Chapter 9

The next morning, the Panthers practiced at six, barely getting through and having enough night to shower and stop by the cafeteria for something to eat before the first bell rang. It had already been a long day and now the players had to get through the first day of school and then another practice.

Andy had gone with Lucky to church the night before and seemed to enjoy it. After the service ended, they went to the Sonic with Happy and D.J. to get an ice cream. All summer, they had gone to one of their houses to play games and hang out, but knew that wasn’t possible with practice so early in the morning and then school.

The students had just gotten out of an orientation session as Lucky walked down the hall, looking at his schedule. The first class was English. Lucky saw Gabby coming toward him. She was dressed nice today, wearing a pair of light blue shorts, a white shirt and sandals. She looked nothing like the girl who played basketball with him the day before.

Lucky headed toward her, since she seemed a little lost.

“Hey,” he said.

“Uh, hi,” Gabby answered, looking down at a piece of paper in her hand. It was the class schedule and at the moment, she was clueless.

“Do you know where Miss Lay’s English class is?” she asked.

“That’s where I’m headed,” he replied. “I’ll show you.”

The hall was filled with students rushing every which way. The hallways were always a madhouse, made worse by the confusion surrounding the first day of school. Lucky always thought it looked like a human version of an ant farm with everybody scurrying around.

“Are you excited?” Lucky asked.

“About seeing you?” Gabby remarked, smiling at him.

“Uh, no, about school starting.”

“Yes,” Gabby answered, wishing she hadn’t said that about seeing him. He didn’t seem to know how to take her. Gabby brushed her hair out of her face and started walking alongside Lucky. “More nervous than excited.”

They continued down the hall, avoiding students running in the opposite direction.

“Here it is,” Lucky commented, pointing into a classroom. He opened the door, allowing her to walk in first.

“Thanks,” Gabby said, touched his arm for just a second then pulled her hand back like she had touched a fire. “Sorry.”

“For what?” Lucky asked, it certainly didn’t bother him.

She just shook her head and looked around the room. It was the usual classroom with the desks all lined up in rows facing the teacher’s desk. A chalkboard was on the wall in front of the class with windows lining the far wall. Everything seemed clean and in order, although it would not last long.

“Where do we sit?” she asked.

“Wherever you want,” he answered. “The seats usually don’t get assigned until somebody starts acting up.”

D.J. was sitting in the front seat on the aisle next to the windows. He opened his backpack and pulled out a notebook as they walked in that direction.

She moved close to Lucky, following behind.

“Do you mind if I sit with you?” she asked.

“Nope,” Lucky answered. “Let me introduce you to one of my best friends.”

D.J. watched them walk toward him, his eyes glued on Gabby.

“This is Andy’s sister, Gabby,” Lucky announced. D.J. was staring intently at her, acting like Lucky was not even in the room. “Gabby, this is one of my best friend’s, D.J.”

He sat down directly across from D.J. Gabby sat in a chair behind Lucky and started going through her backpack, trying to find a notebook.

They got through the first class without any trouble. Lucky had two more classes with Gabby and was in every class with D.J. Happy was not quite as advanced as a student and only saw his friends at lunch and during football practice.

Since they would practice again at night, the Panthers used the usual practice time to lift weights, hitting them just as hard as if it was off-season.

Cole had seen a lot of teams start the season strong but weaken during the year, suffering through injuries in the latter part of the season, mainly because they quit lifting weights. The injuries and lack of strength contributed to losses the teams should not have suffered. Petros had avoided that for the most part because they never stopped lifting weights, at least in their coach’s opinion.

Practices for the rest of the week were not what Cole expected or hoped to see.

The Panthers spent a lot of time on blocking and tacking drills. These were Cole’s two biggest keys to winning a game.

He always thought it was possible for a team to win a game even if it did not have the best talent, provided they blocked and tackled better than the other team. There were a lot of other things to figure in, but he knew the team that did those two things the best usually won. That was why he put such emphasis on it. He knew his guys were smaller than most of the opponents and for them to succeed, they had to be more fundamentally sound.

The defense continued to look good. In the two positions open, Ichabod started using D.J. and Lucky more, letting them get used to playing with the Blackshirts.

The offense was the big problem, not advancing nearly as fast as the coaches hoped or expected. Partly because the defense they practiced against every day was good, but mainly because they just weren’t playing good.

Prior to opening the season, Petros had two scrimmages lined up. Both scrimmages were against larger schools from Arkansas.

The first scrimmage was at home Friday night against Bates, a town just across the border. Bates was a power every year. Usually, the Panthers had trouble competing against the Bulldogs, but Cole liked to scrimmage them because it helped get the players ready for the season.

