Chapter 10 Chapter 9 The Best Day to Catch Banana Fish

PP: What I find most promising about your short story is that it embodies empathy.Why do people do what they do?This is the hallmark of a great work. And again: If you let me make an opinion, maybe you can write about swimming earlier. And again: Also, the reader knows what an ATM card is. beach day Author: Maya Timur Fekri Faculty Advisor: Edward Balboni, Alice Township Middle School Ninth grade Mary is going to be late.She lives in a room by herself, but shares a bathroom with six other people, and the bathroom always seems to be occupied.The sitter sat on her bed when she came back from the bathroom. "Mary, I've been waiting for you for five minutes."

"I'm sorry," Mary said, "I want to take a shower, but I can't get in the bathroom." "It's already eleven o'clock," said the temporary nanny. "The money you gave me is only for me to stay until noon, and I need to go to another place at a quarter past twelve, so you'd better not come back late." Mary thanked the babysitter.She kissed the baby's head. "Be good," she said. Mary ran across campus to the English department.She ran up the stairs.When she arrived, her teacher had already left. "Mary, I was going and thought you wouldn't be coming. Come in."

Mary entered the office.The teacher took out Mary's homework and put it on the desk. "Mary," said the teacher, "you used to get A's all the time, and now you're failing every class." "I'm sorry," Mary said, "I'll try to do better in the future." "Has something changed in your life?" the teacher asked. "You used to be one of our best students." "No," said Mary.She bit her lip. "You went to this college on a scholarship. But you're already in trouble because you haven't had good grades for a while, and if I'd spoken to the college, they'd probably cancel your scholarship, or at least put you on a leave of absence."

"Please don't say it!" pleaded Mary. "I have no place to go. I have no other means of income but scholarships." "It's for your own good, Mary. You should go home and fix yourself. It's two weeks to Christmas. Your parents will understand." Mary returned to the dormitory fifteen minutes late.The sitter frowned when Mary entered the room. "Mary," said the sitter, "you're late again! If you're late, I'll be late for things to do. I'm sorry, I love this baby, but I don't think I can help you with the baby anymore."

Mary took the baby from the babysitter. "Okay," she said. "Plus," the sitter added, "you haven't paid me for the three previous babysitting sessions. Ten dollars an hour, so thirty dollars." "Can I pay you next time?" Mary asked. "I wanted to stop by the ATM on my way back, but I don't have time." The babysitter grimaced. "Just put it in an envelope with my name on it and leave it in my dorm. I really want to get the money by Christmas, I want to buy presents." Mary agreed. "Goodbye, baby," said the sitter, "Merry Christmas."

The baby grunted softly. "Do you two have any special plans for the holidays?" the babysitter asked. "I'll probably take her to see my mom. My mom lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, and she's always got a really big Christmas tree, and she makes nice dinners, and lots and lots of presents for Myra and me." "That sounds good," said the sitter. Mary put the baby in the sling and walked to the bank.She checked her account balance with her ATM card, and it contained $75.17.She withdrew forty dollars and went into the bank to change. She put thirty dollars in the envelope with the babysitter's name on it.She bought a subway ticket and sat at the terminal.It wasn't as pretty as the area around the college where Mary went.

Mary walked down the street to a run-down house with a thick wire fence in front of it.There was a dog in the yard, tied to a post, and it barked at the baby, who began to cry. "Don't be afraid, baby," said Mary, "that dog can't bite you." They entered the house.The house is dirty, there are children everywhere, and they are dirty too.The children were noisy and varied in age.Some of them are in wheelchairs, some are disabled. "Hi Mary," said a disabled girl, "what are you doing here?" "I'm going to see mother," said Mary.

"She's upstairs. She's not feeling well." "thanks." "Mary, is that your baby?" the disabled girl asked. "No," said Mary.She bit her lip. "I was just babysitting for a friend." "How's Harvard?" asked the disabled girl. "Great," said Mary. "I bet you got A's in every subject." Mary shrugged. "You're always so humble, Mary. Are you still on the swim team?" Mary shrugged again.She went upstairs to see "Mom". "Mom" was a sickly fat white woman.Mary is a skinny black girl. "Mom" could not be Mary's biological mother.

"Hi, Mom," said Mary, "Merry Christmas." Mary kissed the fat woman on the cheek. "Hi, Mary, Miss Famous College Student, I didn't expect you to go back to your foster family." "yes." "Is that your baby?" "Mom" asked. Mary sighed. "yes." "What a pity," said Mother, "that a smart girl like you has made a mess of her life. Didn't I tell you never to have sex? Didn't I tell you to always take protection?" "Yes, Mom." Mary bit her lip, "Mom, is it okay for me and the baby to stay here for a while? I've decided to take a break from school to get my life back in order. That will help me a lot."

