I walked in the back door and Faith followed me in.

"Hi, girls," my dad said with a smile. "How was your day?"

"Great!" I said with a grin.

"Tell me about it," he asked.

"Coach Kris had me run intervals with Becky and Maura," I said. "I stayed with Maura the whole way!"

"All right!" my dad said and he smiled. "I want you to call your mother and tell her about it. She's very proud of the way you've been working. We both are."

It felt good hearing him say nice things about my mother. I picked up the phone and called her. She answered and I told her all about it. She promised me she'd be at the soccer game the next day. "Keep doing your best, honey. We're so proud of you!"

I smiled and she said good-bye. I was so glad to hear happiness in her voice and see it on my dad's face. After dinner, he gave me an extra piece of pie for dessert.

"That's for holding your own today," he said. "You deserve it."

"What about us?" Faith said with a smile.

"You can scrape what's left out of the dish," he joked.

I smiled and laughed with Gabe and Faith at the table. Then I cut my piece of pie into three pieces and shared it with them. Things were still awkward without Mom around, but I tried to keep thinking of my bright moment that day. I stood up to bring my dishes to the sink and froze in pain.

"Ow!" I said aloud.

"What's wrong, Angel?" Gabe asked.

"Nothin,'" I said nervously. I slid back down in my chair, which took the pressure off of my sore feet.

"It's your feet, isn't it?" my dad asked. "That's it. I'm taking you to the doctor."

"No," I said. "Coach Kris said she was going to call and talk to you about my feet first. Wait until you talk to her."

"Fine," my father said. "Maybe she can recommend a doctor."

I cautiously moved about the kitchen in slow, calculated steps. I went off to my bedroom and started doing some homework. But I couldn't concentrate. Why won't this pain go away? I turned to my sister.

"What would you do?" I asked.

"About what?" she said.

"If your feet hurt like mine, would you go to the doctor?"

"Yeah," she said.

"But what if you hurt yourself right before states?" I asked. "Would you still go?"

"Yes," she said.

"Oh, come on," I said. "You're lying."

"I know it's not that easy," she said softly. "But don't hurt yourself, Angel. You have all of us worried."

"Soccer ends this week," I said. "Maybe it won't hurt as much next week."

"Just be careful," Faith said.

When Faith and I started getting ready for bed, the pain continued to throb in my feet. I decided that I couldn't take it anymore. When Faith stepped into the bathroom, I snuck into the kitchen. I looked in the cupboard under the sink and found a sack of potatoes. I took out three and stuffed them in the deep pockets of my robe.

"What are you doing?" Gabe asked.

I jumped and then whirled around. Gabe stood clinging his teddy bear in the dark.

"Nothin'," I said.

"Then what are those potatoes for?" he said.

"I need them for a school project," I said.

"You do?" he said.

"Yeah," I said.

"That's weird," he added.

"You'd better get to bed before Dad catches you up," I said.

I walked him into his room, tucked him in and gave him a kiss on the forehead. I then snuck back in the kitchen and grabbed a knife and some adhesive tape. With the light out in our room, I knew Faith was done in the bathroom. I turned on the bathroom light and shut the door. I put down the toilet seat cover and sat on it. I cut each potato and stacked the slices into a neat pile. I wrapped up the scraps and stuffed them in a plastic bag. Then I taped the smelly potatoes to the bottoms of my feet, just like Wil told me. I grabbed a pair of dirty socks from the laundry room and slid them over my padded feet. I quietly opened the bathroom door, flicked off the light and tip-toed into my bedroom. The wet, hard potatoes slid around in my socks.

I lay in my bed that night and said a prayer. I considered asking God for a special hand in healing my feet. But when I thought of all the sick and starving people in the world, I prayed for them instead.