Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer Read Online Free PDF Page A

them with a fierce loyalty that was tested throughout the long season.
    On another wall, there was a large, cartoonish sketch of Theo Boone, Attorney-at-Law, wearing a suit and a tie and standing in court. A gavel was flying by his head, barely missing him, and the caption read, “Overruled!” In the background, the jurors were howling with laughter, at Theo’s expense. At the bottom right-hand corner the artist had scribbled her name, April Finnemore . She had given the sketch to Theo a year earlier, for his birthday. Her dream was to run away to Paris now, and spend the rest of her life drawing and painting street scenes.
    A door led to a small porch that led to the backyard, which was covered with gravel and used for parking.
    As usual, he unloaded his backpack and started his homework, which had to be finished before dinner, according to a rather rigid rule established by his parents when he was in the first grade. An asthma condition kept Theo away from the team sports he longed to play, but it also ensured straight A’s in school. Over the years, he had grudgingly accepted the fact that his academic success was a good substitute for the games he missed. He could play golf, though, and he and his father teed off every Saturday morning at nine.
    There was a knock on the back door. Judge, who kept a bed under the desk, growled softly.
    Sandy Coe was also in the eighth grade at the middle school, but in a different section. Theo knew him but not well. He was a pleasant boy who said little. He needed to talk, and Theo welcomed him to his room. Sandy took the only other chair, a folding one that Theo kept in a corner. When they were both seated, the room was full.
    “Can we talk in private?” Sandy asked. He seemed shy, and nervous.
    “Sure. What’s up?”
    “Well, I need some advice, I think. I’m really not sure about this, but I gotta talk to someone.”
    Theo, the counselor, said, “I promise anything you say is kept in secret.”
    “Good. Well, my dad got laid off a few months ago, and, well, things are pretty bad around the house.” He paused, waiting for Theo to say something.
    “I’m sorry.”
    “And last night my parents were having this real serious talk in the kitchen, and I should not have been listening, but I couldn’t help it. Do you know what foreclosure means?”
    “Yes.”
    “What is it?”
    “There are a lot of foreclosures these days. It means that a person who owns a home can’t make the mortgage payments and the bank wants to take the house.”
    “I don’t understand any of this.”
    “Okay. It works like this.” Theo grabbed a paperback and placed it in the center of his desk. “Let’s say that this is a house and you want to buy it. It costs a hundred thousand dollars, and since you don’t have a hundred thousand dollars, you go to the bank and borrow the money.” He placed a textbook next to the paperback. “This is the bank.”
    “Got it.”
    “The bank loans you the hundred thousand, and now you’re able to buy the house from whoever is selling it. You agree to pay the bank, say five hundred dollars a month, for thirty years.”
    “Thirty years?”
    “Yep. That’s the typical deal. The bank charges an extra fee for making the loan—it’s called interest—so each month you pay back part of the hundred thousand plus a chunk for interest. It’s a good deal for everybody. You get the house you want, and the bank makes money on the interest. All is well until something happens and you can’t make the monthly payments.”
    “What’s a mortgage?”
    “A deal like this is called a mortgage. The bank has a claim on the house until the loan is paid off. When you fall behind on the monthly payments, the bank has the right to come in and take the house. The bank kicks you out, and it owns the house. That’s a foreclosure.” He placed the textbook on top of the paperback, smothering it.
    “My mom was crying when they were talking about moving out. We’ve lived there