The Letter - Chapter 19

I climbed onto the crowded school bus and looked for Liz.

“Hey, Jennifer.  Over here!  I’ve saved you a seat.

“Hey, Jennifer,” a male voice said.  “I’ve saved you a seat.  Right on my lap!”

“Get a life, Terry.  You’re such a jerk.”  Terry Morrison and his friends erupted in raucous laughter. 

“You can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“Well, try a little harder – to be a gentleman,” I said as I sat down beside Liz.

Terry stood up, turned toward me and bowed.  “Yes, m’lady.  So sorry to have offended you,” he affected an English accent.  He and his friends laughed again.

I resisted the temptation to say anything more.  I turned to Liz, ignoring Terry and his friends.  “So how was your day, Liz?”

She gave the boys a look that would wilt lettuce.

“Just ignore them,” I said.

“Just ignore them,” Terry mocked me to more laughter.

The bus pulled out and my fan club finally settled down to play video games on their phones.  Liz sighed and shook her head.

“Do you have much homework tonight?” I asked.

“Yes.  I’ve got a bunch in physics and calculus and I’m not doing well in either subject.  What about you?”

“The same.  I guess we’ll have to skip our detective work for tonight.”

Yes, though I’d rather be working on that than on trying to understand wave theory.”

“Well, my dad will be happy to have me home for dinner two nights in a row.”

“Oh, Jennifer.  After you left the other night, I remembered that I have a cousin that goes to TJ.  She’s only a sophomore, but I’m pretty sure she’s on the cheerleading squad.”

“Really?  Do you think she could help us?”

“Maybe.  I don’t know her that well.  I only see her when there’s some big family event like a wedding or a funeral.  And then there’s usually so much going on that we don’t get much beyond hello and goodbye.”

“But if she’s a cheerleader, she probably knows the boys on the basketball team.”

“Do we know whether the mystery woman’s nephew is a senior, junior or underclassman?” 

“Not really.  She said she was coming to watch him play.  I got the impression that he is pretty good, but that could just be me making an assumption.”  I looked out the window.  Snow was still piled high along the sides of the road.  The sun had set and the street lights had started to come on.  “Maybe you could call her, but I’d prefer if you and I could talk to her face-to-face.  Is there any chance that your dad or mom would let you borrow their car so we could visit with her?”

“I don’t know,” said Liz.  “It would all seem pretty strange for me to be driving over to visit with my cousin Sandi.  Like I said, we hardly know each other.  I’d be hard pressed to explain why all of a sudden I want to get together with her.  What about you?  Do you think you could borrow your dad’s car?” 

“No way.  I only got my license like six months ago.  He lets me drive to the grocery store which is only a mile or so from our house.  But when there’s snow on the ground, I may as well not bother to ask.”  I thought for a second.  “Hey Liz, I’ve got an idea.  Would they let you take the car to the basketball game?”

“Why would we want to go to the basketball game?  Neither of us are big sports fans.  I don’t think either of us has gone to a game our entire high school career.”

“Not the Bethel Park basketball game – the basketball game at TJ. We could talk to your cousin, and who knows?  We could get lucky and actually meet the mystery lady’s nephew.”

“I don’t know if my parents would let us take the car to Thomas Jefferson.”

“Just tell them we’d like to go to the basketball game.  If they assume we’re going to our high school game, so what?  We’ll text someone we know is going to our game to get the score, but we’ll really be doing our detective work a few miles away.”

The bus made its first stop.  Terry and some of his friends got up.  “Bye Jennifer, Bye Lizzie.  See you tomorrow!”  They waved at us as they exited the bus. 

“I hope this woman’s nephew has more class than those juveniles,” I said to Liz. 

“For sure.  Now I just need to figure out how to get my cousin’s cell number and my parents to loan me their car without raising their suspicions.”

“Yeesh.  I’m supposed to be the detective, yet I’m expecting you to do all the hard work, Liz.”

“Don’t worry.  I can handle these minor details, no problem.”  Liz pulled her knit cap over her bushy brown hair and her mittens over her hands.  “My stop is coming up.”

“I should get off with you.  Mine’s the one after, but I can walk you home from the bus stop.  We can plan this out more.  It’s not too far of a walk from your place to mine.”

“Yes, but it really is bitter cold out there today.  Stay on the bus.  We’ve got to think this through a bit.  Call me later and we can talk then.”

“As usual, you’re right Elizabeth”.  The bus came to a stop and Liz walked toward the door.  “Talk to you later, Liz!”  I waved goodbye to my best friend.

“Give me a call around nine o’clock,” she shouted as she walked off the bus.  I waved at her through the window as the bus continued toward my stop.