We Belong: Chapter 27

476 words

4 minute read

A FAIR TRADE?

(Jesse)

TW: Ableism

Shane, Connor and Sophia get here a lot faster than I want them to.  We don’t really want to bake cookies that much when we find out that Mom won’t let us eat the dough.  Doesn’t she know the dough is the best part?

Instead, we go to my room.  Sophia closes the door and immediately begins opening the closet and all of the drawers.  I open my mouth to tell her to stay out of my stuff but nothing comes out.  So much for my fourteen days of talking-courage.  

“That’s Jesse’s,” Shane says.  Shane hates it when anyone touches his stuff so he knows how I feel having her touch all of mine.

“So?  If he doesn’t want me to touch it, he should just say so,” Sophia says in a sing-song voice.  She’s done taking every game out of the closet and she moves onto my dresser.  My dresser!  Oh no!  She’s going to find…

“What is thaaaaat?” Sophia asks, sounding super impressed.  

That’s it.  My life is officially over.  Sophia’s looking at all my boxers and she found my secret stash of candy from Grandma.  This is the worst thing in the entire world.

She takes the giant Ziploc bag and holds it in both hands.  “We need this.  Okay, Jesse?  Like, seriously.”

I glare at her.

“So…what do you want?”  Sophia’s making a face, like it hurts her to ask.  “Just this once.  Anything you want.”

Connor is trying to smell all the candy through the bag and poking each piece of it that he wants.  

Sophia Henderson has nothing that I want.  I want my candy back.  I’m about to tell Shane that when something stops me.

I wait until Sophia goes to the bathroom to tell Shane my idea.

“Tell her I want to be in your club,” I whisper.

Shane smiles, and his eyes light up.  When Sophia comes back, he tells her, “Jesse wants to be in our club.”

“He doesn't talk and he’s still in a wheelchair sometimes!”  Sophia says “wheelchair” like it smells bad.  “No deal.”  She crosses her arms over my bag of candy and taps her foot.

“Club for candy,” Shane says, standing toe to toe with her.  He’s a year older than Sophia, but she’s growing faster, so they are the same height.  “That is the deal.  Otherwise, you put it back.”

“Fine!”  (It sounds like “fi-nuh!”)  “You can be in the club!  Whatever!”  She rips open a package of M&Ms and starts shoving them in her mouth.

[Image: M&Ms]

I smile, just barely.

I did it.  

I got in the club!

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Question for Discussion:

Do you think Jesse's trade with Sophia was a fair one?  Why or why not?

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