Chapter 7

Gloomily, Sam set the pail of milk down on the counter. It had been a long, frustrating day of sitting in classes and worrying about Angela while trying to focus on school, an impossible task. He had been anxious to know if she and his mom had come home, but when he came in the door he saw that only Samus was there, setting out plates for dinner. Not adventurous enough to try her hand at cooking again, she had simply put bread, cheese, and some other sandwich items out. She looked up when Sam came in, with the same expression of relief as when he had entered yesterday.

"Did my mother call?" Sam asked anxiously.

Samus nodded. "Yes, she said the doctors are still doing tests with Angela to see what's wrong, so she won't be coming home tonight. Your mother also said she will need some more things from the house," she answered.

"Let's do that now, then," Sam said, getting his iPad out. After ordering the drone to pick up the items his mom needed, Sam and Samus ate a quiet meal, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Samus cautiously said, "River also said that she called your father's office."

Sam scowled. "Like he cares," he muttered.

"They will contact him and let him know about Angela. River said she also asked that he be allowed to come home for a while," Samus continued, watching Sam carefully.

Sam just grunted. He didn't need or want his father right now, but he knew it would make his mother feel better, especially if she knew that Sam had a parent around while she was gone. Suddenly, Sam remembered something.

"Oh, uh, this Friday my school has its science fair. Do you know what that is?" he said. Samus shook her head. Sam explained, "Each student has to do an experiment and then set up a booth to present it. I did mine on bacteria and making them glow. But we have to have an adult come with us. If my mom can't come back from the hospital by then, would you be willing to come with me?"

Samus nodded slowly. "Thanks," Sam said. He felt awkward asking Samus, but he had no choice. He did want to be a part of the fair. "It doesn't start until six p.m., so if you can come meet me at Old Pete's shop at five, we can walk to the school and be there early in time to set up stuff. I'll give you the shop's address. You know how to call a taxi, right?" he said.

"I've seen River do it," Samus replied. Sam nodded. He would just have to hope that would be good enough.

Friday came, and Sam's mother and sister still had not come home. According to his mother, the doctors were still trying to figure out what was wrong and feared that if Angela left the hospital she would have problems again. It was frustrating not knowing why she was sick. Restlessly, Sam stood on one foot and then the other, checking his watch every minute. It was almost five p.m. He stood outside Pete's shop, waiting for Samus to show up. Any minute…. Hopefully she had worked out how to call the taxi.

At that moment, a car pulled up and Samus exited the automobile. Sam found himself a little relieved that she had decided to wear the blue dress she had picked out at the mall, since it made her seem more relaxed and made her fit in a little more with the city environment. She did seem rather nervous and tense, though, he realized as he walked towards her. Glancing warily around when a car whizzed by, she grunted, "So where's the school?"

"It's a few blocks down," Sam replied, starting to walk in the school's direction. Samus followed, her eyes darting around at the cars zooming past and the few people bustling along on the sidewalks, trying to keep track of all that was going on around her. Sam could almost feel the tension radiating off her. How long had she been alone in space?

The school consisted of three large buildings with hallways connecting them. The building in the back was for high school, the building on the right for elementary school, and the building on the left for the cafeteria and auditorium. As if built to extract all creativity from the students, the walls inside and out had been painted a drab off-white and held only a few windows. Like the walls, the metal roof was white as well. Not a splotch of color dotted the building or yard, except for a random patch of flowers growing at the edge of the school yard. Even the playground equipment in between the buildings had been painted white. Sam had often wished they would allow some of the more creative students to paint a mural on the side of one of the school buildings, but the principal had always refused, saying it would mar the school's reputation. Needless to say, Sam had more than bullies to make him dread school.

Sam led Samus to the back door of the auditorium. Inside, students and their parents were setting up cardboard posters on tables around a large circular room, while a couple teachers bustled around trying to look busy. Heading towards a table that was empty, Sam pulled a box out from under it, where he had stored his poster. Because he had chosen to do an experiment on bacteria, he would have to grab them from the fridge. As he started for the science lab, he noticed Samus following him. "Uh, if you want, you can stay next to the table and set up the poster," Sam offered. Samus' lips tightened and she tensed, but nodding she went back to the table.

