Shelter Kid
By:
Jon Stewart
(© 2021 by the author)
The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's
consent. Comments are appreciated at...
jstewart@tickiestories.us
Chapter 22
Monday morning found Mr. Acker and Mr. Martin up at the crack of dawn. Mr. Acker had gotten out his retired police detective badge while Mr. Martin showed up with a little handheld tape recorder. He included batteries and extra tapes. They were off to Madville High School. Mr. Acker wanted get there before Dan Short had occasion to speak to speak with any of his players.
Upon arriving at the school, Mr. Acker flashed his badge and asked to speak to the principal.
“Good morning, Principal Dean, I’m here on behalf of Josh Fitzpatrick to investigate allegations that your coach deliberately instructed his players to hurt Josh during the state freshman basketball championship game and to see if criminal charges are warranted. Do you understand the seriousness of the situation?”
Principal Dean was visibly upset that something of this nature was being charged against the school. ”Yes, I do understand. Of course, I’ll help in any way.”
“Thank you very much, if these allegations are true; your Coach Short could be facing assault charges. What we need to do is to interview all the boys on the freshman team. Can I ask you to assemble them and provide a space where we can interview each one privately?”
“Yes of course, Mr. Acker, give me 5 minutes to get that done. Should there be someone at the interview to protect the boy’s rights?“
“I don’t have a problem with that. If you have the time to be present or your vice principal or one of your student advisors; I don’t think it would be appropriate for any of the athletic department to be present. I am not here to investigate the boys, they are minors and if my information is correct were only acting on the instructions of Dan Short. We will record the interviews and you may have a copy if you like. I would like to keep this as inconspicuous as possible. I’ll instruct each boy not to discuss the situation with anyone, and I would appreciate you making sure they go directly to their assigned class without talking to any of the other boys.”
“I’m sure I can do that.”
The boys were assembled and put into one office with a large reception area, as well as a private area. Principal Dean had the vice principal there to maintain order and have the boys use the time as a study period. She, Mr. Acker, and Mr. Martin were in the other office.
The interviews followed the same script. Each boy was asked his name, whether or not he was at the title game, did he get a chance to play, what did he think about the play of the point guard for Hopewell. They almost to a man said he “…was killing them. Yeah, the big kid scored a bunch of points but all off of passes from the little kid, the one they called Grammar School. If we went to double team the big kid; the Grammar School kid would hit a 3-point shot. Jeeze, he was good.”
Did they know, he had suffered an injury while playing? He was very lucky and if he got hit again in wrong way, he could have gotten his lung punctured and possibly have died.
Principal Dean was very saddened to hear about the seriousness of Josh’s injury.
Mr. Acker finished off the interview with the same question. “I’m not here to investigate you or any of the players on your team. Films of the game show Josh getting hit 12 times before his final basket; in some football games individual players don’t get hit 12 times and knocked down that much. I’ve never seen it in a basketball game or even allowed in a basketball game without the referees putting a stop to it one way or the other. Very important now and you need to be 100% honest. Young man, you need to tell it how it was. Was the team told to deliberately run into Josh and knock him down by a coach? Were you told to do that by the coach? “
Each boy answered “Yes, the team was told to knock Josh down and hit him in his ribs.” Those that played in the game said they were told specifically by Coach, to knock him down; get him out of the game.”
One boy, Jeff Stewart, said “I ran into him once, not hard and was yelled at by coach to hit him harder. I told coach No, I wouldn’t do it. He benched me. In a way, I’m glad the kid stayed in there; jeeze, he must have been hurting; I didn’t want to win that way, that’s no way to win. I told my Dad, I don’t want to play for Coach Short ever again.”
Mr. Acker and Mr. Martin thanked Principal Dean for her cooperation.
She said, “No, thank you, thank you very much; Dan Short doesn’t have a lot of friends around the school. He is very demanding, a hard man, mean, at times. I very much want a copy of that tape. I want to present it to the School Board. I don’t think he should be teaching or coaching these kids. I give Jeff a lot of credit for standing up to him. Thank you, for bringing this to my attention. I hope that boy, Josh, heals well without complications. Would you have his address? I want to send him a note on behalf of our school apologizing for his treatment at the game and wishing him a speedy recovery.”
