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father off your back.”
    After cleaning up the paint job, Calvin mowed the lawn, which didn’t take very long. The lots in this neighborhood were small.
    “Three and a half hours’ work?” Mr. Tait said as they sat at the kitchen table eating lunch. He opened his wallet and handed Calvin a ten-dollar bill.
    Calvin smiled but said, “Don’t I get minimum wage, at least?”
    “Not in this house, bud.”
    “Thanks anyway.” He folded the bill in half and put it in his pocket.
    “You should save some of that,” Dad said.
    “We’ll see.”
    Calvin went next door and got Zero, and they made their way downtown, passing the elementary school and stepping around a couple of bicycles lying on their sides on the sidewalk. They didn’t say much; Calvin deflected Zero’s comments about soccer and the Yankees with one-word responses. He had a plan, and he was focusing on it the way he’d prepare for a basketball game or a race. Thinking. Going over the strategy in his head.
    “I remembered something when I was cutting the lawn,” he said finally as they reached St. Joseph’s Church. “They got gymnastics at the Y this afternoon.”
    “Who does?”
    “Them. Our new buddies.”
    “Oh.”
    “Should be coming out anytime now. Let’s get a drink and hang.”
    They went into the market and wasted no time getting bottles of soda. Then they crossed back over the Boulevard and took a seat on the YMCA’s cement front steps, watching traffic.
    A bus went by after about ten minutes.
    “One up,” Zero said.
    Calvin gave a short, huffy laugh. He stared at the message board on the Y’s front lawn:
    AEROBICS CLASSES NOW FORMING.
SUMMER DAY-CAMP OPENINGS.
MEN’S BASKETBALL SIGN-UPS.
    “Hey, hey.”
    Danielle Rosado was standing in the doorway in a violet leotard and bare feet. She had athletic tape around her wrists, and her hands were white with chalk from the uneven bars. “What are you boys up to?” she asked.
    “Hanging out,” Zero said. “What are you doing?”
    Danielle held up her hands and said, “Duh. Gymnastics.”
    “You good at it?” Zero asked.
    Danielle shrugged. “I guess. Been doing it since I was five.”
    Calvin stood up. He was taller than Danielle, but he was standing three steps below her. So he climbed to the top step and pulled his shoulders back a little, trying to look built. He leaned on the railing.
    “So,” he said. “We play you guys on Tuesday.”
    “That right?”
    “That’s what the schedule says.”
    “Should be interesting.”
    “We think so.”
    Danielle looked back toward the gym. “Jessie’s still on the bars.”
    Calvin took a gulp of his orange soda, then held out the bottle to Danielle. “Want a hit?”
    Danielle pulled back slightly and wrinkled her nose, then shook her head. “No thanks.”
    “Season’s going fast,” Calvin said. “Before you know it, we’ll be in the playoffs.”
    “I guess.”
    “You know what? I think the church carnival is coming up already. That right, Z?”
    “Yeah,” Zero said. “I think it’s next weekend.”
    “Next weekend?” Calvin said. “Wow. I didn’t know that. You going to the carnival, Danielle?”
    “Probably. We usually do.”
    “Yeah. Us, too.”
    Calvin inhaled deeply and let it out. “Hot day,” he said.
    “It’s stifling in the gym,” Danielle said. “That’s why I came out here.”
    “Uh-huh,” said Calvin. “Yeah.” His throat felt very dry suddenly, so he took another swig of soda. “So ... that carnival ... you think you might be going, huh?”
    Danielle looked amused. She raised her eyebrows and said, “Mm-hmm.”
    “Yeah ... us, too.”
    “Maybe we’ll see you boys there.”
    Calvin swallowed hard. “Yeah. Maybe Friday night?”
    Danielle shrugged, but slowly. “Maybe.”
    “Me and Zero will probably get there around six.” Danielle smiled sweetly, but looked like she was holding back a giggle. “We probably will, too.”
    Calvin nodded about seven times. “That’s a week from