A Time to Run

by Lorna Schultz Nicholson

  "I'll run," I said.

  "Great," said Sam. "Let's go stretch and get ready." He turned to everyone who had gathered around me, and it was a lot of people, like I was a real athlete. "Meet us at the finish line. Right, Little Man?"

  "Right," I said. "At the finish line."

  ****

  I didn't win the 200-metre race, but I came third, which meant I would get a bronze medal. We all gathered in a big crowd in front of some boxes that had been set up on the track. Mr. Rossi had a microphone. Some other kids had helped set up the boxes and they were different sizes. Everybody who won got to stand on the boxes, just like at the Olympics.

  As I was standing, waiting for my name to be called and to go stand on my box and get my medal, I was starting to feel like I'd been drinking Red Bull all day long. My body was jittery. I wanted my medal. NOW!

  "How much longer?" I asked my mother. There were so many people standing with me. Cecil had won the long jump, so he was waiting to get his medal too.

  "Mr. Rossi's going to announce everyone now," she said.

  "We're going to start with the junior events," said Mr. Rossi into the microphone.

  He went through a bunch of events and I tried to listen, I did, but it seemed to be taking so long. Hurry. Hurry. My legs shook.

  Then I heard my name.

  "Stuart Williams."

  "That's me," I said.

  "It is," said Sam. "This is your gold medal for the 400."

  I ran up front and jumped on the first box I saw. Then someone told me what box to stand on, and it was the middle box, so I jumped down and then up onto a higher box, and waved to everyone. The best part was everyone cheered for me. I waved to my mom and dad, and my mother blew me a kiss. So embarrassing. When I got my medal, I couldn't stop staring at it and touching it. It was big and round.

  And the next best part was I got two medals. And they were mine.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN SAM

  When Stuart's name was called, he was so excited that he bounced up on the bronze-medal podium and had to be directed to the one in the middle. As he lowered his head to get his gold medal placed around his neck, shivers ran through my body.

  Beside me his mother had her hands crossed on her chest, until she blew him a kiss and he made a face back at her, which made everyone laugh. His father's laugh boomed over them all.

  For me, I hadn't felt this kind of adrenalin rush since my playing days, which were really only a month or so ago but felt like years. Our Little Man had done it. When the students watching cheered for him, he lifted his hands like an Olympian would do. Maybe he could become an actual Olympian if he participated in the Special Olympics.

  I snuck my hand into Bethany's, just quickly, long enough to squeeze her fingers but not long enough for anyone to notice.

  "This is so great," whispered Bethany. "What an accomplishment. For anyone. Just goes to show you."

  Cecil was on my other side, waiting for his medal for long jump in the senior boys' event. He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled, loud and clear. Then he clapped, his big basketball hands making a good hearty sound.

  "Great job, Little Man!" he called and whistled again.

  When the cheering subsided, Cecil nudged me. "You done good with him."

  "He's a natural," I replied. "I didn't do nothing but get him on the track. He ran the race."

  "Good on ya," he said. Then he leaned into me and whispered, "Pretty hot stuff beside you. Does she really know stats? I mean, what a combo, dude."

  I turned to face him, giving him the slash across the throat.

  "Gotcha." He held up two fingers in the peace sign with this huge grin on his face. Then he nudged me again with his shoulder, "I miss ya, bro. Let's hang one night. Go to a movie. Eat popcorn. Talk girls. Watch some sports on the tube."

  I'd missed him too. I had. I'd cut myself off from everyone. "Bone up on your stats and maybe."

  He laughed. "Seriously. You're on."

  "Not Friday though," I said. "I'm taking Stuart to a Special Olympics training session."

  "You're kiddin' me. For real?" Cecil slapped my back. "That is so cool."

  "Yeah," I said. "Can't you just see him in a Team Canada track suit, strutting his stuff?"

  ****

  On Friday night, Elma drove Stuart and me to the Special Olympics practice. His mother said she would pick us up because she wanted to watch the end of the practice, but she also wanted to give Stuart a little space. We had decided to not make a huge deal of him going because we didn't want to overwhelm him before his 400-metre race in the City track meet next Thursday.

  When he saw the indoor track and so many kids, his eyes bugged out of his head. Of course, when I saw Bethany, in her shorts and Special Olympics t-shirt, sporting a ponytail instead of a ball cap, my eyes also bugged out of my head. She was so sporty and full of energy. As soon as she saw me she waved and ran over.

  "Hey," she said in that low, raspy voice of hers. "So great you guys are here! Hey, Stuart. You're going to rock today."

  "Hi," he said.

  "You ready to run?"

  I watched as Stuart walked away with Bethany, not even looking back at me. I took a seat on the sidelines and watched as they progressed from drill to drill. This time I paid more attention to every drill, thinking of how I could work them into a training session.

  Man, they were creative. Instead of doing boring things like high knees, they tossed bean bags under their legs, hopping as they did it, making it way more fun. Then they played with the soccer ball and a tennis ball and even hula hoops, where they jumped from one to the other. Stuart loved the games and didn't say he was bored. Not once. I guess I had a lot to learn.

