Chapter Ten

Play-Off Time

"I don't understand what's gonna happen at this point. How do we--" The man's voice asked through the radio. Don's eyes looked down at the radio and then back up at the road as he drove him and his father home.

"Another loss, and that's thrown us into a three-way tie. They're going to have a coin toss."

"You're serious?"

"That's right. We're gonna get the three coaches, they're gonna toss a coin."

"What the hell kind of way is that to make a decision?"

"When you assemble the kind of talent that we have here and then you just throw it away like that. It started with him playin' Boobie when we had a big lead." Don clenched the steering wheel. "And now- This is a once in a lifetime thing to be able to see these people- I mean, we could have been in the history books."

Charlie chuckled in the backseat. The thought of his son making any kind history books made him laugh.

"And now? Ain't no way. I mean that's it."

"What about Winchell's play tonight?"

"Well, what do you think?"

"And that Billingsley couldn't hold on—"

"They all suck! And I think it just goes to the coachin'. That's what it is. You know what else it is, too? They been doin' too much learnin' in the schools."

Charlie chuckled again. "My daddy used to take a bullwhip and he'd cut it up—" He sucked on his lips as he looked over at Don. "And he'd tie 13 knots in it. Then he'd beat me and beat me in my gut . . ." He cleared his throat. "till I got a sick feeling in my stomach." He chuckled again. "Well, that's how I feel . . ." He picked up the hand that he was laying on. "When I watch you . . ." He jabbed Don in 

the back of his head with his index finger. "Play . . ." He jabbed him again. "Football." He jabbed him harder. "Sick at my stomach." He brought his hand back.

"Oh, I need some fresh air!" Charlie screamed out and kicked the backseat window out with his foot. "Aah!"

"What the hell are you doing!?" Don screamed out at his drunken father.

Charlie exhaled angrily. "Get this sickness out of my stomach." He nodded towards Don. "Yeah."

Don just shook his head. "Goddamn it, dad."

"You were sent down here to learn how to play football. And you haven't." He laughed at his son. "You have not! And I gotta take that as I personal . . . failure!" He kicked the other window out as tears stung Don's eyes.

"Nobody in Mojo football wants to win in a coin toss. But that's the way it is. That's the way the tiebreaker is."

"Well, they oughta change that. They ought to change coaches—Make a lot of changes in executing."

Charlie breathed heavily as he pulled himself up and put his face right next to his son's.

"I was supposed to make a man outta you." He chuckled again. "Shit." He slipped off his championship ring and held it in front of Don's face. "You know what that is? Do you know what that is? That's a state championship." He waved the ring up and down in front of Don. "I won a state championship."

"Just calm down, Dad." Don shook his head.

Charlie pressed the ring against Don's cheek. "Can you touch that?" He poked his cheek with it as he spoke. "Can you . . ." He poked him again. "Touch . . ." He poked him harder. "That?"

When Don didn't say anything, Charlie screamed out. "Can you touch that!?"

Charlie leaned back in his seat and looked down at the ring in his hands. "Hell with it." He threw it out of the busted window.



Don turned his head in shock. "What the hell are you doing?" He quickly turned the car around and parked on the other side of the road.

Don quickly got out of the car and ran to the side of the road. "You drunk bastard!" He spun around and looked at the black road. When he couldn't find the ring on the road he turned his attention the tall grass that lined the side of the road. He got on his hands and knees and began to dig through the grass for the golden ring.

"What is wrong with you?" Don cried out at his father. Charlie got out of the car and plopped himself down on the hood. Don sat up a little. "Why you gotta be so messed up?" Don began to dig through the grass franticly. He knew that that ring meant the world to his father. If he didn't regret throwing that ring out now, he would later.

"What is wrong with you?" He screamed out at his father. He grew desperate when he couldn't find it.

Charlie began to sing and moved his foot to the beat. Don stood up at the sound of his father's voice. "What is wrong with you?" Don asked his father.

"What's wrong with you!?" He screamed out at him. Don got into the driver's seat and slammed the door stop. Breathing heavily as he sat there in anger.

