Peak

Ch. 10: We All Bleed Red

"Happy Sunday Antoine!" I said sarcastically into the phone.

"Why are you yelling?" He groaned.

"Aww you hangin' man?" I laughed.

"Why'd you call Shoes?"

"Just making sure got home safe in the cab I so kindly called for you."

"Wait...how did my car get back?"

"Called a tow truck too."

"How'd you get home?"

"Had Tyler pick me up."

"Oh. Well then...have a lovely day Shoes."

"See ya man."

The rest of the week went by as routine, except this was the first good one I had in a while. Going from crutches and a cast to a walking boot may not seem like much, but there was a huge difference. Mostly because it was easier to get around now.

Until Friday came around. That's when reality hit me like a brick again. It was our second to last home game and against Greenstone High School. Not a huge threat, but not an easy win either.

I got up to the press box around 6:45 where I found the writers, broadcasters, and announcers I've come to befriend.

"Sam, good to see you again, especially off crutches." Red Teigan smiled. He was the stadium announcer, or live commentator. Yes, his name was actually Red, but it suit him given the guy was obsessed with East Side sports. Not just football, the man even goes to tennis matches and bowling matches. Voluntarily. Even though he's also a sports journalist for the school, you can just tell he still cares.

Red and I have been talking for the past few games since I was up here with him, and we got to know each other pretty well. Turns out, he's an East Side alumni and played football himself from 1980-84.

"Thanks Red, good to see you again." I smiled back and shook his hand. "So what are we lookin' at for this game?"

"Put simply, heavy defense and the quarterback's got a cannon. It might take the boys a while to find the holes, but they will, just like when they play McCormick. But I guess I'm not supposed to pick sides in my position though, huh?" Both of us slightly laughed at his bias towards his alma mater.

The game started at 7:30 where it was immediately obvious both teams were struggling. It was still tied 0-0 by the end of the first quarter. Great, this thing might go into overtime.

Second quarter. It was like watching Eastside play against itself. Matt throws the ball, tackled, intercepted, fumbled; Greenstone's quarterback throws the ball, tackled, intercepted, fumbled. Back and forth for two quarters. Within that time, no one even came close for a field goal.

At halftime, while listening to the marching bands play, I decided to scan the crowd. Mostly football parents, band parents, cheerleading parents, and community members. On the far right side is where the student section was located, which was all sitting down down to either talk or watch the performance.

I went to look away, but a flash of familiar brown hair caught my attention. I only saw the back of her head though, so I couldn't completely figure out who it was. C'mon, just turn your head a little to the left.

Of course she couldn't hear me, but she did end up turning her head where I found myself looking at the profile of Lauren Stilvins herself. She was here, she was actually here at a game. I noticed she was just wearing converse, jeans, and a red shirt attempting to participate, yet there she was towards the top of the student section. Suck it, Antoine. She never really wore make up (she didn't need it anyway), but I also saw she was wearing some tonight. She looked really nice, to be honest.

"So," I snapped awake at the sound of Red's voice, not realizing I was kind of sort of staring at her, "one more home and one more away game after this then it's playoffs. Where did the season go?" He thought aloud.

"I can't tell you where it went, but I can tell you it dragged on." I told him.

"Well that's cause you're up here when you should be down there, and you know it." I averted my gaze from him back to the band when he said this.

"What about you? You've been up here forced to watch for over twenty years, what's that like?" I asked.

"It probably break every bone in my body, but I'd do anything to play on that field just one more time." This made me look back up to him. "Sam, you and every other young man that plays football may not realize it now, but one day when you're my age you're gonna see how much you took for granted. Every drill, every sprint, every warm-up may be 'annoying' or 'tiring' or 'pointless', but as soon as it hits you that you won't ever do those things again, you want nothing but to do it all again."

"I'm gonna be honest, Red, I'd be more than happy to run a suicide right now if I could." I joked.

He laughed at that and continued, "See, you already have that wisdom." He paused for a few seconds before speaking up again, "You're not gonna quit like Jimmy Adkins, are you? I see it in your eyes, boy, you can't walk away even if you wanted to."

The mention of Jimmy's name made me zone out for a minute or two.

"I don't think Jimmy's a quitter." I finally said.

"I know he's not a quitter cause I see it in his eyes too. I ran into him in the store about a month before conditioning started this year and we started talking since his dad and I are good friends. I asked the usual, you know 'how are you', 'how's your knee'. Then, just out of curiosity, I asked if he's excited for football this year; and he told me he's not playing. I asked 'Why Jimmy, are you having knee problems again?'. I wasn't prepared for what he said next, he said 'What if I'm not the same player I was before?'. At the time I just saw it as sadness in his eyes, but in retrospect I realized it was fear. And honestly, I don't blame Jimmy for not wanting to face that fear." He must've been like a son to Red, I could tell by the way he told the story.

That was all the evidence I needed though, despite what he told me the night of Ben's party. I knew it, Red knew it, the whole team knew it, hell, practically all of Eastside knew it. Jimmy didn't want to walk away from football, he just didn't want to.

We won the game 7-0 scoring in the third quarter. The stadium practically quaked with excitement. I even saw Lauren jumping up and down cheering, she didn't even come off as the type to get into a football game. It was actually pretty cool to see that side of her.

Speaking of Lauren, on my way out after the game I ran into her in the parking lot leaning against her car with her arms crossed.

"You came." I said smiling as I walked over to her.

"Well, I figured it wouldn't hurt to at least try watching one of these things." She smiled back.

"And?" I raised my eyebrows at her.

"And it was more fun than I expected...okay, it was so much fun!" She chirped happily. I'm sure I was standing there grinning like an idiot at her reaction.

"I had a feeling you'd enjoy it." I told her slightly nodding. "So, are you waiting for someone or is your car not starting or..." I trailed off.

"No, I just wanted to say hi to before you left." She answered shaking her head. Her response really surprised me, in a good way I mean. Maybe it's because Aubrey always wanted something other than a hello. Shit, why am I comparing Lauren to Aubrey.

She smiled at me and I smiled back.

"I'm really glad you came, Lauren." I said.