CHAPTER 3
“Look, Amir, you’re a good kid,” Officer Roberts said. “You’re one of the few good ones around here. I’d like to see you stay that way.”
Amir smiled.
“I know a place for climbing,” Officer Roberts told him. “There is a giant climbing wall inside a store not far from here. They have some one-day classes, and some weeklong classes.”
“Where is it?” Amir asked hopefully.
“Woodland Outfitters. It’s a huge store right outside the city,” Officer Roberts said. “They hook you up with all the right climbing gear, and they help you learn how to climb.”
“Oh,” Amir said. His head drooped. He knew he’d never be able to go out to the suburbs to a store like that. His mom worked two jobs, and they didn’t have a lot of free time together.
“I don’t think that will work,” Amir said quietly. “My mom won’t have time to bring me there.”
Officer Roberts smiled. Then he said, “If your mom says it’s okay, I’d like to take you out to the store one day this weekend,” he said.
Amir looked up at the policeman. “Really?” he asked. “Are you serious? You’d really take me?”
“If your mom says it’s okay,” the officer said. “I’ll stop by after I get done with work and talk to her. But you should warn her that I’m coming. I don’t want her to freak out when a policeman shows up at the door!”
They both laughed. “Okay, I will,” Amir said. “See you then!”
Amir took off down the street. As he ran home, he got more and more excited. A real climbing wall, with real equipment? It was a dream come true!
He couldn’t have been more excited. And he wanted to make sure that his mom would let him do it.
So Amir headed straight home. He got all of his homework done before his mom got home. He even cleaned up his room a bit, too.
When his mom came home, Amir told her what had happened. He had to tell her why he was talking to Officer Roberts in the first place. His mom wasn’t too happy to hear that part of the story. But she saw how excited Amir was about climbing the rock wall in the store.
So, when Officer Roberts showed up, Amir’s mom agreed to let him go on Saturday.
“My nephew, William, is going to come with us,” Officer Roberts said. “He’s about the same age as Amir, and he wants to learn how to climb too. So they should get along great.”
“Cool,” Amir said. He smiled at Officer Roberts. Then he remembered that he wanted to ask the officer some questions.
Amir took a deep breath and asked, “What should I wear? What do I need to bring? How much time will we have there?” The questions came rushing out of him one after another.
Officer Roberts and Amir’s mom burst out laughing.
“Relax, Amir,” Officer Roberts said. “You can wear whatever you will be comfortable in. You just make sure you stay off that wall on the side of the building, and I’ll make sure that Woodland Outfitters has everything all set up for us. See you Saturday.”