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SHE WAS WORTH IT ALL 35 “No,” Lacy said. “But, we could. No one would want to have a war with us.” Jasper said, “And that’s the same with intelligence. If you practice being intelligent you will have fewer problems than if you don’t practice intelligence.” “What’s intelligence?” Lacy asked. Jasper said, “It’s your ability to learn and remember things. That is what school is for and where you go to learn.” “I have a good memory,” Lacy said. Jasper said, “I know you do. SAY IT LOUD!” Lacy said, “I’M BLACK AND I’M PROUD!” Jasper laughed and asked Lacy who sings that song, and Lacy said the soul man James Brown. “You do have a good memory, Lacy. Why don’t you pick out a couple of packs of Army men so you and I can work on war strategies when we get back?” “Okay!” Lacy said. After they got the Army men, they got into the MG and headed back home, and Lacy was so thrilled to have more Army men that he didn’t even notice Jasper’s driving. Once they got home, Lacy ripped open the bag of Army men and couldn’t wait to play. Jasper made sandwiches for them to eat while they played, and they had a wonderful time. After much time passed, the Abba Zabba woman came home and it was time for Lacy’s nap and for the Abba Zabba woman and Jasper to go to the bedroom to talk as they always did. On this day, Lacy wasn’t too sleepy and couldn’t go to sleep, so he sat up on the sofa and just listened to the Abba Zabba woman and Jasper making their funny talking noises. So Lacy wouldn’t pee on him- self, he usually wore blue or pinstriped overalls with one side unfastened so he could pull the fastened strap down to use the bathroom when necessary. He went to the bathroom while listening to the adults talk- ing, then came back and sat on the sofa and stared at the front door screen. The front door was always open in the afternoons but the screen was locked. Lacy thought to himself, they always call me the professor so I should be able to open that screen. Lacy got off the sofa and walked over

36 LACY WESTON to the screen door and looked at the handle to figure out how to open it. He pushed up his glasses and looked for the button that he had seen Esta push many times. He pressed and pushed and click. His eyes wid- ened. He wondered if the door would open, so he slowly pushed the lever down and it did. He stood there for a moment, hoping the Abba Zabba woman didn’t hear the door open. He was afraid to go out be- cause he watched the Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds” with the other children during one of the cookie-making nights. After that night, Marcel told Lacy that when he went outside a big bird would grab him and take him away, so he better not go outside alone. As Lacy stood by the screen door he thought about what Marcel told him. After a few moments, he decided to make a break for it and walk to the school where he and the Abba Zabba woman dropped the boys off so he could see Gus. Since he and Esta would go to that school field to play, he believed he remembered how to get there. He made his move. He care- fully walked out of the house and deliberately didn’t close the screen door all the way so it wouldn’t make a loud sound. He walked down the driveway and down the street. As he passed neighbors he waved at them as if he was on a nice daily stroll. There was a neighbor, Mrs. Sanchez, on the other side of the street that looked at him wondering why he was out alone. The neighbor who lived just a little further down, Rhea, who was much older, said to be careful walking and not to go too far, and Lacy said okay. As he got to the end of the street, he made a left turn around the corner and walked further to make a right turn, and from there the school was about 100 yards ahead. Once Lacy got to the school he re- alized he didn’t know which classroom Gus was in so he just stared at the classroom doors. As he stood there in his overalls with the one side unfastened, he kept staring at the doors until one door sort of sparkled with light for just a moment and the sparkle went away. Lacy decided to go to that door. As he walked down the small grass hill of the school toward the classrooms, he was getting excited because he wanted to see Gus and thought if he got Gus out of class they could play. When he

SHE WAS WORTH IT ALL 37 got to the door he didn’t waste a second. He knocked on the door and stood back a little to avoid getting hit by the door. Lacy thought Gus would open the door but instead, a woman with a big bright smile opened the door and said, “Hi, what’s your name?” Lacy said, “Hi, my name is Lacy,” as he tried to look into the classroom. The teacher said, “It’s my pleasure to meet you, Lacy. My name is Mrs. Monroe. Where did you come from?” “I came from home,” Lacy said, as he tried to look into the doorway of the classroom again. The teacher asked, “Well, where is your home?” Lacy said, “It’s down the street and around the corner and down the street and around the corner again on the right side of the street.” The teacher laughed and said, “You sure know your directions. You’re much too young to be in school but I would enjoy having you as a student when you’re ready. Who did you come here with Lacy?” “I came by myself since everyone at home is sleeping.” Lacy kept try- ing to look into the classroom. The teacher asked, “Are you looking for someone Lacy?” Lacy said, “Yes. I’m looking for my brother Gusty.” “Gusty?” the teacher asked. Lacy said, “Yes, Gusty.” The teacher said, “OOOHHH! You mean Gus?” Lacy said, “Yes. That’s who I’m looking for. Is he here?” The teacher said, “He certainly is. Lacy, we were just about to do some exercises. Why don’t you come in and join us?” Lacy said, “Sure! I watch Jack LaLanne do exercises all the time on TV.” The teacher laughed and said, “Lacy, you are full of surprises. Why don’t you go next to your brother Gus and he can show you how we exercise?” Lacy said, “Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Monroe.” Lacy quickly walked over to Gus as the other students were giggling and saying hi to Lacy. Lacy wore a big smile and said hi to everybody. Once he got to Gus, Lacy said, “Hey Gus, I came to get you out of class so we could play.” Gus said, “What are you talking about? I’m in school and you’re not

