Chapter 46

As he entered his office, the phone started ringing. He grabbed the phone, expecting and hoping it was Lance calling.

Lance had gone to scout the game between Albion and Deer Lick. Petros would play the winner of the game the following week.

It was Lance calling in.

“How bad did we beat them?” he asked.

“What makes you think we won?” Cole responded.

“You forget that I saw Octavia play.”

“Oh yeah. We won fifty-eight to zip.”

“That’s good,” Lance commented. “You kinda brought out the old whipping stick, huh?”

That was an expression Cole had not heard for a while.

“The boys were ready to play and Octavia just wasn’t all that great,” Cole commented.

“Everybody come out healthy?” Lance asked.

“Nothing a little rest won’t take care of.”

“That’s good cause you’re gonna need everybody healthy next week.”

“How’d it come out?” Cole asked, already expecting the answer.

“You’re gonna have to break out the track shoes.”

“I guess that means Albion won?”

“Yeah, forty-two to twenty-four.”

“How’d they look?”

“They looked fast. I can’t recall seeing a team that fast since the last time we played Anson.”

Cole expected that. Albion was like this every year, a team full of sprinters. The Antlers had been like that for years and Cole was certain they deserved being ranked fifth in the state.

Albion was a small town tucked deep in the corner of the state, barely in Oklahoma. It was a school with an impressive tradition, always fielding a good football team, a basketball team ranked in the top 10 and a track team that won more state championships than any other school in the state.

“Can we take them?” Cole asked.

“If we control the ball and slow them down,” Lance responded. “Their line is good but I think we’re better. What makes them so tough is they have sprinters at all the skill positions.”

“How was Deer Lick?”

“A good, solid team,” Lance replied. “Very disclipined and well coached. Just not fast enough.”

Petros had played Deer Lick twice over the years, winning easily the first time then pulling off a big upset the next year. Albion and Petros had a long history of playing each other in football and basketball, usually in the playoffs. In football, the Panthers had defeated Albion three times over the years, losing twice.

Basketball was another story. Albion had been a thorn in Cole’s side for year, knocking the Panthers out of the playoffs several times in games that resembled the NBA of old, the two teams running and gunning, each team scoring close to or over a hundred points.

“Is their place still a dump?” Cole asked.

“It’s one of the worst facilities I’ve seen this year,” Lance remarked. “Kinda scary.”

Well, Cole knew there wouldn’t be any problem getting his guys ready for the next week. They were aware of Albion’s reputation and would be excited about the chance to play them.

It wasn’t often you got a chance to play a team that was 12-0 and ranked fifth.

Cole thanked Lance and hung up the phone. He walked into the locker room and got everybody’s attention.

“We got Albion next week,” he announced.

The players all cheered, wanting a chance to break the Antlers’ winning streak.

“Where are we gonna play them?” asked Derwin.

“At their place,” Cole responded.

That caused a few groans as the players would rather play at home. They knew Albion did not have a nice field and like Lance mentioned, it was kind of a scary place to go. But at this point, it really didn’t matter to them. They would play in a swamp or desert.

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Cole got some film of Albion the next day and started watching it immediately. He was not a racist and neither were his players, having competed against many African Americans.

He just wasn’t used to playing against a team with ninety percent of the players black. The Panthers were mostly white, mixing in an occasional Indian, Hispanic and a few blacks over the years.

It was intimidating to go to Albion. Cole knew that, but also knew there wasn’t anything to worry about. Albion’s coach, Jimbo Winston, was one of the finest people he knew. Cole knew Jimbo would not allow anything bad to happen.

Cole always liked competing against Jimbo. Despite all the terrible stereotypes that blacks coaches were not as good as white coaches, Jimbo was a great argument against that. He was as good of a high school coach as there was in the state.

He ran a tight, disclipined program. His teams were smart and always showed good sportsmanship. Plus, they had speed other coaches dreamed of every year and this team was no exception.

There was an old saying “speed kills” and it had for twelve straight games this year for the Antlers. They had been so dominant nobody came within two touchdowns.

Albion averaged over 40 points a game and Cole knew that figure could be a lot higher if Jimbo had allowed it.

In the past when the two schools played, the only concern had been stopping the run. But Cole saw Albion was more balanced and had receivers that were faster than the running backs, along with a quarterback that could get them the ball.

