Chapter 12
"Mare, you ready?" Matt asked his sister, who was in her room doing her homework. It is time to leave already, Mary thought to herself.
"Umm, sure. I'll be ready in a sec," Mary told her brother hesitantly.
"Okay, meet me in the car," Matt told Mary before leaving. Matt could tell that Mary wasn't telling him something but ignored the fact. When Matt came down the stairs, his mother greeted him.
"Hey Matt."
"Hi Mom," Matt told his mother as he took the keys off the kitchen counter.
"Where are you going?" Mrs. Camden questioned her son.
"I am taking Mary to her team meeting and then I thought that I would go to the library to study for a while," Matt told his mother.
"What? Mary didn't say anything about a team meeting," Mrs. Camden told her son. With that, Matt headed toward the back door when his mother stopped him.
"Matt?" Upon hearing his name Matt turned around to face his mother.
"Would you mind picking up a few things at the supermarket for me?" Mrs. Camden asked her son, handing him the shopping list.
"No problem," Matt responded.
"Thanks Matt," Mrs. Camden said. With that, he went to the car to wait for Mary. After Mary had gotten ready, she went to go and find Lucy.
"Luce, I am leaving," Mary told her sister.
"Bye," Lucy told her. With that, Mary headed to the car.
A few minutes later, Matt saw Mary come out the front door and walk towards the car.
"You ready?" Matt asked his sister.
"Yep," Mary responded as she climbed into the front seat.
"So, what is this team meeting about?" Matt asked Mary as he turned on the car and backed out of the driveway.
"Umm," Mary hesitated, "Coach Cleary needs to talk to us about something important," Mary told her brother.
"And this something important would be?" Matt urged.
"I don't know," Mary told Matt, not sure of what to say.
"What time is this team meeting over?" Matt asked Mary after a few moments.
"7:00," Mary told Matt.
"Wow! The something that Coach Cleary has to talk to you about must be really important," Matt said, surprised that the meeting was lasting that long.
"Yeah, I guess," Mary told her brother. A few minutes later, Matt reached the high school.
"I'll be back at 7:00 to pick you up, I am going to the library for a little while," Matt told his sister as she got out of the car.
"Okay, bye," Mary replied. Matt watched as Mary walked into the school building and noticed that she was carrying her duffel bag for basketball. What does Mary need her basketball duffel bag for? Matt thought to himself. He knew something was defiantly going on, but he snapped back to reality and sped away from the high school towards the supermarket.
Meanwhile, inside the high school, Mary walked towards the gym. When she got there she saw that some of her teammates were warming up while they waited for practice to start.
"Ten more minutes," Coach Cleary announced. Mary knew what that meant, it meant that she only had ten minutes to be changed and warmed up before practice started. Mary rushed into the locker room and quickly changed. With five minutes to spare before practice started, she shot around for a little while.
When the five minutes were up, Coach Cleary blew the whistle that was wrapped around his neck to single the start of practice. The girls quickly put the balls away.
"As you probably all know we made the championship," Coach Cleary told the team, "which means we are going to have to practice extra hard and more often," Coach Cleary continued. At that moment, groans were heard throughout the gym.
"And I expect each and every one of you to work as hard as you can and put forth your best effort," Coach Cleary told the girls.
With that, Coach Cleary blew the whistle again.
"Okay, gets go, laps," Coach Cleary told the girls. With that, all the girls started to circle the gym. Mary immediately noticed how much it hurt to run. What was I thinking, I can't do this. I can barely walk. Mary thought to herself. Just then, Mary's teammate Corey came jogging up beside her.
"Hi Camden," Cory said. There was no answer.
"Camden," Corey said again.
"Oh, hi Corey," Mary said snapping out of her thoughts.
"Are you okay?" Corey asked Mary. "Yeah, I'm fine," Mary told Corey.
"So are you excited about the championship?" Corey asked Mary after a few moments.
"Yeah, I just can't believe that coach Cleary is making our practices more intense," Mary told Corey.
"I know, I can't believe him!" Corey told Mary. Just then, Coach Cleary blew his whistle.
"Okay, man roll, lets go, two lines," Coach Cleary said. Good, Mary thought to herself as she and Cory walked towards the coach. Mary's side was hurting and she was tired of running.
"Camden, Conway, keep running," Coach Cleary said when Mary and Corey started to come toward him. Oh man, he heard us, Mary thought to herself as she and Corey continued running.