The Bulldogs always had a huge team, but one that was not all that quick. Because of Petros’ defense, neither team usually scored much. Bates moved the ball while the Panthers usually went backwards.

As the scrimmage started Friday evening, there was a huge crowd even though the temperatures were in triple digits.

Cole saw a few things that would work against the Bulldogs if it was a real game but didn’t use it, not wanting to show the scouts from other schools any more than the basics.

Toward the end of the scrimmage, Bates finally scored on its last possession, punching it in on a short run. Petros had the ball one more time but had trouble moving the ball against the huge defense.

The coaches sent in the reserves. Petros got the ball first. The Panthers’ fans had been waiting all night for something to get excited about. There had been a couple of good hits and good defensive play, but the offense had done nothing.

D.J. changed that on the first play. He took a handoff from Lucky on a simple dive play over the left side. He broke free from a linebacker, raced past the secondary and outran everybody into the end zone, scoring easily.

Some of the crowd had left after the starters called it a night but the remaining fans on Petros’ side showed some excitement.

The Panthers stopped the ensuing drive from the Bulldogs and got the ball back. This time, it took two plays to make something happen.

On first down, Happy surged forward for five years. On the second play, Lucky took the snap, faked the dive to Happy, cut inside the defensive end and juked the safety so bad his feet got all tangled up, causing him to fall to the ground. Lucky was in the open, looking for the other safety. The safety finally arrived, grabbing hold of Lucky’s shoulder pads.

Just as Lucky started down, he pitched the ball back to his side and back. D.J. was right where he should be and grabbed the pitch, never having to break stride. He was in the open and gone, scoring easily.

Bates’ reserves had the ball one last time. Andy got his first chance to play defensive end and flew by the tackle, tossed the fullback aside and sacked the quarterback on the last play. As he rose, Andy had a look on his face like “how did I do that?”

His teammates congratulated him. The coaches were still not sure of his best position on defense and were experimenting with several different positions.

As the scrimmage ended, most of the starters came out and congratulated the reserves. Aside from some good play by the defense, the two touchdowns were really the only highlights.

Back in the locker room, Lucky was pulling off his shoulder pads when he was slammed from behind. He did not see anything coming so there was no way to be prepared. The collision was hard enough he got a big jolt from the locker.

Even before he removed his pads, Lucky had a pretty good idea who and what caused this. His assumption was correct as Garrett Long walked past, laughing at what he just did.

He started on both sides of the line as a defensive tackle and offensive tackle, one of the Panthers’ best players. For some reason, Garrett always disliked Lucky, even when they were in elementary school. It had been going on for years and most of the time Lucky did not pay any attention.

Ever since practice started, Garrett had been dishing out cheap shots in practice to Lucky and the other sophomores. The only younger player he avoided was Happy, as Garrett tried it once, but paid for it as Happy delivered a hit back that caused Garrett’s neck to snap back, giving him a crick that took two days to go away.

“Don’t get too excited, boy,” Garrett stated, standing with his chest thrown out while glaring at Lucky. “Yeah, you boys scored a couple of touchdowns but it was against their scrubs.”

Lucky stared back at Garrett, not wanting to say anything to make the situation worse, but prepared to strike back if necessary.

He watched Garrett slowly turn and walk to his locker. Garrett was not liked by many of his teammates, but usually did not act this way if any coaches or teammates were nearby.

Lucky put away the rest of his equipment and hurried outside, hoping to catch one of his friends and see if they wanted to do something. As he walked into the parking lot, he crossed between two trucks and saw D.J. leaning against one truck, a girl standing close by. D.J. had his hand on her back, and she moved closer. Lucky wondered who D.J. was with. He moved a little closer as D.J. looked at him and nodded. The girl turned around and Lucky stopped in his tracks.

His heart skipped a couple of beats and it felt like somebody hit him in the stomach. Garrett’s hit in the locker room did not have near the intensity this did. When he realized D.J. was with Gabby and they were holding hands, Lucky wanted to melt away.

Lucky did not know why it bothered him, just knew he had to get out of there fast.

He waved at them and started walking away.

“Good game,” Gabby shouted, smiling at him.

Lucky stopped for a second, thinking of thousands of other places he would rather be.

“Thanks,” he answered.

“Want to go get something to eat?” D.J. asked.

“Naw,” Lucky remarked. “I’m kind of tired. I think I’ll just go home and go to bed.”

Lucky walked off, got halfway across the parking lot and started jogging. He gradually picked up speed, sprinting by the time his feet hit the road.

He kept running all the way home, never slowing until he reached the garage. Lucky slipped inside the garage and turned on the outside lights, grabbed his basketball, went back outside and started shooting.

