Chapter 4

Ray

Down!” I shouted through my mouthpiece. I glanced left and right through my football helmet to make sure my teammates were in the right positions. I held my hands open, ready to have the football snapped to me.

The crowd cheered from both sides of the field. I didn’t ignore the noise. Something about it invigorated me. The sound of the band, the cheerleaders, the crowd. The Friday night lights shining down on me. The smell of shredded grass and mud. This was right where I was meant to be.

One minute left in the game. We were behind by a few points. Third down and eight to go. Forty yards to the end zone. This play was crucial. It could mean the game.

“Set!” I quickly reran the play in my mind. It was a fake hand-off with a pass to one of the receivers. I visualized their routes so I would know where to look for them.

“Hike!”

The center snapped the ball and the field exploded with the sound of football players colliding into each other. I grabbed the ball and faked a hand-off to the running back. I broke to the right and looked down field for my receivers. Once the defense realized it was a fake hand-off, they shouted, “Pass! Pass!”

After making a split-second scan downfield, I spotted a receiver near the sideline who had just broken ahead of his defender. I threw the ball deep downfield and got knocked to the ground just as the ball left my fingers. The tackle hurt, but I was too focused on the pass to care.

I quickly got up and looked downfield. The receiver—my friend, Doug Cooper—danced in the end zone, ball in hand.

The crowd erupted into a deafening cheer. The announcer shouted, “Touchdooooooown!” My teammates slapped my shoulder pads and gave me chest bumps. The opposing team slunk back to their sideline.

“Nice throw, Ray!” Doug said as we returned to our sideline.

I whacked his helmet, grinning as wide as my mouth-piece would allow. “Nice catch!”

“Way to go, boys!” Coach Jones said as he sent our special teams on the field.

The game ended 30 seconds later. The other team lost their momentum and couldn’t get past our defense within that time. The buzzer went off and our team cheered our victory.

After shaking the other players’ hands, Coach called us in at the home end zone. We took our helmets off and took a knee around him. The smell of torn grass and sweat was strong. I loved that smell because it meant football.

“Great game, tonight,” Coach Jones said. “You boys played your hearts out, I can tell. It was close. Too close. We should have destroyed this team. Next week we’ll be playing in Queen Creek, and they’re way better than these guys. If we play them the way we played tonight, we’ll lose. You’ll have to work harder this week to win. And we will win!” The team cheered.

“But, great game tonight,” Coach continued. He held up a football above his head. “After every game, we award the game ball to one of our players. The player who played his hardest, who gave it his all, who held the team together, and helped bring us our victory—our MVP. Tonight’s game ball goes to our QB, Ray Simmons!”

The team applauded and Coach handed me the game ball. I thanked Coach with a huge grin. I drank it all in. I’ll never forget this moment.

♦♦♦

I walked out of the locker room and saw my mom waiting for me. She was decked out in red and blue, our school colors. She beamed a smile when she saw me. “There’s my all-star quarterback!”

I cringed, noticing all the people nearby. “Hey, mom,” I said. “Did you like the game?”

“I liked the ending. But the middle was too close for me. Nearly gave me a heart attack.” She patted me playfully.

I glanced around to make sure no one I knew was around. “Was Sam able to make it?”

She shook her head. “Your brother wanted to come but said last minute that he couldn’t make it.”

I shrugged. Sam was one of my two older brothers. He played college football right here at the U of A, and my oldest brother, Garret, just got into the NFL.

My mom was trying to read my thoughts. “He would’ve been proud of you,” she said.

“Yeah, well he can watch the replays.”

“Not Sam. Your father. He would’ve been so proud of you tonight.”

Her comment caught me off guard. She rarely talked about dad. I gave her a brief smile, shuffled my feet, and changed the subject. “So, mom. I’m gonna hang out with some of my friends tonight, okay? We want to celebrate our victory.”

“Okay. Just don’t go getting into drugs or alcohol or anything like that.”

I scoffed as I started walking to my truck. “Don’t worry, mom. I would never do that.”

“Alright. Have fun! See ya in the morning!”

I waved goodbye and turned toward the parking lot. There was a group of friends hanging around my truck. Doug was the first to notice me approaching. “There he is!” he said as he gave me a bro hug. “Our MVP!”

“Nice game, boys!” I said to the group. Two other teammates, Cody and Tyler, were sitting in the truck’s bed with a few girls. “You ready to party?” The group cheered.

“Great game, Ray.” It was my girlfriend, Britney Miles, looking as great as ever.

I opened her door for her. “Thanks, Brit.” I leaned in and kissed her. Everyone in the truck laughed and whistled. We broke our kiss and jumped in the truck.

“Let’s get this started!” Doug said as he pulled out a couple of six-packs of beer.

My mom’s warning came to my mind, but I washed it away by cranking on some loud music with heavy bass. With that, I revved my truck’s engine and we sped out of the city to a place called Red Knoll, the perfect place for a bon fire. Britney held my hand while I drove. Doug and a couple of girls were in the back seat of the cab, jamming out to the music.

I wore an invincible smile. I felt invincible.

I was living my dream. I was the MVP on my football team. I was awarded the game ball. I was dating the hottest girl in school. I was the most respected guy in school, even as a junior. I was on the path to become everything my father was and everything my brothers were. I planned on even surpassing them—being the best.

I rolled down the windows to let the desert night air blow in. It still felt warm even though midnight wasn’t too far away. There was no moon, so it was pretty dark out. I turned onto the dirt road that led to Red Knoll. We passed by tall saguaro cactuses and green bushes, basically the only living plants in the desert.

