on vacation and asked me to take care of Jackie.”
The legs of the cage had wheels. Max pulled the cage into the lobby. Then he told the twins, “Jackie is an African Gray parrot. Of all the parrots, the African Grays are the best talkers. Jackie learned to talk in Dr. Cassel’s office.” Then Max whispered, “He thinks he’s a doctor, too. Watch.”
Max leaned forward and said to Jackie, “I don’t feel well.”
“Tell me where it hurts,” Jackie said. “Tell me where it hurts.”
“It’s my stomach,” Max said.
“You eat too much! You eat too much! You eat too much!”
The twins laughed.
Max pulled the cage close to one of the lobby benches. He sat down and said, “Now tell me about the talent show.”
Donna said, “We have some really great acts. Brian Baker will sing ‘The Torn Shoes Blues.’ He has a great voice. Susie Hannah will dance. Jason Hoffman will read poetry.”
“And I have some great magic tricks,” Gary said. “Wait here. I’ll show them to you.”
Gary walked into the elevator. He pressed the button for the fourth floor. As the elevator doors closed, Diane whispered to Max, “Gary plans to be a magician when he’s an adult. But I think he’ll change his mind soon. Last week he wanted to be an animal doctor. And before that he wanted to be a comedian.”
The front door opened. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson walked across the lobby toward the elevator.
“Look at the pretty bird,” Mrs. Wilson said.
“Take two aspirin. Take two aspirin,” Little Jackie told the Wilsons.
“I think I will,” Mr. Wilson said as he waited for the elevator.
The Wilsons took the elevator to the second floor. When it came down again and the doors opened, Gary walked out. He was wearing a black top hat and cape. He was carrying a chalkboard and a large bed sheet. He put it all on one of the lobby chairs.
“You’re the MC,” he whispered to Donna. “Introduce me.”
Donna tapped lightly a few times on one of her school books. Then she said in a loud voice, “And now, straight from the fourth floor, Gary Young, the great magician.”
Gary bowed and his hat fell off. He picked it up and showed it to Max, Donna, Diane, and Kevin. The hat seemed to be empty. But then Gary reached into it and pulled out a big red scarf.
Gary put the hat on his head. He picked up the chalkboard and a piece of white chalk.
“And now,” he said, “before your very eyes, this white chalk will write red.”
Max looked at the piece of chalk. He turned it over. Then he shook his head and said, “It can’t be done.”
Gary smiled. He took the chalk from Max and wrote the word “red” on the board.
“And now for my greatest trick.”
Gary stood near the closet. He held the sheet over his head. The sheet dropped to the floor and Gary was gone.
Max, Donna, Diane, and Kevin applauded. “Come out and take a bow,” Donna said.
Gary came out of the closet. He put one hand in front of his waist and the other behind his back. He bowed.
“Take a deep breath,” Jackie said. “How do you feel?”
Gary turned to the bird and said, “I feel good, but I think my magic act is missing something.”
“Stick out your tongue,” the bird told Gary.
Gary stuck out his tongue. Then he pulled it in and said, “If I want to be a magician, I need some better tricks.”
Diane said, “Real magicians have cute animals in their acts. They pull rabbits from hats.”
Gary looked at Little Jackie. Little Jackie looked at Gary. “I know what I’ll do,” Gary said. “I’ll use Jackie. I’ll make him disap-pear!”