Rita Ever Wright knew the Beavers basketball team cheated. She was sure of it! That lousy team had put something slippery on that ball to make her lose her grip on it. They were responsible for making her drop the ball before she could make the winning goal to save the team.
Her coach, even her friends, said that fumbling the ball could happen to anyone, that it was fine, that it was a mistake. But they were wrong. Deep down they knew as well as she that she never fumbled the ball ever! She never made a mistake like that. She had played that sport for years and had honed her ability to perfection. She was the best player, the MVP of the Butterflies basketball team. She would never make a rookie mistake like that.
Only losers fumbled basketballs.
And she was not a loser.
She had demanded for the ball to be checked, and though she met some resistance, they did check the ball. But they claimed to find nothing! Rita knew that the ref was lying though. There was no way she could have fumbled that ball. She never made mistakes like that.
Everyone thought she was just a sore loser after that stunt. They thought she was an idiot, a wacko, a loser. But she knew the truth. She would show everyone!
If she could just find a way to prove that the Beavers cheated she could have her name cleared. Then everyone would be sorry for doubting her. Her friends would come to beg for her forgiveness, the news would blast the story of how the Beavers had cheated and how she, the MVP basketball player of the Butterflies was the only one to know the truth and stand her ground. She would be a hero, a legend.
Just then, there was a quiet knock on her door.
“Come in,” Rita said in a croaky voice.
Iris, the direct care employee of the nursing home, entered the room. “How are you doing Ms. Wright?”
“Fine. Just peachy.”
Iris smiled. “I have some good news.” She took out a silver bracelet from her pocket. “I found your bracelet. It was in the garden by the chrysanthemums.”
Rita took the bracelet. She frowned. “That’s not right. I’d never leave my bracelet there. I had it on the whole time I was in the garden.”
Iris scrunched her brow. “But didn’t you unclasp it and take it off for a while? I think you complained about it being too tight or something. Then you took it off. Then perhaps you left it on the ground by mistake.”
Rita set her jaw. “I would never make such a pathetic mistake as that!”
“Perhaps it slipped off your wrist, then.”
“It must have. Just like that basketball slipped from my hand from the grease the Beavers put on it.”
Iris sighed. Not this again, she thought.
“I don’t know how they did it, but they were crafty ones, I'll tell ya. No one believed me! Quite preposterous it was. I never dropped a ball, not once, until then. They greased that ball no doubt. But one day they’ll see.”
“How long ago was that?”
“My word, how could you not remember? I told you almost three times. It was 70 years ago. That was when I was the MVP of the Butterfly basketball team.”
“Of course. Would you like anything?”
“Tea. You know what kind.”
“I’ll be back shortly, Miss.”
Iris left the room and closed the door behind her. Rita looked down at the bracelet in her hand. Silly Iris! She knew where she had this bracelet. She didn’t leave it in the garden. She would never leave it in the garden. Just like she would have never dropped that basketball. She never made mistakes like that. Ever. Were people this blind?
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