Friday, June 22, 2018

The Letter - Chapter 62


We had just finished dinner when my cell phone rang.  I looked at the screen.  “It’s your Aunt Marnie,” I said to my son.

“You go have a nice conversation with your sister,” Katie’s mother, Janet, said to me.  “You cooked.  I’ll clean up.  And you go keep your wife company,” she said to Jimmy making a motion with her hand for him to leave.

I walked into the family room and answered my phone.  “Hello, Marnie?”

“Yeah, it’s me.  Do you have a minute?”

“Sure.  Janet has things well in hand, and Jimmy is home early this evening.  What’s up?”

“You don’t have access to Pittsburgh TV there, do you?”

“I don’t think so.  Why?”

“You won’t believe what’s happening on the news.”

“Why?  What are you talking about?”

“That rally for gun control at the Senator’s office.  That’s what I’m talking about.  I switched on the six o’clock news and the rally was the lead story.”

“Really?  I spoke to George Leskovic about it yesterday.  He actually called to read me his speech.”

Well your friend George must have some star power, because they showed the crowds on the news and estimated that there are between fifteen and twenty thousand people there.”

“Wow, that’s interesting.  George told me he thought no one would show up.”

“Well, they showed up in big numbers. And a lot of the people there are protesting the rally.  The news report said the police are trying to keep the two groups separated to avoid any trouble.  I can’t believe I let Jeff go down there.”

“Jeff is there?”

“It seems that my son has fallen head over heels for George’s daughter, if you believe it.  She invited him to attend the rally with her.”

“It’s hard to say no to teenage love.  But Jeff has a level head on his shoulders.  He’ll keep the two of them safe.”

“Level head?  Didn’t I tell you that he punched a grownup at the dance he attended with this girl?”

“No, I hadn’t heard that.”

“I suppose he was just trying to rescue his damsel who was in distress at the time.  A story for another day,” said Marnie.

“I’ll look forward to hearing about it the next time I visit with you.”

“Well, that’s all I wanted to tell you.  You might want to watch the eleven o’clock news there.  Maybe there will be some reporting on this rally since Pittsburgh isn’t that far from Cleveland.”

“I will definitely watch it.”

“So will you be able to come visit us during your stay, since you’re just a few hours away?”

“You know I’m here for Katie.  I suppose tomorrow could have worked if I’d planned it better.  But I didn’t know Janet was going to be here until I arrived late Thursday night.”

“You should come tomorrow then.”

“I’m not sure when Janet is leaving.  I’ll think about it.  The weather is good, and I could borrow one of their cars.  We’ll see.”

“Think about it, Ellie.  Maybe you could finally catch up with George.”

“I’ll talk to Jimmy.  If he’s going to be around all day, maybe I could drive down for the afternoon.  I’ll let you know.”

“Okay, Ellie.  See you tomorrow”

“Maybe.  I’ll let you know.  Goodbye for now, Marnie.”  I ended the phone call and turned on the television to watch the local news.   

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