A Season of Miracles Read Free Page B

him
were his parents, the superintendent of schools for Brooklyn, and the police chief of the local
precinct. The chief had just finished listening to Sammy's story, which he had told in a calm and
reasonable way. The chief asked the others to leave, and spoke to Sammy alone.
    "Sammy, you are making a lot of people very upset, and you could hurt yourself. You don't
want to hurt yourself?"
    "No, sir." The knife bobbed against his neck as he spoke.
    "What do you want?"
    "You know. I told you. I told everybody for about six hours now. It's easy."
    "Look, son, Mrs. Catalano has been home for a long time. She may never be the same again.
She spits every time someone says your name. Your mom and pop are about nuts, and the mayor has
called twice. Can't you go home and we can talk about this tomorrow?"
    "No, sir. If I leave now my parents will cry and change my mind tonight, and I will never get
my apology. Mrs. Catalano will hate me and give me bad marks. The kids will think I'm crazy. I will
hate myself."
    The chief rubbed his face. "Sammy, if you don't leave, I'm going to call in a couple of big
officers and they will take you out of here by force."
    "Sir, I will kill myself." Sammy moved the knife slightly, and a trickle of blood ran down his
neck.
    The chief's eyes popped. "Okay, okay. Stop that! What can we do to end this mess?"
    Sammy thought for a second. "I want to talk to Jackie Robinson."
    The chief didn't bat an eye. "I have to go make a phone call."
    Sammy was alone for the first time in hours. He wanted to cry. He wanted to throw himself
into his mother's arms. He wanted supper. And, oh! how he wanted to pee. He wiped the blood from
his neck with his handkerchief, and then he cried. It was almost like being back in the hole again,
only this time he was alone.
    About forty-five minutes later, there was a commotion in the hall, and the chief came back
into the room. Sammy quickly brought the knife back to his neck. Following the chief was a large
black man, lithe and broad-shouldered. It was Jackie Robinson.
    "Here you go, Sammy. I'll leave you two alone."
    Sammy's eyes bugged. "Is that really you, Mr. Robinson?"
    "Yes, Sammy. I was at a Boy's Club dinner in the Bronx, and they got me here in a squad car
with lights and sirens. This is certainly an unusual situation."
    Sammy removed the knife from his neck, folded it, and sat down. Robinson squeezed his
huge frame into a desk next to him. Sammy began to weep.
    Robinson took out his handkerchief, and gave it to the boy. After a minute, Sammy said
through his tears, "I saw you steal home against the Cubs. You went three-for-four and stole two
bases."
    "Yeah, I remember that game. That was the day one of my own team called me a name. I
went out of my way to prove something."
    Robinson cleared his throat, and his face took on a serious look.
    "You know, Sammy, you did a very bad thing."
    Sammy nodded. "Yes, Mr. Robinson."
    "You can call me Jackie, if you want to."
    "Thank you, Mr. Robinson."
    Robinson suppressed a smile. "Sam, your life is very precious, and to a lot of people. It's
terrible to make that kind of a threat. It disrupted your class, made your teacher cry, scared everyone
else, and your mother, well..."
    "Yes, sir, I know. I never meant to hurt myself, honest. But I was...I had..." Sammy waved
his hands, helpless to explain.
    "You felt that you had no choice. I've felt that way, myself."
    Sammy's face lit up. "I knew you would understand. You know how I feel."
    "Tell me what's bothering you, Sam. Tell me your story."
    Sammy told him everything. The root cellar and the muffled Christmas carols for his
birthday. The day he saw the sun for the first time. The camps, and the GIs, and the little tree, and the
knife, and the tattooed numbers. His trip to America, and his idea that this whole country must be a
wonderful dream, because nothing could be like this for real. And the Dodger games, and Joe
DiMaggio, and Coney Island. The Hanukkah story and the tree in