The Seventh Most Important Thing

Arthur settles into his community service work—searching for the important things in good weather and helping Mr. Hampton build otherwise. Spring cleaning means people throw out all sorts of things. Arthur collects stuff from the trash and realizes Roger is useful: “he could fix things” (197). Roger’s skill means Arthur, Squeak, and Barbara get practically new things from someone else’s trash.

The first Saturday in May, Arthur arrives at the garage to find Mr. Hampton sitting outside. Arthur thinks it’s odd that Mr. Hampton is sitting outside on a warm day wearing a sweater and looking cold, but he doesn’t comment. Mr. Hampton sends Arthur to get them each a bottle of soda from the store across the street.

When Arthur returns, Mr. Hampton tells a story from his childhood. His mother said to put empty soda bottles on the end of a tree branch so that all the guilt people have bottled up inside can be set free and run down to the ground. Arthur puts his and Mr. Hampton’s bottles on a nearby bush. Doing so feels silly, but “it kind of helped” (203).

Mr. Hampton asks Arthur for a promise. If anything happens to him, Mr.