The Next Day
Ralph's front door opened and I found it was Nancy "Hey Kate what's up?" she asked motioning me in, I walked in and she shut the door "I have a message for your brother" I said boredly, she nodded and told me where to go, I walked up the stairs and into the stamp room where Ralph was "W...What are you doing here?" he asked in shock, I rolled my eyes "Don't worry, I just came here to tell you that my brother said he's coming over later on" I repeated, Ralph nodded and there was another knock at the door, I heard Nancy head downstairs and after a few minutes she was calling Ralph
"Wait here" he said, I sat on the windowsill and flicked through one of his Stamp books when he finally came back in...with Tommy "Well looky here" he said smirking, I rolled my eyes "Oh what do you want?" I asked in fake annoyence "Easy babe easy" he said putting up his hands, I shook my head in amusement "Oh neat" he exclaimed, he sat on the stool and started spinning on it "So what do you got?" Ralph asked, Tommy stopped spinning and pulled something out of the waistband of his pants before handing it to Ralph
"The P set! holy shmoly where did you get these?" Ralph asked with wide eyes "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies, all for you Ralphie" Tommy replied, I rolled my eyes again "You mean you won't tell Albert?" Ralph asked nervously "Forget Albert, he's a loser" Tommy said "You won't either right Kate?" Ralph asked me, I shrugged and thought about it "Hmm can't make no promises Ralphie" I said teasingly "She won't tell" Tommy reasured giving me an' annoyed glance "Anyways what do you got for my beautiful P set?" he asked turning back to Ralph.
Ralph walked over to his shelf and he read out his files but none of them seemed to tickle Tommy's fancy "Nah, hey what's in that red Canada book up there?" he asked gesturing to one of the higher shelves "No I can't touch that, that's dad's" Ralph said shaking his head "Oh c'mon just give me a little peek" Tommy said walking over to him "I can't he's real strict" Ralph said "Fine, if you don't trust me I'll forget about this" Tommy said turning around, Ralph seemed to be having a huge inward debate but he finally caved "Okay! But I turn the pages" he said as Tommy went to grab the book, Ralph laid out the book on the desk and I decided to browse aswell
"You're interested in the stamps?" Tommy asked with raised eyebrows, I rolled my eyes "No I just got nothin' better to do" I replied turning to the book, Ralph started turning the pages and to wind him up Tommy kept touching the odd stamp, we turned to a certain page and Tommy saw something he liked "Look at this! A spare blue nose. Listen I'll tell you what I'll do, I'll trade you my whole P set for this one crummy little spare blue nose" he said "You would?" Ralph asked hopefully "Yeah" Tommy said just as enthusiastic "I can't it's dad's, he'd kill me" Ralph said changing his mind "No he won't he'll say you're a genius, it's just a spare one a crummy little thing" Tommy said holding it up
"I can't it's dad's" Ralph repeated "Come on" Tommy begged "Tommy don't you understand it's dads, I can't trade his stamps" Ralph said disappointedly, someone rang the doorbell and I glanced through the window "It's Albert" I told them "Oh no, what do I do?" Ralph asked panicking "Don't panic, just go down there and tell him you're not here" Tommy said, I gave him a confused look "What?" Ralph exclaimed in confusion "Send your sister dummy" Tommy said, Ralph nodded "And tell her to tell him that I'm not here, otherwise he'll wanna see me and I can't be dealing with him these days" I said stopping Ralph, he nodded and left the room.
Tommy pulled out the stamp and inspected it underneath the light "It's taken care of" Ralph said coming back in "Okay last chance, I'm gonna count to 3" Tommy said "I can't" Ralph said "2" "It's my dad's stamp I can't trade it" "3" Tommy put the stamps back in his pants "Wait lemme think" Ralph said "Sorry but the deals off" Tommy said shrugging "Okay take it" Ralph said handing him the stamp "No you had your last chance" Tommy replied "No take it please" Ralph begged "Nope" Tommy said, he lifted his hand to his cheek and started clicking his fingers
"C'mon Tommy you always do that just when someone's about to trade, please oh c'mon please" Ralph begged again, Tommy looked in thought but I knew he was just winding Ralph up...of course he was gonna take the stamp "Okay I'll give you one last chance, just because you're a nice guy" Tommy said, he pulled out the stamps and handed them to Ralph who gave him the blue nose "Thank you so much Tommy" Ralph said excitedly, he took them out and inspected them under the light
"Your dad's gonna be real proud a yah" Tommy said, he snuck of with a smirk on his face and I wondered what he did "Hey Tommy, this isn't the P set" Ralph said, I groaned once I realized Tommy had conned Ralph, Ralph ran out of the room and down the stairs, I followed only slower. I saw Ralph hiding behind a bush and I walked towards him "Ralph calm down" I said rubbing his back soothingly, he was shaking "I c...c...can't my dad's gonna kill me" he said nervously, I sighed "I'll try and get the stamp back, I can't promise it but I'll try" I said, Ralph nodded and I jumped on my bike.