It didn’t take long for Cole to determine Albion was a really good team. He knew Summerfield had beaten Albion in the playoffs last year before losing to Gilmore. But Cole did not think that would happen this year if the two teams collided.

As he watched the film, Cole realized Albion was the best Class 2A team the Panthers had played. The Antlers were as good as anybody Petros had played, except for Hodgen. The more film Cole watched, the more concerned he got.

Unlike other teams with great speed that depended solely on the big play, Albion was able to drive the ball down the field. But the Antlers could also hit the big plays. On offense, Albion went with the I-formation, mixing in traps, blasts, sweeps and options.

Cole doubted Ichabod would get much sleep this week. He and Petros’ defense had their work cut out trying to stop Albion.

Albion’s defense was just as fast. The line was average size, but consisted of players with great quickness and speed.

It was as hard for teams to move the ball on Albion as it was to stop the Antlers’ offense. None of the teams were able to get outside and few had any luck running straight ahead. If a team tried to throw the ball, the Antlers overwhelmed the opponents with pressure on the quarterback and excellent play by the secondary.

Cole also saw Albion’s special teams seemed to be excellent. The return teams were capable of scoring on any play and also did a good job covering kicks.

He was so focused on watching the film that he never heard anybody come into the office.

“How do they look?” asked a female voice.

Cole was so surprised he almost dropped the remote. He pushed the pause button then turned around to see who snuck up on him.

The surprises were just starting. Cole was stunned, so shocked words would not come. It took a few seconds for the face to register before then Cole realized who his visitor was. It was the doctor who worked on Garrett at the hospital.

“Hello, Coach,” she said.

Cole finally regained his composure.

“Hello, how are you doing?” he asked.

“Fine, thank you. I was just driving by and saw a truck outside that I figured was yours.”

Cole tried to remember her name, or if he ever heard it.

She saw the questioned look on his face.

“Do you remember me?” she asked.

“Yes, you’re the doctor from the hospital,” he responded. “We talked in the cafeteria.”

“I’m glad you remember. I’m feeling quite foolish.”

Cole realized his appearance probably left something to be desired. He was sitting in his chair with his feet plopped up on the desk. He looked down and realized that his attire consisted of black sweats, a white sweatshirt, a black hat and no shoes, showing a hole in the sock on his left foot, allowing a couple of toes to stick out.

He was quite embarrassed. Cole knew he looked like a slob while she looked great, wearing jeans, a blue sweater with her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail.

“I watched your game last night,” she remarked.

“That’s good,” he replied, wondering why she just happened to drop in. “What did you think?”

“Octavia was overrated. Your team played very well.”

“Thanks,” Cole answered, impressed the doctor seemed to know what she was talking about.

“Your line dominated the game,” the doctor added. “I guess you’ll have to even play better this week against Albion”

Cole nodded. The doctor really knew her stuff, or at least talked like somebody who did.

“Do you watch much football?” he asked.

“Not as much as I used to,” she responded. “My dad was a coach, too. He loved sports and I’ve been going to games since I was in diapers. My brothers also played so I guess a lot of it just rubbed off.”

Cole was curious as to why the doctor came to see him. He didn’t really have a clue and didn’t want to ask because it would sound rude. So Cole decided to wait, sure the doctor would eventually get to it.

“I apologize, but I don’t recall your name,” he continued.

“It’s Sarah Moore,” she replied, smiling.

“Thanks for reminding me, Doctor.”

“Please call me Sarah. I know you’re busy and don’t want to bother you.”

“You’re not bothering me. I’m so used to sweaty guys in here so you’re a good improvement.”

She started to say something, then stopped. Cole looked down at his foot again, then removed his feet from the desk and placed them on the floor. He knew the doctor wanted to say something but was having a tough time.

“This is really silly,” Sarah stated. “But ever since that day we talked in the cafeteria at the hospital, I’ve been thinking about you. I figured you were married at first, then found out you weren’t. I don’t know a whole lot of men but you seemed to be the most decent man I’ve met in years and I don’t know how to say this, but I wanted to see if maybe we could get together sometime and do something.”

Cole hoped his face did not show how horrified he was. It was a good thing there was not anything in his mouth or it would have been swallowed. He was getting asked out on a date! A date! This was something Cole Lester just was not prepared for. This was scarier than taking his team to play at Albion!

This had to be a dream, he concluded, but did not seem to be waking up from it. Why would this beautiful female who could have her choice of any man want to ask him out? Surely there were a lot better fish in the sea, he thought.

