Babe & Me Read Free Page A

leave for our trip to 1932.
    â€œTomorrow.”

3
Going Back…Back…Back…
    WHEN DAD CAME OVER THE NEXT DAY, I ALMOST DIDN’T recognize him. He was wearing a dark brown suit that looked a little too big on him, a vest, and a tie. He had on two-toned shoes and a hat that looked like the kind gangsters wear in old movies.
    â€œHow do I look, Butch?” he asked when I opened the door. “Pretty snazzy threads, huh?”
    He handed me a big cardboard box and told me to open it. Inside was a wool sports jacket, a flat cap with a very small brim, and a pair of navy wool pants. The pants weren’t long enough to be long pants, but they weren’t short enough to be shorts, either.
    â€œWhat’s up with this?” I asked, holding up the pants.
    â€œThey’re knickers,” he replied. “If you want to fit in, you’ve got to dress the part. I did a little research to find out what boys wore in 1932.”
    â€œThey dressed like dorks,” I said, taking off my jeans and pulling on the knickers. I think even Mom would have gotten a laugh out of seeing me and Dad all dressed up. But she was out grocery shopping.
    â€œBack in the 1930s, this was cool,” Dad said.
    Dad took out a thick wallet and opened it for me. It was stuffed with bills. My dad doesn’t have a lot of money. He must have taken his life savings out of the bank.
    â€œThere’s more hidden in my sock,” he revealed. “And it’s all old currency. I know a guy who collects the stuff.”
    â€œWhy do you need to bring along so much cash?” I asked.
    â€œI worked out a plan, Joe. I figure if we’re going to do this thing, we should do it right. Make some serious money. First, when we get to 1932, we’re going to find a bank and deposit five thousand bucks.”
    â€œWhat for?”
    â€œBecause if we deposit five thousand bucks, it will start earning interest in 1932. Then, when we get home and I go back to the same bank seventy years later, that five thousand will have grown. If it earns just five percent interest, in seventy years it will be worth more than a hundred and sixty thousand dollars! I figured it out on a computer.”
    â€œWow! That’s pretty smart, Dad.”
    â€œOh, I’m just getting started,” Dad continued excitedly. “After we deposit the money in the bank, we’re going to find a bookmaker.”
    â€œSomebody who makes books?”
    â€œNo, somebody who takes bets. A bookie. I know the Yankees are going to win the 1932 World Series in four straight games. It’s in the history books. I even know the final score of all the games. But they don’t know this stuff in 1932 until after the games are played. I’ll be able to place a bet on the Series and make a fortune.”
    â€œDad, you’re a genius!”
    â€œFinally,” he continued, “if we’re lucky enough to get close to Babe Ruth at all, we’re going to get him to sign as many bats, balls, and gloves as we can. That stuff is worth a pile of money in today’s memorabilia market. One baseball signed by the Babe sells for about five thousand bucks.”
    Even as I marveled at my dad’s moneymaking schemes, they made me feel a little bad. I didn’t think it was illegal or anything, but it seemed slightly dishonest to go back in time and use what you know about the future to make a lot of money.
    What made me feel worse was that it was all my idea to begin with. Dad saw the look on my face.
    â€œJoe,” he said, “I’m getting desperate. I’ve tried my hardest to make an honest living. I really did. It hasn’t worked out. Think of this as a way we can help each other. You help me make a few bucks, and I help you go to 1932 to see if Babe called his shot. What’s wrong with that?”
    Nothing, I decided. Dad and I sat down on theliving room couch next to each other. I took the Ruth card out of its