Mable's Story Chapter 6

Mable in Charge

“We think you are one crazy gal, Mable. You standing up to Miss Hawn like that was something ziggy to watch!” Robert seemed to be speaking for all my new sports staff; after all, he did say, “We think.” I was relieved we could still all be friends. This was our senior year and I wanted us to all have a good time wowing the whole school with our sports articles. North High had some promising teams and we were going to have great fun doing nifty writing and giving our school newspaper complete coverage of all the sports. It was going to be hectic, like Miss Hawn said. There were many games to attend and many players and coaches to catch up with for an interview.

“Thanks, guys. This meeting is to help us get organized and decide who is going to do what this fall. I went home yesterday and wrote down how we might be able to get everything done and not let the Oracle down.”

Robert had settled down in one of the desks by the windows facing east and looked out at a bright sunrise. There were still leaves left on the trees, but the gleam of the state capitol building’s gold dome looked spectacular shining through them. Despite his initially encouraging words, Robert looked a little bit dejected; maybe he was disappointed, after all, that he had not fought to get the sports editor job a little harder. I had something up my sleeve that would make him a little happier.

I spoke quietly and a little bit slower than usual. I didn’t want to come off as some brassy girl. My mother warned me about that once in a while when she heard me getting bossy.

“Here’s what I want to do, Robert. I want Herb and Bill to get all the pre-season interviews going. Talking to the coaches and the players about how they think the season will go will keep you two busy as heck.” Herb and Bill were nodding and started writing in their notebooks already. That’s what I wanted to see!

“Robert, I am going to put you in charge of everything to do with our Homecoming game against Roosevelt. Everything. And after you are rested up from that, I want you to take the lead on any post-season and playoff games that we hopefully get to play in. Herb and Bill will have to pitch in on that, and help out with Homecoming, too. But, I will leave their assignments for Homecoming and post-season completely up to you.”

Robert looked shocked that I was so organized. You’d think he had not worked with me on the Oracle the past two years. That’s how I do things. I think about what needs to be done, I get my plan organized, and then I get busy! He would get used to it.

We went on to discuss some details, like assigning specific game coverage to each of us. We either had to write the articles right before the games, or right after them. Timing was important, and we needed to get the stories in quickly. I had the final read on all of them, so I wanted plenty of time to do a good job. Miss Hawn would be watching me very closely!