He had only been on two dates since his wife died and they were disasters. Since then, Cole seldom thought about things like dating and relationships.

She could not help but see the look on his face.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I made a big mistake.”

Sarah turned and started walking toward the door.

Cole could not break out of this state until she was at the door.

“Hang on,” he pleaded.

She stopped and turned around.

“You don’t need to go,” he requested. “You just caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting this and I’ve never been asked out before.”

“Well, I’ve never asked anybody out before, either.”

“I’d really like to go do something with you. Just tell me when.”

“I don’t know. I’m off tonight but have to work all week.”

“Okay, tonight will be fine. I promise to change first.”

Now it was her turn to look horrified. That meant she only had a couple of hours to get ready! How could she possibly get ready for her first date in years that quick? She needed to do her hair, iron some clothes, do her nails, all the stuff that had been neglected. Sarah realized her makeup was probably history also, since she never wore any at the hospital.

“Is tonight not good for you?” Cole asked.

“Uh, yeah, it’s fine,” Sarah answered. “I’ll just need to go get ready.”

“You do?”

“Oh yes, I need to do my hair, put on…”

“Heck, you already look like a million dollars,” Cole interrupted her. “You don’t need to do all that cause of me.”

She started to protest, thinking the only reason he said that was to be nice. But Sarah realized he was being honest, and felt much better.

“How about I pick you up in a couple of hours?” he asked. “Would that give you enough time?”

“That sounds great,” Sarah answered, trying to formulate a plan as to how she could pull this off.

Sarah gave him her address and walked away, still not believing what just happened. She actually asked a man out on a date, finally realizing that being bold was the only way to meet him again. Cole had been all she thought about for weeks and was just as she imagined.

Cole tried to act casual and convince himself it was no big deal, but he was more nervous than if his team was playing for a state championship.

He was actually going out on a date, one with a beautiful woman. What prompted her to do this was a mystery to him, Cole thought, then hoped he would not be too boring.

Cole turned back to the television, but his ability to focus was gone. Cole watched film a little longer before giving up. He couldn’t think about a football game, not with a date tonight.

He flicked off the television and the tape player and sat for a few minutes in the quiet. The tapes were gathered up and put in his gym bag. Cole walked out of the office, pausing to lock the door and climbed in his truck, wishing it wasn’t so dirty.

During the drive home, it hit him: What the heck was he supposed to do on a date? It had been too long. It’s not like he was experienced in this. He didn’t have a clue what the doctor liked to do.

He finally decided to let the boys in on his plans for the evening and get their advice. Cole quickly decided to scratch off Lloyd. He doubted his oldest son would be home anyway and Lloyd would get a kick out of ragging him.

Cole arrived home and hurried into the house, finding Lucky alone in his bedroom, talking to Gabby on the phone while watching an Oklahoma football game.

Lucky realized his father wanted to talk so he promised to call her later.

“Hey,” Lucky stated, sitting up on the bed. He was dressed similar to his father with a pair of black sweats and a University of Oklahoma white football jersey. “What’s up? You wanting to watch some film?”

Cole felt like a fool.

“I, uh, need some advice,” he responded, sitting down on the bed next to his son. Somehow, this should be reversed, Cole thought.

“Okay,” Lucky replied, thinking this was strange. His father was usually the one handing out the advice.

“You remember that doctor at the hospital?”

“Which one?”

“The woman doctor.”

“Yeah, she was hot,” Lucky commented.

“Well, she came by my office today to see me. You know, one thing led to another and…”

“No way!” Lucky practically hollered, not believing this. His father was on the verge of setting a record for being the most boring guy in the world.

“No what?”

“You and her didn’t, you know…”

“Huh?” Cole asked, then realized what his son was implying. “Naw, nothing like that happened and if it did I sure as heck wouldn’t be telling you about it.”

“So, what’s up then? Do you like have a date or something?” Lucky fell back on his bed and laughed so hard his father hoped his son wouldn’t wet himself.

“Yeah, what’s so funny?” Cole asked, not appreciating his son flopping around on the bed and sounding like a laughing hyena.

“I can’t imagine you on a date,” Lucky finally added, in between laughing fits. He turned down the volume on the television and sat back up on the bed. The Sooners were in the process of killing Baylor and he had lost all interest in the game.

“Well, I can’t either. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Do what?”

“I don’t know what to do on a date. It’s been so long and well, I don’t even know where to take her.”

