Getting Along & Making Things Right
Saying Sorry Wasn’t Enough
Louie had a fat stack of animal cards with a red rubber band around the middle. On top sat the best one: a gold fox, shiny, the kind that flashes when you tilt it. Louie had traded five cards for that fox. Five! So it always went on top, where he could see it.
Yesterday at recess, Louie sat on the bench by the wall, sorting his cards into piles. Everyone else was playing tag. Micah was running backwards, laughing, waving at whoever was “it.” “Micah, don’t run here!” called Louie. Whoosh, past. “Micah! Not near my cards!” “I’m careful!” shouted Micah. Still backwards.
He wasn’t careful. Thump! His back hit Louie’s shoulder, hard. Louie slid off the bench and landed on his bottom. The rubber band went ping. Cards flew everywhere: across the wet blacktop, under the bench, face down. And the gold fox spun through the air and landed — splosh — in the puddle.
“Sorry! Sorry, Louie!” Micah said it right away, and he meant it. He picked up wet cards as fast as he could and handed them back. Louie didn’t say anything. He fished the fox out of the puddle and wiped it on his sweater. One corner stayed bent. A brown wavy stain ran right across the fox’s tail.
Today the rain had stopped, but yesterday’s puddle was still there by the bench. Louie was on the same bench, showing his cards to Ruby and Nico. Micah spotted them from across the yard and came over the way he went everywhere: at a run. “Hey, are those—” Louie snatched the stack to his chest, both arms around it. “You’re running again.”
Micah stopped. He looked down at his feet as if they belonged to somebody else. He hadn’t even noticed he was running. Ruby looked at Nico. Nico looked at his shoelaces. Between Louie’s fingers Micah could see the fox: one bent corner, one brown wavy stain. Nobody scooted over on the bench.
But he had said sorry. Yesterday, right away, and he’d meant it. So why was Louie still holding the cards like that? There was room at the end of the bench. The tag game was still going by the jungle gym. And in Micah’s pocket was his own best card: a silver owl.
What does Micah do?
Every choice costs something. Let’s see what.
Say “It was an accident!” and sit down anyway
“It was an accident!” said Micah, louder than he meant to. “I said sorry!” And he plopped himself down on the end of the bench. Bump. Louie shuffled away, the cards squashed to his chest. Ruby got squeezed in the middle. “Ow! Elbows!” Nico got up and stood instead.
“You did say sorry,” said Louie. “Yesterday. And yesterday I said don’t run here. Two times.” He looked at Micah’s sneakers. “And today you ran here again.” Micah opened his mouth. Then he shut it. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say back.
Louie went on showing Ruby his cards, one at a time. A shark. A tortoise. A very grumpy-looking crab. He held each one up high, on Ruby’s side, away from Micah. Micah could still see them, just. He sat on his hands so they wouldn’t do anything by accident. The fox stayed on top, under Louie’s thumb.
Dring! The bell. Everybody jumped up. Micah’s legs wanted to zoom to the line, like always. He walked. Louie didn’t look around. He was already telling Ruby about the grumpy crab. “It pinches,” he said, “if you’re not careful.” Ruby laughed. Micah walked in behind them.
Give Louie his silver owl instead of the fox
Micah put his hand in his pocket. There it was: his silver owl. His only shiny card. When you tilted it, the owl’s eyes flashed. He walked over, slowly this time, and held it out. “You can have it,” he said. “Instead of the fox.” Ruby gasped. Nico said, “Whoa.”
Louie looked at the owl for a long time. He took it. He tilted it, and the eyes flashed. “Thanks,” he said. Then, more quietly, “It’s not my fox, though.” He slid the owl under the red rubber band, right at the bottom of the stack. The bent fox stayed on top.
Louie scooted over a little. Not a lot. Enough. Micah sat on the very end of the bench and watched Louie show Ruby the shark, the tortoise, the grumpy-looking crab. The owl didn’t come out. Micah put his hand in his pocket out of habit. Flat. Nothing in there but a candy wrapper.
Dring! At the bell, Louie snapped the band around the stack and stuffed it in his bag. The fox on top. The owl somewhere underneath. “I’m still keeping the fox,” said Louie. “Even bent.” Micah nodded. He wanted to say he missed the owl a bit already. He didn’t.
Run off and join the tag game
“Fine,” said Micah, and he ran. Straight across the yard to the tag game by the jungle gym. “I’m in!” Nobody said no. In two minutes he was “it.” He tagged Oli. He tagged a big girl with braids. He ran so fast his jacket flapped behind him like wings. Whoosh!
Then the game swung around toward the bench. Micah chased Oli this way and that, around and around. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Louie lift his cards right up over his head, out of the way. Ruby and Nico both pulled their feet in. Micah kept running. He didn’t look back.
The next time the game came that way, Micah swerved. He went the long way around, past the puddle, and his sneaker went splosh. Cold water, right through to the sock. Brrr. Louie was looking. He didn’t say anything. Micah ran on, one foot squelching.
Dring! Micah’s cheeks were hot and he was puffing like a train. Best recess all week! In the line, Louie was two people ahead, holding his cards in both hands. They hadn’t said one word to each other the whole recess. Micah wriggled his toes. Squelch. His sock was still wet.