CHAPTER ONE Look at what I found Ten-year-old Michael Wilson popped his head out from the large gray metal dumpster His brown eyes twinkled This is the best day ever Michael’s cousin Liv Hernandez and best friend Leo Hammer were waiting for him They were in a narrow alley behind a long row of shops Liv leaned against the dumpster Leo stood to the side his hands tucked into his khaki pockets I thought yesterday was the best day ever Liv told Michael Her dark ponytails jiggled when she laughed You were super excited when we found those wooden clothespins in the dry cleaner’s trash Leo said He was nine a year younger than Michael and Liv Yep Yesterday was good But today’s better Michael said He was wearing his favorite baseball cap pulled low over his dark brown hair Leo had created a computer program that tracked the garbage trucks in town They were using it to track down the fullest dumpsters Yesterday was the dry cleaners Today Michael was in the big bin behind Patsy’s Arts and Crafts He held up two paintbrushes crusted with thick brown paint One was very small for fine lines The other was big for large blocks of color Michael pressed his fingers against the smaller brush The paint crumbled like a dirt clump into dust That’s some weird paint he observed wiping his hands on his pants He tossed the brushes to Leo in the alley Leo missed them But Liv managed to dive in for a save Ah man I bought new paintbrushes just like these yesterday she exclaimed
waving them around I can’t believe you’re getting them for free I’ll clean them up for you Michael said ready to duck down and see what else he could find You can have these too Suddenly Mr Patterson the owner of Patsy’s Arts and Crafts came barreling out his shop’s back door What are you kids doing out here he shouted He was wearing a business suit and holding a big black trash bag in his hands Mr Patterson didn’t see Michael in the dumpster He stared at Liv and Leo Go away he boomed in a loud voice We uh but Leo mumbled as he backed away from Mr Patterson Very quietly behind Mr Patterson Michael snuck out of the dumpster Mr Patterson leaned toward Leo’s face What were you looking for Are you spying on me Leo backed up more I I we His face was flushed Hey Mr Patterson Michael said He casually stepped forward In his hands were two long narrow sticks called dowels and half a ball of twine He held them out We’re collecting trash
