CHAPTER 2 — THE ARGUMENT

“Tammy! Tommy! Breakfast is ready!” called Grandma from the kitchen.
“Hey! That’s my shirt you're wearing!” cried Tommy, as he looked up from combing his hopelessly messy hair. Tammy, almost a mirror image of her brother, was dressed in worn jeans, dirty sneakers, and an old faded plaid shirt.
“It is not!” she yelled. “It’s my shirt!”
“It’s mine!” hollered Tommy. “In fact, I’ve been looking for it all morning, so give it to me.”
He lunged for her, but she sidestepped him.
“If you want it, you’ll have to come and get it,” she taunted him in a sing-song voice, then she slipped out the door and ran down the hall.
“Hey!” Tommy shouted, in hot pursuit. “Give me back my shirt!” he called.
“Grandma, make her give me back my shirt,” he demanded a moment later as they both hurtled into the kitchen.
“It’s not his shirt,” Tammy insisted. “I found it under the bed.”
“You did not. You took it out of my drawer. It isn’t even wrinkled.”
“All right, you two,” Grandma said sternly, planting her hands on her hips. “I know you’re upset because you can’t go to the zoo or the ball game, but that’s no reason to act like a couple of hooligans. Now apologize to each other and sit down and eat your breakfast.”
“But, Grandma. . .”
“No ‘buts,’ Tommy. I don't want to hear another word from either of you.”
The twins glared at one another as Grandma reached into the refrigerator and plunked a carton of milk down on the table. Then, muttering half-hearted apologies, they slid into their chairs and began eating their cereal.
“There, now,” Grandma said cheerfully after a few minutes of silence. “Isn’t that better than fighting?” She folded her hands and looked from one twin to the other.
“Well? Have you two decided how you’re going to split up the chores?” she asked.
“I’ll tie up the newspapers,” Tommy offered. “Tammy can clean up the living room.”
“Oh, sure,” Tammy cried sharply. “Just because I’m a girl, I have to be the one to clean up. You get to sit around and read the funnies.”
“That’s not true.”
“That’s enough, both of you,” Grandma said with a grimace on her face. Then she reached into her purse and pulled out a coin. “This is the last argument I’m going to settle today. You call it this time, Tommy — heads or tails.”
“Tails,” Tommy said eagerly, “if it’s tails, I get to choose.”
Grandma flipped the coin and showed it to the children. Tommy jumped up, smiling broadly. Tammy stuck her tongue out at him, but too late for him to see it. He was already out the door.
Tying all the newspapers turned out to be a hot, dirty job, and by the time Tommy had finished the last bundle, Tammy had been through with her task for several minutes. She was sitting on the living room couch watching TV when he came in and plopped down beside her, then got up again.
Tommy stood at the window for a long time, watching the rain form a small river in the gutter. He smiled as Carl Terwilliger’s Irish setter, Red, loped past, dripping wet. Then he turned to Tammy, sighed, and said, “Play you a game of checkers.”
Tammy shrugged her shoulders. “OK.”
A half hour later, Tommy wished he’d never thought of checkers. Tammy was ahead and she took forever to make each move. Bored, Tommy rocked back and forth in his chair, trying to balance it on its back legs.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Tammy, will you hurry up?" he demanded for what seemed like the hundredth time. “You don’t have to take. . . Oh!”
He never finished his sentence. He had leaned back too far and the chair toppled over backwards. His feet caught the edge of the table and sent checkers flying all over the room. The chair landed with a crash and Tommy gave a loud yelp of pain.
“Hey!” Tammy cried as she jumped up. “You did that on purpose!”
“I did not!”
“Yes, you did, Tommy! I was winning, and you messed it up so I wouldn’t win again.”
“That’s not true!” Tommy denied hotly, rubbing his throbbing elbow.
“Oh, yes it is. I know your tricks!” Tammy shouted angrily.
At that moment Grandma entered and took in the situation at a glance. Without a word she grabbed each twin by the shoulder and marched them firmly down the hall. The twins said nothing. They knew better than to argue with Grandma when she was in that kind of mood.
She propelled Tommy into her bedroom and sat him down forcibly on the edge of the bed. “Now, you stay right here until I get back from the grocery store, is that clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Tommy, “but couldn’t I help you at the store?” he asked in a subdued voice.
“I’m not going to take one of you and leave the other behind. Neither of you deserves to do anything that’s the least bit fun,” she replied.
She turned to Tammy and said firmly, “And the same goes for you, young lady,” as she marched Tammy into the twins’ bedroom. “You stay in here. And you keep away from each other, do you hear?”
“Yes, Grandma,” said Tammy meekly.
Grandma nodded in satisfaction and started down the hall. “Don’t you two even talk to one another while I’m gone,” she ordered as she picked up her purse and opened the front door. “I want you to think about the way you’ve been acting today. We’ll discuss it when I get back.”
Left alone, Tommy looked around Grandma’s small, neat bedroom. “Rats!” he grumbled aloud. “It’s not fair. Why do I have to be punished? Tammy started it.”
“This is worse than being in jail,” Tammy thought, moving over to stare out the rain-streaked window. “It’s Tommy’s fault. Why did he have to be so mean today? I didn’t want to fight with him, but he made me. I didn’t have any other choice.”

Chapter 2 — THE BIG IDEA

For Chapter 2 the Big Idea is: Each choice is like money. It can be spent in many ways.

Pretend you’re in a situation like the one that faced Tommy when he looked out the window watching the rain — he asked Tammy to play checkers with him, but as you know, that didn’t turn out well. As a Brainstorming Activity, make a list of five or six other things Tommy could have done — ways he could have “spent” his choices.

Think about this idea and figure out how you can use it to make your life better.

If you want to explore these ideas further, on your own or with others, you can order the print form of In the Land of Choice, and the second novel in the series, The Magic of Choice, by using the ORDER LINK below.

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