Justin met Matt as usual the next morning to walk to the gym. As Matt came out his door, he said around a mouth full of the biscuit in his hand, “Erie is’t wakin in dis morin.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Justin catching a whiff of the biscuit. He could almost feel his mom watching what he was about to do but he didn’t care. “Matt, does your mom have any more of those biscuits in there?”
“Sure,” said Matt who had just swallowed, and turned and went back inside leaving the door open. Justin heard Mrs. Fisher call from the other room, “What is it Matt? Did you forget something?” His face turned red as he heard Matt answer, “No, just grabbing a couple more biscuits. Justin wanted one.” Then she said, “Ok, and be careful today, Matta.”
“Bye, mom, I will,” he called as he closed the door and handed Justin a paper towel containing two biscuits.
Any remorse he had about what his mom would call ‘rudely bumming something to eat,’ disappeared in the first bite. The only thought he had for the next block was that Matt was one of the luckiest people on earth. As he scooped the last crumbs into his mouth and let them melt there, he remembered that he had decided to talk to Matt and Ernie about the Brandon and Todd problem as soon as he could today. He looked at his watch and said, “If Ernie’s there when we get there, I want to tell you guys something.”
“Ok,” said Matt. Justin was surprised that he didn’t even ask what it was about. He thought most people would have asked, at least, or tried to pry it out right then. But Matt wasn’t the prying type; in fact he was one of the most patient people that Justin knew. As the school came into sight, Justin was glad to see Ernie waiting outside the gym doors. They hurried up to him and went in. Justin noticed that there were a few guys on the bleachers ahead of them this morning so he said, “Hey, wait here just a minute. I just want to talk to you two for a second.” He moved away from the door to the corner of the gym. They followed. “What is it?” asked Ernie giving Justin an expectant look.
“Well, it’s just this. I did some thinking over the weekend. A lot happened, actually,” he said looking at Ernie. “But the bottom line is – I’ve decided I agree with you now, Matt. About Brandon and Todd, I mean. I still feel bad that he blacked your eye, and I still hate how they keep heckling us outside and trying to make us mess up in here, but I don’t want to go after them anymore. I think you were right, Matt, when you said we should just handle it as it comes.”
“Good, because my mom would pounce me if I got caught looking for trouble,” Matt said.
“I’m glad too, Justin, because it just isn’t right of us to try and punish them, no matter how wrong they are.”
“I know now, Ernie, I know. Well, that’s it. I just wanted you guys to know I’m not going to be looking for ways to get them back for all the crap they’re giving us.”
As they started around to the bleachers Justin heard a noise behind them. Immediately he was on guard, but when he turned to look it was only the coach coming out of the equipment room. At first he was relieved, then he saw the serious look on his face as he made eye contact. Justin eyes darted away and he didn’t look back until they were on the bleachers changing shoes. He then risked a peek in the coach’s direction and was relieved to find him looking elsewhere. His eyes were hard now though, and Justin followed his gaze to find Brandon and Todd just entering the gym. “Oh no!” he whispered.
“What?” said Ernie, immediately on edge.
“I think the coach heard us talking over there. He was in the equipment room.”
Matt frowned for a second then said matter-of-factly, “Well, it can’t be helped now, even if he did.” Justin didn’t have any more time to worry about it. The trainers were starting a new drill, and it was so intense that no one had any time to think about anything other than basketball until they were dismissed.
Justin left the floor and changed his shoes as slowly as he could without arousing suspicion, and talked the whole while about the drills they’d just learned. Then as they were some of the last to head for the door, he stopped and said, “Hey, I gotta do something. Will you guys wait for me outside?”
“Sure,” said Matt and they went on. As soon as they were out the door though, Justin made a beeline for the coach who was just entering his office. The door was open, so Justin held his breath and stepped in without knocking.
The coach looked up as he did and said, “Need something, Justin?”
“No, sir. I just wanted to tell you… We weren’t trying to…I mean we didn’t mean for you to hear…I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”
The coach broke into a chuckle. “Ok. Don’t worry about this, Justin. See you tomorrow.”
Justin exhaled loudly and said, “Thanks,” and turned and left the gym as fast as he could. Outside he smiled and almost laughed as he caught up with Matt and Ernie who were waiting at the edge of the parking lot. “So who wants to practice this afternoon?” he asked his friends.
“Sure,” said Matt.
“Why not?” said Ernie, “Mom handed me my Popular Mechanix when she checked the mail this morning.
