Home Team (9 page)

I wasn't sure whether I wanted to yell out that it was my idea, so I could get Kia off, or claim it was a whole team effort so that the blame could be spread around a little. But really, this last part had been my idea alone. If there was trouble coming, it should just be coming for me. For better or worse, I'd have to accept whatever happened. Besides, being mentioned on tv made it all worth it…assuming I wasn't going to get in too much trouble.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” Mr. Waldman said to my mother.

“I'm glad to be here.”

“And I appreciate you two giving up a recess.”

Like we had a choice—
Yeah, I know the principal wants to see us…Tell him I'm going outside to play instead
.

“Sure, no problem,” Kia said.

She looked as nervous as I felt. This wasn't a good sign.

“Well, Nicholas, do you have anything you want to say to start the meeting?” Mr. Waldman asked.

Instantly I thought about that whole “asking for forgiveness” thing and how that might work, but I had to wait for the right time to say it.

I just shook my head. Anything I could say could only make things worse.

“In that case, perhaps I'll start,” he said. “This has all been a whirlwind of activity. Certainly things moved more quickly and in different directions than any of us could have foreseen.”

This might be the spot to say I was sorry. I opened my mouth and—

“And that's why we all owe Kia, and especially Nick, a big thank-you,” Mr. Waldman said.

My jaw dropped open. That was the last thing in the world I had expected to hear. I looked at Kia. She looked equally shocked.

“Um…you're welcome,” I mumbled.

“Without your persistence, none of this would have happened.”

“We're proud of them,” my mother said.

“It was really more Nick than me,” Kia said.

That was nice of her—unless there was some trouble still coming.

“You have both always shown great leadership,” Mr. Waldman said. “Both on and off the basketball court.”

“Thanks, but it wasn't just us. It was the whole team.”

It really wasn't just me. And besides, there still might be some trouble to come, and I wouldn't mind setting the tone for spreading that blame around if it came to that.

“So…we're not in any trouble…right?” Kia asked. She looked pleadingly from our principal to my mother.

“You're not in trouble,” Mr. Waldman said. “But you
could
have been in big trouble. While there was no damage done, the company responsible for the sod could have involved the police if they chose to do so.”

“The police?” I gasped.

“You didn't have permission to move their sod.”

“But they're not doing that, are they?” I asked. “They aren't getting the police involved, right?”

“No, they're not. Did you see the owners on tv last night?”

I shook my head.

“Yes, I caught them on the news,” my mother said. “The owner seemed so proud, you would have thought they'd done it themselves.”

“I guess you can't buy publicity like that,” Mr. Waldman said. “In fact they're so happy that they actually agreed to keep the sod letters in place for the next week, and they're even going to water it to keep it all green and alive.”

“That's wonderful!” I exclaimed.

“It does delay the completion and use of the field for a few days, but so be it,” Mr. Waldman said. “Now we need to turn to the more immediate issues.” He turned directly to my mother. “Thank you for offering to drive some of the team down to the game this weekend.”

“That's why you're here?” I asked my mother.

“Why did you think I was here?” she responded.

“I really wasn't sure. I thought maybe I was in trouble.”

“As I said, you
could
have been in trouble,” Mr. Waldman said, “but we really do think it's been a wonderful boost for the students and staff, not to mention all the positive publicity it's brought to the school. My phone has been ringing off the hook all morning.”

“Our phone too,” my mother added.

Obviously I hadn't been getting phone calls in class, but everybody in the school had been coming up and talking to me. I couldn't believe how excited the basketball team was about it.

No, wait—I
could
believe it because I was pretty excited too.

“Newspapers and tv reporters kept calling to try to get information or arrange interviews or say congratulations. Great stuff,” Mr. Waldman said. “As principal, I'm going to be going to the game, along with Mr. Roberts as your coach, and now with your mother, we have enough people to transport and supervise.”

“My husband is a little jealous that he can't come along,” my mother said.

“Will Dad even be back by then?” I asked.

“His business trip is over the next day.”

He'd been gone for a whole month. He'd never been gone this long or so far away. Wait…he was in China too…Maybe he'd run into Jerome and Johnnie. No, I was sure it was a pretty big country. Either way, I was really looking forward to him coming back.

The bell rang.

“Well, that's the end of recess,” Mr. Waldman said, “and you two should head back to class.”

We all got up, and while my mother and Mr. Waldman shook hands, Kia and I exchanged relieved and happy looks. This had all worked out.

“Oh, I had one more question,” Mr. Waldman said.

We turned to face him.

“The sod…the letters…that was your
last
surprise, right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“So there's nothing else that might happen that I'm not aware of, correct?”

“Nothing else.”

“That's good to hear. Head back to class.”

Chapter Nineteen

We pulled up to Greg's house. I went to climb out of the van, but by the time I'd opened the sliding door, he appeared, practically running down the driveway.

“Hey, everybody!” he called out.

He climbed into the backseat to the spot open beside Kia. I was in the middle seat and Lailah was beside me. That was just the way it worked out—it wasn't really my idea. My mother didn't like to have people—kids—sit in what she called the suicide seat, so Kia had climbed into the back when she got in, and then Lailah sat down beside me.

“This is so awesome,” Lailah said.

“Yeah, it is,” Greg agreed. Then he started chuckling.

“What's so funny?” Kia asked.

“Well, with Nick and Lailah sitting together in the middle seats and you and me back here, it's sort of like we're going on a double date.”

“Dream on,” Kia said. “The
only
way I'd ever go on any date with you is if…is if…Okay, there's
no
way I'm
ever
going on a date with you.”

Everybody laughed. It was sort of a nervous laugh, but I noticed Lailah didn't say anything. That was interesting.

What I was really happy about was that it was my mother driving us instead of my father. Not that there was anything wrong with my father
or
his driving. It was just that he was a lot more likely to say something. Something like asking Lailah how she felt about being my “date,” or saying that Kia said no to Greg because she was going to be my wife someday, or saying he didn't want the two girls to fight over me because this wasn't going to be an episode of Jerry Springer or—

“So what do you think?” my mother asked.

Oh great, just what I wanted. I expected this from my father but not my mother.

“Um…I don't think it's such a good idea.”

“You don't think it's a good idea that the Raptors could win?”

“What?”

“I was going to ask you if you thought the Raptors could win tonight. What did you think wasn't such a good idea?”

Now I had to think fast. “The way you're going downtown. Dad always goes down the Parkway because it's faster.”

“Maybe it is, but it's not nearly as nice a drive.”

My hands were sweating. That always happened when I was nervous. I wiped them on my pants. I wondered how that would work if you were holding hands with somebody. Not only would your hand sweat more because you'd be more nervous, but you couldn't very well take it away to wipe it. And it wasn't like she wouldn't notice, because she was holding your hand. Maybe you could hope that she would think it was
her
hand that was sweating.

I risked a little glance at Lailah. She didn't look like the type who would get sweaty hands. She just gave them to other people. She did make me nervous, which, of course, made no sense. I'd spent more time around girls—well, at least
one
girl—than any guy I knew. Kia was always around my house and I was around hers and we played on teams together. Of course Kia wasn't really like a girl. She was more like a guy…or a sister…no, more like a brother. That's what she was—like my brother.

I turned around to look at Kia. I wasn't nervous about looking at her. I thought it was probably best to keep that “like a brother” idea to myself though.

“We're meeting right in the lobby of the Air Canada Centre,” my mother said.

“I just hope we're on time,” I said.

“We have plenty of time,” my mother said.

“I just wouldn't want to miss anything.”

“The game doesn't start for another hour and a half,” my mother replied.

“That's until the start of the game,” I said. “I want to be there for the warm-ups. I want to watch the guys warming up so I can tell how the game is going to go.”

“Can you really tell from the warm-ups who will be hot tonight?” my mother asked.

“Of course,” I said.

“He's right,” Kia agreed.

“That's why you two are such good friends,” my mother said. “You've always been like two peas in a pod, which reminds of when you both were little and were in the same—”

“Mom!” I snapped, cutting her off. I knew exactly what she was going to say and I didn't want her to tell anybody that story—not again.

“Okay…I'm sorry. I forgot that you find the story embarrassing.”

“It
is
embarrassing,” Kia chipped in.

“It's not like I'm going to show anybody the pictures.”

She'd done that before too.

“Now I'm curious,” Lailah said. “What story?”

“Sorry, I can't,” my mother replied.

“Please,” she pleaded.

“No story. Actually, you promised you wouldn't tell it again…remember?” I said.

“That's right. I think your father is still planning on showing that picture at your wedding… you know how he always jokes about how you and Kia are going to get married and—”

“Mom, please stop!”

“Wait a second,” Greg said. “I remember this story…it's about a bathtub, right?”

“Shut up, Greg,” I said.

“And it's a good story,” Greg said. “Do you want to hear it, Lailah?”

“I'd
love
to hear it.”

“Greg, you should keep your mouth shut,” Kia said.

“I didn't promise anybody that I wouldn't tell the story, so it isn't like I'm breaking my word.”

“Tell the story and there might be something other than your word that's going to get broken,” Kia threatened.

“Okay, okay, I won't tell anybody about you and Nick both being naked and having a bath together.”

Kia punched him in the shoulder and he yelped.

“Maybe you should mention that we were six months old at the time,” I quickly added.

“Oh, that is
so
cute,” Lailah said.

That's just what I wanted, to be thought of as cute.

“I'd love to see that picture,” she said.

“Apparently that's only going to happen if you go to his wedding,” Greg joked. “So either you have to be invited or you have to marry him.”

“No, really,” Lailah said. “I just think it's so wonderful that you two have been friends for so long. I don't have
any
friends from that long ago. I've never lived in any house or been to the same school for more than two years.”

“That has to be hard,” my mother said.

“It is. You're the new kid and you don't know anybody, and everybody else already knows everybody. That first day in a new school is the worst. Walking in and every eye is on you and you just want to be invisible because you know you're being judged.”

I remembered her walking in that first day.

She looked so confident, like she didn't have a care in the world. I had no idea.

“Everybody already has their friends and little groups, and it's hard to get in.”

Kia tapped Lailah on the shoulder and she turned around. “Well, you have friends now,” Kia said.

Chapter Twenty

The concourse was alive with people and noise and excitement. There was something about basketball that was like nothing else. We stood right by the Raptors store, waiting for everybody else to arrive. I hated waiting. I just hoped it wouldn't be too much longer.

Kia and Lailah were off to the side by themselves, talking and giggling. Kia wasn't really a giggler, but they did seem to be having fun and—was Kia wearing makeup?

I looked harder. I couldn't be sure—she certainly wasn't wearing as much as Lailah was—but, yes, she did have some stuff on her eyes. I had never seen Kia wear makeup of any sort before. This was bizarre. What was next, press-on nails?

“Hello, everybody!”

It was Mr. Roberts and Mr. Waldman and the rest of the team. Thank goodness, now we could go in. It wasn't like warm-ups were going to wait for us.

“Before we go in, we have one more thing to do,” Mr. Roberts said.

I wanted to say, “Let's do whatever it is inside,” but I knew that would be rude.