A Brighter Tomorrow: My Journey with Julie

Julie apologizes to the man, who introduces himself as Douglas Watson. She shakes his hand, introduces me and T.J., and promises we’ll make this right.

Mr. Watson says he can’t expect kids to pay for the damage, but he’ll have to call our parents. My heart sinks. What can I possibly tell him when he asks for my parents’ phone number?

Julie speaks up, wondering if there’s anything we can do to help out. We can do chores. The man looks at his three dogs and smiles, saying it’s a shame this didn’t happen an hour earlier, since he just finished bathing them and it’s not an easy task for one person.

Julie thinks for a second and figures three dogs at once would be hard to walk. She asks how many walks it would take to pay for the cost of the broken window. Mr. Watson scratches his chin, considers her offer, and decides a month of daily walks, whenever we’re available, would do it, as long as we call first.

T.J. says it’s a deal and we can start right away. The dogs trail behind Mr. Watson as he goes inside to fetch their leashes, and when he returns, we help him clip the leads onto the dogs’ collars while he introduces them.

I hold Queenie, a peppy Jack Russell terrier, while T.J. takes Trix, the floppy-eared dachshund. The last one, Mr. Tuxedo, is a Boston terrier.

Mr. Watson warns us to watch out for that one, small but feisty.

Mr. Watson calls out good luck to us as we head out the door. Once Julie gains control over Mr. Tuxedo, she tells us how relieved she is that he was so understanding. T.J. says he feels bad that Stinger isn’t here to help, so Julie suggests maybe we can convince him to join the next walk, but give him Mr. Tuxedo next time. The three of us laugh.

After several blocks, we loop back and climb the stairs, where Mr. Watson greets us on the landing and says someone else has something to say.

To our surprise, Stinger steps out from behind Mr. Watson. His eyes are glued to the ground. He says he shouldn’t have bailed on us, since it was really his fault to begin with, and apologizes for taking so long to come back.

Stinger actually went home to break open his piggy bank, and he pulls out some crumpled dollar bills and hands them to Mr. Watson, hoping it helps pay for the window.

Julie smiles and thanks Stinger. He reddens and says he knows it’s not enough, but Mr. Watson interrupts, insisting it’s plenty. He gathers the leashes from us and smiles at his now-calm dogs, thanking us for taking responsibility for the window.

We thank Mr. Watson and pat the dogs goodbye before turning to go, but he clears his throat and holds up Julie’s ball, telling her to keep better track of it next time.

When we reach the top of the steps, Stinger looks at Julie sheepishly, saying it took serious guts to own up to the guy after breaking his window. Maybe she’s not so bad after all, for a girl.

Julie nudges Stinger with her elbow, and the boys turn to leave. As Julie and I walk back to Gladrags, we are nearly giddy about such a remarkable day. I feel proud that we all came together to fix the problem. I realize how often I run from problems in my own life.

Just this morning, I refused to talk to Zack about the things that are troubling us. I also avoided the subject of joining the basketball team with Chloe. I want to be more like Julie, who faces everything head-on: she started a petition by herself, proved her skills on the court, and admitted when she was wrong. When I get home, I’ll finally talk to Zack, and on Monday I’m signing up for the basketball team.

Before I know it, Julie and I are standing in front of Gladrags. Julie squeezes me into a tight hug and thanks me for being there today. Maybe we can play HORSE again soon, and I can teach her that Hula Hoop move.

As Julie walks into Gladrags, I call out good luck to her. She grins, and the door closes behind her.

I step to the front of Julie’s apartment building, look around to make sure no one’s watching, and twist the mood ring off my finger. Suddenly I’m back on my window seat in my room.

I look at the clock on the computer. 12:35. The perfect time to sit down and have a good talk with Zack. The perfect time to start facing my life head-on.