--

Darla sat on her parents' bed next to her mother. Staring at the news reporter on the television, she felt her heart pound throughout her body. This was it. This was the moment that they all found out who was going to the play-offs.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is truly unbelievable. A three-way tie for first place. So, in less than an hour, this truck stop," He motioned behind him. "Which we're not allowed to reveal the identity of, will serve as host for a coin toss that will send two of these teams to the state play-offs and one of them home empty-handed."

Darla smiled as the camera turned to her father and the two other coaches from Midland Lee and Abilene. "Folks, we're here with the three winning coaches. Now we've all agreed on the rules. Two out of three here, odd man out. If you got one tails, they're out. If you got 

one heads, they're out. It's a tough way after a great season for these coaches, but this is the way it's gonna be. When I give the word, we're gonna toss our coins. And then the district's gonna have its two representatives. Let's see the coins, guys." The coach for Abilene Cooper dug in his pocket and pulled out a coin. "All right, uh, Coach Doug McCutcheon from Abilene Cooper's got—What is it, Coach?" He asked him. "A 1922 silver dollar." "'22 silver dollar, all right." He looked over at Coach Gaines. "Coach Gary Gaines from Permian, you got a—" "'69 nickel." "'69 nickel." He looked over at Midland Lee's coach. "And from Midland lee, Coach Earl Miller's got a—Well, that's just your basic U.S. quarter."

Darla took a deep breath and leaned forward next to her mother. "Okay. Coaches ready?" All three coaches nodded. "One. Two. Three. Toss 'em." Coins flicked out of the air and clattered on the ground. A flash of light went off from the back as someone took a picture.

"Coins are down." "This one looks like its heads." Coach Earl Miller said pointing down to a silver dollar. "Okay, that's heads for Abilene Cooper." Coach Earl Miller looked around until he spotted his own. "That's mine." Mike Winchell, who had was with Coach Gary Gaines on the way to the truck stop, looked down at the quarter at his feet. He looked up and looked right into his coach's eyes. "It's heads."

"Okay, Midland Lee is also heads." The newscaster said.

"Hey, we got a third one over here, Skip." The cameraman said.

Skip looked over at Coach Gary Gaines. "Coach that's you." Coach Gary Gaines walked over to the camera, and stared down at floor until he found his coin. Darla looked over and saw her mom slid her hands over her face in anticipation. Darla could hear her heart in her ears as she looked over at the television screen.

The cameraman stooped down to pick up the 1969 nickel, until Coach Gaines stopped him. "Don't touch that." The man looked up at him. "Just leave it alone."

He stared down at his nickel and took a deep breath. "Well, that's heads." He said turning around to face Skip.

Skip looked over his shoulder and nodded. "Yup. That's heads too."

Darla let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. She looked at her mother and saw she was smiling.



"Permian is also heads. Man. Well, that figures. The way you guys' teams played each other this year, it'd take more than one toss, so . . ." Skip said.

Coach Earl Miller looked down at the silver dollar. "Hang on a second. You know, this coin's pretty worn. Does this look like heads to you, Doug?" He asked Abilene Cooper's head coach. "I can't tell the difference. It might be tails."

"Folks, there might be some controversy here regarding Cooper's coin." Skip spoke into his microphone.

Coach Doug McCutcheon bent down and picked up his coin. He ran his thumb over the side that faced up to him. He sighed and looked up at Skip.

"It's tails."

Darla smiled and hugged her mom tightly. She looked at the screen and saw her father beaming with happiness. They were going to the play-offs.

"So, the good news is that life continues for both Midland Lee and Permian high schools." Another newscaster stole the shot away. "At least for another couple of weeks. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that it looks like all roads are eventually leading to Dallas Carter." A shot of the giant, all-black, football team appeared on the screen. Darla couldn't help but go wide-eyed at the sight of the sizes of those boys. "And what a monster of a team Dallas Carter is. This Dallas Carter team appears to be completely unstoppable. I mean, the rumor is that they've got nine players that have already signed Division I letters of intent."

"Damn, them boys big." Darla gasped out.

"They are a very, very good football team, people."

--

It had been two days since the coin toss, and Darla couldn't stop thinking about Don. She looked over at her clock. 1:30. Looking up at the ceiling, Darla thought about what Don was doing at this moment. He was probably sleeping. She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. She leaned over and picked up the picture frame besides her bed. She 

smiled down at the picture and ran her fingers over the outline of Don and her.

