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From: MichaelD38@aol.com
Subject: {MichaelD} "Orange County Babylon" Part 6 (3/3) (mfff, teen, rom)
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XXXII.
That week was Christmas, and as the girls had decided, Becky moved in to
comfort Jack in his grief. When school started up again after New Years, and
the arrangement became more obvious, Summer and Becky began hissing and
spitting at each other like a pair of alley cats, generating a storm of gossip
around the school. It was painful enough for Jack to watch that he spent
several nights on the phone with Summer talking about it. But Becky was now
quite obviously his girlfriend, and walking above the clouds about it.
Wednesday night, he and Summer met in the park after dark. They held each
other for a few minutes, before lying down on a blanket back amongst some
trees.
"I missed you."
"Me too. This is harder than I thought. I can't wait for all of us to make
up."
"It will be over before you know it."
"The three of us were talking about having some big emotional reconciliation
in the middle of lunch one day."
"That would be funny."
"I know. But the gossip is just killing me. People are trashing Becky like
you wouldn't believe. Pretty soon I'm going to be telling them to shut up
about it, you know, that it's just too painful for me to listen to. Which it
is."
"I guess after the Homecoming Dance thing, it makes her look bad to swoop in
as soon as you're gone."
"That and more. Everyone knows we were best friends, and now they think she
returned the favor by stealing my boyfriend. I wish we had thought this out a
little better."
"Yeah. But it's done now."
"I know. Enough talking. Just hold me."
He did. A little later, they made love, roughly the first time, then slower
the second.
"I have so much respect for Becky now," she said afterward. "I don't know
how she managed four months of this."
"It was hard."
"I know."
He and Becky were sitting together in the quad after lunch the next day. He
leaned against a tree, and she lay back with her head in his lap, eyes closed,
a contented smile on her face.
"Are you happy?"
"Yes. Though I'll be happier when this is over and we can be friends again.
And I didn't think about the gossip."
"Me neither. But it won't last."
"God, I hate high school. This will be so much easier in college. No one
will care."
"Give it time."
"But you don't know how wonderful it is to be able to kiss you, to hug you,
without worrying about who sees us. To know everyone knows you're mine. No
matter what they say about it. I wake up every morning having to remind
myself of it."
"Summer was saying she understands now what you were going through. She
doesn't know how you did it."
"I know. She said the same thing to me. I love her for it."
"This gossip has got to hurt, though. I know it hurts me to hear people
talking such trash about you."
"It does. But it won't last forever. I'm willing to put up with it since it
means I can have you."
Friday night was the CIF Southern Section Division IX Championship game at
Edison Field in Anaheim. Most of the school rode over in a convoy of buses,
accompanied by carloads of families and alumni. The team moved into the
locker rooms, and Jack tried not to think about all the professional players
who had suited up in that room. The coach gave them a rousing pep talk and
sent them out.
Jack had been to a few big pro stadiums before, but things looked a lot
bigger from down on the field. The stands weren't even a quarter full-he
estimated the crowd at five or ten thousand, tops-but he was impressed just
the same. Most of the other players seemed similarly intimidated despite the
coach's attempts to prepare them. He wondered how the Santa Margarita
players, who had won here the year before, were dealing with it.
He got his answer on the opening drive. Sacred Heart kicked off, and Santa
Margarita promptly drove down to the five-yard line. Jack, and the rest of
the defense, had not yet found their equilibrium. On third-and-goal, Jack
picked up the tight end on a slant pattern, but got faked out by a simple move
he should have anticipated. The tight end broke past him and pulled down a
pass for the touchdown. Jack swore to himself, hoping things weren't going to
get any worse.
Billy seemed to be handling the pressure better, but his receivers weren't.
Sacred Heart's drive stalled at midfield after a series of dropped passes.
Santa Margarita took the punt and a few minutes later connected on a thirty-
five yard touchdown pass to go up 14-0. The first quarter ended with Sacred
Heart having gained a total of twenty-four yards of offense and given up a
hundred and thirty.
But the first-quarter break seemed to give the team time to settle down.
