The Letter - Chapter 27

My brother-in-law pressed the doorbell as he, Jeff and I stood on their front porch.

“Hurry up, Marnie!  We’re freezing out here.”  Bill started fumbling with his keys when Marnie opened the door.

“Come in you three.  It’s gotten colder.  How did the game go?”

“We won 78 to 65,” Jeff said pulling off his gloves and taking off his down jacket.

“Jeff had 15 points,” I said.

“Seventeen,” Jeff and his dad said simultaneously.  We hung up our coats and took off our shoes.

“Hot chocolate, anyone?” Marnie asked.  We all quickly agreed to her suggestion.  “Jeff, go upstairs and get your aunt’s slippers for her,” Marnie said.

Jeff ran upstairs and Bill followed Marnie and me into the kitchen.  Marnie filled the electric kettle with water and hit the on switch.

“So, Ellie.  I can’t say I expected you to be home this early.  What happened to coffee with George Leskovic?” Marnie asked as she pulled down a canister with pouches of hot chocolate mix.

“I’m going to check to see if the Penguin game is still on,” Bill said rubbing his hands together to warm up.  “Give me a holler when the hot chocolate is ready.”  He left the kitchen and headed toward the family room.

“Well, Marnie.  That’s a good question,” I answered.  As far as I know, he was a no-show.”

“Really? Do you think he got your letter?”

“I sent it over a week and a half ago.  He should have gotten it last Friday or Saturday.  That should have been plenty of time for him to let me know one way or the other.  I feel like a dog barking up the wrong tree.”

“Oh, Ellie.  I feel bad for you.” 

Jeff came into the kitchen with my slippers.  “The hockey game is still on.  I’m going in to watch it with Dad.  Pens are up 3 to 2.”

“The hot chocolate will be ready in a few minutes.  I’ll call you when it’s ready.”  Marnie poured the hot water into the four cups into which she already had poured the chocolate powder.  She stirred the mix.  “Ellie, I have some of those small marshmallows in the cabinet next to the sink.  Could you get them out please?”  She paused as she stirred.  “You know, Ellie.  This puzzles me.  Jeff says he met George’s daughter at the game last week.  She goes to another area high school.  She was there specifically to find out who had written that letter to her father.  You know the one you forgot to sign.”

“Really?  Maybe once he found out who I was, he decided he didn’t want anything to do with me.”

“Anything’s possible, I guess.  It just doesn’t sound right to me.”  Marnie walked over to the kitchen doorway. “Jeff!  The hot chocolate’s ready.  Come and get it!”

Jeff ran into the kitchen and grabbed two of the mugs.  “Game’s almost over.  Still 3-2.”  He walked back towards the family room.

“Score!” we heard Bill yell, signaling another Pittsburgh Penguin goal. 

“Call us when it’s over,” Marnie called. “We want to watch the local news.”

We sipped our hot chocolate in silence, neither of us knowing what to say.  Finally, I turned to Marnie and forced a smile.

“I’m still glad I came.  I mean, who is George Leskovic anyway, that I should let him put a damper on my visit with you?”

Jeff let out a whoop from the family room.  “Game’s over Mom!”  He came back into the kitchen.  “Pens won 4-2. The TV is all yours.”

“Thanks, Jeff.  Are you going to bed?”

“Mom, tomorrow’s Saturday.  I can sleep in.  Right now, between my game and watching the Penguins game, I’m too jazzed up to go to sleep.  I’m going up to my room to play some video games.”

“Okay.  Don’t stay up too late.”  I followed Marnie into the family room where Jeff had switched to one of the local news programs.

“You ladies won’t mind if I watch the news with you?”

“Of course not,” I said.  “We’re happy for the extra company.”

We watched as the anchorwoman introduced the next news story.

“Earlier this evening, a vigil against gun violence itself turned violent as counter protesters attempted to get their message heard.  Reporting from the scene is Andy Stottlemeyer.”

“Thank you, Gloria.  Around 7:00 this evening, approximately 500 area citizens gathered outside the City County Building with candles and signs urging government officials to take steps to keep the community safe from gun violence.  I interviewed one of the vigil participants.

Sir, what brings you downtown on a cold, February evening?

We’re here to demonstrate that there is strong support in the community for reasonable regulations that could prevent the kind of violence we saw last week . . .”

“My God, it’s George Leskovic!  On television!”  Marnie picked up the remote and increased the volume.

I stared at the screen.  “Shh! I want to hear what he says.”

The reporter continued.  “Around 7:30, a small group of counter protesters arrived and within a few minutes, a scuffle began.

“Look.  That thug grabbed George and knocked him down!” I shouted

.

“Several arrests were made.  Fortunately, no shots were fired and no one was hospitalized.  Back to you, Gloria.”

“Thank you, Andy.  Another unfortunate reminder about the divisions in our country.  Next up, Paul Mathews has the Penguin score and all the sports news.” 

The news program cut to commercials.

“Can you believe it?” said Marnie.  At least we now know where George Leskovic was this evening.”

“That George is some guy,” Bill grinned.  Did you see him land a haymaker on the lout that knocked him down?”

“I hope he didn’t get arrested,” I said.  “Well, I may never know if he skipped my invitation on purpose, but if he did, at least it was for a good cause.”

“So you agree with him and the gun control crowd, Ellie?” Bill asked.

“Don’t bait my sister, Bill,” said Marnie tossing a pillow at her husband.  “You’ve told me many times you think this country needs to get serious about stopping the kind of bloodshed that happened last week in Buffalo.”

“Sorry, Marnie,” Bill grinned sheepishly.  “I was just trying to pull Ellie’s chain after seeing her would-be boyfriend on television.”

Marnie turned to me.  “Let’s leave my jerky husband alone to watch the sports report.  You and I can retire to the living room for a glass of sherry. We can make plans for doing a little shopping and sight-seeing tomorrow.”

“Hey, I’m really sorry, Ellie,” Bill said as the sports report came on.  “Marnie’s right.  I agree with what George is doing.”

“That’s all right, Bill.  I know what a kidder you are.”  I followed Marnie out of the family room trying to decide if seeing George at the vigil made me happier or sadder.