The Letter - Chapter 21

Liz was driving her mom’s Prius.  It was dark, but at least the roads were dry with no snow in the forecast.

“The cloverleaf is coming up,” I said to Liz.

“Do I turn on it or after it?”

“After it.  I think.”

“You’re inspiring a lot of confidence in your navigation skills, Jen.”

“We could have used the GPS, you know.”

“I didn’t want to leave any clues for my mom to discover that we were anywhere but at our high school in Bethel Park.”

“I think we’re near Century Three Mall.  OK. Turn there,” I said pointing at the right turn just beyond the cloverleaf.

Liz drove for another couple of miles.  Finally, Thomas Jefferson High School appeared on our right.  Liz parked the car in the crowded lot and we followed the stream of people into the school.  We bought our tickets and went into the gym.  Both teams were out on the court warming up.

“Let’s sit close behind the Jaguars bench,” I suggested.  “I think the cheerleaders sit near the team.  What does your cousin look like?”

“Short brown hair.  Very petite.  I’ll point her out when the cheerleaders go onto the court.”

A buzzer went off and the two teams took their last practice throws before returning to their respective benches.  The visiting cheerleaders went onto the court.

“Who’s TJ playing tonight?” Liz asked.

“West Mifflin.  The Titans.”

“Are they any good?”

“How should I know?  Hey, there go the TJ cheerleaders!  Do you see your cousin?”

“There she is.  Hey, Sandi!” Liz stood up and waved to her cousin.

“Hey, sit down,” a male voice said behind us.  I turned to say something, but Liz hushed me and sat down.  Sandi came over to us.

“Hey, Liz!  What are you doing here?”

“Hi Sandi.  This is my friend Jennifer.  We wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Great!  Let’s meet in the lobby after the game.”  Sandi ran over to sit with her fellow cheerleaders.

We settled into our seats as the game began.  At halftime the Titans led 40-36.  The second half was all Jaguars.  The score was 56-54 when they took the lead. 

“Who’s that tall guy, Liz?”

They’re all tall, Jen.  This is basketball.”

“I mean the one that’s scoring all the points.  He hasn’t missed a shot this half.”

Someone tapped me on the shoulder.  “You mean number 44?  That’s Jeff Radakovic.  Yeah, he’s good.  Leads the team in scoring and rebounds so far this season.”

“Thank you,” I said to the man behind me.

“He also leads the team in cuteness,” Liz whispered in my ear.

“Elizabeth!  Isn’t Mikey enough for you?”

“We’re only going to the semi-formal – not getting married,” Liz laughed.

At the final buzzer, the Jaguars had beaten the Titans 70-62.  Jeff Radakovic had scored 16 points.  We picked up our coats and headed for the lobby.  We saw Sandi make her way through the crowd toward us.

“It’s so good to see you, Liz.  Great game, huh?”

“Yeah, it was a lot of fun.  That Jeff guy was something else.”

“He’s a senior.  I hear he’s also very nice, but I don’t know him very well.”

“Really?”

“Anyway,” I spoke up.  “ Hi, I’m Jennifer Leskovic.  Liz and I are hoping you can help us find some information about one of the players on the team.”

“Well, ok.  But most of the players I know are on the JV squad – freshmen and sophomores. What kind of information are you looking for?”

“It’s a bit of a long story, but one of the players has an aunt that lives in Seattle.  We’re trying to figure out who that is.”

“I’ve got an aunt that lives in Seattle.”

I spun around and found myself staring at a boy’s chest.  I looked up and saw it was Jeff Radakovic, the Jaguars star player.

“Uh, hi.”  I felt a bit star struck before regaining my composure.  “Great game!” I said.

“Thank you.  But did I hear you say you are looking for someone on the team that has an aunt that lives in Seattle?”

“That’s right.  The aunt wrote a letter to my father inviting him to come to a game here.  Apparently, they went to Thomas Jefferson many years ago.  Only when he came to the game, she wasn’t there, and my dad had no way of getting back in touch with her.”

“Well, my aunt was planning to come to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, but her flight got cancelled due to that snowstorm.  So maybe I’m the guy you’re looking for.”

Liz elbowed me in the ribs.

“Hey, wait a second,” Jeff said.  “I know you.  You’re Miss Barrett!”

“The one and the same,” Liz crowed and nudged me again.

“Up the Down Staircase is one of my mom’s favorite plays.  When she heard you guys were doing it at Bethel Park, she bought tickets for the whole family.  You were great!”

“Thank you.  Weren’t you bored to tears?”

“No way.  I love theater.  TJ is doing West Side Story for our spring musical.  I’m planning to audition.”

“Well, if you get a part, I promise to come to see it,” I said.

 

“Cool.  Oh, I see my parents.  Gotta run.”

“Wait.  I need your aunt’s name and address.”

“Oh yeah.  Let’s exchange phone numbers and I’ll text you.  I have to get her contact information from my mom.”  We exchanged numbers, and he started to walk away.

“Name?”

“Jeff.  But I thought you knew that.”  He threaded his way through the crowd toward his parents.

“No, your aunt’s name!” I called after him, but he didn’t hear me as fans pumped his hand and thumped him on the back offering their congratulations for his performance in the game.

“Elizabeth!  What a pleasure!”

“Uh, hi Aunt Sophie.  Um, Aunt Sophie, this is my friend, Jennifer.  Jen, Aunt Sophie is Sandi’s mom.”

I shook hands with Sandi’s mother.  “So very nice to meet you.” 

“What brings you way out here, Elizabeth?  Are your parents with you?”

“No, we’re here by ourselves,” Liz replied.

“Your mom and I are meeting for lunch on Sunday after church.  I’ll let her know we talked.”

I coughed several times.  “Excuse me, but I need to find a water fountain.  Liz, please come with me.”  I coughed a few more times.  “Nice meeting you,” I waved at Sandi and her mom as we walked off in search of a fountain.

“What was that all about?” Liz said when we were out of earshot of her relatives.

“Liz, we are so busted.  I don’t know what you think of your aunt, but I can smell a busybody a mile away.  She’s going to give your mom an earful about us being here when they have lunch on Sunday.”

“She really took me by surprise.  I just wasn’t thinking that I might see her, but of course she would come to give Sandi a ride home.  What do you think I should do?”

“Confess to your parents that we came here, but blame it all on me.  Say you thought we were going to Bethel Park but I forced you to come here.”

“No, I’m just going to tell them the whole truth.  My parents are pretty understanding. I’ll bet they’ll let me off with nothing more than a light scolding when they find out we were trying to track down a potential wife for your dad and stepmom for you.”

We walked to Liz’s car and drove home.  As I climbed into bed, my phone chirped.  Jeff had texted me the information I had asked him for.

End of Part 1