“You should ask Lloyd,” Lucky suggested. “He’s a lot better at stuff like that.”

“No way,” Cole retorted, shaking his head vigorously.

“Why?”

“Do you think I want to hear him rag me? Anyway, he’d probably suggest going to some dump just to get me.”

“I guess you’re right,” Lucky agreed. His brother wasn’t the best person in the world to get advice from. After all, he was in his mid-20’s and living at home.

“I don’t have much time,” Cole added, glancing at his watch. “What do we do?”

Lucky raised up on the edge of the bed, wondering what his father should do.

“Eating’s always good,” Lucky commented.

“Yeah!” Cole responded, hugging his son. “Great idea! But where?”

“Well, Lloyd always told me to take girls to a decent place that is inexpensive so if it didn’t work out you wouldn’t waste a lot of money on them. But he also said don’t take them to a dump because that doesn’t help your chances.”

Cole had to give this some thought. He could devise a game plan to compete with any coach in the state, but trying to decide on where to eat was beyond his grasp.

“I’d like it to be nice,” he suggested. “I think Lloyd’s idea on a date not working out is a lot different than mine.”

They sat for a few minutes, tossing ideas back and forth.

“How about the Sizzlin’?” Cole wondered. It was his favorite place to eat and surely Sarah also liked it.

“Dad, you’re taking somebody out you want to impress, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Then I think you can probably do better than the Western Sizzlin’,” Lucky noted. “It’s not exactly a dating place to eat.”

“Oh, okay,” Cole thought. He had seen a lot of men and women together at the Sizzlin’ before, but decided they must be married.

“You better go to Fort Smith,” Lucky suggested.

Cole grew horrified at the thought.

“But that’s almost an hour drive both ways!” he reminded his son. “I don’t know if I can keep up a conversation that long. She’d realize how boring I am.”

“It’s okay,” Lucky assured him. “Talk to her about being a doctor. She’s gotta know some cool stuff. You could get her talking about the grossest injuries she’s seen!”

“I don’t think that would be something she wanted to talk about,” Cole decided. “Should I take her to a steak place?”

“I think most women would rather eat at someplace that does seafood. They seem to like crud like that.”

“You mean some catfish diner?”

“No, Dad,” Lucky stated, shaking his head. “It needs to be nicer than that.’

“Okay, I know a nice place,” Cole remembered. ‘I’ve never been there before but it should work. Stub went there once and said the catfish was good. Okay, what do we do after we eat?”

“You could go to a movie.”

“Yeah!” his father yelled, brightening up for a second, then quickly lowering back down. “I can’t do that! I’d probably fall asleep halfway through it.”

“Good point,” Lucky commented. “The way you snore probably wouldn’t make too good of an impression on her, either.”

“Well, what do women like?”

“Heck if I know. I don’t even know what girls like. That’s probably something men have been wondering about since Adam hooked up with Eve.”

Cole thought about it deeply for a few seconds, the lines above his eyes all scrunched up in concentration.

“I know!” he said, all excited. “We can go look at Christmas lights!”

“Good call!” Lucky responded. “Then you could go somewhere and have some hot chocolate.”

“She might want to skip all that and just go somewhere and get busy,” said a voice from the hallway.

Cole cringed and Lucky frowned. They turned in that direction and saw Lloyd standing in the doorway, smiling like he’d just uncovered some deep secret.

Cole looked at Lloyd, then back at Lucky, a feeling of dread easing over him.

“I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” he pointed out.

“You never know,” Lloyd remarked. “A woman brave enough to ask a man out - she must be pretty forward.”

Lloyd laughed, as did Lucky. Cole did not bother to join in. The thought of their father actually making out with some woman was more than they could handle.

“You could take her dancing,” Lloyd suggested. “There’s this country bar just across the state line up there that is okay. You know how to two-step?”

“How to what?” Cole asked, then decided this was useless. “I’m not gonna go to some bar, especially with a woman on a first date.

“You could go play miniature golf,” Lucky suggested.

Cole thought that was not a bad idea, until remembering how cold it was outside.

“Too cold,” he pointed out.

“You could just go get a room…” Lloyd started to say before getting interrupted.

“You’re asking for it,” Cole warned. “You still aren’t big enough that I can’t take you down.”

Lloyd laughed so hard he doubled over, right before his father jumped up from the bed and grabbed him in a bear hug, picking his oldest son up and squeezing him.

Chapter 47