The group requested a meeting with the owner and a clear statement of proposed changes.
The negotiations lasted six weeks.
Several tenants chose to move with improved relocation payments.
Others negotiated repairs and renewed leases.
Mrs. Alvarez remained in her apartment.
She celebrated by baking a small lemon cake and leaving two slices outside Jonah’s door.
He asked whether he could tell Arthur what had happened.
She said he could tell him that people were capable of helping themselves when they had good information.
Jonah delivered the message exactly.
Arthur listened and did not ask for the tenants’ names.
Chapter Seventeen: The School Board Meeting
Lucy came home with a notice announcing that her school’s after-school science club might be canceled.
The program depended on a temporary grant that had expired.
Jonah assumed Arthur could fund it with one phone call.
Lucy reminded him that the librarian had once told them to ask what was needed before offering anything.
They attended the school board meeting together.
The room was crowded with parents, teachers, and students carrying handmade posters.
A science teacher explained that the club served children whose families could not afford private programs.
A board member said the district had several urgent needs and limited discretionary money.
Jonah listened to both sides.
He was surprised to hear that the program also needed transportation, trained supervision, and secure storage for equipment.
Money alone would not solve those problems.
Lucy signed up to speak.
She was nervous enough to crumple her prepared notes.
When her turn came, she said the club had given her a place to ask questions without feeling foolish.
She explained how she had built her model of Saturn after three failed attempts.
She said children should not have to be good at something before they were allowed to learn it.
The room fell quiet.
After the meeting, a local engineering society offered volunteer instructors.
A bus company proposed a discounted afternoon route.
Arthur’s charitable trust agreed to consider a funding request submitted through the district rather than through Jonah.
The board approved a one-year pilot with a review scheduled before renewal.
Lucy asked whether that meant the club was saved forever.
Jonah said it meant the adults had made a promise they would have to keep checking.
She said that sounded less exciting than a rescue.
He agreed.
Then he told her that some of the most important things in life were less exciting than they deserved to be.