Mr. Martin provided Josh’s address. The old timers left feeling quite satisfied with themselves. Their trip was a complete success. Mr. Martin congratulated Mr. Acker on his interviewing techniques.
Principal Dean called the team together again. “I want to thank you all for being honest and forthcoming with the interview this morning. I think some of you probably feel bad about losing and also for what you did trying to get the “Grammar School” kid out of the game. I know, I do. I’m going to send him a note congratulating him on winning. Also, I’ll be apologizing for being part of having a coach who would make a decision like that to get him out of the game and to wish him a speedy recovery. I think you boys should do the same. I know, you only did what you did, because of Coach. Jeff said he didn’t want to win that way and won’t play for Coach again. Well, I’m here to tell you, I don’t want to win that way either and I don’t want Mr. Dan Short to coach you anymore and I’m going to find another coach to teach you how to win the right way. Jeff stood up and clapped quickly joined by the rest of the team. They asked how to address the note. Principal Dean said his name is Josh Fitzpatrick. They asked if they could do it right now. One boy made a get well, card signed by the team with a note apologizing. They all said they should have done what Jeff did and told coach “no”. It wasn’t the way to win and it was only right that they lost. A half hour later the notes and card were delivered to Principal Dean. She smiled and told the boys they did good, trying to make a wrong into a right.
John Rieley called, asked for a comment on the Sunday article. Principal Dean at least could say “The actions of Coach Short do not represent all of Madville and its high school. She said the boys were interviewed and each told of being instructed by Coach Short to knock Josh Fitzpatrick down and get him out of the game. She and the team had just written letters of apology wishing a speedy recovery to Josh as well as congratulation on winning the game and championship. To a man, her boys said it wasn’t the way they wanted to win, it was wrong and they were ashamed of being a part of it.” Principal Dean went on to say, she was bringing the boy’s statements to the school board to see if Coach Short would continue as coach of the team.
John Reiley was elated by her comment. It showed a responsibility to play the game with integrity while teaching the boys the qualities of fair play and sportsmanship. He said he would report her statement fairly and honestly.
Principal Dean was very happy to have had the visit of Mr. Acker and Mr. Martin, first thing in the morning. She was not caught off guard, by John Reiley’s call.
Monday afternoon, Josh and Pops had their meeting with John Reiley, of the Tribune. Once they all ordered thick juicy burgers, John went to work.
“Josh, I’m going to record the interview so I make sure I get everything 100% correct.”
Josh looked at Pops who asked “Can we have a copy of the recording as well?”
“That’s only fair. So, Josh, you had quite a game against Madville?”
“Well, the whole team did.”
“But your basket won the game?”
“No, I don’t think so, if any of the other baskets we scored hadn’t gone in, like Jesse’s 27 points, my basket wouldn’t have meant a thing.”
“I can see you are very much a team player but some would disagree with you. Josh did, you hurt your ribs during the game?”
“Yeah”
“Do you know when?”
“They hit me pretty hard during the 3rd quarter, but it was at the beginning of the 4th, when I got hit again and felt a real sharp pain and a crack. If you make me guess, that’s when I think they got broken.”
“Yet you played the whole rest of the game. Doc Brown said that’s pretty much impossible to ignore that kind of pain. How did you do that? Why didn’t you tell your Coach?”
“Well, I don’t really know, how I did it. Except I was very focused on the game and I didn’t want to give Madville the satisfaction of getting me out of the game. I didn’t tell coach because I wanted to finish the game. I was pretty sure if I said anything he would pull me. He would never let any of his players get hurt, just to win a game.”
“Do you like Coach Mathews?”
“Yeah. Sure. He is a fair man who listens to his players as much as he tells us what to do. He cares about us. I like playing for him.”
“Coach says you got hit two more times just before your last basket; is that true?”
“Yeah.”
