by John Grisham
“Sorry, Mom,” Theo said, though he really didn’t feel that bad. “I’ll make straight A’s and show them.”
“Attaboy. Now go tell your father.”
Theo and Judge hustled up the stairs and found Mr. Boone at his desk. “Got some bad news, Dad,” he said as he handed over his paperwork. Mr. Boone chewed the stem of his pipe as he frowned at the numbers. “What happened in science?” he asked.
“I don’t know what happened, Dad. I did the best I could. Science has never been my favorite.”
“Then you should work harder there. One lousy point. If you had worked harder, you would have made Honors.”
“I really don’t think it’s the end of the world, Dad. Our high school has good teachers at every level.”
“But, Theo, you should always strive for the best. This is disappointing.”
“Sorry, Dad. I did the best I could. I’ve never done well on standardized tests, you know that.”
“That’s no excuse.”
“Mom is not upset. Why should you be?”
“I’m not upset, just disappointed. And I’m not your mother. She thinks these tests are a waste of time. I happen to think they’re very important. They measure how well the students are doing, and they keep the pressure on the teachers.”
“I can still graduate from high school with high honors, and that’s what I’ll do. I’ll show them.”
“Did Chase make it?”
Chase’s parents were best friends of the Boones. Theo almost blurted, “Why do you care about Chase?”—but bit his tongue. He knew there was competition between the parents, though he didn’t really understand it. He said, “Of course he made it.”
“Well, good for him. We’ll discuss this later. I’m very busy right now.”
Theo and Judge went to his office. He locked the door, fell into his chair, and stared at the wall. He could not remember the last time his father had said he was disappointed with something he’d done. It was a lousy feeling, and the longer he brooded the worse he felt.
Since it was Friday, the Boone family routine called for dinner at Malouf’s, an ancient Lebanese restaurant owned by an old couple who liked to yell at each other. The Boones always ate fish and the meal was usually pleasant. But things would be different tonight. Things would be tense because Mr. Boone would say something about Theo blowing the tests, and Mrs. Boone would rush to his defense. They rarely agreed on issues or events, but they kept their little feuds civilized. Theo decided, as he stared at the wall and rubbed his dog’s head, that he would remain in a foul mood. He would try his best to ruin dinner, and that would inspire his mother to go after his father.
He liked his plan. He and his mother would gang up on his dad and make him feel rotten.
At four, Theo left to meet April at Guff’s.
Chapter 9
As always, Theo slept late on Saturday morning, and when he finally ventured downstairs his mother was at the kitchen table, still in her robe, reading the morning newspaper and waiting for him. “How about some scrambled eggs and bacon, Teddy?”
“Sure. Thanks. Where’s Dad?”
“He’s running errands, said he’d be back at nine to pick you up. He’s excited about playing golf for the first time in a month. It’s a gorgeous day, a little on the cool side, but he’s ready to go.”
Dinner at Malouf’s had been the disaster Theo wanted. His father again expressed his disappointment at Theo’s performance on the tests. His mother disagreed sharply, and though they did not argue in public, they were pretty frosty with each other. Theo just pouted. The entire evening was tense, and Theo couldn’t wait to get home and run to his room.
“So Dad’s okay this morning?” Theo asked. His mother was at the stove, cracking eggs.
“Oh, sure, Theo. We’re lawyers, we disagree and argue, but no one carries a grudge. We’ve also been married for twenty-five years and know how to get along.”
“I don’t like it when Dad’s disappointed with me.”
“Theo, your father and I are very proud of you. You do your best in everything—scouting, debate, golf, schoolwork. He is not disappointed.”
“Well, that’s not what he said.”
“He said what he said, but he didn’t say it very well. I think he has some regrets, and he wants to play golf and talk about it.”
“Then I’m not sure I want to play.”
“Be a sport. How many eggs?”
“Two for me, two for the dog.”
“You might want to look at the newspaper and check out the headlines this morning.”
“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 April: 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.”
Theo was about to shovel in another load of frozen yogurt when his spoon froze halfway to his mouth. He placed it back in the dish and stared at her.
“This is what she told me,” April said. “Binky stopped by the school that Saturday to get a pair of sunglasses from her room. She saw their cars in the parking lot so she knew they were there. Later, one of the teachers that she knows well confided in her and told her the truth. Binky was shocked. This teacher feels rotten about what they did and is afraid they’re gonna get caught. They did it because the school is headed for probation, and the teachers could also get probation, or maybe worse. So they cheated, Theo. The teachers think they’re helping the kids by saving the school and so on.”
