《At The Lions Gate》Chapter 11
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On the deserted football field at their high school alma mater, Vinny and Josh threw a football back and forth. It was a gray, overcast day in the city. Winter break had closed the school. Some of the boys in the senior class who had turned eighteen were already registering for the war-time draft. It had only been weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but the entire country was mobilized for war.
Josh and Vinny had graduated in June that year. When the war came, Vinny was already making plans to take over his parent’s deli and open another one. Being overweight and slow on his feet, he knew they wouldn’t draft him. But he was determined to make good on his own.
“You think I can drop enough weight to fight in the war?”
“We’ll see. Run to the end zone; I’ll throw a long pass.”
Vinny turned around and ran toward the goal posts. His large round belly wriggled like a bowl of jelly, and his stubby legs moved back and forth in quick short strides. Josh waited until Vinny came close to the end zone, then he threw a long, beautiful pass that sailed over Vinny’s head. Vinny stumbled and fell in the end zone as he reached for the football.
“Sorry Vinny!”
Vinny scrambled to his feet, retrieved the football, and ran up the field. “Sorry for throwing it too far, or sorry that I can’t run fast enough.”
“I’m sorry that we won’t be seeing each other for a while, and I’m sorry that I won’t be around to watch you grow rich. You had the best grades in high school, Vinny. You’ll make something of yourself. Be thankful that you won’t be going to war.”
“You made your decision?”
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“Yeah, I did. I’m going to join the Army Air Force. They have training sights across the country. After that I’ll be sent overseas.”
“What about your mom?”
“I didn’t want to leave her, but she said she’d be okay.”
“My folks’ll come over and visit her while you’re away. But what about Bridget? You going to marry her when you come back?”
“We haven’t talked about that. She doesn’t want me to go. She thinks the war is a lost cause.”
“She might be right. When will you come back?”
“When the war is over Vinny…when the war is over.”
“Is war ever over?”
The question went unanswered, as they stood at mid-field and looked around the stadium. “Lots of memories here,” said Vinny. “Good memories for you, Josh, right here on this field.”
Josh remembered the day he broke the scoring record, but as he looked down the field at the goal posts, he realized his dream to become a pro may never come to pass. Life, as it often does, had intervened; something more important was at stake.
Vinny saw the far-away look on Josh’s face. He pointed toward the end zone. “Okay superman, you’re going to catch the winning touchdown pass. I can’t run too fast, but I can darn well throw this thing.”
Josh ran down the field toward the goal posts. Vinny cocked his arm and let go a long, high-arching, spiraling pass, one that appeared to be suspended in the air, until it came down gently into Josh’s waiting arms as he crossed the goal line one last time.
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