“Didn’t it hurt, I mean a lot?”
“Well, I couldn’t let it. I had to make take the shot.”
“One boy hit you in the head the other in the ribs, it shows on the film. You staggered some when the boy hit you in the ribs.”
“I guess so.”
“What were you thinking?”
“I was concentrating on getting the pass and around the triple screens coach had set up. I had to get as good a shot up as I could. There was no time for another play. I just had to do it.”
“Coach says you played ball with Jesse before.”
“Yeah, he is a great player and a better friend, let’s talk about him.”
“ Maybe some other time when Jesse is here, we can talk about him. Coach told me Jesse said you have never missed with the game on the line. Is that true? ”
“Ohh, I don’t know about that.”
“When was the last time a team that you played on lost a game?”
“Ahh, I can’t remember. I always played with Jesse. He is real good. Before playing for Hopewell, we played CYO basketball 5th & 6th grade. We were champions and undefeated. Jesse was the big reason.”
“What do you think about the Madville Coach and players?”
“The players weren’t mean; a couple told me they were ordered to hit me. One got benched because he refused. The Coach, I have no use for. I wouldn’t play for him. I mean, I love playing basketball but I wouldn’t play for that man. He is mean!!”
“What about the refs; do you think they were fair?”
“No .sir, I’ve been in games where if the refs suspected there was a deliberate hit on a player the kid was tossed out of the game. It’s not my place to say anything but I thought, we were fighting two teams out there, Madville and the refs.”
“Really.”
“Yes sir, I don’t like to talk bad about anyone, but that’s what I felt. You might want to do a study of all the calls in the game. See how many questionable calls went against Hopewell. Get another ref to identify the questionable calls. I’ll bet that anything, they called most against Hopewell and only the most obvious calls went against Madville.”
“How are you ribs, Josh?”
“They’ll heal, a lot slower than I want, but they are slowly getting better.”
“How did you enjoy the rally last week?”
“That was wild, I had goose bumps most of the time.”
“They gave you some special treatment.”
“Oh, you mean the chair. Yeah, Doc said that was the only way I could go.”
“Why was that?”
“Well, he doesn’t want me back in school yet, a bump to my ribs could be real bad and kids at school wouldn’t mean it but they could accidently bump me.”
“How would it be real bad?“
“I guess, I could get a punctured lung and if not treated right away could die.”
“We sure don’t want that. Is that why the basketball team was always around you?”
“Yeah, Doc said they had to be my body guards.”
“You made a speech. Was it rehearsed? Did you know you were to give one?”
“Ohh no, I wasn’t told about it. I think it was just a spontaneous thing from the assembly. Coach pointed to the podium like I had to do it or there would be a riot or something. So, I just said what came to mind. I’d like to know who it was that started the speech chant.”
“I have to make a confession. It was Doc Brown, and I was right there with him.”
“Wait until I see him. He owes me now, and so do you.”
“I’ll be glad to repay you anyway I can. Josh, I want you to know I think you’re a very special young man.”
“Josh, I understand you were recently homeless. Can you tell me about that?
Josh looked at Pops who just smiled and nodded. “I guess so, there’s not a lot to tell.”
“How did it happen.”
“My grandma made a bad loan with one of those bankster fellows. Lost her house and we had no place to go with only her small Social Security check to live off of. We wound up in the NY Shelter system.”
“You say your grandma. Where were your parents?”
Josh’s head went down to the floor. “They died in a car crash when I was 8.”
“Ohh, I’m so sorry Josh, I didn’t know. We can stop here if you want.”
Josh looked hard at John Reiley, “I’m not looking for the whole world to know my story, but I think folks in the shelter need people to fight for them. Help them get decent jobs, to be able to afford a home or an apartment of their own. If you promise to help me fight for them, using your paper to advocate for them, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
John Reiley was taken a back because at that moment he saw Josh’s intelligence, caring, understanding, compassion, modesty, and quiet confidence all on display. He didn’t know it, but he had just joined Josh’s life long quest to help the homeless. “Ok, I promise to do whatever I can to help.”