They had been behind more than once before, and had yet to lose. On Santa
Margarita's next drive, Jack broke into the backfield and caught their
halfback for a five-yard loss. Second down brought an incomplete pass,
setting up third and fifteen. The coach called a blitz play known as 7-42,
one on which Jack had accumulated most of his sacks.
But Jack immediately noticed the quarterback reacting when Sacred Heart lined
up on defense. The two of them locked eyes, and Jack realized he had
recognized the play and expected Jack to come flying at him. He had called
an audible and no doubt adjusted the play. Jack saw the tight end reposition
himself, and thought he knew what was going to happen.
When the ball was snapped, Sacred Heart's line charged in. Jack feinted,
watching for the tight end to slip past them for the short bucket pass over
the line that he expected to come. It did. When the other team had committed
to the play, he suddenly dropped back in front of the tight end. The ball
came flying at them, and Jack leaped up, catching the nose of the ball with
the tips of his fingers, sending it spinning up in the air. He fell back
against the tight end, and the ball came down close enough for him to snatch
it away from the frantic player.
Sacred Heart took over at the Santa Margarita forty-yard line as Jack
accepted the back slapping and congratulations that greeted him on the
sidelines. He looked over at the cheerleaders, and thought that the obvious
tension didn't seem entirely forced.
Billy completed two quick passes down to the ten-yard line, then their
running back got them to the two. On third and goal, the back ran around the
right side, pulling up the Santa Margarita defenders. But he stopped short
and tossed the ball back the other direction to where Billy was waiting alone
just over the goal line. He pulled down the pass and spiked it hard.
Jack could finally feel their rhythm beginning to click. On the next
defensive series, Sacred Heart stopped Santa Margarita after one first down.
Billy took the punt and drove them slowly down the field, finally scoring on a
three yard run around the left end to tie the score. Neither team could
manage much more on offense after that, and the half ended 14-14.
When the second half opened, Sacred Heart drove to about midfield before
having to punt. On the first play, the Santa Margarita quarterback dropped
back and heaved a long pass down the middle. As Jack watched, the receiver
somehow pulled it down on the thirty-yard line. Three plays later, their
running back broke a twenty-one yard run into the end zone to put them up
21-14.
Sacred Heart's next drive moved quickly downfield, but then stalled at the
Santa Margarita forty-yard line. Then the coach pulled Jack aside.
"We're going with that play. Get in there."
Two weeks before, the coach had come up with a trick play designed to take
advantage of Jack's notoriety. Jack was big and able to run, so he could
conceivably pass as a fullback. The hope was that putting him in would
generate enough attention to affect the defense, and fool them long enough for
what was really going to happen.
When Jack went running in, he could see the other team reacting immediately.
The Santa Margarita coach began yelling, and sent someone else in with another
play. Billy called the play, and Jack lined up behind him as fullback. All
the other players were lined up for a short yardage run, except for two token
receivers out to the side. Billy snapped the ball, and handed it to Jack as
he charged past. When he got to the line, Jack stopped short, spun around,
and tossed the ball back to Billy. Billy set himself and fired downfield.
The receiver had cut across in front of the cornerback, and pulled the ball
down on the twenty-yard line. He high-stepped, untouched, into the end zone.
As the other players celebrated, Jack glanced over at the sideline, seeing the
Santa Margarita coach throwing his clipboard at the ground.
Santa Margarita tried another long pass on the next drive, but this one fell
short. They punted after three plays, and Sacred Heart took over on their
forty-yard line. The drive started out well, but a couple of key passes got
dropped, and they had to settle for a field goal. The third quarter ended
with Sacred Heart up 24-21.
But Santa Margarita wasn't about to give up. They were 12-0 as well, and
hadn't lost a game in over two years, having gone undefeated in their
championship run the year before. They took the next kickoff and drove
steadily downfield to the five-yard line. Jack had had a couple of tackles,
but they were clearly trying to avoid him. On third-and-goal, he broke into
the backfield and chased the quarterback out of the pocket. He rolled out,
and tossed the ball toward the end zone before Jack got close to him. Jack
leaped, but the ball was too far over his head. He came down watch the ball
drop into the hands of a Santa Margarita receiver.