Doug and I started talking—or shouting over the music—about the game. We reviewed nearly every play, relishing the plays that rocked and fuming over the plays that crashed. The girls started talking about their clothes or something, I wasn’t really listening.

After a few more miles, we arrived at our regular bon fire spot. It was at the foot of a small hill called Red Knoll where there was less vegetation and more space to park vehicles, start fires, and even play a small two-hand-touch football game.

Before I parked, Doug leaned forward and pointed at something in front of us. “Who’s that?” he asked. The truck’s headlights revealed two people in the distance standing near our bon fire ring. I couldn’t tell who they were because their backs were to us. They had no fire going, no flashlight, so it was like they popped up out of nowhere. “What’re they doing out here?” Doug asked.

“Let’s find out,” I said. I turned down the music and drove closer. As we approached, one of the figures turned around and put up a hand to block the light coming from the truck’s headlights.

“No way,” Britney said. “It’s Michael Stone.”

“Dang it, Stoner!” I said, pounding the steering wheel. Why did he have to show up when this night was going so well? How did he always end up getting in my way?

“What’s he doing out here in the middle of the night?” Doug asked.

“Looks like they’ve got a telescope,” Britney said. “Who’s he with?

“I think that’s the new girl,” Doug said. “She’s in my English class.”

“Well, they’re going to have to move,” I said. “This is our spot.” I got out of the truck and left the lights on and the engine running.

Doug laughed and got out of the truck with me. “This is gonna be fun!”

Everyone got out; I think there were about ten of us all together. Cody and Tyler were carrying bundles of firewood on their shoulders. Several of the girls carried camp chairs, blankets, and snacks. Doug still had the beer.

The new girl stood by Stoner with her hand up too, blocking her eyes from the headlights. Even from a distance I could tell she was pretty. Maybe more attractive than even Britney. How did Stoner end up with a girl like that? Maybe she’s his cousin or something.

“Hey, Ray,” Stoner muttered, obviously unhappy to see me. “You guys just passing by?”

I kept walking until I was just a few feet away from him. He didn’t back away from me, which was unlike most dweebs at school. He stood tall, almost as tall as me. There was a lot of tension in his expression. I could tell he was still sore from the fight, and more than just from his black eye. I grinned. Something was so funny about watching Stoner get angry.

“Nope,” I stated. “This is our spot for our bon fire. We come here nearly every other week. You guys are gonna have to move.” Cody and Tyler had already walked past Stoner and had thrown the wood into the fire ring.

“Ray, you shouldn’t light fires here,” Stoner said. “Didn’t you see the ‘no fire’ sign on the road?”

“Nope,” I lied. “And I don’t care anyways. We’ve been lighting fires out here plenty of times, and no one has ever stopped us.”

“Well, I might. If I can’t light fires out here, then you shouldn’t either.”

I chuckled and took a threatening step closer. “You think you can stop me? Just like you stopped me from pounding your face in on Monday? Or like you stopped me from getting you suspended?”

He started fuming. It was comical to see his whole face clench, like a hotdog in a microwave about to explode. “I could call the cops,” he said, a little less confident than before. “That’ll stop you.”

Doug scoffed at that. “You wouldn’t.”

I grabbed his shirt and yanked him close to my face, where he could see the heat burning in my eyes, just like my older brothers had always done to me. “And if you did,” I said slowly, so he could sense the gravity of every word. “You would regret it. I’ll make sure you’ll end up more than just suspended.”

My friends around me oohed at that. “This is gettin’ good,” Doug said with a laugh.

I held Stoner there for a moment, making sure he would back down—learn his place. He kept glaring at me, thinking about hitting me. I hoped so. Then I’d beat him senseless again.

“Oh, knock it off you silly, testosterone-driven dork!”

I turned to the new girl. What did she say?

She walked over and actually shoved me away from Stoner. I was too shocked to react. She wasn’t strong or anything, just her confidence totally caught me off guard.

The new girl now stood between me and Stoner. He looked just as confused as me. “Angela, what’re you doing?” he asked.

“Don’t worry, I got this,” she said. Then she put up her fists.

Doug and the others burst into laughter. I finally caught a hold of my senses and laughed with them.

The new girl smirked. “Bring it on,” she dared. “I’ll give you the beating of a lifetime!”

More laughter surrounded us. She was serious! “I’m not going to beat up a girl!” I said.

“Oh, don’t worry. You won’t.” She bounced on her feet, still smirking.

This was the worst. It’s like when Alex Reyes had to wrestle a girl in junior high. If you beat her, you get ridiculed for beating up a girl. If you lose, you get made fun of for getting beat by a girl. In the end, it's a lose-lose situation for the guy. “Britney, you fight her,” I said.

Tyler and Cody started cheering, “Cat fight! Cat fight!”

Britney scoffed. “What’re you crazy? I don’t fight. Let’s just get this fire started.” She walked away from the group toward the pile of wood. The other girls followed her.

New Girl still held up her fists at me. Should I just fight her?

Stoner touched her arm. “Angela, let’s just go. I know another spot not too far from here.”

She thought about it for a moment, and then relaxed. “Fine.” She pointed a threatening finger at me. “You got off easy this time, punk.”

I laughed, masking the relief I felt.

Doug leaned over to me and whispered, “I kinda look forward to my English class now because she’s there.”

We laughed and strolled over to the fire while Stoner and New Girl packed up their telescope, threw it in a car I hadn’t noticed before, and drove away.

Now we could get on with the bon fire!