Eyewitness News

by Aiden Vaughan

  “It’s not your fault, Tim,” Jonathan replied. “I have been keeping this secret for a long time, mostly because I am afraid that Mom and I will be put away somewhere and I will have no more control over my life until I am eighteen. Now I think you guys understand why I was so reluctant to talk about it! I was worried that once you found out, you would drop me from the band because I could literally be taken away from here at any time!”

  “That took a lot of guts to tell us what you just did, Jonathan!” Jason said with some compassion in his voice. “I want you to know that you did the right thing! I don’t have any say over what the band members do regarding who is in the band or not, but I do have a foundation I control that is devoted to helping teenaged victims of crime. I think that you have been treated very poorly by the adults in your life. Whether or not a major crime has been committed, I don’t know. But certainly a lot of little ones have. I am going to speak to our attorney about your situation, if you will give me permission to do so. You should be receiving child support from your father! Your mother should be persuaded to go into rehabilitation! Your parents have a moral and financial obligation to support you until at least you are age eighteen.”

  “And don’t worry about the band dropping you, Jonathan!” Daniel stated. “That’s the last thing we want to do right now! We want you to play with us, and we want to help you get your home life back together. Let us be your family for a while!”

  “Yeah!” Tim said. “Jonathan, I want you to know that you are welcome here anytime you are hungry or need a meal and don’t have the money for it. Or if things get too weird at your house you can stay in our guest room. I know you can get through this crisis in your life, Jonathan! If I can, anyone can!”

  Nick then spoke. He had been watching this whole scenario unfold without comment. “I’m the youngest person here, and have the least experience with the outside world. But I do know a few things about struggling through adversity. I think that the way I can help in this situation is through music. Jonathan, you need to use your incredible musical skills as a crutch. Be involved with music as much as you can right now. In one sense it is an escape, which is okay to a point. You still will have to eventually deal with the outside realities, but you can’t let things you have no control over get you down!

  “Music has incredible healing powers! You already instinctively know this! I want you to get involved as much as possible in the creation of our band sound. Let music be your refuge and let it be your future!”

  Everyone applauded at Nick’s statement.

  “You guys have really made me feel better,” Jonathan said. “Thank you all for the friendship you have offered me today! Hopefully things will work out with my personal life and my mom’s situation. Now I am more eager than ever to make some music with you! Let’s get our instruments out and do some playing!”

  “Right on, Jonathan!” Eric exclaimed. “It’s time for less talk and more music!”

  Jason went off to consult with his foundation attorney while the band members went down to the studio to rehearse. With their friendship and good will strong, their music just flowed together in a synergy of harmony and interpersonal communication. Daniel Holmes and the Second Chance All Stars had never sounded better.

  Chapter 10

  The A List Guys Get Together

  (Tuesday)

  Tuesday morning, Jason got up looking forward to the day. Today he would be spending some time playing basketball with his friend and star athlete, Chauncey Jackson. Ever since he had tried out for and made the varsity basketball team at Merriam High School, he had become a member of what Chauncey called his A-List guys. The A-list guys were a group of other talented basketball players that Chauncey would call upon for pick-up games whenever he wanted to practice or play ball outside of regular team schedules. For Jason to be accepted into this group was something he was very proud of personally, because it meant that he had crossed a few barriers, something not often accomplished by a white middle class teenager whose life was not totally devoted to sports. Jason also loved his days with the A-List guys because they provided him with insights into another side of life.

  Chauncey and Jason went back a long time as friends. They first met in kindergarten and would eagerly talk about sports when they had a chance. During elementary school, they participated on some youth league sports teams together. Although they had gone their separate ways as they got older, they still had maintained their friendship. In the aftermath of Jason’s kidnapping, when he was trying to decide what to do about going after the criminals who were responsible, he had turned to Chauncey for advice. It was Chauncey’s encouragement for him to try and solve things that ended up being the deciding factor for Jason in becoming a detective. And Chauncey and his A-list guys ended up playing a crucial role in the resolution of that first case.

  Most importantly, Chauncey and Jason realized that they were true friends, and that they could rely on each other in a crunch. Chauncey told Jason that he wanted to take advantage of his brilliant mind and felt comfortable talking with him because he had always been “colorblind” in their friendship, and unfailingly polite. Jason had learned a lot about high level competition in sports by hanging out with Chauncey and his friends. Additionally, Chauncey had provided Jason with a lot of insights about the mental side of competition in sports and in real life.

  Jason had always loved playing basketball. It was his way of keeping fit, and he liked the teamwork and competitive nature of the game. He didn’t have the height and body strength that most of the other A-list players had, but he made up for that through his passing and shooting skills. He liked to play a lot of one-on-one basketball with Daniel and some of the other neighborhood kids where he lived. Playing hoops, as he and his friends described it, was a good way to work off tension or clear his head when he was working on a case or trying to problem-solve.

