DO THE RIGHT THING
RICK HAD TRANSFERRED to a school within walking distance of home this year for fifth grade because his old math-and-science magnet school had changed his bus route last winter. While the old route had made him pretty sick, the new one had been agonizing. His parents had tried rearranging their schedule so one of them could drive him to school and home to the Herreras’ to save him the embarrassment of losing his breakfast or lunch on the bus while horrified fellow students looked on. Adding exhausting hours to Mom’s or Dad’s already-epic driving days was hardly worth it—driving with his folks dialed back the motion sickness but didn’t eliminate it. Rick’s town-house complex had a full block-long sidewalk with concrete right up to each front stoop, but once Rick crossed at the light to walk toward Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary, the sidewalks were broken and disconnected. The homeowners in the neighborhood between him and the school didn’t seem to take much pride in keeping up their properties. Rick ended up walking to
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