He never willingly hurt anybody or anything. I remember once when we were in the eighth grade, Andy had a puppy who got hit by a car. He had only had the dog for a couple of weeks, so he couldn’t have been that attached to it, but when it died, Andy almost fell apart. He stayed depressed for weeks.
I think Andy was scared of death in general. Two years ago, when old Mr. Mancilli, one of our gym teachers, died of a heart attack, a lot of the kids from school went to the funeral. But not Andy. He got all nervous and irritable whenever anybody even mentioned Mr. Mancilli. He just couldn’t cope. The whole idea of death terrified him.
So I know Andy was afraid. His soul is probably still out there somewhere—floating in the darkness, looking for hope, hoping for forgiveness, and terribly, terribly frightened.
I know You already know all of this, but I just wanted to ask if You’d look out for my partner, and help him find peace.
The Tears of a Tiger
Monty’s Good-bye to Andy
MAY 15
—Andy? Can you hear me? It’s me, Monty. Mama brought me here to the cemetery because I told her I just had to talk to you. She didn’t want to come. She hasn’t been back here since the funeral, but I kept buggin’ her. She won’t even get out of the car. She’s over there now, just sittin’ and cryin’. That’s all she does now—cry. It’s startin’ to get on my nerves.
Things have changed a lot since you…since you…left. We live in another house now. Actually Mama and me live in one place, and Daddy lives somewhere else. I get to see him on weekends, but it’s not he same. Nothin’ is the same. The only good part is that they pay a whole lot of attention to me now. I got a computer for my birthday last week. You forgot I had a birthday coming, didn’t you? You forgot about me completely, didn’t you?
I miss you, Andy. Who’s gonna teach me how to dribble down the court and make layups? How am I ever gonna learn to make free throws? You know how rotten Daddy is at basketball. His belly keeps gettin’ in the way. And how am I ever gonna figure out girls? Do you know some girl tried to kiss me for my birthday? Gross!
It’s a real pretty day today. It’s warm and the sun is shinin’ and everythin’ smells real good. I wish you could see it. I wish you were here. I wish everything was like it used to be. Daddy says I gotta be brave and strong. I guess I can do that, but at night I get real scared and sometimes I have bad dreams. But I’m not going to cry anymore, ‘cause I’m tough, like a tiger, and tigers don’t cry, or do they?
Mama is callin’ me now. She says it’s time to go. I’m sure she wants me to tell you she’s thinkin’ about you always. I feel better now. I’m glad she let me come and talk to you. I don’t know when I’ll get to come again—I’m gonna start Knothole Baseball next week and I spend a lot of time learnin’ how to use my computer, so you know how it is. But I’ll always love you, and I’ll always miss you, and I’ll never forget that it’s okay to put dragons in the jungle and tears on a tiger.
Bye.
Sharon M. Draper, Tears of a Tiger
(Series: # )
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