  When playing basketball with Chauncey and friends, everything was at a much higher skill level. Chauncey was very much into the strategy and coaching aspects of the game. Often he chose who he would workout and play games with to implement those strategies. And that was another lucky break for Jason, because his particular skills fit into the way Chauncey liked to form a team. Reggie Adams was his favorite point guard and probably his best friend. They would often get together and work out game plans and practice drills together. Jason was the shooting guard, due to his very accurate medium jumpers that he could sink very easily when Chauncey or Reggie would be double-teamed. Chauncey liked to play in the small forward position. It was the perfect spot for him due to his fabulous scoring and ball handling abilities. On the basketball court, he always stood out; it was very seldom that another player on the court was more talented or skilled than Chauncey.

  The remainder of his A-list guys starting team was Mariano Rodrigo as power forward, and six foot, eight inch Kololo Asasopu on center. When Chauncey had his usual outstanding game going, Mariano was sinking three-pointers from the perimeters, and Kololo was rebounding and rejecting their opponents shots at the basket, they were a force to be reckoned with and hard to defeat. Jason was inspired by their play at times, and his regular sessions with the others was bringing his game to a much higher level.

  In addition, Chauncey had his groupies, people that wanted to stick close by and hope that maybe some of Chauncey’s skills and personal charisma would rub off on them. These were the B-list guys, who didn’t have the skills and shooting ability needed to be on the A-list. Once in a while, Chauncey would invite a B-list player to join him in a pickup game, usually when there weren’t enough A-lists guys around. There were a number of attractive young ladies in that group as well. Chauncey’s current girl friend was Adele Evans, who was equally athletic, and a star runner specializing in the longer distance events on the Merriam High School track team.

  Locally, the word about Chauncey’s skills had been out for a long time. Some college recruiters were already starting to take a serious look at Chauncey Jackson.
Occasionally one of them would even attend one of the intramural games that the A-list guys played in summer league at the community center. But recently a cloud had come up on the horizon. A rival basketball player had made it his plan to try and make Chauncey look bad during these games. The formally scheduled intramural games had referees provided by the community center. The referees were put there to keep the games fair and keep order on the basketball courts. Chauncey’s rival would act in an exaggerated fashion if he was fouled by Chauncey. Some of his tactics included falling to the court floor to try and get the referee to call a flagrant foul, or a technical foul when Chauncey would protest.

  Chauncey’s rival, Samuel Grover, was similar in build and height to Chauncey, but did not possess the same athletic skills. Yet Grover thought that he was Chauncey’s equal in every way. He made of point to trying to get onto as many squads as he could in the intramural league, so that he could be a thorn in Chauncey’s side. Even when his disruptive strategy wasn’t working in terms of getting extra fouls called on Chauncey, it was working because it would get Chauncey off his mental game. Instead of concentrating on winning and being the best player on the court, Chauncey would end up watching his back all of the time, and that was often enough to take the edge off of Chauncey’s game.

  Today a game was scheduled with a team that Samuel Grover played on. Chauncey decided to call together his A-list guys before the game to discuss their strategy for the game and how to deal with Grover. All of his A-list guys were there, and Chauncey’s entourage today included his girl friend Adele, her friend Eunice, and several B-list guys. After everyone had arrived, Chauncey had his A-list guys gather around for a team meeting.

  “Guys, we have to do something about Grover,” Chauncey began. “He seriously is trying to make me look bad! You have all seen his exaggerated acting and posing on court during our games. What can we do to stop his antics? I’m tired of the refs being on my case all of the time!”

  “Have you tried talking to Grover about what he is doing?” Jason asked.

  “Yes, but all he will say is something like, ‘Is the great Chauncey Jackson bothered by other players trying to compete also? Maybe you shouldn’t be so aggressive during the games.’ Then he gives me this sickly smile to let me know that he is happy that things are getting to me. If I get mad at him and accuse him of acting, he just smirks at me some more and says ‘If you don’t want those calls against you, don’t foul your opponents.’ When I say that those aren’t fouls but normal incidental contact during the game, his reply is, ‘Maybe that is to you, but others have a different opinion.’ I hate slamming a brother, but this guy goes beyond acceptable behavior!”

  “Maybe we should take the heat off of you, Chauncey, and give this guy some extra nudges,” Kololo replied.

  “But then the fouls will get called on you, and it just puts you and the rest of the team in trouble! Plus that means we are playing at his level, and falling for his tactics,” Chauncey said.

  “I say we give that poser a few extra chops during the game!” Mariano interjected. “We can’t let an opponent trash the main player on our team! Give me a few minutes with that pendejo!”

  “You can’t let Grover get to you, Chauncey!” Reggie added. “He thinks he is a tough homeboy, but like Mariano just said, he is just a poser. Just play through it and through him. He is no true competition to you!”

  “I’m just worried that with all of the scouts starting to hang around, the word will get out somehow that I am a dirty player, and not disciplined enough for the next level,” Chauncey replied with concern still in his voice.

  “I have an idea,” Jason said. “I think I will have a little talk with the referee.”

  Just before the game was about to start, Jason walked over to where the referee was talking to one of the community center staff members. Jason smiled at the referee and said, “Excuse me, sir, could I have a word with you?”

  Surprised that one of the players would want to talk to him, the referee replied, “Sure, kid, what’s on your mind?”

