The Seventh Most Important Thing

At Friday night dinner, Arthur asks his mom and Roger about the $50 for renting the garage. They balk at the price and ask if the art can be moved to somewhere that doesn’t cost so much. Arthur gets frustrated that no one understands what Mr. Hampton was doing. He blurts that someone will probably “go and throw it out” without knowing or caring what it is (224). Arthur’s mom gets a hurt look and leaves.

Arthur finds his mom crying upstairs. He apologizes, telling her he “wasn’t talking about you throwing out Dad’s things” (225). He explains how important saving Mr. Hampton’s art is. Arthur’s mom gives him his birthday present of $20 early.

Between Arthur’s birthday money and $30 from Squeak, Arthur pays the rest of the back rent on the garage, but he still doesn’t know what to do when May ends. Arthur mouths off to one of his teachers, who sends him to Vice’s office. There, Arthur sees a coffee can the school band is using to collect donations for new uniforms. Arthur realizes he can do something similar to raise money to pay for the garage. One of the secretaries sees Arthur eyeing the can and takes it away, telling him not to get any ideas.