It was sixth-grade week for School Beautification Duty. After lunch, the cooks handed the girls wet rags to wipe ketchup and spilled milk off the tables. Then some of the boys moved the tables into the storage room. Other students swept up the mess of crumbs, bits of food, and straw wrappers left on the floor. Everyone was busy working except Luke. Luke leaned against the wall by the door. Coach Dosser leaned against the wall next to him. Almost all evidence of a school lunch had been removed and the cafeteria had almost transformed back into a gym when Mr. Price came in. He glanced at Luke.
“My dad said I don’t have to be a janitor around here,” Luke instantly spoke up.
Mr. Price ignored Luke but took Coach Dosser aside. Then he walked over to Kaden and Yo-Yo.
“Come with me,” he said.
Mr. Price led the way. A white truck was backed up to the back doors of the school, its bed filled with long boxes covered in clear plastic wrap. Kaden’s first thought was it was his father, but then he saw Mr. Schmerz pulling one of the boxes toward him across the open tailgate. Already a bunch of new trowels, hoses, and other garden equipment was piled up inside the doors.
“Your grandmother said you two would know what to do with these,” Mr. Price said, pointing to the boxes Mr. Schmerz was stacking inside. Stamped in big block letters across each box was ZOYSIA GRASS PLUGS / KEEP SHADED UNTIL PLANTED. One of the boxes had an envelope attached to the top.
“Yes, sir,” Kaden said, giving Yo-Yo a glance. “We know all about zoysia grass, don’t we, Yo-Yo?”
“Oh, yeah, tons,” Yo-Yo said. “And I think we’re going to find out even more, up close and personal.”
“Good,” Mr. Price said. “Then you’re in charge. They’re for the courtyard. You and the other sixth graders can get started planting them today during C.A.R.E. I’m sure that won’t be nearly enough time but I can’t have all the sixth graders out there all afternoon. So you two are dismissed from afternoon classes to work on it. If you can’t get done today, we should be able to keep what’s not planted alive until Wednesday.”
The janitor came around the corner with a dolly. Mr. Price left. Kaden and Yo-Yo helped the janitor stack the boxes on the dolly. Only half of them fit. Taking the garden equipment, the boys followed the janitor back down the hall, through the library, and out into the courtyard. Coach Dosser was waiting there with the rest of the sixth graders.
“Gram was right,” Yo-Yo said, looking around at the remnants of weedy gardens and sparse patches of grass scattered in the hardened dirt. “This place could do with a makeover.”
Kaden removed the envelope from the top box and opened it. Yo-Yo looked over his shoulder at the papers inside. They were instructions on the planting and care of zoysia grass plugs. When the janitor came back with a second load of boxes, he reached in his pocket and handed Kaden a pocketknife.
“Price said you’re in charge,” the janitor told him. “You’re going to need this to cut through that plastic.”
Kaden must have looked surprised.
“I know all about school rules,” the janitor said. “They’re ridiculous. This is a tool, not a weapon, and I’ve got other stuff to do. You can give it back to me at the end of the day.” The janitor left, leaving Kaden holding the pocketknife.
Kaden opened the knife, slit through the plastic wrap, and opened one of the boxes. Inside were rows and rows of little grass stubs, each in a tablespoon-size ball of damp dirt. Yo-Yo counted. Four rows, twenty-five in each. Kaden counted the boxes. Thirty.
“Do you realize how many zoysia grass plugs we’re going to have to plant?” Kaden said, closing the knife and slipping it in his pocket.
“Yeah, but I’ve got a plan,” Yo-Yo said, grabbing the directions. He put a trowel and a grass plug on the picnic table near the library door and jumped up on the tabletop.
“Hey, listen up!” Yo-Yo yelled. Nobody paid any attention to him. Like a teacher, Yo-Yo clapped his hands first slowly two times, then quickly three times. The students immediately quieted and clapped back, two times slowly, three times quickly. Even Luke spontaneously responded. Kaden was glad Gram didn’t see that. She would have said something about students being trained like circus monkeys. But it worked. Yo-Yo had their attention.
“My fellow sixth graders,” Yo-Yo started, “we’ve been given our mission. We are to beautify this courtyard by planting a specimen of grass called zoysia.” Yo-Yo held up the grass plug. “Coach, you should be especially pleased to know this kind of grass is frequently used on golf courses. Once it takes hold, you should be able to set up a putting green in the middle of the courtyard.”
The students started talking again, so Yo-Yo clapped his hands to get their attention back.