When he came back from getting the petri dishes of bacteria, Sam found Samus awkwardly standing next to the table, watching the activity around her warily. The bustle in the room was getting busier as it came closer to the time when the science fair would officially start. Sam set out his petri dishes of bacteria on the table. "Why Sam, it's beautiful!" He looked up to see his science teacher approaching his table. Ms. Lassy was a nice teacher, but she could be somewhat excitable and distracted sometimes. Her short brown hair bobbed about as she stepped over to him, and her too-large glasses kept sliding down her nose so that she had to keep pushing them back.

"You picked such an interesting topic and did such a good job! I'm so proud of you!" Ms. Lassy gushed.

"Um, thank you," Sam said. His teacher noticed Samus.

"Oh, who is this?" she asked.

"This is Samus. She's a, uh, friend who's staying with us right now. My mom could not come tonight, so she came with me," Sam replied.

"Oh, so nice to meet you," Ms. Lassy said eagerly, extending a hand.

Samus mumbled a "hello" and hesitatingly extended a hand. Ms. Lassy energetically shook it, then said in excitement, "Oh, let me show you around! You've never been to our school have you? Oh, the science fair is absolutely wonderful! This year, our students have chosen some of the best experiments to put on, and I think you'll agree that they are wonderful! Let me show you!" She grabbed Samus' hand and began towing her towards the other tables. Samus cast a helpless glance back at Sam as she was led away by the exuberant teacher. Sam shook his head and chuckled. That was Ms. Lassy for you. He could not help Samus, though, since the fair was starting. People were already trickling in to view the projects, and he needed to be at his table to explain his experiment. He would just have to trust that Samus would survive Ms. Lassy's enthusiasm.

It was almost an hour later when Samus returned with Ms. Lassy. "And that's our school and science fair! What do you think? We are so glad you could come," she was saying. Poor Samus had the look of a captive wild animal, desperate to escape its prison. No doubt she had been dragged through almost every classroom by the science teacher, as well as shown each and every science project, of which there were quite a few. "Well, I had better make sure the other students are doing okay. How is everything going, Sam?" Ms. Lassy said.

"Fine, Ms. Lassy," Sam responded. It had been a fairly laid-back evening so far. Most of the parents and students who had stopped by his table were content to read his poster and did not ask questions about his experiment. He was getting thirsty though. As Ms. Lassy headed off towards another table, Sam asked, "Hey Samus, would you be willing to get me a drink from the refreshments table? Did Ms. Lassy show you where it is?" Samus nodded and headed for the table.

At that moment, Sam spied Charlie and his cronies coming towards him. His stomach turned over. Great, now he was going to get insulted. Sure enough, Charlie greeted him with a sneer, "Hey Sammy, I see you chose a stupid project. Just like a stupid farm boy."

"Hello to you too," Sam muttered.

"Guess you couldn't think of any better topic, huh? I mean, bacteria, really? Who cares about that? Or do you not have any cleaning supplies at home? You probably live in filth with all the animals!" Charlie said. Sam just scowled. He didn't want to make a scene in public.

"And where's your parents?" Charlie continued. "Or didn't they care enough to come? Maybe they were so ashamed of you-"

"Leave my family out of this," Sam replied angrily.

"Yeah, yeah, he's probably too ashamed to bring his parents here," one of the bullies scoffed.

"Aww, you need a chauffeur, huh, Sammy boy?" another boy sneered.

Sam's fists clenched, but he could do nothing in public. And he had promised not to fight.

"You know I haven't forgotten what you did to me. You're gonna pay soon," Charlie said, his tone suddenly becoming more nasty. Unfortunately, he hadn't noticed Samus, who had finally come back with a glass of water. "I'll make sure you suffer-"

"You touch one hair of his and you'll know pain," Samus interjected. Charlie and the other boys looked up in surprise to see her staring at them with an icy gaze that chilled Sam to the core. From the way her gaze sent daggers at the bullies and from her deadly tone of voice, he had no doubt that she would kill those bullies if they gave her reason to. Turning pale, Charlie stammered, "Uh, I better go," and he and his cronies hurried away.

"Let me know if they give you any more trouble," Samus said grimly, handing Sam the water. Her murderous gaze did not leave the retreating forms of Charlie and the bullies as she said this.

"Uh, thanks," Sam said, unsure of whether to be grateful or scared at Samus' reaction. Checking his watch, Sam noticed with relief that the science fair would end in 15 minutes; he was tired and ready to go home, and he was half-convinced that Samus was plotting to torture the bullies.


