Sam’s mom has a lot of sayings like that. Boring is good. Also, just put one foot in front of the other. Sam disagrees. Boring is the worst. Boring is writing a report. Why does anybody want a report on the Battle of Vicksburg? Look it up! And putting one foot in front of the other? What does that mean? Just keep walking? Why would you walk when you can climb a wall or fence or tree?
Every chance she gets, she climbs the windowsill on the back wall of St. Mary’s. The sill is concrete, the wall is brick, and she is learning all the fingerholds. She perches on the sill and imagines free climbing the whole thing and standing on the roof.
“Hey!” she hears from down below, but she doesn’t turn her head. She’s concentrating. “Hey. Get down from there.”
She loses her balance; the voice startles her so much. She catches herself, heart pounding, hands spreading on the concrete window frame.
“Down. Now.”
She eases herself down and sees a policeman. He takes her name and her address and her whole body is shaking because what is happening? She knows who this cop is, and he knows her. He is related to Jen’s husband Steve. Why does he ask her name? Why does he treat her like a stranger? He says, For one thing, this is private property. For another, this is disrespectful and endangerment. He says all this, and Sam says nothing.
He says, I’m letting you off this time, but Courtney finds out right away, and then Sam is literally grounded. For one week, she can’t climb anything or go anywhere, not even around the block.
That weekend instead of practice, she sits with her mom at the freezing rink to watch Noah play ice hockey. His team is called the Terminators. Their colors are black and gold, and they are small as gerbils. That’s how it is with nine-year-olds.
Sam is shivering, but her mom won’t even look at her. Courtney stares straight ahead, eyes on the game.
Sam says, “Why are you always mad at me?”
“I’m not always mad. I’m mad when you go out and try to break your neck.”
“My neck is fine.”
“Yeah, right. What happens when you climb up to the second story and fall into the parking lot? You’re dead.”
“But I didn’t.”
Courtney turns on Sam. “What were you thinking? Why would you climb a building? It’s a three-story building, Sam.”
“Because it’s hard.”
The other team scores. People are cheering on the other side. “What?”
“It’s hard.” Sam doesn’t know any other way to say it. It’s not the danger. It’s that climbing is so hard. She loves how difficult it is.
“You know what’s hard? Breaking your back is hard. So don’t climb churches! Or anything else. Jesus.”
“What if there’s a fence and the gate is closed and that’s the only way to get over?”
“If the gate is closed, it’s closed for a reason, obviously!”
They watch the Terminators skating with their tiny little sticks. The coach praises Noah. “Good hustle!”
Courtney does not stop lecturing. “Do not climb buildings. Do not climb random fences, okay?”
“Okay,” Sam says.
Sam does not climb churches anymore, but she can’t stop climbing fences. Especially the metal ones. Cyclone fences are all footholds. It’s like someone put them there for her. She could walk around them, but it’s so much faster to climb over. As soon as she’s ungrounded, she starts again. She climbs the tall back fence behind her building and then opens the gate for Noah when she walks him home. The problem is she rips her puffy winter coat. The fabric catches right in front, and she’s got a nasty tear, so the stuffing starts coming out.
Sam holds her books and binders in front of her chest, and as soon as she and Noah get inside, she spreads the jacket on the table.
“Busted!” Noah says.
“Sh!” She is staring at the tear. It’s not just the coat; it’s that her mom will know she lied.
“Glue it?” Noah asks.
“No.”
“Tape it!” He takes tape from the kitchen drawer, but the clear plastic is too flimsy. It won’t stick.
The next morning, Sam pretends she’s hot, and she’s just going to carry her coat and wear a sweatshirt.
Her mom says, “What do you mean you’re hot? It’s twenty-eight degrees outside.”
“I’m late,” Sam says, which is always true. She rushes out the door with Noah close behind her.
The next day, Mitchell examines Sam’s coat in the greenhouse. He does not ask, How did you rip this? He says, “It probably needs stitches, but they’re gonna show.”
“They can’t!” Sam tells him. “They can’t show.”
“Okay, wait,” her dad says. “Let’s try something.”
He gives Sam money from his wallet and sends her down the street to Family Dollar. When she comes back, she’s got a sewing kit and a green Celtics patch.
He takes care of customers, and, in between, they sit together next to the mini waterfall. “Lick the thread like that.” He squints his eyes and threads the needle.
He starts stitching and then Sam takes a turn, but his work is better. His fingers are long and white, his stitches quick as he sews on the patch.
“You’re talented,” Sam tells him.
“Sometimes,” her dad says.
When Sam gets home, she hangs her coat on the hook near the door, so the patch faces the wall. She hopes her mom won’t notice—at least not yet—but as soon as she walks in and hangs her own coat, Courtney sees Sam’s jacket. “What’s that?” She takes a good look at the Celtics logo. “Where did that come from?”
“I bought it.”
“Really? Since when do you care so much about basketball?”
“We watch at Halle’s house.”
“Okay, who won Friday?”
“Us?”
“Sam, what happened to your coat?”
“I caught it on something, and it ripped, so Dad helped me fix it.”
“Where were you when you caught it?”
“On the ground!”
“You better be telling me the truth,” Courtney says. “I’m not going to have any kids sneaking around climbing buildings and lying afterward.”
Courtney is out of patience. She just doesn’t have any left to give. They’ve got car trouble. They’ve got money trouble, and they’ve got Jack. He is taking Noah on the weekends and buying him stuff—for example, an ATV, which is a miniature Jeep for kids. Jack keeps it at his parents’ property where there is lots of room and Noah gets to drive all over, which isn’t safe! Kids crash and die all the time. You can hit a rock and just go flying. But Noah is too young to understand. All he wants to do is go off with Jack to his grandma and grandpa’s house while they are in Florida. He is getting so spoiled with toys and candy that he actually has tantrums when he comes home.
Jack has his friends who come to drink and party. He has a job in construction, and he can’t get fired because he is working for his dad. He gets whatever he wants, and now he wants Noah.
It’s almost like Jack does it out of spite, because he knows Courtney is just getting by. Noah has a new ATV, while Courtney has no money to fix her real car.
Courtney has to ask Grandma Deirdre for help, and that takes a lot of phone calls.
The first phone call, Grandma D. has to tell Courtney how she didn’t listen. She never listens. If she had listened, she would not be in this situation.
The second phone call, Grandma D. says she worked hard for everything she has, because if you work, you will succeed. She lives out in Western Mass and she is a retired bank teller—but don’t treat her like a bank.
The third phone call, Courtney talks about the car and how she can’t get to work without it. Sam covers her ears, because her mom’s voice sounds so much like crying. I promise, Sam tells her mom silently. I won’t make trouble. I won’t cost anything.