They lucked into some free gym time after school the next afternoon, so Lucas and some of the other guys from the Wolves got to play some three-on-three. Even when the game ended, Lucas stayed on and worked on his game alone, because there was still forty-five minutes before his mom was going to pick him up. Mr. Collins had supervised the three-on-three game, sitting in the bleachers as he graded papers. Before he went back to his classroom, he gave Lucas the key to the equipment closet, telling him to put the ball back when he was through, lock the closet, and drop off the key with him.
“I promised your mother I wouldn’t let you just wander around the school by yourself,” Mr. Collins said.
“When I’ve got the gym all to myself?” Lucas said. “Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”
Today Lucas went to all the spots on the court where Gramps’s offense was likely to take him, and shot the ball from there. He worked on his left-handed dribble, going end to end using his left hand exclusively, finishing each trip up the court with a left-handed drive to the basket. He shot free throws until he could make ten in a row. If he missed, even on the last one, he’d start all over again. Even after having played a hard three-on-three game, he didn’t feel tired. He was exactly where he wanted to be.
When he finished, he still had a few minutes before his mom was scheduled to arrive. Lucas put his ball back in the equipment closet, locked it behind him as he’d told Mr. Collins he would, and headed down the hall for Mr. C.’s classroom.
Before he got there, he heard the piano music, and knew it had to be Maria in the music room.
He had no idea what song she was playing. It sounded like something serious. But it was good. Really good.
Sometimes when Lucas’s mom would watch basketball with him, she would freely admit that she didn’t appreciate the subtle aspects of the game the way Lucas and Gramps did. But she always knew which players were doing things that the other players weren’t.
It was that way for Lucas when Maria was playing the piano. Maybe someday he’d appreciate the music she could play. He’d heard other classmates in the music room. What Maria was doing was different. Better.
He quietly pushed the door open, so as not to disturb her. He had a perfect view of her face, and could see that as serious as the music was, she was smiling.
This, he thought, is her court.
This was Maria alone with her music the way Lucas had just been alone with basketball.
When she finished, he couldn’t help himself. He started to applaud. The sound didn’t startle her. It just made her smile get bigger as she turned on the bench to face him.
“Sneak,” she said.
“Am not,” he said.
“You snuck up on me, one hundred percent,” she said.
“You’re not supposed to make noise when you’re in the audience,” Lucas said.
“Well,” she said, “clearly you snuck in without a ticket.”
“It’s not free?” he said.
“Just for today,” she said. “Next time I’m charging you.”
“I know I’ve told you this before,” he said. “But you’re really good.”
“I can do better,” she said.
“It sounded perfect to me,” Lucas said.
“I could explain why it wasn’t and the places where I messed up,” she said. “But it would be like you trying to explain all the things that happened in your game the other day.”
Maria said her mom was on her way to school to pick her up. They agreed to wait together out front.
“How’s your paper coming?” she said as they walked toward Mr. Collins’s classroom.
“I was afraid you were going to ask me that.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not coming.”
She waited while he knocked on Mr. Collins’s door. Mr. C. was working with Cissy Sullivan, another seventh grader. Lucas just showed him he was leaving the equipment key on a back desk, and said he’d see him tomorrow, and left.
“What do you mean the paper isn’t going anywhere?” Maria said.
“My grandfather doesn’t want me to make it about him,” Lucas said.
“Why not?”
“He hasn’t really made that clear,” Lucas said. “What he has made pretty clear is that he wants me to find another subject.”
“Are you going to find another subject?”
“Not yet,” he said. “If I have to, I might ask Mr. Collins if I could do it about him. But I’m not ready to give up on Gramps. I still think it’s a cool idea. It’s my way of putting down the feelings I have for him in my heart down on paper.”
“He’s such a cool guy,” Maria said. “I was watching him watch you during the game on Saturday. He looked like the happiest person in the world.”
“I want this paper to make him happy,” Lucas said.
“You’ll figure it out.”
“How do you figure?” Lucas said.
Maria smiled again. Lucas would never admit this to Ryan, or even his mom. But he thought she had an amazing smile.
“Hey,” she said. “You’re the writer.”