After what seemed like forever, coach Cleary called Mary and Corey over to where they were still doing man rolls. Finally, Mary thought to herself. Her side was killing her.
"Camden, you're up," Coach Cleary told Mary. Mary rolled the ball to her teammate and she picked it up as Mary moved closer to guard her.
"Stay with her Mary," Coach Cleary said as Mary started to slow down. Mary picked up her pace and started to move faster.
"Good Mary, nice job," Coach Cleary told her.
"Conway, your next," Coach Cleary said after Mary was done.
After Corey was done, Coach Cleary blew his whistle.
"3 on 2, lets go." With that, the girls formed three lines while two girls hoped on defense. Mary took the ball and passed it to Corey. Corey took a shot and missed. Mary grabbed the rebound and put the ball though the hoop.
"Nice hustle Camden," Coach Cleary shouted. Mary then headed to the back of the line and waited for her turn. When Mary's group was up again, Corey was on defense. Mary got a pass from Nikki and fired a three pointer from the left wing. Mary misfired and Diane grabbed the rebound over Corey. Diane put back the shot and the ball caromed off of the backboard and through the basket.
"Camden, I need you to hit that shot come championship time," shouted coach Cleary. Mary disgusted with herself hopped on defense. Coach Cleary then blew the whistle and told the girls to go get drinks.
"Lay ups, lets go," coach Cleary said. Mary stepped in line and received the pass from Corey. Mary dribbled in and shot the lay-up. Nikki went in to get the rebound. A few minutes later, Mary was going in for the teams' tenth straight lay-up; Mary took three dribbles and lofted the ball towards the basket. The ball bounced off the rim and landed on the gym floor. Coach Cleary blew his whistle and shouted, "Get on the line." The team found themselves running sprints because of Mary's missed lay-up.
After the girls finished running lines, coach Cleary blew his whistle and shouted, "Everyone in." Relieved that practice was finally over, Mary trotted over to where couch Cleary was standing. She tucked the ball that she was holding under her arm and shifted her weight, as she and her teammates listened carefully to what their coach was saying.
"Nice practice girls. Practice is right after school tomorrow," coach Cleary told the team,
"Go change," coach Cleary finished. With that, the girls hustled to the locker room to go change.
Inside the locker room, Mary could hear her teammates talking about her. Mary quickly got changed and gathered all her stuff and left the locker room. Before she had a chance to head toward the doors leading to the outside of the school, couch Cleary stopped her.
"Mary!" Coach Cleary shouted. Mary turned to face her coach.
"Yeah coach?" Mary asked.
"Be here at 6:30 tomorrow morning. We have practice," coach Cleary told Mary.
"But, I thought that practice was right after school," Mary said, confused.
"It is, but you and I are going to work one on one. I need you to be your best come championship time," Coach Cleary told Mary.
"Okay coach, I'll be here," Mary told coach Cleary before continuing towards the doors that lead to the outside of the high school.
Once Mary got outside, she started to cry. She could not get the idea of her teammates talking about her in the locker room out of her mind. She spotted Matt's car, but before heading towards the car, she wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face. Once Mary got to the car, she threw her duffel bag in the back and hopped in the front seat.
"What's wrong?" Matt asked his younger sister, as he pulled away from the high school.
"Nothing, I am fine," Mary sniffled. "No your not, tell me what's wrong," Matt urged.
"I don't want to talk about it," Mary told her brother.
"Okay, but if you change your mind I am ready to listen," Matt told his sister as they pulled into their driveway.
Mary got out of the car and grabbed her stuff and hurried inside, making sure that no one heard her enter the house. Once she was sure that no one had heard her, she tiptoed up the stairs to her room. When she reached her room, she found Lucy listening to music and singing along with the lyrics. When Lucy saw Mary, she went over to her stereo and shut off the music. "
How was prac-?" Lucy started to ask Mary when she noticed that she was crying.
"What's wrong?" Lucy asked Mary, sitting down on the bed next to her sister.
"I don't want to talk about it," Mary sniffled.
"Okay, but if you want to talk I am ready to listen," Lucy told Mary as she got up and left, leaving Mary by herself. As soon as Lucy left, Mary buried her face in her pillow and continued to cry.
Lucy made her way down to the kitchen where she found Matt eating his dinner.