When Sam returned to school the week after the science fair, he found himself grateful for what Samus had done. Charlie and the other bullies stayed far away from him during recess and would even avoid passing him in the halls. Though he still did not have any friends at school, at least he did not have to deal with insults every day. Besides, he enjoyed his work at Pete's shop. Even though cleaning could be monotonous and repetitive, it gave him time to process the day and to imagine stories. He also liked listening to Rascal, who always had interesting tales or tidbits about politics and life on the street. He was intent on educating Sam about politics. "Ya gotta know what's goin' on in the world," he told Sam. "Otherwise you're gonna go through life blind and someday find yerself in a bad place," he said. Sam didn't quite understand what Rascal meant about "finding himself in a bad place" and most of the politics went over his head, but he found Rascal's stories fascinating if only because they opened up to him a whole different world.

Life was actually pretty good, except that Angela and River remained at the hospital. Another week passed, and looking at the calendar Sam realized that three weeks had already passed since Angela fell sick. One more week and it would be a month. Whenever Sam talked with his mom on the phone, which was every evening, he could hear the tiredness and stress growing in her voice even though she tried to hide it behind encouraging words. "They hope they can figure out the problem tomorrow," she would keep saying, but tomorrow never brought any answers. It seemed as though the doctors were nonplussed by whatever disease Angela had.

Sam sighed. "It's three weeks since Angela went to the hospital," he said gloomily to Samus. They had just finished dinner and were washing dishes. Samus grunted. "Why can't they figure out what's wrong?" Sam exclaimed in frustration. Samus didn't reply. He glanced at her, but as usual her expression was unreadable. He sighed again, this time frustrated with her. "What are you thinking? You know, it would be helpful to at least have some agreement or see some sort of emotion from you. Don't you care about Angela?" he snapped. Immediately, he felt guilty. He shouldn't have lashed out like that, but his worry about Angela made him irritable and upset.

Samus paused scrubbing the pot in her hands. She looked at Sam, still with her unreadable expression. "Yes, I do care. I worry about her. I am thinking of…" She stopped, frowned, and began scrubbing the pot furiously.

"Of what?" Sam pushed. He knew he should probably stop, but he was tired of not understanding Samus, of not being sure what she was thinking. What did she think of Angela? Of Sam?

Samus paused again. Taking a deep breath, she said in a rather shaky voice, "Of being alone."

Sam frowned. "What do you mean?"

Samus turned to him. "Angela said she was...my sister. If she goes...then I lose a family member...again," she said, her voice turning to a whisper at the end.

"Oh," Sam said awkwardly. An unbearable silence followed, broken only by the sound of water running over the dishes and into the drain.

Samus frowned hard at the dishwater, her mind a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts. How could she explain to Sam these thoughts and feelings she didn't even understand? It had been too long ago that she had loved anyone the way she now loved Angela and her family. And if Angela died, it would be just the same as any other person she had loved. They all left her, she thought bitterly. What was the point of loving someone if you would always be disappointed in the end?

"You...don't think she will die, do you?" Sam asked. "She can't… she's so young… and Mom would be devastated," Sam said. He didn't want to imagine what it would be like without happy, cheerful Angela, who could make everyone smile even on the worst days. Never to see her joyful smile, never to feel her tight hugs, never to hear her carefree singing as she watered the garden plants….

"I don't know," Samus replied softly. She didn't know much about diseases. With a sigh, she commented, "I wish the person in the book I am reading could come and heal her." Sam cocked his head at her.

"What book?" he asked.

Drying her hands off, Samus picked up the book she had started to read on the day Angela collapsed. "This one. I saw River reading it a lot when she was here, and it keeps me company when you're gone," Samus said. "There's a very interesting person in it who keeps healing people. But he has some strange ideas, too, like loving your enemies."

"Oh," Sam said and didn't seem to want to continue the conversation. He left to do his homework soon after that. But Samus, now she had brought up the book, sat down to look at it again after the dishes were done. She opened to one of the stories in it, where a man went to someone's house and even though there was a dead girl, he told her to get up and she did. It almost seemed like magic. But magic wasn't real. Still, Samus wished that it could happen in real life….


Three days later, Samus sat in the kitchen waiting for bread to rise when the doorbell rang. She looked up in surprise. It was not time for Sam to come home, for it was just after lunch. With a frown, she slowly got up and went to the front door, cracking it open hesitantly. A man stood outside, nervously turning a Federation cap in his hands and glancing around like a frightened mouse. He wore a Federation suit as well. Before Samus could ask his name or reason for being here, he stepped forward and asked, "Hello, is Sam here? I'm his father."