The Comeback Challenge (11 page)

Mark nodded slowly.

“Fine,” said the judge. “Then what we need to figure out is what’s best for you.”

Mark nodded again, then cleared his throat. “Excuse me,” he said. “But if you don’t mind, may I speak?”

“By all means,” said the judge. “It’s important to hear what you have to say about this.”

“I know that you want to decide which of my parents get to have me,” Mark said to the judge. “And I want them to know that
I love them both very much. But for a long time, I’ve felt like the rope in a tug-of-war.” He paused and looked at his parents.
“Mom, you yourself told me your company might be moving soon and that you hoped you would still be part of their team if they
did. And Dad, your company is always transferring you all over the place — even across the Atlantic Ocean!

“The moving around didn’t bother me so much
a few years ago. But now I have a real home. I go to the Middle School, and I have lots of friends. I’m on the soccer team,
and I just got elected captain. I like it here. And I like living with my grandparents.”

The judge looked a little surprised. “You do?” she asked.

“Yes,” Mark answered. “They’re old, but they really make an effort. They went to almost all my games. They know my friends’
names. And they talk to me about what’s happening to me in school and everything.” He smiled briefly. “They talk to me like
parents sometimes, too. They’re the ones who made me realize that ignoring my feelings wasn’t doing me any good.”

The judge smiled with him.

“I love my mom and dad,” Mark continued. “But I’m tired of moving, and I’m tired of making new friends. Mom and Dad, you both
lived in Knights-town before, so you know it’s a good place for me to grow up, right?”

His parents both nodded. His mother opened her mouth to speak, but Mark stopped her.

“If nobody minds too much, I have to be honest.
And if Grandma and Grandpa wouldn’t mind, I’d like to leave things just as they are.”

When he was through, he couldn’t look up at his folks. He stared down at the carpet as the judge spoke to him.

“Mark, would you mind leaving me alone with your parents for a few minutes?” she said.

Without a word, Mark stood up and left the room.

When he got outside, Grandma and Grandpa Conway went to him and took him by the hand. They didn’t say anything. The three
of them just sat back on the same bench as before.

It seemed like hours went by before the judge herself appeared and called them back into her chambers.

Mr. and Mrs. Conway were now seated together side by side on the couch. Mrs. Conway’s eyes were red and puffy, and Mark’s
father kept wiping his nose with his handerchief.

The judge turned to Grandma and Grandpa Con-way.

“Are you willing to let Mark stay with you a little longer?” she asked.

His grandparents looked astonished. But they
didn’t hesitate in answering. “We would like nothing more,” Grandma Conway said. Grandpa Conway nodded his agreement.

“All right, then,” said the judge. “I’m going to postpone my decision for a period of no more than a year. During that time,
Mark will remain living with his grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Conway, your lawyers will contact you in the near future to arrange
another meeting to discuss this subject. In the meantime, I suggest you both try to settle your work lives in such a way that,
should the court decide in your favor, you will be able to provide a stable, loving home for Mark.”

And that was that.

“You really don’t have to leave?” Craig asked for the third time that afternoon.

Mark laughed and kicked the soccer ball through a pile of leaves to him. “For the last time, you’re not getting rid of me
that easily!”

“Okay, guys, enough chitchat! Let’s get that ball moving!” came a voice from behind them.

Mark whirled around in time to see Vince stealing the ball right out from under Craig’s nose.

“Drat!” said Craig. “I’m never going to earn that Most Improved Player award next year!”

The three boys collapsed into laughter. Then, with the crisp November air filling their lungs, they headed out onto the playground
field to take advantage of the last lingering rays of afternoon sun.

Baseball Flyhawk	Dive Right In
Baseball Turnaround	Double Play at Short
The Basket Counts	Face-Off
Body Check	Fairway Phenom
Catch That Pass!	Football Double Threat
Catcher with a Glass Arm	Football Fugitive
Catching Waves	Football Nightmare
Center Court Sting	The Fox Steals Home