Tears of a Tiger Chapter 7 Summary

"Hey, Coach! Can We Talk?"

  • Andy and Coach Ripley catch up on Andy's first day back at school; it's been rough for him what with dealing with all his emotions and guilt.
  • His coach tells him not to sweat it, though, assuring him that feeling ups and downs is a huge part of recovering from a trauma like this.
  • Coach Ripley asks Andy about how he met Robbie.
  • The guys go way back. Andy first saw Robbie combing his hair with a fancy pick and mocked it, so Robbie punched him, and they've been best friends ever since.
  • The guys are close with Tyrone and B.J., too, even though B.J.'s never made the basketball team (despite trying out every single year).
  • Andy tells Coach that B.J.'s the one with the real courage—it was his idea to jump on the hood and try to save Robbie.
  • Coach Ripley points out that Andy did everything he could and helped the other boys. There's nothing he could have done to save Robbie.
  • Even though Andy's heard this before, he still feels majorly guilty. They shouldn't have been drinking—they knew better—but somehow, they didn't think it would cause an accident for them.
  • We learn what's happened in the two weeks since the accident: Andy was charged with DUI (a.k.a. driving under the influence) and vehicular manslaughter.
  • The judge went easy on him, though, because of his age, so while his license got suspended until he turns twenty-one and he has to take a drinking and driving class, he won't go to jail or anything.
  • A bunch of Andy's classmates and the coach came out to support him the night of the verdict.
  • This meant a lot of Andy, but he's still not sure the sentence is fair. He thinks it's too easy. Why should he get off when his best friend died?
  • Coach Ripley points out that the judge knows Andy is suffering and gave a sentence he thought was fair.
  • The doc cleared Andy to play b-ball again, but the coach wants to know if he's ready.
  • They agree that Robbie would have wanted them to play the game, so Andy says he'll be at practice tomorrow.