He turns to Sean. “You in?”
“I can manage the website from Berkeley.”
“Sam?”
“Sure. I hate those tests.”
Catalina offers to figure out how much money the district wastes on testing. Alistair says he’ll cater our meals while we work on the case. Jaesang’s willing to sell some cards from his collection to help raise money. “But not the Chamberlain. I’m keeping that for college.”
“What about you, Sadie? You in?”
“I’ll FaceTime from my dorm,” she says. “Yeah, I’m in.”
Mr. Kalman turns to Mr. Powell. “We’re all in. We’ll take your case.”
And that’s just about the end of my story. Except for the hardest part of all. In August, when the treehouse is built and the summer is almost over, we drive Sadie and my dad to the airport. He’s going to fly out with her to college and help her move into the dorm. I have to stay home to start seventh grade.
Which means Sadie and I are about to say goodbye.
The closer we get to the airport, the less we talk. My vocabulary has always been abridged, while Sadie’s is usually the whole dictionary in one mouth. Not now, though. Now she’s real quiet. We both are. And when the moment comes, we say things like “See ya,” and “Yeah,” and “Okay,” and “Time to go, I guess.” All other words get stuck in our throats.
But there are more of them that I wanted to say. So when I get home, I take a pen and a sheet of paper, and I write her a letter.
August 26
Dear Sadie,
After we watched you getting higher and higher on the escalator, and then higher and higher in the sky, Mom and I drove home. It was the quietest car ride ever.
I decided to make this letter the first thing I do as the only kid in the house. And I decided to write it in your room.
Which I barely recognize. You left all those pictures taped to the wall, of you and your debate team, and of Lucy and Mollie, and me and Dad, and our mom and your mom, and that selfie you took with Mr. Kalman and all of us on the steps of the Supreme Court.
But the floor of your room is totally transformed. Did your dirty dishes and laundry go away to college too?
Maybe when you’re home for winter break, before you mess it up again, we can bring down the Playmobil.
Remember how you used to let me come into your room, and we’d make up stories and then turn them into stop-motion movies?
What I wanted to tell you at the airport but couldn’t because I was feeling too sad to talk, is that in those stories we made up, the big sister always saved the little brother.
In real life, she did too.
Love,
Sam
P.S. I just thought of another oxymoron. It’s one that used to keep me up at night, but now it’s just a memory.
Homework.
Glossary of Legal Terms
APPEALS COURT A court to which a dissatisfied party may appeal a decision.
APPELLANT A person or party who appeals a lawsuit.
APPELLEE A person or party in whose favor a previous decision is being appealed.
BRIEF A written document used to present an argument in court.
CIRCUIT COURT A higher appeals court. There are thirteen federal circuit courts as part of the judicial branch of government.
CLAIMANT A person filing a claim for damage.
CLASS ACTION SUIT A lawsuit in which the petitioner’s case is used to settle all potential cases with the same claim.
DE MINIMIS NON CURAT LEX “The law does not concern itself with trifles.”
DISSENT A judge’s written disagreement with the majority decision.
DOCKET The calendar of cases.
FEDERAL COURT A court under the jurisdiction of the federal judiciary.
HEARING A formal presentation of a complaint at which all interested parties have an opportunity to respond.
IN LOCO PARENTIS “In place of the parents.”
KANGAROO COURT A court thrown together at the last minute with no regard for justice.
MINOR A person under the legal age of adulthood, usually eighteen or twenty-one.
OYEZ, OYEZ, OYEZ “Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye.” What the clerk of the Supreme Court says when the court is in session.
PETITIONER A person who brings a lawsuit.
PRO BONO “For good.” A lawyer or law firm that takes a case pro bono does not charge for its services.
PRO HAC VICE “For this occasion only.” A person who is not a member of the Supreme Court Bar but who is otherwise eligible may make arguments pro hac vice.
PROCHAIN AMI “Next friend.” Even without their parents’ permission, minors can sue if they have a prochain ami, or a grownup willing to file the suit for them.
RESPONDENT The person or entity that is being sued.
SUPREME COURT The highest court in the land. A decision by the Supreme Court is final unless overturned by a future Supreme Court.
WRIT OF CERTIORARI A formal request of the Supreme Court to hear a case.
Appendix of Supreme Court Cases Mentioned in This Book
A.M. V. HOLMES Upheld the arrest of a thirteen-year-old boy for fake-burping in gym class. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling was let stand by the Supreme Court.
BETHEL SCHOOL DISTRICT V. FRASER Upheld the suspension of a student for obscene speech.
BOARD OF EDUCATION V. EARLS Gave schools the right to require drug testing of all students who participate in extracurricular activities (fictionalized here as Lee v. Oklahoma School District).
BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA, KANSAS Unanimous decision that declared the doctrine of “separate but equal” unconstitutional.
BUSH V. GORE Held that the state of Florida’s court-ordered manual recount of ballots in the 2000 presidential election was unconstitutional.
ENGEL V. VITALE Prohibited state-sponsored prayer at school.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION V. ABERCROMBIE & FITCH Protected job applicants from discriminatory dress codes.
GOSS V. LOPEZ Established education as a property right.
GRISWOLD V. CONNECTICUT Established a zone of privacy for married couples in the bedroom.
HAZELWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT V. KUHLMEIER Gave principals the right to censor student-run newspapers.
HEDGEPETH V. WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN
