Wind in his sails

As they pulled his new bedsheets out of the plastic packaging, Andrew Curley stopped what he was doing and looked up at Thom Peck.

“Why are there two sheets?” Curley asked.

Peck realized then what the 17-year-old homeless child that he and his girlfriend, Steph Irvine, had brought into their home was coming from: nothing.

“When I lived with my friends, I never had a bed,” Curley said. “I was always on the ground or the couch.”

Last February, Curley was another kid lost in the system. He was at his third different school in as many years, sleeping on a friend’s grandmother’s couch and having regular trouble with the law.

A year later, he’s playing a key role off the bench for Polson’s basketball team, and graduating high school is a reality. He’s on track to do so next year.

In his own words, he’s living his dream.

…

Curley, originally from Lame Deer on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in southeastern Montana, lost his mother to leukemia in 2006. He doesn’t know who his biological father is.

After his mother’s passing, he lived with her boyfriend—the man he calls his dad—who later married. By the time Curley reached high school, the two were butting heads.

“I kept getting in trouble at school, and it kind of reflected back to home,” Curley said. “I wasn’t listening. I wasn’t respecting my dad or his wife or my brother and sister.”

So Curley moved in with his grandma and aunt in Helena. That didn’t work out, and he moved in with his aunt, Phyllis, in St. Ignatius.

“I was going to Mission school, and I was doing pretty good for awhile until I started hanging out with the wrong crowd,” he explained. “They started talking me into doing bad things like drinking. I got kind of addicted to it and we started doing it more and more, like every weekend.”

Curley tried out for the Mission basketball team, but he didn’t have the grades. Soon he got kicked out of school and began going to Two Eagle River in Pablo.

“I went to Two Eagle and started making more friends and getting into trouble way more,” he said.

Curley didn’t have the best support system, either. His aunt had drug problems of her own, and she soon decided that they were moving back to Helena.

A friend invited Curley to stay with him so he wouldn’t have to leave his new home, but he broke some rules and soon wasn’t allowed to stay there, either.

Curley floated around the Mission Valley, crashing with friends and frequently getting booted for breaking rules and, on a few circumstances, the law.

“I had a bunch of friends, and we were all just completely wild,” Curley said. “We thought we could do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. I really liked it for awhile until I started overdoing it.”

He transferred to Ronan and was expelled fairly soon after, sending him back to Two Eagle River. He served multiple stints in the juvenile detention center.

On Feb. 18, Curley was arrested on an alcohol violation and appeared in tribal court the next day. His friend’s grandmother told the judge that she couldn’t handle him anymore. The judge sent Curley back to school, telling him they’d have a placement for him by the end of the school day.

Curley remembers the walk to school like a bad dream.

“I didn’t feel like I was someone,” he said. “…I just felt really lonely. I went back to school and didn’t talk to anybody. I didn’t say a word the rest of the day.”

…

Irvine, a tribal prosecutor, was in the courtroom that day.

She knew who Curley was from his run-ins with the law, but she also knew the type of person he could be.

“I saw him in front of the entire student body at a [Ronan] football game,” she said. “He was dressed up with funny sunglasses, and he was leading cheers and getting the kids all excited. … I told him, ‘That’s the kid you need to be, not the kid who’s here in court.’

“The look on his face when he left court that day made that one of the saddest days of my life,” Irvine said. “…I called Thom and asked if he could live with us. We thought there was absolutely no reason we couldn’t give a kid a place to live.”

So Irvine came to Two Eagle River at the end of the school day to tell Curley that he could stay with them.

“At first I was thinking this was going to be super scary,” Curley said. “I thought I was going to be watched all the time and I didn’t like it.”

But that’s not the approach Irvine and Peck took. They hadn’t had Curley a month when they took him to Las Vegas with them for the West Coast Conference basketball tournament. Curley had never been on a plane.

“That’s one thing that really warms my heart,” he said. “I didn’t think anybody would do that for me.”

Never having been to a college basketball game, Curley didn’t know there were reserved seats. He wandered down to the seats behind the team benches and asked if he could sit.

“I thought the whole thing was like a high school basketball, so I walked down and this guy had a seat wide open by him,” he said. The game was on ESPN, and Curley soon had friends calling him to tell him they could see him on TV.

…

Curley finished out last school year at Two Eagle River, but he decided to transfer to Polson after summer vacation.

The transition to Polson wasn’t easy, Curley admitted, but he’s got the hang of it enough to be eligible to play basketball, something he’d never had the chance to do.

“My dream has always been playing on this court,” he said. “Last year, I used to watch Polson quite a bit. I used to dream about playing on this court, and here I am.”

Polson coach Brad Pluff said Curley has picked things up surprisingly fast.

“He’s never had to play with any discipline or any structure,” Pluff said. “He still struggles with it every now and then, but he’s come a long, long way.”

Pluff also appreciates the junior’s level head and leadership. He said Curley never gets too high or too low on the court, and that’s an asset that you can’t coach.

“He’s got a little bit of perspective on a bad shooting night than your average high school kid,” Pluff mused. “There’s no doubt that the bigger picture is in his head.”

Curley’s said it himself.

“I always thought it happened for a reason,” he said. “If I’d never got in trouble or anything, I wouldn’t be where I am now, and I wouldn’t be playing with the Polson Pirates.”

…

With one dream achieved, Curley’s turned his attention to another: graduating.

“My number one goal was to play on this court. I’ve kind of thought about it, and my number one goal now is to graduate,” he said. “I want to go to college. I want to have a life.

“I decided to come to Polson because I need a better education and I want to be a role model for all my friends,” he added. “I want them to look up to me.”

Irvine said Curley is setting the example for more people than he knows, including her son Braden, who has gained a big brother. Braden and his cousins have all switched to Curley’s No. 24 for their own basketball jerseys.

“You can see it through my family, my friends,” Irvine said. “Everybody in this Polson community loves him.”

It’s not just kids he’s inspired, said Peck, the Charlo School District superintendent.

“He’s given us way more than we’ve given him,” Peck proclaimed. “He talks about inspiring. When you learn about his past and what he’s seen, what he’s gone through, what he’s experienced. … Whether he knows it or not, he’s inspired us way more than we could ever inspire him.”

Curley said it’s just about realizing his potential.

“I have a really warm heart,” he said. “…It was ice cold for a really long time. But since I’ve been with these guys [Irvine and Peck], it’s been on fire. I’ve gotten a lot more opportunities. Everything’s been working out.

“I just want to inspire people. That’s all.”