“Holy smoke,” Theo managed to mumble.
“Can you believe it?”
“No, I can’t. This is crazy.”
Slowly, April took a bite, a small one. Theo was too stunned to eat. He said, “You know what this means, don’t you?”
“I think so.”
“Well, it could mean that you and I and possibly several others who came close to making Honors got a raw deal because these teachers decided to cheat.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Who else knows about this?”
“I have no idea, but it must be a pretty big secret.”
“How many teachers are involved?”
“Five or six.”
“That’s crazy. You never commit a crime with that many people involved. Somebody’s bound to talk.”
“A crime? Is this against the law?”
Theo paused and took a bite. He thought about this for a few seconds and said, “Don’t know. I’m sure it could get them fired, but not so sure it’s actually breaking the law. I’ll have to do some research when I get back to the office.”
“You sound like a real lawyer.”
“I meant to. That’s how I impress girls.”
“Okay, then, if you’re so smart tell me what we’re going to do about this.”
“Who said we have to do anything? If we complain to someone, we look like sore losers. It seems to me that this is a perfect example of something a couple of nosy kids should stay away from.”
“Nonsense, Theo. Look, I know you and I know deep down inside you wanted to make Honors, you just won’t admit it. At least I’m honest. I wanted it badly, and I’m really frustrated that I was not in the top ten percent. Both of us missed it by one point. Now we find out that there’s a real good chance that some of the kids who did make it got their scores improved by their teachers. We can’t just sit by and do nothing.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“That’s where you come in, Mr. Lawyer. What if you told your parents?”
“Why don’t you tell your parents?”
“Seriously, Theo? My parents are crazy, you know that. They don’t care what kind of classes I take or what grades I make.”
“Must be nice.”
“Well, it’s not, believe me. I think you should tell your parents.”
“They’d tell me to butt out.”
“No they wouldn’t, Theo. Your parents are lawyers who understand right from wrong, and they get ticked off when the wrong person wins. Your mother, especially. She never backs down from a good fight.”
“I don’t know. I still think it would sound like we’re just a couple of sore losers. And we don’t know for sure that this story is true.”
“No, we don’t. So explain t
o me why Binky would make up such a crazy story and tell her sister.”
“I can’t explain that.”
“No, you can’t, and that’s because the story is true. Look at what we do know for a fact: that East Middle School had a dramatic rise in its scores for eighth graders. In fact, Janelle said that in all their years of testing no school has seen such a big jump. Sounds pretty suspicious, right?”
“Yes, it does, I admit.”
“Thank you. So are you going to tell your mother?”
“Look, April, this is a lot to swallow all at once. Give me some time. Let’s sleep on it and have a chat tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.”
Theo finished his yogurt. April didn’t like hers, so he finished it too. He’d never heard of lemon coconut but it wasn’t that bad. When both dishes were empty, they left Guff’s on their bikes. As Theo pedaled home, he was still trying to convince himself Binky’s story was true. Eighth-grade teachers changing test answers?
After dinner, and while he was once again doodling with his homework, he did an online search into standardized tests. It didn’t take long to find the ugly truth. In the past ten years, in at least four school districts across the country, teachers had been caught doing the same things Binky had described to Janelle.
Unbelievable.
Chapter 11
On Monday at school, Theo managed to avoid April. He did not want to discuss the cheating scandal, if there really was one, because he was not about to get involved. And what could he do anyway? He was just a student, a thirteen-year-old kid. It was a problem for the adults to worry about. If the teachers at East had done something wrong, they would eventually be caught and punished.
He wasn’t sticking his nose into the middle of it.
April, though, had other plans. She caught him at lunch on Tuesday and insisted they meet again at Guff’s. Theo didn’t want to but couldn’t say no. His jeans were fitting a bit tight, and he was almost certain it wasn’t just because he was a growing boy, so he ordered only one scoop. They hid in the same booth. April went for the blackberry swirl. After two bites, she looked around suspiciously and said, “I have something to show you.”
“Okay.”
“I couldn’t sleep Sunday night, so I decided to do this.” She reached into her backpack and removed a plain white unmarked envelope, letter-sized. “What is it?” Theo asked as he opened it.
“Just read it,” she said, somewhat proudly.
Theo removed a letter, printed on a sheet of white copy paper. It read:
To Dr. Carmen Stoop, Superintendent of Strattenburg City Schools
Dear Dr. Stoop:
I am a concerned citizen. The recent rise in test scores at East Middle School, especially at the eighth-grade level, is very impressive. You said so yourself in an interview. But you should know the real story. On the Saturday
