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Johnny’s Failure — Part 6

Jim LaBate
3 min readJul 31, 2019

Failure to Exercise and Get Enough Rest

Photo by Jim LaBate

Officer Smith broke the ensuing silence by speaking directly to Detective Frament.

“Do you want me to wake up Johnny for questioning?”

“Not just yet.” Then, noticing a ring of keys on the coffee table near the television remote, he asked Sally, “Are these Johnny’s keys?”

“Yes.”

Since the key ring also included small, rectangular scan cards for the local health club and Dunkin’ Donuts, Detective Frament began searching in another direction. To Johnny’s parents he asked, “Do you mind if we run a check on these cards?”

“If you think it will help, go ahead.”

“Smitty, call both of these places and give them Johnny’s numbers; find out how often he visits the gym and how much he spends on donuts and coffee.” To the others, Frament asked: “Is Johnny an athlete?”

“Oh My God, he’s a phenomenal athlete,” his mother bragged. “In high school, he was the quarterback in football, the point guard in basketball, and the shortstop in baseball. He even had a few scholarship offers.”

“Is he still playing ball?”

“No,” his dad chimed in dejectedly. “He said he was ‘burned out’ and needed a break. He thought a year without sports at a community college…

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Jim LaBate
Jim LaBate

Written by Jim LaBate

Jim LaBate is a retired writer and teacher who worked primarily in The Writing Center at Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) in Troy, New York.

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