"Do you know what's up with Mary?" Lucy asked her brother.
"She won't talk to you either?" Matt asked his sister.
"She's upstairs in her room crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said that she didn't want to talk about it," Lucy told Matt.
"I got the same response," Matt told Lucy.
"Well, I just hope that whatever it is, that she tells us soon," Lucy said.
"Give her time, she will," Matt said as her got up and put his plate in the dishwasher. With that, he left the room and Lucy went back upstairs.
On Lucy's way upstairs, she passed Mary in the hallway.
"What's wrong?" Lucy asked Mary, noticing that she was limping.
"I said that I didn't want to talk about it."
"I wasn't talking about that, why are you limping?" Lucy asked her sister.
"Oh that, my knee is bothering me," Mary said as she started to go down the stairs.
"Oh," Lucy responded.
"If you choose to tell me what's going on, the offers still open. I'm always here for you Mary," Lucy told her older sister.
"Thanks Luce, I am always here for you too." With that, Mary started to make her way downstairs.
Once she got downstairs, she found her dinner in the refrigerator and unwrapped the plastic wrap that it was wrapped in and popped it in the microwave. After her dinner was warmed up, she took it out of the microwave, got some silverware out of the drawer, and headed towards the living room where she thought that she would watch some TV.
When she got there, she found Matt sitting on the couch watching something.
"Can I watch TV?" Mary asked her older brother.
"Sure, but only if you tell me what's going on," Matt told his sister.
"Please Matt," Mary said as he sat down next to her brother.
"Look Mary, you're my sister and I care about you. I want to know what's wrong. You were crying when I picked you up and Lucy told me that you were up in your room crying earlier. Come on, please tell me what's wrong," Matt said.
"Fine if you need to know that bad, I was crying because my knee is bothering me," Mary told her brother, half-lying.
"Well, maybe you should start wearing your knee brace again, you know for more support," Matt told his sister.
"Good idea, I'll go put it on right now," Mary said getting off the couch. As Mary got up to get off the couch, a pain shot through her abdomen where her stitches were.
"Ouch," Mary said.
"Are you okay?" Matt asked his sister.
"Yeah, I am fine," Mary reassured her brother.
"Are you sure?" Matt asked. "Yeah," Mary said as she left the room to go to her bedroom.
Once Mary got to her bedroom, she started rummaging through her stuff trying to find her knee brace.
"What are you looking for?" Lucy said, looking up from her homework.
"My knee brace, have you seen it?" Mary asked.
"No, maybe it's in your duffel bag," Lucy told her sister. With that, Mary went to her closet and found her duffel bag. Sure enough it was in there. She had put it in there that day when she had gone to practice. She took it out of her duffel bag and sat down on her bed to put it on. When she sat down, the shooting pain that she had experienced before had returned.
"Ouch," Mary said.
"Are you okay?" Lucy asked her sister, as she got up, walked over, and sat down on her bed across from her.
"It's my stomach. I keep getting this shooting pain where my stitches are every time I bend," Mary told her sister, as she slipped her knee brace on.
"Was that why you were crying earlier?" Lucy asked Mary.
"Yeah," Mary told Lucy.
"I knew that I shouldn't have gone to practice," Mary said to herself in frustration.
"I could have told you that. In fact, I think I did tell you that," Lucy told her sister in a smart aleck tone.
"Okay, Okay, I'll admit it. You were right, I shouldn't have gone to practice, happy?" Mary told her sister in an angry tone.
"Much," Lucy said as she got up to leave the room to go downstairs.
On her way downstairs, she passed Matt's room and noticed him doing homework.
"Matt can I talk to you?" Lucy asked, poking her head in her brother's room.
"Sure Luce, what about?" Matt asked his sister.
"Mary," Lucy said as she shut the door so that Mary would not hear her.
"Okay, what about Mary?" Matt asked.
"Well, you know how earlier Mary was crying and you asked her what was wrong and she said that she didn't what to talk about it?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah," Matt said remembering the conversation earlier.
"Well, I know why she was crying," Lucy told him.
"She was crying because her stomach is hurting her," Lucy told Matt.
"You mean from the surgery?" Matt asked, confused.
"She said that every time she bends she gets a shooting pain in her stomach where her stitches are," Lucy told him.
"Thanks for letting me know. I am going to talk to Mary right now," Matt told Lucy.
"You can't. If she knows that I told you she'll never forgive me," Lucy said stopping her brother.
"Lucy, I need to talk to her, something is obviously wrong and I need to find out what. You are a great sister and Mary is lucky that you are looking out for her," Matt told Lucy.
"Thanks Matt," Lucy said as he started to leave the room. With that, Matt left the room and headed towards Mary's room while Lucy headed downstairs to let her brother and sister have some privacy.
Once Matt had reached Mary's room, he knocked on the door.
"Can I come in?" he asked through the door.
"Go away," he heard a muffled voice say. He ignored his sisters' response and entered anyway.
"Please talk to me," he said peeking his head inside the door.
"Why are you crying?" Matt asked his sister walking all the way inside the room.
"I already told you, my knee is bothering me," Mary told Matt in an annoyed tone. She hated the fact that Matt had to know every little detail of her life. She wishes sometimes that he would just act like her brother instead of her parent.
"No, I think that's not all that's bothering you," Matt urged.
"What?" Mary asked confused.
"I think that there is something else," Matt said.
"Okay, Okay, my stomach is hurting me," Mary confessed.
"And that was why you were crying earlier," Matt stated.
"Yes, how did you know, did Lucy tell you?" Mary asked her brother.
"No," Matt lied, "I just had a feeling that there was something else going on besides the fact that your knee was hurting you," Matt said.
"So what do you mean exactly when you say that your stomach is hurting you?" Matt asked curiously.
"I mean that every time I bend I get this shooting pain where my stitches are," Mary explained to her brother.
"Let me see," Matt said indicating for Mary to lift up her shirt to see the incision. Mary lifted up her shirt to let her brother look. When Matt did so, he noticed that Mary had not taken the bandage off yet. He also noticed that the skin around the bandage was really red.
"Mary, can you take the bandage off so that I can see the incision?" Matt asked.
"Matt, the doctor said that I can't take the bandage off yet," Mary told him.
"It's okay, you can just put the bandage back on afterwards," Matt told her.
"Since when have you become such the doctor?" Mary asked Matt sarcastically. With that, Mary peeled back the bandage so that her brother could look at the incision. Matt studied the incision closely.
"Mary, your incision is infected!" Matt told his sister.
"You're not going to tell Mom and Dad are you?" Mary asked Matt in a weak voice.
"Mary, we need to get you to the hospital," Matt told her.
"No Matt, please don't take me to the hospital," Mary begged.
"But if I don't take you your incision could get worse," Matt urged, trying to change his sister's mind.
"I am not going and you can't make me!" Mary shouted at her brother, as she pushed him out of the room and slammed the door in his face.
Frustrated and hurt by Mary's words, Matt returned to his room to finish is homework, but he was having a heard time bring himself to do so. He instead decided that he would go down to the kitchen to find a snack. Inside the refrigerator, he found half of a left over turkey sandwich that he had eaten the day before. He took it out of the refrigerator and unwrapped it right when his mother came into the kitchen.
"Hey Matt," Mrs. Camden greeted her oldest son.
"Hi Mom," Matt said, a little startled.
"Are you okay? You look like something is bothering you, is it?" Mrs. Camden asked Matt.
"Nothing's wrong, nothing at all," Matt said before heading back upstairs with the sandwich still in his hand. As Mrs. Camden watched her son turn on his heels and head back upstairs, she rolled her eyes; she know that something was missing from the conversation she had just had and she was going to find out what.
Once Matt returned back upstairs, he went to his room to finish his homework. He was about to start his homework again when Mary entered, holding a piece of paper in her hand.
"Will you sign this?" Mary asked Matt, thrusting the piece of paper into his hands.
"And what is this?" Matt asked.
"It's a note for me to get out of study hall tomorrow to practice," Mary told her big brother.
"Do Mom and Dad know about this?" Matt asked Mary, curiously.
"No," Mary admitted.
"And you want me to go behind Mom and Dad's backs and sign this for you?' Matt asked.
"Yes, please Matt," Mary begged.
"I don't think so, you know that you're not allowed to play basketball yet," Matt told his little sister firmly.
"Please, I am begging you," Mary pleaded once more. Matt reluctantly took the piece of paper, signed his signature on it, and returned it back to Mary.
"Thanks," Mary said taking the piece of paper from her brother before exiting the room. Once Mary had left, Matt leaned back in his chair and sighed, for he knew that what he had done was not something a minister's son would have done-he hated acting that way.
Later that evening, Mrs. Camden went upstairs to do her usual bed check, while her husband was finishing with some last minute church work before coming up to join her. She quietly made her way down the hallway, poking her head into the room that Simon and Ruthie both shared. She found them both sleeping peaceful and smiled at the sight of her two youngest children. She then, quietly closed the door and headed to the next room. Once she arrived, she quietly opened the door to the room that Mary and Lucy shared, to find both her eldest daughters' sound asleep. It was a beautiful sight.
With that, she quietly closed the door and headed towards the last room, which happened to be Matt's. She opened the door quietly, expecting to find her eldest son sound asleep, but to her surprise, he was still up.
"What are you stilldoing up?" Mrs. Camden asked him.
"Just finishing some homework, big test tomorrow," Matt told his mother.
"Did you want something Mom?" Matt asked.
"Come to think of it, I did have one question," Mrs. Camden said, but paused before continuing.
"Okay, I'm listening, shoot," Matt told his mother.
"What was all the distraction about in the kitchen when I talked to you earlier?" Mrs. Camden asked.
"I guess that I was just worried about the test tomorrow, that's all," Matt said, coming up with the most believable excuse he could think of.
"Okay, well don't stay up to much longer. Your father and I are going to bed and your bother and sisters are all in bed. Besides, you need your rest," Mrs. Camden told Matt.
"Okay, I won't. I love you."
"I love you too Matt," Mrs. Camden said before exiting the room and heading to bed herself.
The next morning, Mary woke up at 5:30, since she had to be at practice at 6:30. She quietly got out of bed and slipped on her robe that was laid neatly across the back of the chair in the corner of the room. She then, exited the room quietly, being sure not to disturb Lucy and headed towards the bathroom to take a shower.
After Mary was finished taking a shower, she quietly returned to her room where Lucy was still sleeping. She struggled to find a shirt and a pair of sweatpants in the dark, but managed with the little sunlight that was shining through her window. She tried quietly to get dressed, but was unsuccessful.
"Mary?" she heard her sister's voice say.
"What are you doing up? It's 5:30 in the morning," Lucy said, looking at the alarm clock located on the night table in-between the two beds.
"Shh, go back to sleep," Mary whispered, ignoring her sister's question. Without protesting, Lucy laid her head back on her pillow and closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.
After Mary had finished getting dressed, she tiptoed down the dark hallway to Matt's room. She quietly opened the door and tiptoed inside the room.
"Matt," Mary whispered. No answer.
"Matt," Mary tried again, louder. Still no answer.
"Matt," Mary tried once more, walking closer to the bed.
"What?" Matt grumbled, wondering who wanted him at this hour.
"Get up, you need to take me to school." Mary told her brother.
"Okay, Okay," Matt said rolling out of bed. Mary quietly exited the room and headed downstairs to the kitchen to have some breakfast.
Mary quietly tiptoed down the stairs to the kitchen, making sure not to make a sound. Once she had descended down the stairs and into the kitchen, she felt her way for the kitchen light. Once she had successfully found it, she turned it on. She was surprised to find her father sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee.
"Dad!" Mary said a bit surprised.
"Mary," Reverend Camden asked, also surprised by his daughters' sudden appearance.
"What are you doing up so early, are you having trouble sleeping?" Reverend Camden asked her.
"Yeah," Mary lied.
"Well do you want to talk about it?"
"No thanks. I think I'll just go back upstairs to my room," Mary told her father as she grabbed an apple out of the fruit basket and made her way back upstairs.
Once she had returned to her room, she was surprised to find Lucy up and getting ready.
"What are you doing?" Mary asked her little sister. Lucy jumped at the sound of her older sister's voice.
"I heard some voices in the kitchen and I figured that I'd go downstairs and make sure everything was okay," Lucy said.
"Don't worry about it, me and dad were just talking," Mary told her.
"He's up at this hour?" Lucy asked, amazed.
"Yeah, he was in the kitchen lost in thought, drinking coffee when I went down there," Mary said, stopping from time to time to take a bit of apple.
"Why are you wearing sweats?" Lucy asked, noticing what her sister had on.
"Oh, I have practice…in a half an hour. I have to get going," Mary said, noticing the time on her alarm clock. She quickly left the room to go find Matt, who the last she knew was getting ready.