Jump Shot by Tiki Barber Ronde Barber Paul Mantell

Author:Tiki Barber, Ronde Barber, Paul Mantell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

10

A PIECE OF ADVICE

“I’ve got another column I want to write,” Tiki told Laura.

“Is this in answer to another letter you wrote yourself?” she asked with a crooked grin.

He handed her the letter—typed this time—signed “Crushed.”

She read it out loud. “Dear Tiki, I am doing a group project with someone whose parents just got divorced, and he’s all upset about it. That would be bad enough, but what’s worse is, he’s making life miserable for everyone around him. This group project is the most important thing a lot of us have ever been involved in, and he’s ruining it for us. If he doesn’t stop it soon, it will be too late, and the whole project will be a failure. What should I tell him? Sincerely, ‘Crushed.’ ” Laura squinted, then looked up at Tiki. “Honestly. ‘Crushed’?”

“Hey, that’s the name they used.”

“I don’t know,” Laura said. “It’s a little too much like the last one. Different, but the same in a kind of way, if you know what I mean. I’ve got a pile of others you can pick from.”

“Listen,” Tiki said, “you liked my column last time, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did!” she said, smiling.

“So, then trust me, okay?” he said. “This one will be even better.”

“Not that I really trust you, but go ahead,” she said with a shrug. “What do I care so long as it reads well. But come on, Tiki—you can be honest with me—this is about the same kid, right? Same as the last letter—what was it . . . ? ‘Perplexed’?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Come on,” she said. “First of all, there’s all this talk about a group, and a project, and a kid acting badly.”

“So? That could be a coincidence!” Tiki sighed. “Anyway, what do you care?”

“I don’t—but come on, you can tell me. It is the same kid, isn’t it?”

“Okay, yes, yes it is. Now can I leave? I’ve got to get to my job at the warehouse.”

“Okay, okay, wait, wait, don’t tell me . . . this is Kevin O’Hara, isn’t it?”

“Who?”

“Oh, come on, I wasn’t born yesterday,” said Laura, pleased with herself. She waved a hand at him. “You can’t fool me. It’s all about ‘the group.’ Kevin’s the lead in the play, his parents are getting divorced, and I hear he’s been a real pain to work with.”

“Uh . . . I can’t say if it’s him or not,” said Tiki, glad she was off on the wrong trail. For a minute there, he was sure she’d guessed who the columns were really about!

“Don’t worry,” she said, “my lips are sealed. ZZZZZZIP!” She pretended to zip her lips shut, but Tiki knew that Laura would soon share her “secret” with at least a dozen other people, all of whom would then share it with their closest friends, who of course would never tell a soul. Soon, the whole school would know.

Except they’d be wrong.

Oh, well—poor Kevin. Tiki barely knew the kid, but he didn’t feel too badly. After all, it was Laura, not him, who’d said it was Kevin.

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