  Stuart's mom showed up with Declan when there was fifteen minutes left. They both stood with me as Stuart went around the track, racing against a few other boys who were also fast. Bethany's Best Buddy had speed too—not as fast as Stuart, but fast. It was good for Stuart to have some competition.

  "This is so great for him," said Mrs. Williams. "Thank you." "No thanks needed," I said.

  "No thanks needed," I said.

  "Hey, Mom," said Declan. "Look over there. Someone's lifting weights."

  I glanced at Declan. "You should give the weight-lifting a whirl," I said.

  "I should," he said.

  The whistle blew, and all the athletes moved to the middle to surround the coaching staff. After a little de-briefing, Stuart was free to go.

  "I liked that," he said to us. He looked at me and grinned. "They do way more fun things than you do."

  I laughed. "Yeah, I saw."

  "It looked like such fun," said his mother. "Get your stuff and we can get a snack on the way home."

  "I'm going to do the weight lifting," said Declan.

  Mrs. Williams turned to me and asked, "Do you need a lift home?"

  "Um, no, thanks," I said. I should get a ride home, but I wanted to try to spend a little bit more time with Bethany, on the off chance she was free. If she was busy, I'd catch the bus home. Whatever. She was worth the effort.

  "I can grab a bus." My words sort of squeaked out. "I'm going to go out with a friend."

  "Okay," she said. "Have a good evening, and thanks again. We really appreciate what you're doing."

  "It's fun for me too," I said.

  I waited for Bethany (yeah, I waited for her) and we walked outside together. The night was clear, the sky still a shade of blue, with the moon hanging like a slim and almost translucent banana on the distant horizon.

  "He did great," she said.

  "It was fun to watch. I was impressed with the creativity in the warm-up and exercises. Wow. I made him do all the boring stuff. You didn't do that stuff last time I came to watch."

  She laughed. "We try to make every session fun and different. But I think we did some of the same things. Maybe you weren't paying attention."

  I had been paying attention, but to her, not to what they had been doing.

  "Stuart loved
it." I paused. "You, um, want to go for a drink somewhere? Coffee? Smoothie?"

  Suddenly her eyes lit up. "Ice cream! I know the place."

  It was a twenty-minute walk to the ice cream place, but I would have gone if it was an hour's walk.

  "What school you going to next year?" I asked as we walked.

  "Somewhere local. You?"

  "Probably local too. Save some money."

  "I hear you," she said. "What are you going to take?"

  "Not sure. Business, I think. You?"

  "Business."

  "You want to follow your mom and open a salon?"

  "Not a chance. Just not sure what yet. Not that she hasn't been successful—her place is always packed—but I just want something different. Who knows, maybe I'll be an accountant or go to law school."

  "Wow. Good for you. I haven't thought that far ahead. My whole life got turned upside down this spring. A lot changed."

  "You'll figure it out. So will I. But in the meantime…" She paused, then she smiled huge. "…I also want to stay local because next year is Special Olympics year." She used her shoulders to dance along with her words. "I want to coach and be a part of the International Games. They're in Italy."

  She jumped the crack in the street. Then she turned around to face me and walked backwards. "How exciting would that be?"

  I laughed. "Italy would be so ultimately cool."

  I thought about this for a brief second. "How crazy would it be if Stuart made that team?" I murmured. Just thinking about Stuart in a Team Canada tracksuit made me smile.

  "He can make it," she said, turning around to skip a few steps beside me. She had this insane energy that I'd never seen in any of the girls I knew.

  "He's fast." She gave me a bit of a hip-check. "Get your coaching and we can both try to go. It's a goal to work on. And it would be so much fun. I'd even go as the water girl."

  Even though she was bouncing beside me, I wanted to hold her hand. I really did. Not to hold her down but to just touch her and get some of that energy. Come on, Sam.

  As we walked, the sun lowered and was suddenly gone. A chill settled in the dusk. Before I could take her hand, she started untying the shirt she had around her waist. When I noticed her struggling to find the arm hole I did what my father taught me. Always help a lady. Open doors. Help with their coat. In this case a denim shirt.

  So, yeah, I touched her in the process. And, yeah, she felt good.

  "Thanks," she said.

  "No problem," I said. Then for some stupid, idiotic, moronic reason, I blurted out, "You know I have a heart issue."

  She stopped walking, and laughed, while shaking her head. Then she grabbed the front of my jacket, looked up at me and said, "I knew that the first day I met you. And then we talked about it in another conversation. Why do you keep bringing it up?" She touched my chest. "You have a heart, I've seen it work, and that's all that counts to me."

  She continued to look up at me but now she was finished talking. Her mouth was so close to mine. In an extremely bold move I put my arms around her and I kissed her. Right there on the street. And it was AMAZING!

  When we broke apart, she leaned her head on my chest. "I can feel your heart beating," she said.

  I inhaled and rested my cheek on her hair. My heart was beating. I was still alive.