Jack was getting worried. Twenty-eight points were the most they had given
up all season. They had closed out the last four games of the regular season
without giving up that much combined. He was worried, but not surprised.
This was the toughest and best-coordinated offense they had ever faced. Santa
Margarita wasn't riding a thirty-game winning streak by accident.
On the next drive, Billy drove downfield but again couldn't get into the end
zone. Sacred Heart kicked another field goal to close the gap to one point.
Jack managed to catch the Santa Margarita quarterback twice on their next
drive, and they punted back to Sacred Heart. With five minutes left in their
season, Billy set out to win the game.
Two quick passes over the middle and couple of long runs put Sacred Heart on
the Santa Margarita ten-yard line. On first down, Billy's pass went over the
head of his receiver in the back of the end zone. On the next play, he handed
off to their running back, who broke through the line and charged toward the
goal. On the three-yard line, Santa Margarita's outside linebacker hit him
hard from the side, and the ball popped loose. It bounced once amongst the
frantic players before a pile descended onto it at the one-yard line.
Everyone in the stadium went to their feet. Jack and the other players on
the sideline crowded together to see who came up with it. A minute later, a
cheer went up from the wrong side of the field. Santa Margarita had recovered
with a minute to go in the game. Wanting to scream in frustration, Jack
jogged out to the field with the other defenders.
The coach yelled for them to come back. He circled them around him.
"Listen to me. It's not over yet, all right? Two points are as good as six
right now. They're on their one-yard line. I know you guys can do it. Just
do what you've been doing all season. Now get out there and win this
goddamned game!"
The officials placed the ball just inside the one-yard line. There was no
room to down the ball, so Santa Margarita had to run a conventional play to
run out the clock. Sacred Heart's only chance was to catch them behind the
goal line.
The first play was a dive over the line. Randy read the run perfectly, and
caught the fullback squarely in the air, dropping him back where he had
started. Sacred Heart called timeout. The ball was now halfway between the
one-yard hash mark and the goal line.
Second down brought another dive and another timeout. The ball hadn't moved
appreciably. Sacred Heart had only one timeout left, and Santa Margarita
could just run another dive and then kick a short punt out of the end zone.
That would put them twenty or thirty yards out with no timeouts and less than
thirty seconds to go.
The third down snap came, and Jack charged up to the line. When he got
there, he found a slim hole and squirted through just in time to slam into the
running back.
For one infinite second, he and Jack struggled with every ounce of their
strength. They forced each other up, groaning with the effort, standing
together like a pyramid. Jack was reminded of many wrestling matches that had
begun like this, and realized what he had to do.
Holding tight on the running back, he twisted himself around. The back
thought Jack had given in, and tried to launch himself forward. But Jack kept
twisting, and swung the back off his feet and over him. The two of them
landed together in a heap as half the players on the field piled onto them.
He heard cheering all around them, but he kept his grip on the running back,
though he struggled and tried to twist away from him. One by one, the
officials pulled the players off them. Jack finally looked up to see one of
them with his hands in a steeple over his head. He closed his eyes and let go
of the running back. A second later, every Sacred Heart player on the field
piled onto him.
The safety had stopped the clock with thirty-five seconds left, but Santa
Margarita now had to punt from their twenty-yard line. They tried a wobbly
squib kick designed to precipitate a fumble, but Sacred Heart got the ball and
sat on it. Two plays later, it was all over.
Jack leapt around the field with the other ecstatic players and fans, hugging
everyone he saw. He hugged Becky tightly, then Karen. And, not caring who
saw, he hugged Summer, though she at first seemed to think she should hold
back. But he let her go quickly lest they blow the charade.
The celebration went on for a good half-hour, during which the CIF officials
came down to present the Division IX trophy. Jack and Billy were voted the
Most Valuable Players. Jack talked to a reporter from the Register for a few
minutes, but was so excited he forgot afterward what he had said. They all
drove back home and continued the party there. Jack didn't get to bed until
after dawn.
XXXIII.
Two weeks later, Jack's elation over the championship was progressively
dimmed by the ongoing "feud" between Becky and Summer. As much as he talked
to them about it in private, it was difficult to watch. Summer told him one
night that she had begun yelling at people who criticized Becky in her
presence, complaining to them that she was sick of the whole routine. That
much, at least, was true. The "reconciliation" was due any day now. Jack
thought it couldn't come too soon for him.
