When I told Greg that I’d be the one to get in trouble if anyone did, I was just talking to make him feel better. Now, as I sat in the principal’s office along with my mother, I wasn’t feeling like that was such a wonderful plan. The only other kid here was Kia, and it wasn’t hard to notice that neither of her parents was here.
I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to yell out that it was my idea, so I could get Kia off, or claim it was a whole team effort so that the blame could be spread around a little. But really, this last part had been my idea alone. If there was trouble coming, it should just be coming for me. For better or worse, I’d have to accept whatever happened. Besides, being mentioned on tv made it all worth it…assuming I wasn’t going to get in too much trouble.
“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” Mr. Waldman said to my mother.
“I’m glad to be here.”
“And I appreciate you two giving up a recess.”
Like we had a choice—Yeah, I know the principal wants to see us…Tell him I’m going outside to play instead.
“Sure, no problem,” Kia said.
She looked as nervous as I felt. This wasn’t a good sign.
“Well, Nicholas, do you have anything you want to say to start the meeting?” Mr. Waldman asked.
Instantly I thought about that whole “asking for forgiveness” thing and how that might work, but I had to wait for the right time to say it.
I just shook my head. Anything I could say could only make things worse.
“In that case, perhaps I’ll start,” he said. “This has all been a whirlwind of activity. Certainly things moved more quickly and in different directions than any of us could have foreseen.”
This might be the spot to say I was sorry. I opened my mouth and—
“And that’s why we all owe Kia, and especially Nick, a big thank-you,” Mr. Waldman said.
My jaw dropped open. That was the last thing in the world I had expected to hear. I looked at Kia. She looked equally shocked.
“Um…you’re welcome,” I mumbled.
“Without your persistence, none of this would have happened.”
“We’re proud of them,” my mother said.
“It was really more Nick than me,” Kia said.
That was nice of her—unless there was some trouble still coming.
“You have both always shown great leadership,” Mr. Waldman said. “Both on and off the basketball court.”
“Thanks, but it wasn’t just us. It was the whole team.”
It really wasn’t just me. And besides, there still might be some trouble to come, and I wouldn’t mind setting the tone for spreading that blame around if it came to that.
“So…we’re not in any trouble…right?” Kia asked. She looked pleadingly from our principal to my mother.
“You’re not in trouble,” Mr. Waldman said. “But you could have been in big trouble. While there was no damage done, the company responsible for the sod could have involved the police if they chose to do so.”
“The police?” I gasped.
“You didn’t have permission to move their sod.”
“But they’re not doing that, are they?” I asked. “They aren’t getting the police involved, right?”
“No, they’re not. Did you see the owners on tv last night?”
I shook my head.
“Yes, I caught them on the news,” my mother said. “The owner seemed so proud, you would have thought they’d done it themselves.”
“I guess you can’t buy publicity like that,” Mr. Waldman said. “In fact they’re so happy that they actually agreed to keep the sod letters in place for the next week, and they’re even going to water it to keep it all green and alive.”
“That’s wonderful!” I exclaimed.
“It does delay the completion and use of the field for a few days, but so be it,” Mr. Waldman said. “Now we need to turn to the more immediate issues.” He turned directly to my mother. “Thank you for offering to drive some of the team down to the game this weekend.”
“That’s why you’re here?” I asked my mother.
“Why did you think I was here?” she responded.
“I really wasn’t sure. I thought maybe I was in trouble.”
“As I said, you could have been in trouble,” Mr. Waldman said, “but we really do think it’s been a wonderful boost for the students and staff, not to mention all the positive publicity it’s brought to the school. My phone has been ringing off the hook all morning.”
“Our phone too,” my mother added.
Obviously I hadn’t been getting phone calls in class, but everybody in the school had been coming up and talking to me. I couldn’t believe how excited the basketball team was about it.
No, wait—I could believe it because I was pretty excited too.
“Newspapers and tv reporters kept calling to try to get information or arrange interviews or say congratulations. Great stuff,” Mr. Waldman said. “As principal, I’m going to be going to the game, along with Mr. Roberts as your coach, and now with your mother, we have enough people to transport and supervise.”
“My husband is a little jealous that he can’t come along,” my mother said.
“Will Dad even be back by then?” I asked.
“His business trip is over the next day.”
He’d been gone for a whole month. He’d never been gone this long or so far away. Wait…he was in China too…Maybe he’d run into Jerome and Johnnie. No, I was sure it was a pretty big country. Either way, I was really looking forward to him coming back.
The bell rang.
“Well, that’s the end of recess,” Mr. Waldman said, “and you two should head back to class.”
We all got up, and while my mother and Mr. Waldman shook hands, Kia and I exchanged relieved and happy looks. This had all worked out.
“Oh, I had one more question,” Mr. Waldman said.
We turned to face him.
“The sod…the letters…that was your last surprise, right?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“So there’s nothing else that might happen that I’m not aware of, correct?”
“Nothing else.”
“That’s good to hear. Head back to class.”