Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

In thinking about Mrs. Galley’s advice to focus on the things he can change, Steven realizes he can save his family eighty dollars a month if he stops taking private drum lessons. At his next lesson, Steven tells Mr. Stoll that he has to stop taking lessons because of his family’s financial situation. He apologizes and tries to give Mr. Stoll his “Special Sticks” as a parting gift. Mr. Stoll refuses to accept the sticks since he knows they are Steven’s “prized possession” and tells him that from now his lessons will be free since Steven is one of his best students (188). Steven doesn’t want to tell his parents about the deal he made with his teacher, so he rips up his mom’s check.

At the next All-City Band rehearsal, Annette comes in with her arm in a cast and tells Mr. Watras that she won’t be able to play in the concert because she has broken her arm. During the rehearsal, Steven finally masters a difficult solo in a piece called “Satin Doll.” He is “so far into the Zone” that he doesn’t even notice when Renee walks in wearing her cheerleading outfit (193). On the bus ride home, Annette tells Steven the story of how she broke her arm, and he tells her about how he tried to stop taking drum lessons to help his family. She warns him that ripping up his mom’s checks won’t work forever, but Steven doesn’t mind her lecture as much as usual. 

In English class the week of Annette’s accident, Steven writes a journal entry on the topic, “If you could pick one word in the English language to describe the universe, what would it be and why?” (196). He picks the word “unfair” and gives the example of how Annette fell down the stairs while voluntarily carrying groceries for her parents down to their basement pantry. Now she won’t be able to play in the concert she has practiced for all year. Steven then gives the example of how when Jeffrey returned to his kindergarten class that week, a new kid walked up to him and called him bald. Jeffrey immediately started crying and has been upset ever since. When Steven finally convinced Jeffrey to tell him what happened to upset him, he said, “I didn’t want you to find out I was bald, too” (199). The evening after writing this journal entry, Steven shaves his head using his dad’s razor. He realizes that even if he can’t stop Jeffrey from losing his hair, he can shave off his own hair to make Jeffrey feel better. When Steven shows Jeffrey his bald head the next morning at breakfast, his little brother is thrilled. At school the next day, everyone, including Renee, expresses admiration for what Steven has done to support his brother.