She almost dropped the picture out of her hands at the sound of a loud banging. She set it down on her bedside table and stood up. She opened her bedroom door and saw her father opening the front door.

"Billingsley, what the hell are you doin' here?" Coach Gaines asked his fullback.

"Is Darla home?" Don asked in a deep voice.

"Son, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"I know it's late, but—"

"Late? Son, it is very early."

"Dad." Darla walked out of her room. Don's face brightened at the sight of her. "I'll take care of him, okay?"

Her father glared over at Don before he walked back to his room. "Somethin' wrong with that boy." He muttered and closed the door behind him.

Darla stepped out onto her porch and looked up at Don. "What are you doin' here?"

He looked around and scratched the back of his head. "You were right."

Darla raised her brow. "About what?"

"I did love football more than you."

Darla shook her head and looked away from him.

"You came to my house in the middle of the night to tell me this?"

Don sighed and ran his hands threw his hair. "My dad," he cleared his throat. "The Midland Lee game, after we lost, he, um, said things." Don shook his head. "Kicked the windows of the backseat out. Along with his mind." He looked up at the ceiling. "He threw out his state championship ring."

Darla looked over at him and crossed her arms. "Why'd he do that?"



Don shook his head. "I couldn't tell you. He just lost his damn mind." He looked over at her. "Next day, he tells me that the only fact of life is that this, football, is the only thing I'll ever have." His eyes got watery and he looked down. "Stays with me forever. If I win, it stays, if I lose, it stays."

Darla took a step closer to him. "He's wrong." She said simply. He looked at her confused. "Football's not the only thing you'll have, Donnie." She cupped his face and stepped closer to him. "I'll always be there for you." She whispered.

Before he could stop himself, or think about what he was going to say, three words slipped out of his lips.

"I love you." He whispered.

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you, Donnie."

He smiled down at her before he leaned in and kissed her tenderly.

She pulled him closer as she kissed him back.

Don wrapped his arms around her waist and held onto her tightly, as if he let go she would float away.

Don's tongue ran against her lower lip, asking for entrance. She opened her mouth slightly and felt Don's tongue slid in. Darla's tongue battled against his in hope of victory, but his tongue defeated hers as it wandered around her mouth.

His hands gripped her hips as Darla let out a small moan of pleasure. Her arms tighten their hold around his neck, pulling him closer.

Darla's father had yanked open the door as Darla and Don jumped away from each other. "Son, it is 2 o'clock in the monrin, you best be gettin' off my porch, and goin' home." Coach Gaines said as he put his hands firmly on his hips.

"Yes, sir." He looked down at Darla and smiled. "I'll see you later." He walked down the steps.

"Don," She turned and called out to him. He turned around and looked up at her.

"Yeah?"



"What happened to your dad's ring?"

"I found it. Gave it back to him." Don said with a shrug.

"I hope you get your own, one day." Darla said with a smile.

He smiled back up at her. "I love you, Darla." He said as he walked away.

"I love you, Don." She smiled more and walked back into her house.

--

"It's play-off time in Texas! And who cares if Permian snuck in on a coin toss?"

"You know there's been a lot of expectations for this Permian football team. And you gotta love this play-off atmosphere!"

"They call this the thinning of the herd, the survival of the fittest. Win, you go home. Lose, you play basketball."

"Quarterback Mike Winchell. Runs back, pulls right, throws long. Caught! Touchdown!"

"The Panthers defeated Dallas Jesuit to advance to round 16."

"They're goin' to the 20, to the ten, to the five! It's Comer, folks, into the end zone for another Permian touchdown!"

"Chris Comer with another sensational performance!"

"Permian cruises past San Angelo and into the quarter—"

"Permian was afraid of that. Dallas Carter—"

"Interception! Brian Chavez, a great reading player—Touchdown!"

"Permian defeats Nimitz 48-7."

"Moving into the semi-finals of the Texas 5-A play-offs."

"Dallas Carter advancing to the state finals."

"Mike Winchell drops back, throws a 50-yard bomb! It's gonna be caught by Parker! It's going out of bounds. What a good team—"



"And that's it. Permian's gonna battle Dallas Carter for the Texas Class 5-A State Championship!"