by Manfred Koehler

Sid held his breath, his eyes peeping over Marcia’s shoulder. Five new rainbow markers lay neatly on her desk. Red, blue, green, yellow . . . and yellow.

"Marcia has two yellow markers," Sid muttered. "Who needs two yellow markers? I bet she wants to give me one. I really need it."

Stepping up beside Marcia, Sid pointed stiffly. "You need both those yellow markers?"

Marcia concentrated on her assignment. "You want to borrow one?"

"No, I want you to give me one."

Marcia looked up. "Give you one?"

"That’s what I said." Sid tried to smile. "Why do you need two yellow markers?"

"I use yellow a lot. That’s why I bought an extra one." Marcia’s eyes rested on Mr. Burdock, the teacher, coming around to check their work.

Sid followed her gaze. He had to hurry.

"I’ll trade you an orange for it at lunch." Sid stared hard at the rainbow markers, now gripped tightly in Marcia’s hand.

Marcia faced Sid, her eyes nervous. "No, I don’t think so," she replied. Then she turned toward Mr. Burdock and raised her hand.

Sid quickly sat down, snatching his pencil. He hadn’t even started the assignment. But this yellow marker business wasn’t over.

Taking Aim

The noon bell rang. While Mr. Burdock corrected assignments, students tore open their desk lids and crammed in books, pens, rulers and papers. As each desk slammed shut, another student ran for the lunchroom.

Sid tidied his desk slowly, his attention elsewhere. Marcia was across the room, in deep conversation with two friends. Her markers were lined up above her pencil case, resting near the desk’s edge. Sid grabbed his lunch bag and got up.

He stopped by Marcia’s desk, looking to see if she had noticed. Casually swinging his hand, Sid knocked several markers to the floor. Seeing a yellow one, he glanced at the ceiling, then kicked the marker against the far wall. Sid followed and kicked it again, this time behind the door where no one would see it.

Marcia was still telling her story, and Mr. Burdock kept checking papers as Sid stepped into the hall. He smiled, his mind already on lunch.

Lunch bag tucked under his arm, Sid tossed his orange from hand to hand. He loved this part of the day.

Walking between the lunch tables, Sid’s eyes searched for something tasty. He passed up a nice ham and cheese sandwich, a bag of Doritos and a package of Oreos. Suddenly he froze. On the next table was a container of french fries, covered with ketchup. Sid’s mouth watered as he stared. He never had enough money to buy fries. This would be a treat.

Sid made sure no one had noticed him. Then, crouching low, he studied the tangle of legs under the table. Seeing a sandal, he carefully rolled his orange at the bare ankle. A girl yelped when the orange struck.

Everyone hunched under the table to see what happened, and the french fries walked away.

Sid sat at the far end of the lunchroom, enjoying his meal. It was a fair trade he figured—a nice orange for a few fries. The owner had nothing to complain about. Sid waved to Mr. Burdock on the other side of the room.

Inside Out

Sid hurried back to class after lunch. He had to be the first to get there. Once inside the room, he noticed Mr. Burdock already at his desk. Sid nodded in the teacher’s direction, then pretended to look for something. Checking behind the door, he found the marker.

Someone lost a yellow marker, he told himself. Oh, well, finders keepers.

Scurrying back to his desk, Sid opened the lid and found his pencil case. Pulling on the zipper, he closed his eyes. He loved that noise. The case overflowed with pencils, pens, erasers, 6-inch rulers, markers and two calculators. Pushing his new marker inside, Sid grinned. He had three yellow ones now, probably more than anyone at school. He zipped the case closed.

"You find what you were looking for?"

Dropping his pencil case, Sid spun around to see Mr. Burdock standing behind him. The desk banged shut.

"Uh, I lost a yellow marker, but it was behind the door."

"Must have fallen off your desk, then gotten kicked."

Sid stared at his teacher and swallowed. "Yeah."

"You enjoy your fries? They sure looked good."

Sid turned back to his desk.

"Can I see what’s inside?"

"Inside what?" Sid heard himself speak but didn’t recognize the voice.

"Your desk."

Sid opened the lid as if he were a robot. His teacher found the pencil case. Sid listened to the zipper as it opened. What an ugly sound, he thought.

"Five rulers and two calculators? Isn’t that a bit much?"

Sid nodded.

"You buy these yourself or get them some other way?"

Sid wasn’t about to add another lie to his list of crimes. "I got them some other way."

"I think we’ve got a phone call to make, Sid. Come with me."

Honest Effort

The walk to the office took forever. The whole way there, Sid could think of nothing but the Bible verse he’d memorized two weeks earlier, "You may be sure that your sin will find you out."

His pencil case had come to mind when he learned those words, but Sid had pushed away the thought. Mom and I are poor, he had told himself. The rich kids in school can afford everything.

At least that’s how he’d figured it at the time.

Now the verse wouldn’t be pushed away. Sid could even remember the reference: Numbers 32:23. Sid was in big trouble now. Worse still, his mother was about to be really hurt by this phone call. Sid shook his head in shame.

Another thought came to him, What about Zacchaeus? Do what Zacchaeus did.

The thought was crystal clear, but Sid wasn’t sure from where it came. Was God talking to him?

Sid followed his teacher into the office.

"What’s your phone number?"

"There’s no one home right now," Sid answered. "My mom’s at work."

"Do you know her work number?"

Sid stared at his teacher. There had to be a better way. Do what Zacchaeus did.

"You’re not going to tell me, are you?" Mr. Burdock’s eyes could burn holes through a textbook. "I’ll look it up in your file."

Payback Time

Suddenly, as a large filing cabinet squeaked, Sid understood.

"Mr. Burdock," Sid’s words tripped over themselves in their rush to get out. "My mother will die if you tell her on the phone. I’d like to tell her myself. And I think I’ve got a better way to make things right." Sid stopped, waiting for his teacher’s reaction.

"I’m listening."

Sid swallowed and continued. "I can remember everyone I’ve ever stolen from. I’d be glad to go around and give them their stuff back with an apology."

Sid took a deep breath. "After that, I’d like to pay each person four times the cost of what I’ve stolen from them, just like Zacchaeus. It’ll take me a few Saturdays of cutting grass to save up, but I can do it. It would help me never want to steal again." Sid held his eyes wide, hoping he made sense.

"What about the french fries?"

Sid blinked, his mind racing. "I . . . I can’t remember all those people." He hung his head, fighting tears. "But I’d be willing to save enough money to buy everyone a free lunch one day. I could stand on a chair and apologize to the whole school. What do you think?" Sid wiped his face and looked up.

Mr. Burdock smiled.

"Four times the cost sounds a bit steep to me," he began. "And lunch for everyone in the school would be a mountain of grass to cut. Let’s just return all the stuff from your pencil case with an apology. Then in three weeks you can give each of your victims a dollar to remind yourself not to steal."

Sid’s teacher closed the filing cabinet. "And try a little harder to remember those you stole food from. You can apologize and pay back each one as you do."

Sid had a lot of apologies to make, but that was okay. Life as a thief had been lonely. He needed to concentrate on making friends, even if they were rich.

Sid and Mr. Burdock walked back to the classroom.

"Who is Zacchaeus, anyway?" Mr. Burdock asked.

	Q: What kind of animal has the most fleas? A: A flea-line. Carly R.,12, Ohio Clubhouse Jr. Click here to subscribe