In Honor of Broken Things by Paul Acampora

Author:Paul Acampora [Acampora, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2022-03-07T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

NOAH

It’s lunchtime, but Oscar and I are seated at pottery wheels near the back of Mr. Martin’s classroom. A light dusting of cold snow covers the grounds outside, but inside, the art room is as hot as a pizza oven. “You’re really good at this,” says Riley, who is standing behind Oscar and me while we work.

“He’s a natural,” Mr. Martin agrees.

I nod. “It just takes practice.”

“Noah,” says Riley. “We’re not talking about you.”

I look up from my work. “What?”

Mr. Martin leans toward Oscar’s wheel, where a ball of wet clay is slowly but surely turning into a shallow, well-shaped bowl. “If the football thing doesn’t work out, you might have a future in pottery.”

Oscar doesn’t look up. “The football thing is going to work out.”

Mr. Martin sips coffee from a black mug shaped like an upside-down top hat. “In case it doesn’t.”

“It will.”

I watch Oscar, who is using his thumb and fingers to shape the rim on his bowl. It’s hard to believe this is the first time he’s ever used the pottery wheel.

“Did you know you wanted it to look like that when you started?” Riley asks him.

Oscar stays focused on his piece. “I kind of let the clay tell me what it wanted to be.”

“Why doesn’t my clay talk to me?”

“Maybe it does, and you’re not listening,” I tell her.

She nods. “I think it’s telling me to be an accountant.”

Mr. Martin laughs. “The world needs accountants too, Riley.”

I add some water to the clay on my wheel. The moisture with the smooth earth makes a smell like rain. Mr. Martin points at the onion-shaped vase forming beneath my hands. “You’re just showing off, Noah.”

I smile because Mr. Martin is right. I glance at Oscar. “You have to admit that this is more fun than football.”

Oscar lets his wheel come to a stop. “Football is a different kind of fun.”

“Making things is better than breaking things.”

“You never want to break things?” Riley asks me.

“Not for fun,” I tell her.

Mr. Martin steps forward and helps Oscar remove his finished bowl from the wheel.

“Can I start making chess pieces now?” Oscar asks.

Mr. Martin puts the bowl aside. “Not yet.”

Oscar looks a little annoyed. “Why not?”

“First make two good matching bowls. Then you can try to make thirty-two matching chess pieces.”

“How do I learn to make two good matching bowls?”

“Noah?” says Mr. Martin.

I laugh. “First you make ten thousand that don’t match.”

“Ten thousand?” says Oscar.

I point at the really nice bowl Oscar just finished. “One down.”

“Making one quality piece is hard,” says Mr. Martin. “Doing it again and again and again is even harder, but that’s what it means to be good at something.”

Mr. Martin might not be the best teacher in the world, but he does know what he’s talking about. Also, it’s really nice of him to let us start our own little clay club during his lunch break.

A bell rings to announce the end of the period, so Mr. Martin heads to his desk to get ready for the next class.

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