Mother
- It's a ridiculously hot day in May and Billy has a problem: Ms. Silver wants to put on an end-of-the-year show for all of the Room 2 students, and she wants each student to write a poem about a family member for it.
- Billy is a bit on edge because poetry isn't exactly his favorite, but things get even tougher. Since Billy has to choose only one family member, he has no idea how to pick between Mama, Papa, and Sal. Sure, Papa makes the choice a little easier by pointing out that Sal is a bit too young to be on stage with a microphone, but that still leaves two.
- Eventually Billy has a winner and it's… Mama. He figures she'll really like it because she's a poetry teacher and she doesn't get to spend much time at his school.
- Billy also concocts a plan so that no one has their feelings hurt: He's going to have his parents pick a number from one to ten and then he'll pretend like his number is closest to Mama's. Sounds like a win-win.
- So at dinner he makes his parents pick a number. When Mama picks five, Billy says five was his number, too. She's stoked, and Papa seems pretty happy, too. Crisis averted.