  Man, was I alive.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN STUART

  Good thing I wasn't going to jail anymore. I wouldn't have been able to run in the City track meet and win another medal. I ran so fast that I won a silver medal. The best part about running is, well, running the race of course and being with Sam at the track meet (and Bethany) and riding on the bus with all the other kids from school. So now I had a gold, silver and a bronze medal.

  After the school meet, my dad had helped me screw some hooks on the wall in my room to hang my medals on. When I got home from the City meet, I put my silver medal on another hook in between my gold and bronze medals.

  "They look good there," said my mother. She stood at my door.

  "I don't want to punch my walls anymore," I said. "I don't want my medals to fall down."

  "I'm glad to hear that," she said. "You ready to go for ice cream? A victory cone."

  "Can I have three scoops?"

  She smiled. "Of course. Let's go. Dad's waiting in the car."

  For my three scoops I got tiger tail, chocolate, and moose tracks. Me and my family (well, not Mary and Lewis) ate our cones outside, sitting on a bench. My mother got a kiddie cone. Seriously. Who eats a kiddie cone when you can have an adult cone?

  On the way home in the car, Mary called. Her voice was on speaker phone in the car.

  "I'm having pains," she said.

  "Real pains?" my mother asked.

  "I think so. They feel different."

  "How long apart?"

  Declan looked over at me. "I bet she's having her baby."

  They talked a little longer about stuff I didn't care about then they hung up.

  "Well, boys," said my mom, turning around to look at Declan and me, "Mary might be having her baby soon."

  My dad sped up and drove a little faster than he normally does. But not as fast as Donny. I'd kinda forgotten about him because of my running. I didn't like thinking about him.

  "Like, how soon?" said Declan.

  "Hard to say." My father turned the corner toward our house.

  In the middle of the night, I had heard my mom talking on the phone. I got up from my bed and went to the kitchen. She motioned for me to stay put, instead of telling me to go back to bed. So I sat down at the kitchen table,and looked at the clock. 3:00 am.

  "What time did she go in?" my mother asked whoever was on the other end of the phone.

  She nodded, then said, "We'll be right over."

  As soon as she stopped talking to whoever was on the phone, my mother said, "Mary's having her baby! Right now. She's at the hospital. They're saying she could go quick."

  Within minutes, my mother had woken up my father, and Declan woke up too, wondering what all the commotion was about.

  "We should all go to the hospital," said my mom. "Now that we're up. We could wait there to hear the news and see the baby right away."

  "I don't like hospitals," I said, kicking the chair across from me. Hospitals were stinky.

  "We'll just be in the waiting area," said my mother.

  The gross smell hit my nostrils and I wasn't even at the hospital. "I don't like hospitals." I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned.

  "Stuart, this is different. Mary's having her baby. No one is sick. This is an exciting time to be at the hospital."

  "I'm not going!" My body felt all jittery and I was buzzing, and it was different than before when I ran.

  I didn't like being up in the middle of the night. It reminded me of escaping out a window from a foster home and then not being able to get back in and being left outside all night. Freezing and shivering. Then in the morning everyone acted like it was my fault.

  My mother held up her hands. "Okay. Let's figure this out."

  "I'm not going!"

  "Okay, Stuart," she said quietly. "We heard you. We are trying to figure out a solution."

  "You go," said my dad to my mother. "Keep in touch and I'll come over when it's time. Maybe it will be calmer here."

  "Are you sure?" she asked.

  "I can stay home with Stuart," said Declan. "We can stay here together."

  My mother and father both looked at me.

  "We can," I said.

  "We would need you to stay home, not go outside, not run anywhere."

  "I already ran today," I said. "I don't want to run anymore. Anyway, I don't get medals for running outside." I yawned.

  "That's true," said my mother.

  "Let's give it a try," said my dad to my mom. "There's not a whole lot the boys can do at the hospital anyways."

  "I'm going back to bed," said Declan.

  "Me too," I said.

  My mom and
dad left, and Declan and I went back to bed, but I couldn't sleep. I rolled one way and the next. I sort of wanted to punch the walls. Then I thought of something else to do. So instead of punching my walls, I got up and went to the kitchen and pulled out all the stuff I used to make bracelets. I had picked up a little baby rattle at the store to put on the bracelet.

  I was still working when my mother and father came into the kitchen, both of them yawning. My mom was really smiling though. By now it was getting light out. Wow. I hadn't even noticed.

  "Did you stay up all night?" she asked, squinting at me.

  I held up the bracelet. "I made this."

  "Stuart, it's beautiful." Her smile filled her entire face. "Nathan will love it! You're an uncle!"

  "Declan said I couldn't be an uncle. And I'd have to go to jail. Who's Nathan?"

  "Well, you're not in jail and you're an uncle! Mary and Lewis named their baby Nathan. If you want to take the bracelet to the baby, we can go later this afternoon to the hospital."

  "Maybe," I said. I wondered if I didn't go if I would still get to be an uncle.

  ****

  After going back to bed and sleeping until noon, I did decide to take the bracelet to the hospital. I'm not sure why I decided but I think it was because I wanted to give the bracelet to the baby, now. Not later. Now.