The Freak - S01 E07

2 months ago

The Freak - S01 E07

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 7

breakfast although she did laugh when told her was going to play basketball this afternoon.

"Don't you get enough of that during the week?"

"No, I usually play seven days a week. The gym is open for recreation Saturday and Sunday from two to four. All the guys on the team go to play and so do a lot of others. Some of the games are really intense, but we do look at the big picture-winning another state championship-so we try to make sure that nobody gets hurt. Mostly, it's a lot of fun."

"It's hard for me to relate. We don't have anything like that at my school."

"I'm not knocking private schools, but there are a lot of things that we have that you don't. For one thing, all of our teachers have to be certified by the state. I don't know about a high school, but do know that there are teachers in some parochial elementary schools who have never even attended college, let alone leamed how to teach. On the other hand, I've had a few teachers who I think would be better off selling Insurance than teaching. Of course, you have God and religion which we're not supposed to have and you don't have the distraction of kids making out in the hallways-at least hope not-and hope you don't have to worry about your students getting pregnant like two of my classmates did this year. I guess that every school has its pros and cons."

"You're probably right. I know that there are things I love and things I can't stand about my school although you'd be wrong about the pregnancies. We weren't told anything, but one of my classmates just stopped coming to school even though we knew that the family didn't move. When do you play again?"

"Tuesday afternoon, we usually play every Tuesday and Friday unless there's a holiday. I'll phone you Tuesday night, okay? But you have to tell me if you have homework. I don't want to mess up school for you."

I promise that I'll tell you, but I usually read on the bus so I get a lot of my work done before dinner." I found it amazing that Barbara and I could speak so easily to each other and that we were so comfortable in each other's presence. I checked my watch and saw that we had plenty of time. The only question was-did we want to spend it in the diner or in my car. Barbara solved that

question for me by standing. I paid and a minute later we were in

my car, but where to go? Then I had the answer.

My dad owned a plumbing and heating business in Mount Vernon only a few minutes from the diner. The street was strictly commercial-a Monday to Friday kind of place so I doubted there would be anyone there on a Sunday. Five minutes later I pulled up in front of French Plumbing and Heating, Inc. The street was deserted. In those days the only stores open on Sunday were delis and, thanks to Blue Laws, there was no beer sold before 1:00p.m. Barbara took the hint and pulled my mouth to hers as soon as I had turned the car off. We spent the next forty minutes swapping spit and dueling tongues. I couldn't speak for Barbara, but I was actually thinking of skipping basketball and I might have had Barbara not mentioned that she had a report she needed to finish. I sighed, gave her a quick peck and drove her back to Pelham.

I phoned her as promised Tuesday evening. "HI, Jack, did you win? How many points did you score?" That was how she began our conversation.

"We did win, and quite easily. I had twenty-two."

"What happened? I thought you'd score more than that."

"It was payback time. Friday night my teammates sacrificed their games to support me and our team. Their unselfishness was one of the big reasons why we had a relatively easy victory. You don't score 68 points without a lot of help. Today I turned the tables. We played Eastchester and we've killed them every time we've played over the past five years. I decided that I'd only score on offensive rebounds and foul shots. The rest of the time I made a move to the basket and forced them to double-team me. Every time they did I was able to pass to my teammate, mostly for an easy layup. So I didn't score a lot, but did have more than twenty assists and more than twenty rebounds. Rebounding is more important than most people realize."

We spent the next hour talking about school and what we were studying. Once again, I marveled at how comfortable we seemed to be with each other. I asked her if she wanted to attend Friday's away game in Yonkers. Even though she went to school there it made sense for her to take the bus to Chester Heights where lived. Yonkers was a big city with more than 70,000 people. We agreed that I'd meet her at the bus stop and she would come

home with me to change her clothes and have a bite to eat. Then I'd drive her to school so she could follow the bus to the game.