A couple of days after the meeting, I came home from school to find Tyler and Michael playing basketball in front of Tyler’s garage. I tried to walk by quickly, but there was really no way to avoid them. I couldn’t reach the front door of my house without walking right under their net.
As soon as he saw me, Tyler said, “Did you hear the news, Bree?” He had a big smirk on his face.
“They’re finally going to fumigate your townhouse? To get rid of the big creepy bug that’s pestering the good people of Cedar Grove?”
“Funny.” Tyler wasn’t laughing, but I heard Michael chuckle. “Your meeting with the council was a waste of time, Bree. They’re not changing the tree-climbing bylaw.”
“What? How do you know?” I felt my cheeks flush with anger.
“I’ve got my sources,” Tyler said smugly.
“Sorry, Bree,” said a voice behind me. I turned and saw Ethan sitting on his front steps. He was still on the sidelines. I looked at his hurt elbow, even though I knew there was nothing to see.
“It’s true?” I asked him.
“Mom said that the council took your arguments into consideration, but the interim bylaw remains in effect.”
“Interim?” I couldn’t understand why everyone kept using that word. Wasn’t a bylaw just a bylaw?
“It has be called an interim bylaw until it gets voted on and passed at the AGM.”
“Did your mom tell you why they couldn’t just overturn it?”
“She wouldn’t go into detail, but I think there might be legal issues,” Ethan said.
“Who cares about legal issues? We’re kids. We should be able to climb trees!” I snapped.
“The council has to care about legal issues and they still think tree climbing is dangerous.”
“But it’s not!”
I had been thinking a lot about safety since my presentation. I knew I hadn’t done a good job convincing the council that tree climbing was safe. I guess Ethan’s injury and the stuff I’d found on the Internet had momentarily given me some doubts.
“Tree climbing is no more dangerous than basketball,” I said, pointing at the net. “Any sport is dangerous if you don’t do it properly.”
I was certain of my argument now, but unfortunately, I was using it on Ethan, who was only trying to be helpful. I was just so mad at myself for not making a stronger case to the Neighborhood Council.
Tyler and Michael were staring at me. “It doesn’t really matter whether it’s dangerous or not,” Tyler said calmly. “Point is, there will never be tree climbing in Cedar Grove again. And it doesn’t matter what you do. Give it up, Bree. You’re not the boss around here.”
“Neither are you!” I stared back at Tyler and narrowed my eyes. “And this means you can’t climb either.”
“So what?” Tyler shrugged and took a shot at the net. The basketball swished through the hoop. “There are other things to do.”
“But you can’t climb trees,” I repeated.
“The monkey bars at the playground are pretty good,” Michael said.
“But that’s not good enough for little Brianna,” Tyler said in a silly crybaby voice.
“You’re just jealous because you’re not as good a climber as me!” I spit the words at him. I could feel the back of my throat start to burn and I bit my cheeks to hold back the tears.
“Me? Jealous of you? Before the council destroyed the jungle gym, I beat you in every climbing competition we ever had.”
“You’ve never beat me up a tree!” I shot back.
I saw him wince briefly. Then he wound up and fired at me again. “I certainly beat you on the pitcher’s mound.”
It was my turn to wince. The competition between Tyler and me started in the spring of grade four when we’d both tried out to pitch for the Bulldogs, our local Little League baseball team. We were pretty evenly matched back then, so it took the Bulldogs’ coach all preseason to select the starting pitcher. Losing out to Tyler hadn’t bothered me much back then. I was just happy to be part of the team. But Tyler was upset even though he’d won. Dad said it was because a girl who was almost a full year younger than him had come so close to stealing his position. All I know is that the rivalry between us had been fierce ever since.
“Why do you like climbing trees so much anyway, Bree?” Ethan asked, probably hoping to end the fight between Tyler and me. Everyone knows Ethan is a kid who doesn’t like conflict.
I took a few breaths to calm myself down. Crying would be bad. “It’s fun,” I said as I looked up, “and it makes me feel free.” As much as I liked playing with all the other kids in Cedar Grove, sometimes I liked to get away from them too. Up in the trees I could be alone. In my own little world.
“Well, say goodbye to freedom, Bree,” Tyler said, snapping me back to reality.
“Come on, Tyler,” Michael said, bouncing the basketball. “Let’s finish this game.”
Michael isn’t sensitive like Ethan. But I noticed that he sometimes got caught between pleasing Tyler and saying what he really wanted to say. Honestly, I wondered why Michael put up with Tyler at all.
Tyler turned toward the net and took a pass from Michael. I gave Ethan an apologetic smile even though I was still angry. This whole mess wasn’t his fault.
Without saying goodbye, I headed over to the big collection of metal mailboxes that line the entry to Cedar Grove. I opened up our little slot with the key I’d convinced Mom to give me since she was never home early enough to get the mail herself. I pulled out a stack of envelopes and flyers, instantly spotting the notice from the Cedar Grove Neighborhood Council even though it was at the bottom of the pile. No one else used paper the color of pee.
I didn’t unfold the notice until Dad came home. I was afraid to read it. I didn’t want Tyler and Ethan’s story confirmed.
When Dad handed me the notice I was ready to be disappointed. But I wasn’t prepared for another shock.
Dear Resident of Cedar Grove,
This notice is to serve as a reminder of Cedar Grove bylaw 5.12.
Bylaw 5.12: A pet owner must ensure that a permitted pet is kept quiet, controlled and clean. Any excrement on common property must be immediately disposed of by the person supervising the pet.
The Neighborhood Council appreciates the effort of each individual resident in making Cedar Grove a clean and pleasant place to live.
Sincerely,
Cedar Grove Neighborhood Council
The Council had listened to Mrs. Leary! They’d even sent out a notice. But they had totally ignored me. They weren’t even considerate enough to inform me of their decision. I only knew the neighborhood council wasn’t changing the tree-climbing bylaw because Marion Matheson had blabbed to her son. And Ethan had spread the news to everyone, including Tyler.
I crumpled the notice into a ball and threw it toward Dad, who was flipping through the rest of the mail.
“I hate Cedar Grove!” I growled.
“I’m sorry, Bree,” Dad said. I could barely hear him through the rush of blood to my head. I was too angry to answer. I stomped up to my room, hoping that everyone in the townhouse complex could hear each step.