“First,” Yo-Yo said, looking at the directions, “the ground must be watered thoroughly. Sarah-with-an-H, that will be your job. You can start right now while I’m talking. Get it wet, but not muddy.” Kaden screwed the hose to the spigot and turned it on for Sarah. As she pulled the hose to the middle of the courtyard and started spraying, Yo-Yo held up a trowel.
“There are eight boys and we have eight trowels, so the boys will dig little holes.”
“I’m not digging nothing,” Luke called out. “And who said you could give orders, anyway?”
To Kaden’s surprise, Coach Dosser came forward out of the shade. “Mr. Price said Kaden and Yo-Yo are in charge. Luke, you’re digging. My orders.”
Yo-Yo continued reading the directions aloud. “The holes need to be about three inches deep and six inches apart, in a chessboard pattern.” He stopped and looked out at the students. “Sara-without-an-H, go to Mr. Herd’s room and get eight rulers.”
“I don’t understand,” Phillip called out.
“Of course you don’t, Phillip,” Luke scoffed. “It takes brains to play chess.”
Yo-Yo ignored Luke. “Picture a chessboard, Phillip. Dig holes only on the black squares. The white squares are the six inches of dirt in between.”
“Oh, I get it, the rows are staggered,” Phillip said.
“Kind of like your brain,” Luke said.
Kaden had had enough of Luke, and without even thinking, the words going through his mind came out of his mouth, loud and clear. “Shut up, Luke.”
It startled Kaden that he actually said that, and it must have startled Luke, too. He looked at Kaden in surprise but before he could say anything, Elana spoke up.
“Yeah, Luke, be quiet,” she said. But Luke had regained his composure.
“Has everyone forgotten we’d all be sitting nice and cool in study hall having a good time instead of out here planting grass in the hot sun if Kaden’s grandma hadn’t stuck her nose where it didn’t belong?”
“I think she was right,” Elana said. “The courtyard needs work.”
“Me too,” several of the other students chimed in. Kaden smiled to himself, surprised by how many had the courage to stand up against Luke.
“Well, do what you want,” Luke said, “but I’m not going to be treated like a prisoner sentenced to hard labor.” He stomped off and sat under a tree at the far end of the courtyard. A couple of other boys joined the mutiny.
“Get back up here,” Coach called out. Luke didn’t budge. Neither did the other boys.
“Extra laps in PE for those who don’t participate,” Coach said sternly. The other boys got up and joined the rest of the class but Luke stayed under the tree. Coach crossed his arms and took two steps forward. Luke got up and slowly started sauntering back.
“Okay, back to directions,” Yo-Yo started up again. “The girls will be planters.”
“I thought I was the waterer,” Sarah said. As she spoke, she turned to look at Yo-Yo. The hose changed directions and water sprayed all over Luke.
“Hey, watch what you’re doing,” Luke snapped at Sarah.
The whole class laughed.
“Sorry,” Sarah said, but then started giggling. “Looks like you peed your pants.”
The class laughed even harder. Yo-Yo let them laugh for a while before he clapped his hands again.
“Yes, Sarah, your job is to water the ground to soften it up,” Yo-Yo continued. “Watering Luke was a nice try but I don’t think he softened up any.”
Luke scowled. The class laughed again. Yo-Yo was on top of his game.
“Okay,” Yo-Yo said. “Let’s get to work.”
Coach opened the library door. “Behave yourselves,” he said. “I’ll be watching from inside.” Kaden could see through the window as Coach Dosser sat in the air-conditioned room, his feet up on a table.
Everyone worked diligently, talking and laughing as they dug and planted. Everyone but Luke. He had gone back to the shade of the tree. Kaden kept an eye on him but Luke seemed focused on Elana and Yo-Yo. They were digging and planting as a team. Elana pulled out a pair of earbuds, the cord running down to the pocket of her capris. She gave one earbud to Yo-Yo and put the other in her ear. As they worked closely side by side sharing the earbuds, Luke’s scowl got bigger and bigger.
Kaden was about to give Yo-Yo the heads-up about Luke when Coach opened the door and stepped onto the patio.
“Five minutes ’til the bell rings,” he announced. “Go wash up before your next class.” Luke was the first one in the door.
As the rest of the class filed inside, Yo-Yo and Kaden put down their trowels, stood up, and stretched.
“Ten empty and two rows gone from the eleventh box. Barely a third,” Yo-Yo groaned.
Kaden slid the half-empty box of plugs over to an area of dampened dirt and returned to his hands and knees.
“Next time,” he told Yo-Yo, “be more selective about what you read aloud in front of Gram.”