Finding Faith

by Anthony Lampe

  “Good morning, Grove High!” The young voice on the school’s PA system sounded like a radio talk show host. “It’s Friday, and at last the wait is finally over. Get ready for Friday night football as the Grove High Growlers start off the season in a home game against the Westview Warriors. Come show your support and cheer on the Growlers tonight at 6 pm.”

  Angela smiled when she heard the word cheer. She had been working so hard at practicing all the moves and routines, and now she could show the whole school. Months had passed since her last ballet performance—since she was truly happy. She sincerely hoped that she would succeed at the big game and not let the team down.

  The morning went by fairly quick and soon she was seated with the girls for lunch. Jessica bragged to the group that the cheerleaders were ready to rock the crowds with their moves at the halftime show.

  “Regardless of how the jocks do on the field,” Jessica began saucily, “everyone will be watching us out there. And while the football players take a break at halftime, we’ll keep the crowd all riled up.”

  Some of the cheerleaders seated at the table beside them overheard Jessica and they said in unison, “Grove Girls gonna rock the house!”

  “Go team,” Melissa joined in with a smile.

  “Woo,” several cheerleaders shouted.

  Darren glanced over the table of guys to see the cheerleaders at the far end of the cafeteria. “Tonight’s game is going to be a blast.”

  “The Westview Warriors won’t know what hit them,” Carson said as he made a show of flexing his muscular arms.

  “More like the Westview Weasels,” Darren laughed, “Because they’ll be eating dirt when we’re through with them.”

  Johnny and Max chuckled, Shawn smirked, and Andrew just ignored them.

  “Our offense will slip right past them,” Darren said already imaging the game in his head.

  Carson added, “And our defense will be tight.”

  Darren peered across the room again and said, “You know what else will be tight? I hear that the halftime show will be out of this world.”

  “Cheerleaders rule,” Johnny said as he tried to catch any of the girls’ attention from a distance.

  “Like you would know,” Max stated with a snigger.

  Carson smiled roguishly, “I would certainly like to.”

  “I heard that most of the cheerleaders are single,” Shawn said.

  “Not after we crush the Weasels,” Darren boasted.

  “We’ll win the game and the girls at the same time,” Carson agreed.

  Shawn glanced at Andrew and noticed that he was ignoring him and just eating his sandwich. After the bell rang, as the other boys walked away, Shawn approached Andrew. “Hey, you’ve been silent all week. You never told me what happened that day I left your house. Your uncle didn’t hit you or anything, did he?”

  “No,” Andrew said quietly, “nothing like that.”

  “You didn’t chicken out of demanding the TV, right?” Shawn asked with a hint of accusation.

  Andrew walked quickly into the hallway and knew that Shawn was not going to drop the subject without an answer.

  “Uncle Billy came home in a grouchy mood,” Andrew began, “which is why I didn’t feel too bad asking for the TV. But, when he tried to take back his offer, well, I—”

  “Spit it out, man,” Shawn said.

  “I told him I knew everything,” Andrew replied, dropping his guard. “After I stood my ground, he just caved. The next day when I came home from school, there was a brand new thirty-two inch flat screen television with a built-in DVD player in my room.”

  Shawn punched his arm into the air and let out an excited yell. “You own him! Do you understand? Now that he’s caved, you own him. Anything you ask for is all ours.”

  Andrew fell silent again.

  The smile on Shawn’s face faltered when he noticed Andrew’s reservation. “You are going to ask him for stuff for me and the boys, right?”

  “I’m lucky he gave me the TV,” Andrew admitted. “I can’t prove he’s doing anything illegal, so maybe I shouldn’t push this any further.”

  “I don’t think the guys will like hearing that,” Shawn said clearly upset.

  Andrew quickly trying to make amends. “They never need to know. I don’t plan to tell them anything. Why, you’re not going to say anything, are you?”

  “I’m just saying,” Shawn began slowly, “the boys are going to ask about it. You better be ready to give them an answer.”

  The final class ended as the last bell rang.

  Angela hurried to her locker and then she met up with Jessica and some of the other cheerleaders. They went to the gymnasium and practiced for a few hours to assure that their later performance would be flawless.

  “That’s a wrap,” Coach Swanson shouted. “Eat some dinner, relax, and be ready for tonight.”

  Jessica and the girls headed to the locker room, as Angela snuck off into the restroom to change in privacy. As usual, she finished before the other cheerleaders and was waiting for them outside the gymnasium.

  “Love the fresh air, huh?” Melissa asked as she joined her outside.