  “Well, I don’t know if this is the right thing to do,” Jason continued, “but I think it is a concern for our game. You know how serious the team players take these games, and I know you want things to be fair and above board.”

  “What do you mean, kid?” the referee asked.

  Jason put out his hand. “My name is Jason Hunter, Mr. um…”

  The referee shook hands with Jason and said, “My name is Edwin Renteria.”

  “Well, Mr. Renteria, it is just that I overhead one of the players saying that he wanted to make things look bad for Chauncey Jackson during the game. He said his plan was to try to force Chauncey to foul him, and when there was even incidental contact during a play, he would overact by falling down to the floor whenever he could. The purpose was to draw fouls on the other team.”

  “That sounds like a very extreme thing for one player to do to another, especially since these are just intramural community league games,” Mr. Renteria responded. “Who are you talking about?”

  “It’s a player named Samuel Grover. I don’t why he has it in for Chauncey, but I don’t want to see the game break into a fight or something. Most everybody here just wants to play ball and have fun. These games should be more like scrimmages instead of constant trips to the foul line because of bad blood between two people!”

  “Well I hope you aren’t trying to gain some favor by telling me this,” Renteria replied. “I can’t be an effective referee if I am taking sides for or against any player.”

  “I understand, sir.” Jason said in an even voice. “That’s exactly what I want you to do. Our team doesn’t ask for or expect any favors from you. But if you see that someone is trying to undermine the true competition of the game, I hope you will see fit to put a stop to it! That’s all I am saying.”

  “All right, Jason,” I’ll keep an eye out for bad behavior,” Mr. Renteria replied.

  “Thank you for listening, Mr. Renteria,” Jason said, finishing their conversation. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

  After Jason rejoined his teammates, Chauncey spelled out the strategy he had planned for this game. “I want to go after them in the key right away. I want to do mostly inside shots or lay-ups right away. When their defense starts jamming us inside, then that should open up perimeter three point shots for Mariano and medium jumpers for Chuck here.” The team’s nickname for Jason was Chuck, because he always played in his red high top chucks.

  About five minutes later the game began between the two rival teams. In this league, teams were named by color, and had been given colored tee shirt for wear during the games. Jason and Chauncey’s team were the Red, and their opponents today were the Purple.

  Chauncey’s strategy worked very well right from the beginning. After Reggie dribbled the ball up the court he would pass it to Chauncey. Chauncey would then make some great feints to elude his defender, and right away he dribbled in the key to make shots on the basket. His shooting was very accurate, and within the first seven minutes of play had scored eight points, and Reggie had an additional four points. Their opponents had already made two team fouls in their efforts to stop Chauncey and Reggie’s solid offensive performance. So far their opponents were only able to respond with two baskets, so the score was already 12 Red Team to 4 Purple Team.

  On the next rebound, ably grabbed by Kololo, Reggie dribbled up court, after receiving the pass, and again passed it to Chauncey. This time as Chauncey was dribbling to the basket, he had drawn two defenders, with Grover circling behind him. But instead of going for the lay-up, he made a lightning pass to Mariano who was wide open on the right perimeter of the key. Mariano shot and sunk a three pointer. Purple was unable to respond with a basket of their own and the ball went back to the Red team.

  On the Red team’s next drive, after Chauncey received a pass from Reggie, he was only defended by one player. Quickly Chauncey eluded his defender and again sunk an easy lay-up for another two poi
nts. Purple was able to regroup this time and completed their drive with a basket. After Chauncey passed the ball to Reggie from out of bounds, he dribbled the ball up court and passed back to Chauncey. This time Chauncey was doubled teamed, and there was a defender on Mariano. This left Jason wide open. With no one on him, as soon as he received a bounce pass from Chauncey, Jason was able to dribble into the key and sink one of his medium jump shots for another two points. Now the score was 19 to 8.

  At this point, the Purple team asked for a time out. “Look out now, Chauncey,” Reggie said with a grin. “I think our Purple friends don’t like the score and are about to try and do something about it in a nasty way!”

  Sure enough, on the Red team’s next series, Grover was all over Chauncey on defense, trying to force a foul. First, Grover tried to make Chauncey commit an offensive foul by getting in his way as he started to drive toward the basket. But Chauncey was too fast for him, and as Grover stepped up in the way, Chauncey passed the ball to Mariano, who tried a three point shot again, but missed. But with an amazing reach, Kololo grabbed the rebound and was able to make a quick dunk for two points. Purple responded this time with a drive and basket of their own. Now the score was 21 to 10.

  On the next Red team series, the ball was brought past mid court and then passed around several time, as the Purple team was putting on a very good man-to-man defense. Finally the ball was passed back to Chauncey, and he drove to the basket. Just as he was about to make his shot, Grover came up close and tried to make it look like Chauncey had committed an offensive foul on him. He lunged his body into Chauncey’s path and then dropped to the floor.

  With a man on the floor, the referee whistled a time out and went up to Samuel Grover. “Are you all right?” Mr. Renteria asked. “What you were trying to do there?”