JULY 23, 12:30 P.M.

“Yin-Yin! Yin-Yin, wake up!”

I shake my grandmother and her eyes fly open. She blinks wildly. “Where am I?” she asks. “Have I died?” I take her glasses from her hand and put them on her face. “Oh.” She sounds disappointed. “Still here, am I?”

I wave my English quiz in front of her. “Yin-Yin, look! I got a C-plus.”

Yin-Yin sits up and examines my quiz. Mr. Glick has written “Good effort” across the top.

“Stanford, that’s terrific. Can I keep this?”

“Not yet,” I tell her. “I want to show Dad first.”

8:05 P.M.

I am flying high. I made most of my shots at basketball, and then I won at H-O-R-S-E and everyone had to cough up a dollar. Stretch didn’t have the money, so Digger tossed in two dollars to cover him. It is a great day.

Dad’s home on time tonight. He’s sitting in his den working. His den is off-limits, but this is important. I knock on the door and he waves me in. I try not to grin. I want my grade to be a surprise.

“Here,” I say, handing Dad my quiz.

He looks up from his stack of paperwork and takes the paper from me. He stares at it for a long time. Then Dad scowls and my heart stops beating.

“A C-plus?” my father says. “Stanford, next time try to do better, will you?”