CHAPTER 15

After the show, when everybody had left, Mrs. Hutchinson counted up the cash. Then Mr. Martin, the custodian, started cleaning up all the mess. There were a LOT of napkins and cookie crumbs on the floor. Dad said we should all give Mr. Martin a hand by putting the chairs away, so we did.

Then Mrs. Hutchinson and Mr. McLeary came over to Mom and me, saying it was important to give me the cash right away. Lancelot Macintosh referred to it as “the day’s takings.”

My shoulders

“Oh . . .” I said. “That sounds like a long way off from $30,000.”

We’d worked so hard, for so long. Maybe making money wasn’t as easy as I’d always thought it was.

“A marvelous amount, young boy!” said Lancelot Macintosh.

“You’ve done so well, Omar,” Dad chipped in. “You don’t realize it, but that’s a whole lot of money, and it’s going to go a long way toward helping the mosque.”

“But it won’t save it,” I said.

“Don’t worry,” said Mom. “Lots of other people are raising money, too. I’m sure it will all add up to the amount they need.”

I looked at Maryam, remembering that she and her friends were trying, too.

Mrs. Hutchinson’s curls looked sad for me. I didn’t want them to be sad, so I gave my best smile and said, “It’s great! Thank you for your help, Mrs. Hutchinson and Mr. McLeary. I’m going to keep thinking and come up with more ideas!”

I shoved the envelope of cash into Mom’s bag, and everyone got back to putting the chairs away. When I glanced up, Lancelot Macintosh was staring into space and twiddling his mustache as if he was thinking about something very deeply. Funny. I wondered what was on his mind.

Mom and Dad could not stop talking about how proud they were of me on the way home.

Mrs. Rogers said I was the

Maryam said nothing, but she did grunt every time someone else said something nice. I thought it would be kind to give Maryam some of the spotlight. After all, she had been working hard to sell her art for the mosque, too. Also, I was curious to know if she was making enough to save the mosque. So I said, “How’s your art stuff going, Maryam?”

Maryam looked a bit like Esa does when he’s been caught drawing with Mom’s lipstick. “G-great. Really great, actually! I sold three pieces for $500 each.”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” I said.

But Dad said, “Did you, now?” In his I’m-your-dad-and-I-know-when-you’re-lying voice.

  said Maryam.

And then when Mom gave her an it’s-OK-dear look, as we pulled into our drive, she practically

She flung the car door open and jumped out, saying, “Don’t believe me, then—you never do!”

We all gave each other the look we do when Maryam acts like a complete teenager. Dad followed her to her room to talk to her, and the rest of us fell into our beds, exhausted.

Before I fell asleep, I thought about the cash in Mom’s purse. I imagined it

to get to $30,000. Yup, Mom and Dad even love making us learn the yucky science stuff! Bacteria can go from being just one of them to hundreds of them in minutes. Imagine if money could do that, too . . . But I bet if it did, Maryam would try to steal it because she’d be so jealous.