  Angela was a little embarrassed to admit that she felt uncomfortable changing in front of the other girls. She was teased a little at first for always disappearing to change clothes, but they no longer gave her too much trouble about it.

  “Sometimes it’s just nice to step away from it all,” Angela said.

  “Well,” Melissa began, “the whole team is heading out to get some burgers. I’m catching a ride with Julia. Do you want to come along?”

  “I didn’t bring any money,” Angela admitted.

  She thought about what she was going to do next and frowned. The game was over two hours away, and if she did not go out to eat with the team, she would be very hungry. It would take over half an hour to walk home, and she dreaded the thought of spending time there with Uncle Billy. He refused to give them any allowance and only had the cheapest and most junky food for them to make themselves.

  “Don’t worry,” Melissa said, “I’ll cover you.”

  “You don’t have to do that for me,” Angela replied, feeling bad.

  Melissa smiled at her and said, “You’re a Grove Girl now, and we take care of our own.”

  Angela smiled. “Well, that’s very kind of you. Thanks.”

  As Andrew did his homework upstairs, he could hear the phone ring in the kitchen. He started down the hall to head downstairs, but then he listened as the living room television was turned off and his uncle stomped into the kitchen.

  “Hello?” Uncle Billy practically belted into the phone.

  Andrew rolled his eyes at how loud his uncle was talking, which he knew was because of always having the television so noisy.

  “Oh, hey sweetie,” Uncle Billy continued, “yeah, I’m free tonight, but—”

  My uncle has a girlfriend? Andrew pondered incredulous.

  He stood at the top of the stairs very quietly as he tried to overhear more.

  Uncle Billy then said, “I wish I could, but I can’t withdraw more money this week. I would love to take you out to dinner, but I’m maxed out for now.”

  Andrew waited to hear more, hoping for his uncle to say too much.

  “Don’t talk like that, babe,” Uncle Billy said. “First the kid, and now you too? Give me a break.”

  What is he talking about? Andrew thought as he strained to hear more.

  “I told you before,” his uncle said sounding annoyed, “If I pull out anymore than the set amount, it’ll raise red flags. I don’t want the authorities looking into this.”

  So, I was right. Billy is doing something underhanded. Even though the news should have made him feel better about blackmailing him, for some reason it left him feeling bad.

  “Okay, okay, don’t do anything hasty. Alright already, I’ll take you out tonight. Yes, the lobster place. I know, honey, I love
you too. I’ll pick you up in an hour. Bye.”

  As his uncle headed back to the living room, Andrew walked quietly into his bedroom and shut the door. He tried to understand what his uncle was talking about, but the whole thing had his head spinning.

  Uncle Billy has an account, but can’t pull out too much? Andrew pondered. Why not? And why would red flags go up if he pulled out too much in too short of a time?

  Andrew nearly screamed in frustration, but he knew that his uncle would hear it if he did. Uncle Billy must have thought I was listening to rock music or watching TV, which is why he did not seem to control his voice over the phone.

  Setting his homework aside, Andrew turned on his dark music and once again drowned out his thoughts and worries. He sang along with the lyrics, skipping some curse words here and there, but the more he got into it, the more he let loose. Soon, he was feeling the anger of the singer and cursing along with every bad lyric and message.

  The last song he had time to sing along with was about women. The MP3 player that was hooked up to the clock radio had belonged to Jake, his former best friend from his last school. Jake had let him keep it after the car accident, and Andrew had been listening to it off and on ever since. The MP3 player was set to shuffle and this was one song that he had heard before, but had never paid attention to the words.

  From the moment the song began, Andrew realized that the singer was going to bash women with his lyrics. However, Andrew did not feel like turning it off yet. He finally wanted to hear it out, and see what it had to say. As the singer spoke of women like they were just objects, with no respect towards them, Andrew sang right along. By the end of the song, he felt empowered, like he could now say anything without holding back.

  Andrew opened his bedroom door and headed downstairs to the kitchen for a quick snack. He was trying to avoid speaking to Uncle Billy or coming down too soon after the phone call to raise suspicion. To his advantage, his uncle was in his bedroom with the door closed. Andrew grabbed some food to go and left the house in a hurry.

  He rushed to Shawn’s house so that they could get picked up by Johnny for the big game. On the car ride back to school, Max was in the passenger seat up front, while Shawn and Andrew sat in the back.

  Max looked over his shoulder and asked, “Are you guys stoked for the game?”

  “Yeah,” Shawn replied, “I hope Darren and the team crush the Weasels.”

  Andrew thought about the way the singer had treated women like objects, then he thought about the halftime show. “I just can’t wait to see the cheerleaders perform.”

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