Chapter 7, enjoy!
"I'm Slammin' Sammy Mead and it is finally Friday in Dillon! Tonight the Dillon Panthers take on the Westerby Chaps with Wade Aikman as head coach, but before the game we will have a special presentation for last year's team," The radio in the Taylor house announced.
"Turn that off would ya," Eric requested. It was bad enough he had been replaced, but now he would have to stand before the Dillon Panthers that had betrayed him. Tami muted the radio as Eric asked.
"You look nice," Tami complemented Tim when he walked out of he and Julie's room wearing his old Panthers polo. "Is everyone ready?" Tami asked after Julie also exited her room.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Eric muttered. They all left the house. Eric getting in his own SUV, Tim in his truck, and Julie, RaeLynn, and Tami getting in Tami's car. They drove to Hermann field where the stands were already filling up. Julie and her infant found a place in the crowd while Tami, Eric, and Tim gathered near the entrance of the field for the special presentation.
"Dillon Panthers Fans, please turn your attention to the field where we will be having a special presentation to honor last year's State Runner Up football team. Tami, being principal, Eric, and the boosters walked on the field and stood at the 50 yard line. One by one, the players were called onto the field to receive their individual runner up medals.
Finally, it reached Tim's turn. The announcer read his name and we walked onto the field where Eric handed him his medal. After everyone had received their medals, the presentation for individual awards began.
JD McCoy received his All State patch for his letterman jacket and plaque for Texas Quarterback of the Year.
"Tim Riggins was selected All American, and made the All State team," The announcer reported. The boosters and Eric presented Tim with his All American jersey and All State patch for the letterman he would never wear again. Julie, who was sitting in the stands next to Shelley, proudly clapped for her boyfriend's honors.
After the presentation of awards was over, Julie left her place in the stands to go to the East Dillon, her dad's new team, football stadium for their first game of the season.
"Oh my gosh, Julie!" An older woman exclaimed, stopping her in her tracks. When Julie turned towards the voice, she found that it was Matt Saracen's grandmother.
"Hi Mrs. Saracen," Julie replied with a smile.
"Is this your baby girl?"
"Yes, this is RaeLynn," Julie proudly answered.
"She is adorable," Lorraine complemented. "And she looks just like you," She added. Julie chuckled, it was very obvious that RaeLynn reflected more of Tim's looks.
"There is my favorite niece!" A another voice exclaimed. Julie turned to face this voice to find that it was Mindy Riggins. "Yes, you are Aunt Mindy's favorite niece!" Mindy told the infant in a baby voice.
"Are you going to your dad's game?" Billy asked.
"Yeah," Julie answered.
"We are too, I'm not sure I can watch the-" He paused and looked at the people surrounding him. "JD McCoy show," He finished with a whisper. Together, Julie and the newly married Riggins descended down the bleachers and located Tim.
"Congrats little brother," Billy told Tim.
"Congratulations Tim," Mindy and Julie both added. They all got in their vehicles and drove to the less impressive East Dillon football field. Coach Taylor and the teams in their rugged uniforms were already on the field playing the first quarter. As Julie, Tami, