“Texas, Texas Tech, and USC. If we both go to USC, we might get them to a National Championship.”
“I’m going to gray-shirt, so I won’t end up in this class. I have some movie commitments,” I explained.
“All I know is, I want to play with you. Good luck the rest of the season,” Percy said, then gave me a fist bump and jogged off the field.
I made my way to our side of the stadium and waved at everyone, including waves specifically to the other teams from our conference who’d shown up. My teammates joined me so we could show our appreciation to them for traveling to this game. Ty waved down his former teammates from Washington, and they jumped over the wall to join us on the field. I signaled for the other teams to do the same. Soon all our squads were mixed together, talking football.
I was shaking hands and slapping shoulders with as many of them as I could. Conference play was over, and I suddenly realized that except for a handful, I’d probably never see them again. I would miss this camaraderie among opponents.
It was startling to me. Who’d have thought I’d be getting even a bit nostalgic at eighteen?
Margaret Chin pulled Coach Hope and me off to the side so we could do a quick on-field interview as part of the broadcast wrap-up.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like what you did tonight. Did you do it because you were worried about Broadview Academy?” she asked Coach Hope.
“We’d planned to use it at some point. I thought they might be the right team for us to try something new.”
“Do you plan to onside-kick and lateral the ball the rest of the season?”
“I doubt it,” Coach Hope said and didn’t elaborate.
I kept a straight face because I knew he planned to use it for the rest of the year. We just didn’t need to telegraph it to our next opponent.
“I saw you and Percy Wilkes talking after the game. What did you say?” she asked me.
“We wished each other luck the rest of the year. I predict they’ll repeat as state champions in Texas. Percy and I also talked about playing college ball together. We discovered we have a team in common on our final lists,” I shared.
“Did you just confirm that you both plan to go to USC?” she asked.
She’d obviously done her homework and knew our final school lists. I smiled and just shook my head in response. They cut away before she could follow up.
“Great game. When you decide where you plan to go, let me know so I can interview you,” Margaret said.
“Will do. It was good to see you again,” I said and returned to the celebration.
I spotted Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, jumped over the wall and hugged them both. Without them and the boosters, today wouldn’t have happened.
The bus ride home was a lot of fun as we sang the whole way. Coach Hope was the fun-sucker as we pulled into the school parking lot when he reminded us we had school tomorrow.
◊◊◊ Friday November 4
It felt good to not have a game this weekend. We’d played Thursday night to give us an extra day off before the state playoffs, which would begin on Wednesday. The other important upcoming event was the election on Tuesday.
Grandma Dawson had met with the city council because they’d had concerns about how having a dog as mayor would work. She assured them she would have Duke’s power of attorney.
She explained two terms I’d heard before,
The whole council understood the difference, and with most of them being from the area, they were well aware of her political credentials. The council came out in favor of Duke’s candidacy after they learned who they would really be working with. After all, their alternative was to have to deal with Thomas Fox, who had mounted a write-in campaign. Or our former mayor, but no one expected him to be around for long.
Grandma told us the rumor around city hall was that Mr. Fox needed the income he would earn as mayor, or he might have to close his practice. I was eagerly awaiting the day he would be taking my order at the drive-through and asking if I want fries with that.
My grandma was as happy as I’d ever seen her. For a minute or two, I thought it was because she’d finally be out in front and not just supporting my grandpa Davey. The little discussion we had showed me I’d misjudged her, though.
“David, my favorite definition of politics is ‘the pursuit or exercise of power with respect to matters of governance.’ The problem is that most politicians spend all their time, energy, and money pursuing power. They give little thought to the actual exercise of it. As soon as they’re elected, they start preparing for the next election. This leads to skewed and shortsighted decision-making.
