“What’s happened?”
“It’s all about the test scores. The city schools did very well.”
“Great. Just what I need.” Theo reluctantly picked up the Strattenburg Daily News. The lead story was a glowing report on how well the city’s third, fifth, and eighth graders had performed on the standardized tests. Congratulations all around. Of particular importance was the impressive rise in scores at East Middle School. East was traditionally the weakest of the three middle schools in town, all three of which fed into Strattenburg High. The eighth graders at Strattenburg Middle and Central had always scored higher, with East dragging behind. There had even been a story about the school facing probation if it did not improve. East was on the far edge of town, and Theo knew very few kids who went there.
In the center of the front page was a large photo of Dr. Carmen Stoop, the city’s superintendent of education. She was quoted saying all sorts of great things about the testing and the performance of “our” students. Theo had never met her, but she was often in the newspaper. He got the impression she was an important person, though her job was often controversial. She seemed to enjoy the moment a bit too much, at least in his opinion.
Under her photo was a graph comparing the eighth-grade results. Strattenburg and Central dead-even with East only a fraction behind. Next to it was a similar graph from the year before, with East far behind. Dr. Stoop congratulated the hard work being done at East and said the improvement was “amazing.”
The bacon was frying and the kitchen suddenly smelled delicious. Judge was now standing by Mrs. Boone at the stove, begging as always.
“Good news for East, I guess,” Theo said.
“Oh, I suppose,” she said, skeptical as always. “I guess it means the teachers there finally figured out how to prepare the students for the tests. I doubt if the kids are any smarter. They just know how to take the tests.”
“Mom, I’m kind of tired of this conversation.”
“So am I.” The toast popped out of the toaster. She spread butter on both pieces and placed them on Theo’s plate. She added peach jam, his favorite, poured him a glass of grapefruit juice, and served both him and Judge.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“You are very welcome, Teddy. Now enjoy breakfast while I go take a long, hot bath.”
She would stay in the tub for an hour, something Theo would never understand. He had hated baths since the day he was born. He didn’t care much for showers either, but there were few other options. There was something — what was the word? Unclean? — about sitting in a tub of hot water that was okay when the bath began but got dirtier as the ordeal progressed. At least in the shower the dirty water was washed away.
But he kept these thoughts to himself. Bathing was another reason he loved the camping trips. He could go unwashed for days and no one cared.
He heard his father’s SUV roll to a stop in the garage. Judge, on cue, offered a lame growl as if he was always on guard and might attack at any moment, then he quickly returned to his eggs and bacon.
Mr. Boone entered the kitchen with a big smile and a hearty, “Well, good morning, Theo.”
“Morning, Dad.”
“Are you ready for golf?”
Only if we don’t discuss the tests. “Sure.”
As he walked by, he tousled Theo’s hair and said, “It’s a beautiful day. Hurry up.”
Theo smiled. His dad was fine. All was well.
Chapter 10
Late Sunday afternoon, Theo was in his room staring at his homework, bored, and thinking of something else to do. His phone beeped with a text from Apriclass="underline" Theo, we need to talk. Now. Urgent. Meet me at Guff’s.
Such a message from her only meant trouble. Her home life was not stable, and strange things happened there. He texted: Okay. What is it?
I’ll tell u when I see u. Now!
Theo hustled down the stairs and told his mother he was meeting April for a frozen yogurt. Predictably, she said, “Okay, but aren’t you eating too much of that stuff?”
His father, who was reading the Sunday News, piped in with, “It’s just yogurt. Isn’t that healthy?”
“It’s full of sugar, Woods, and I think Theo is eating too much of it.”
“I’ll just have one scoop, okay?” Theo said, though he’d never had just one scoop and wasn’t about to cut back now.
“Be home in time for dinner,” she said. Sunday dinner was Theo’s least favorite meal of the week because his mother prepared it. She had little interest in cooking, and her lack of experience was obvious.
“Sure, Mom. Be back in an hour.” As he left the house, he made a mental note that his mother had not specifically told him to have only one scoop. He had made the offer, though halfheartedly, and she had ignored it. Therefore, at least in his opinion, he was free to order as much as he wanted. A kid in Theo’s shoes, with two parents as lawyers, had to stay on his toes.
April was waiting in a rear booth, far away from anyone else. She had not ordered and seemed nervous. “What are you having?” Theo asked.
“Nothing.”
“Okay, if you’re having nothing, then I’m having nothing. And if we have nothing they’ll ask us to leave.”
“Okay, one scoop of lemon coconut.”
“That sounds awful.”
“Please.”
Theo ordered one scoop for her and his standard two scoops of chocolate covered with crushed Oreos. If only his mother could see him now. He paid for them and took them to the booth. April offered a polite, “Thanks.”
“So what’s up?” he asked.
She ignored her dish and said, “I don’t know where to start, Theo.” She paused and thought for a second. She was not the least bit sad or frightened, as Theo was expecting. Instead, she seemed excited. “So last night my parents decided to go out for a fancy dinner because it’s their anniversary. They never go out together, and I was happy for them. Happy until they told me that Janelle would be coming over to sit with me. I’m thirteen years old and they abandon me all the time, so I couldn’t understand why all of a sudden I needed a sitter. But I didn’t want to ruin their big evening, and besides Janelle is sort of an old friend. She’s eighteen years old and she babysat a few times when I was younger. She lives down the street and is pretty cool. So Janelle came over, and we ordered a pizza and watched some old movies. She’s a real chatterbox, and, to be honest, it was a lot fun. Sort of like having a big sister. My big sister, March, left a long time ago, and I realized how much I miss her. Anyway, Janelle asked me about the testing at school, and I told her I didn’t quite make Honors. She didn’t either when she was in the eighth grade, and says it’s no big deal. But here’s the dirt, Theo, and you have to swear you won’t tell anyone.”
Theo had a mouth full and just nodded. When he swallowed he said, “I swear.”
“I mean, Theo, this is a big deal, and things might get ugly.”
“Okay.”
“And it might affect you and me, too.”
“Okay.”
“I mean, I couldn’t believe it when she told me.”
“Are you going to take a bite?”
“Later. Anyway, you gotta promise—”
“I’ve already promised, now get on with it.”
“Okay.” She glanced around suspiciously. Guff’s was empty but for the two of them. The soda jerk was playing a game on her phone. April leaned in closer and said, “Here’s the story. Janelle has an older sister, they call her Binky, and she teaches eighth-grade math at East Middle School. She’s been there a couple of years and says the school has a lot of problems. Well, Binky told Janelle that this year a group of teachers at the school actually got together and changed the scores after the tests were given. They met at the school on the Saturday after the tests, the same day you were off hiking with the Scouts, and they got in a room, locked the door, and spent several hours erasing wrong answers and putting in the right ones.”