Jack was lying in bed with Karen that Thursday night.
"I think I'm going to do it tomorrow at lunch. I'm just going to cause a big
scene and yell at them both."
"What do you need me to do?"
"Nothing. You might offer to help, but I'll yell at you, too. It will help
Becky if I can publicly spread the blame around more."
She rolled over and laid her chin on his chest.
"I can sort of understand what they're going through. If I couldn't have you
like this here at home, I don't think I would be dealing with nearly as well."
"Do you think Kelly knows what's going on?"
"I told her, if for no other reason than to be sure she understands to stay
out of it."
"Okay. She's seemed okay about this lately."
"She's doing better than I would have thought. I think it's because you
helped get her a boyfriend. Now that she has Tommy Ryan to hang around with,
she doesn't need to fixate on you so much."
"On me?"
"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you couldn't tell."
He pondered for a minute about what to say. He knew what she meant, but he
wasn't sure what the right reaction should be.
"Tell what?"
"That she had the world's biggest crush on you. It wasn't Mom's idea for you
to tutor her in Math. Kelly suggested it when her teacher called Mom about
her grades. It was going on most of this fall; you were just so wrapped up in
me and Summer and Becky that you were oblivious to it. But now that she has a
boyfriend, I think it's over."
"Good. All I need is another girlfriend to worry about."
Jack arrived at the cafeteria the next day wondering what was going to
happen. The three of them had long eaten lunch together, until this episode.
Now, Summer ate nearby with some of her other friends and Jack ate with Becky.
Karen had been moving back and forth.
He approached their spot to see Karen standing between the tables with an
exasperated look on her face. Summer was saying something to Becky, but he
was too far away to hear her.
Karen turned and slammed her tray down on the table next to her.
"That's it! I have had it with you two!"
The din in the lunchroom immediately ebbed as people turned around to stare.
"I am not going to go on listening to my two best friends behave like a
couple of cats! This is not worth it! You two were best friends for four
years and all of a sudden you're ready to scratch each other's eyes out? I
don't care who this is about, no guy is worth this! The two of you have been
trying to pull me in half, and I'm not going to put up with it anymore."
Jack approached them, thinking this was a good time to intervene.
"Karen-"
She whirled around on him, pointing her finger straight out.
"Stay out of this! This is your goddamned fault!"
Hoots and applause greeted that remark, and Karen continued, looking back and
forth between Summer and Becky.
"Come on. Don't you remember all the nights we slept over at each other's
houses? All the times we swore nothing was going to come between us? You
can't ditch four years of friendship over something like this."
"She stole Summer's boyfriend," Cordelia White said.
"I did not!" Becky yelled.
"Cordelia, shut up," Summer said.
More cheers and clapping.
"You guys can work this out somehow," Karen said. "I know you can. I can't
go on watching you tear each other apart. I can't go on listening to all this
awful gossip. Can you really tell me you're willing to forget all the good
times we had because of who is dating who? Give me a break. I live with him
and I know he's not worth this."
Scattered laughter came in response to that, and Jack grinned in
embarrassment. Someone thumped him on the back.
"Can you two just make up? Please? For all our sakes? Don't make me choose
who I have to be friends with. I can't do it. And I won't."
She glanced back and forth at the two of them, regarding the sad looks on
their faces. She reached down and took Summer's wrist and pulled her to her
feet, then did the same to Becky. For a few awkward seconds, the three of
them stood together. Then Becky and Summer looked up at each other, then came
together in an embrace. Karen hugged them both. Someone started clapping,
and slowly the students around them all began cheering and applauding. Jack
stood there wondering what to do.
Then Karen let go of them, and turned around. She reached out, pulling him
to them. He put his arms around all three of them, and hugged them one by
one. When he let them go, he saw Becky and Summer wiping tears out of their
eyes. Summer had held onto his hand, and he hugged her again. No one seemed
to care.
"I love you," she whispered to him.
"You, too."
TO BE CONTINUED
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