"Oh Mary. Wish I could help, but it's full. I don't have a room for you. You're old enough for me that Massachusetts won't pay me any more checks for you." .” "Mom, I have nowhere else to go." "Mary, I think you should. You should contact the baby's father." Mary shook her head. "I don't really know him that well." "In that case, I think you should put the baby up for adoption." Mary shook her head again. "I can't do that either." Mary went back to the dormitory.She packed a bag for the baby and stuffed an Elmo stuffed toy into the bag.A girl who lived in the hallway downstairs entered Mary's room.

"Hi Mary, where are you going?" Mary smiled brightly. "I want to go to the beach," she said, "Baby loves the beach." "Isn't it a bit cold to go to the beach now?" the girl asked. "It's not too cold," said Mary, "and the baby and I will wear our warmest clothes. Plus, the beach is really nice in winter." The girl shrugged. "may be." "When I was a kid, my dad would take me to the beach all year round." Mary put the envelope in the babysitter's quarters.At the train station, she used her credit card to buy train and ferry tickets to Alice Island. "Babies don't need to buy a ticket," the ticket inspector told Mary. "Okay," Mary said. After arriving at Alice Island, the first place Mary saw was a bookstore.She went into the bookstore so she and the baby could warm up.There's a man at the counter who looks impatient and wears a pair of Converse sneakers. Christmas music was playing in the bookstore.That song was "Have a Little Merry Christmas." "It makes me sad," said one customer. "It's the saddest song I've ever heard. How could someone write such a sad Christmas song?" "I'm looking for something to read," said Mary. The man was a little less impatient. "What kind of books do you like?" "Oh, all kinds of books, but my favorite is the kind where the characters have difficulties and overcome them in the end. I know that life is not like this, and maybe because of that, it is my favorite book .” The book seller said he had a book that was absolutely perfect for her, but by the time he got it Mary was gone. "Miss?" He put the book on the counter in case Mary decided to come back. Mary is on the beach, but the baby is not with her. She had been on the swim team, had done well, and had won a state championship in high school.That day, the waves were rough, the water was cold, and Mary had neglected to practice. She swam out, past the lighthouse, and she didn't swim back. "Congratulations," Maya said to John Furness at the reception.She clutched the rolled-up T-shirt tightly in her hand.Amelia holds Maya's award certificate: 3rd place. John shrugged, his hair bouncing up and down. "I thought you deserved first place, but it's cool that they selected two finalists from Alice Town High." "Maybe Mr. Balboni taught well." "We can split my gift certificate equally if you want," John said. Maya shook her head.She doesn't want that. "What would you have bought?" "I was going to donate to charity, to poor children." "Really?" He used his news-casting voice. "My dad doesn't really like us buying things online." "You're not mad at me, are you?" John said. "No. I'm happy for you. Come on!" She punched him on the shoulder. "Ouch." "See you later. We have to catch the car ferry back to Alice Island." "We do too," John said, "We have a lot of time to hang out together." "My dad's bookstore has something to attend to." "I'll see you at school," John said, returning to his newscast tone. On the car ride home, Amelia congratulated Maya for winning the prize for a wonderful short story, and AJ said nothing. Maya thinks AJ must be disappointed in her, but just before they get out of the car, he says: "This kind of thing is never fair. People like what they like, that's great, that's bad. It's about personal taste and A certain group of people on a given day. For example, two women in the top three, which could tip the scales in favor of the men. Or one of the judges whose grandma died last week, which made that short story particularly appealing to him. No one knows. But I do know: Maya Timur Fekri's "A Day at the Beach" was written by a writer." She thought he was going to hug her, but he just shook her He shook hands the way he would greet a colleague—maybe with an author coming into the bookstore. A sentence came to her mind: The day my father shook my hand, I knew I was a writer. Just before the end of that school year, AJ and Amelia put down a deposit on a house.The house is ten minutes away from the bookstore and farther from the sea.Despite four bedrooms, two bathrooms and the quietness that AJ thought a young writer needed to write, no one thought that house was a dream house.The previous owner died there - she didn't want to move, but she hasn't done much repairs and maintenance in the past fifty years or so.Low ceilings, ages of wallpaper to tear off, weak foundations, etc. AJ called it "the house in ten years", which means "in another ten years, it may really be able to live in it".Amelia called it "a project," and she got to work right away.Maya, who had just finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy, named the house Bottombag "because it looked like the dwelling of a hobbit". AJ kissed his daughter's forehead.He was very happy that he had raised such a wonderful nerd.