CHAPTER 8

I was not about to give up, not with Sofía’s future in my hands.

“There’s a possible customer over there,” Chives whispered and motioned to a man by the fountain. He was gazing at a pretty woman sitting alone at a café.

“Now repeat after me,” Chives said. “Para su novia.”

“Para su novia,” I repeated. “For your girlfriend.”

“Confidence, sir,” Chives said, nudging me forward.

I approached the man and held out the lily. “¿Para su novia?” I asked, trying to sound sure of myself.

The man looked my way and smiled. He gave me a nod.

“Ten pesos,” I said, holding up ten fingers. The man reached into his pocket. I was about to make a sale. He handed me the silver coin, and I handed over the lily.

“¡Ay!” He gasped as he grabbed the flower stem. I looked down and saw that the bottom of the stem was jagged and uneven. It hadn’t been cut well. The stem had scratched his hand where he grabbed it.

“Pardon!” I said, hoping that that sounded something like sorry.

I took the flower back from him. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the second Pocket Buddy prototype I had taken from my house. I flipped out the scissors and trimmed the flower stem so it was smooth. The man glanced down to see what I was doing. When he saw my Pocket Buddy, he let out a long whistle.

“¡Guau!” he said. “¿Qué es esto?”

Though I don’t speak Spanish, I could tell by his voice that he was impressed with my Pocket Buddy. I showed off some of its features, even turning on the tiny FM radio.

He laughed and slapped me on the back many times. Then he shook my hand and slapped me on the back some more. Usually, I love it when people admire my inventions. But I didn’t have time for all this praise. My Batman watch said 4:37 p.m. It had taken me three minutes to sell a single flower!

“This is going way too slowly,” I said to Chives. “There has to be a faster way. I wish I could invent a flower-selling device.”

I pressed on my forehead, hoping I could knock a good idea out of my brain. Then I felt it. The answer was right there in my hand.

My Pocket Buddy! I could raffle it off. It had worked for Maggie. Or had it? I didn’t stay around long enough to find out.

Maybe it had been a giant flop. Or maybe it had been a big hit, and she had made a big pile of money. There was one way to find out.

It was time to change up the game.