This was his oasis, the good spot for him. Just him, a basketball and a goal. No worries or problems allowed here. When anything bothered him, Lucky retreated to his basketball court, his mind emptying all troubles. He thought clearly here and figured out what was wrong, with the bouncing of the ball and the swishing of the net serving as a calming influence.

Lucky played little games, seeing how many shots he hit in a row or imagine it was the final seconds of a game and the Panthers needed a basket to win the game. He usually made the basket as the imaginary crowd roared, but if the shot missed, Lucky grabbed the rebound and hit the second shot. He also practiced moves or shots until they were mastered.

He was still shooting when his father came home. Cole saw the lights a block away and his son gliding through the night toward the rim. He pulled in the driveway and parked his old truck.

When he got out, Cole was carrying a pair of water bottles. He had been working on one during the drive home, the other one was full.

He sat down on the porch, thankful there were not many neighbors nearby and the ones who lived close did not hear that great. Most people probably would not be too happy hearing a basketball thumping away this time of the night, but the neighbors either did not hear it, worry about it or were used to it.

Cole took a big hit off the water bottle, his mouth so dry it felt like there was a cotton ball inside. He knew it was not that good of an idea to drink so much this late at night, as he would have to make several pit stops later on. But Cole was hot, thirsty and knew his body needed the fluids.

He knew Lucky was aware of his presence, but his son was so focused his routine did not change.

Lucky would grab the ball, dribble to a certain spot and shoot. He then retrieved the ball and repeated the action.

He was drenched in sweat. Lucky had always been in good shape, but now was stronger, faster and could go longer than ever.

Cole looked down at his watch and saw it was almost eleven. He was glad none of the neighbors were disturbed by his son, but knew this was pushing it by having the lights on and playing ball this late.

Lucky sank one last jumper from behind the free-throw line and called it a night. He put the basketball back in the garage, noticing it was getting slick from use and that it was time to be replaced. Lucky turned the lights off, closed the garage door and walked over to sit by his father.

Cole handed his son the extra water bottle. He waited a minute to see if Lucky wanted to talk about what was bothering him, but his son declined to open up, as usual.

“You guys played good tonight,” Cole stated.

“Thanks,” Lucky answered, taking a long drink of the water. His hair was matted down with sweat and drops were running down his face. “I was surprised we were able to move the ball so easy. I expected their second team to be tough, just like the starters. The guys we played were as big as the starters.”

“Yeah, but they were really slow. Big, but awfully slow. If Bates doesn’t do something about that in a year or two they’ll really struggle.”

“You think they’ll be good this year?”

“Not as good as they’ve been in the past. They’ll probably break even. That’s a tough league they’re in over there.”

“You ever wish you’d taken that job?”

Cole watched as his son finished the water bottle. He had just about forgotten about that. Six years ago, the superintendent of Bates tried to get Cole to take the head coaching job for football. Cole was tempted, but did not feel the program was what he was looking for at that time.

He knew because Bates was a bigger town, there were more things for the kids to do and the players were not as committed as they were in Petros. Because of the Panthers’ tradition, the kids here lived for sports and there was more unity.

“Bigger’s not always better,” Cole pointed out. “You okay?”

He knew something was bothering Lucky to keep him away from his friends on a Friday night and have him shooting basketballs alone late at night.

“Naw, I’m fine,” Lucky countered, which both knew was not the truth. “I just wanted to shoot some.”

There were hundreds of things he wanted to ask his father but did not know how to do it. He had all these funny feelings and emotions for the first time and did not know why or how to handle it.

“I’m gonna watch the film of the scrimmage,” his father mentioned. “You up to it?”

Lucky brightened a little bit. He and Cole had spent hundreds of hours together, pouring over game film, scouting opponents and watching tape of Petros’ games, looking for weaknesses or ways for the team to improve.

From watching so much film, Lucky could give a very good scouting report on an opponent and figure out a team’s strengths and weaknesses as well as most coaches.

They walked inside and Cole put the tape in and turned the television on, waiting until Lucky got through popping some popcorn in the microwave and getting something to drink before starting it. After Lucky came into the room with a bowl of popcorn for each of them and handed his father a glass of water, Cole hit the play button on the tape and they started watching the tape with the lights dimmed. Lucky sat down on the couch with his long legs stretched out so his feet rested on the coffee table. He had dropped his shirt in the laundry room and had a towel over his shoulders, wearing only a pair of shorts. Lucky put his shoes next to the table, the sweaty socks placed inside.

The ceiling fan was going full blast, sending cool air down on his bare feet. He put the towel over his head and took a long drink before attacking the popcorn. Cole was in his recliner, the remote in his hands.

They watched the film about halfway through, until the popcorn was gone. Neither one knew who went out first, but soon they were both sleeping, letting the tape run until it ended.

Chapter 10