Josh told his life story about the deaths of his parents and grandmother. About Luke and being in the shelter with Billy; even about practicing to get help from the weirdos in the showers; about Luke asking Pops to take him and him praying that Pops would keep him. He told about getting Billy’s mom in the blizzard, and the coat drive at St. Francis.
John Reiley thanked Josh and Pops immensely. He promised to have a story in the paper in a day, or two at most.
“Hopewell Player Mugged In Title Game Tells His Story” was the headline.
“I was lucky enough to have an interview with Josh Fitzpatrick, an exceptional young man who played point guard on the Hopewell High School championship basketball team. The thing about Josh that most impressed me was his modesty and quiet confidence. As I brought the conversation to him, that he made the winning shot, Josh said, “No, we only won by one point. His was just the last basket. If his teammates hadn’t scored earlier, it would have meant nothing.” He said “…after getting hit early in the 4th quarter he felt his ribs crack.” In a display of courage, I have never witnessed as a sports writer, he continued to play and play at a high level. You see the Madville coach had instructed his player to hit Josh as often as possible, to get him out of the game. One player refused and was benched by Coach Dan Short. For sure, as I watched and re-watched the game film I saw each Madville player that hit Josh hang his head after hitting Josh, certainly a sign of embarrassment. As I reported in Sunday’s paper, one of the refs was a cousin to Coach Short. How he got the assignment to referee any of Madville’s games, never mind the title game, should be the subject of an investigation. With the help of the school boy basketball association referee director, we reviewed the game film. We came up with 41 questionable calls during the game, 38 went against Hopewell not including 8 non-calls where Madville players deliberately ran into Josh to hurt him. I asked Josh, what he thought about the Madville coach. He said he was mean and as much as he loved playing basketball, he would not play if Coach Short was his coach.”
The story went on and talked about Josh being homeless and losing his parents and then his grandmother. It went on to praise Luke for being proactive, and Pops for his courage in taking on the responsibility of raising a teenager at his stage of life. Besides the miscarriage of justice of the basketball game; it raised the question of how many other Joshes were there in shelters all across the country? Boys and girls, mothers and fathers, talented folks, the country would rather forget than give a hand up and out of their hopelessness. It spoke of Josh’s tremendous drive and motivation not only on the basketball court, but to help all people especially, his own homeless friends. For sure it painted Josh as a hero and Dan Short as a villain for in John Reiley’s eyes there was nothing truer.
When Mr. Acker and Mr. Martin brought their interviews of the boys to Pops, he called Doc Brown and Coach Mathews to listen. Mr. Martin made the copies for Mrs. Dean to present to the Madville School Board. The evidence was brought to the state school boy athletic association. The hearing was held at Hopewell High School. Coach Mathews presented the evidence, the interviews, the game film and Doc Brown’s report. Dan Short and the referees were barred from participating in any school boy state athletic event for the rest of their lives.
John Reiley reported the decision and the discharge of Dan Short from the Madville school system. He also reported the response of Principal Dean, which he thought was a fair an honest response. He held Jeff Stewart up as an example of the youth of Madville.
Every once in a while, Josh would read what the players wrote. In essence, they all said the same thing but a little differently. One read “Hey, I don’t know why your team calls you “Grammar School”. You played like an NBA all-star against us. I’m ashamed for my part in hitting you to get you to quit. I don’t know how you kept getting up but I’m glad you did. None of us wanted to do what Coach said we had to. One of our guys tried to tell Coach “no” and he benched him. We all worked hard to be there in the final game and we wanted to play. Coach ruined it for us. In a way I’m glad you made the last shot; I know because of it, we lost. But I wouldn’t want any part of winning that way. Now because of you, we’ll have a new coach, who won’t use dirty tactics to win. Thank you, I hope you’ll get well soon and I’ll see you on the court next year. I’d like to take another shot at beating you guys, the right way, but before we play, I want to shake your hand and apologize in person. I never saw anyone play like you.“
To be continued...
Posted: 01/14/2022