38 LACY WESTON supposed to be here and you’re going to be in trouble.” Lacy looked at Gus and said, “But nobody is awake at home and I was by myself, so I came to play with you and I got here just in time because all of you are playing.” “We’re not playing, we’re exercising, and you’re not supposed to be here.” “Are you mad at me Gus?” Lacy asked. “No,” Gus said. “I just think you’re going to be in big trouble for leaving the house and coming up here.” Just then, the teacher said, “Okay everyone, out of your seats and stand next to your desks. Ready? Go.” The first person in each row leaned down and rolled a bouncy ball between their legs to the person behind them, and once the ball got to the last person they would reverse the action until the ball got back to the first person that rolled it. This game went on for about three minutes. Lacy looked at Gus and said, “Isn’t this fun Gus?” Gus looked at Lacy and smiled and said, “Yeah.” Then Gus said, “You know what Lacy? I’m glad you came but I hope you don’t get into trouble.” Lacy never thought about the trouble part until Gus men- tioned it a few times. Once the game was over, Mrs. Monroe said, “Gus, so that no one will worry where Lacy is, would you take him home?” Gus said, “Yes Mrs. Monroe.” Mrs. Monroe asked the class to say goodbye to Lacy and as the class said goodbye, Lacy wore a big smile and said, “Goodbye everybody, I had a good time.” Then he asked Mrs. Monroe if he could come back and she said, “Maybe we should wait until you’re a little older because this class is for older children, but I’m glad I met you and hope to see you when you start school.” Lacy said, “Okay. I’ll see you when I’m older.” Gus and Lacy left the classroom and as soon as they got outside Gus said, “Lacy, you shouldn’t leave the house and come to the school like you did because you could get hurt or a stranger could take you.”

SHE WAS WORTH IT ALL 39 Lacy said, “But I wanted to see you and I had no one to play with.” “I know, but you shouldn’t do it.” Lacy said, “Okay.” As they walked home, Gus said, “Lacy, you know what?” “No. What?” “I’m glad you came to my school today.” “REALLY?” “Yeah! You got me out of class just in time, because we were doing to take a spelling test after exercises.” Lacy looked at Gus and asked, “Don’t you like spelling tests, Gus?” Gus said, “They’re okay. I don’t know how to spell all of the words for this test, but now I have more time to study the words thanks to you.” Lacy grinned and said, “See! There was a reason for me to come to see you today.” Gus said, “Yeah, but just remember what I said about walking to my school alone.” Lacy said, “Okay Gus,” as he looked up at Gus, smiling. While the two were walking home, they passed Rhea and she said, “Hi Gus. Is everything okay?” “Yes. Lacy walked to my school and my teacher asked me to take him home.” “To your school?” Rhea asked. “Yes,” Gus said. “OOOHH! Lacy, I thought you were going to a babysitter’s house or something. You shouldn’t bother them at school. Shame on you.” Gus said, “It’s okay. I’m taking him home.” Rhea said, “You’re such a nice brother to have Gus. Lacy, you ought to thank Gus for being so nice.” Lacy looked at Gus and said, “Thank you,” with a happy smile, then he looked at Rhea with concern as to why her words were coming out slurred like that and why she was outside standing around. Moments later, they got to the front door and Gus noticed the screen was slightly open. “Lacy, did you leave the screen open?”

40 LACY WESTON “Yes,” Lacy said. Gus said, “You can’t do that because someone could come in and steal things.” Lacy said, “But I didn’t want them to hear me leaving.” Gus said, “I don’t care. You can’t leave the screen open. I won’t tell that you did that but don’t do it again.” Lacy said, “I won’t, I promise.” Gus told Lacy to sit on the sofa, the exact place Lacy was tired of sitting before he went to see Gus. Gus said, “I’m going to wake up Mom and Jasper.” Lacy didn’t say anything and just sat on the sofa and waited with a look of concern on his face. He could hear the conversa- tion going on between Gus and the Abba Zabba woman as Gus ex- plained how he was not at school because he had to bring Lacy home. “What?” The Abba Zabba woman came out quickly and asked what was going on as she raced down the hallway and looked at Lacy. She asked if he’d been out of the house and he said yes. She asked why he did that and he said he wanted to see Gus. The Abba Zabba woman told him he should have asked her if he wanted to see Gus. She asked Lacy how he got the door open and Lacy said he pushed the button on the screen. Just then, Jasper came out and asked Lacy if he was okay and how he remembered the way to the school. Lacy said he watched as he went to pick up and drop off the rest of the children. Jasper grinned and asked how Lacy knew which classroom to go to for Gus. “I just knew,” Lacy said. “I got there and I just knew, so I knocked on the door and Gus was there.” Jasper just laughed and said, “You’re pretty smart Lacy, but it’s im- portant to be careful and let others know where you’re going before you go. Next time you feel like going somewhere make sure you knock on the door and wake us up and let us know.” Lacy said okay. The Abba Zabba woman just shook her head then Jasper put his arm around her to calm her, then the Abba Zabba woman told Gus he could go back to school. Gus said, “Okay, see you later Lacy.” Then he closed the screen and

SHE WAS WORTH IT ALL 41 ran off. Jasper told Lacy he could watch TV and that they were going to take a nap. Jasper said, “Remember, knock on our door if you need anything and before you decide to go somewhere.” Lacy said okay.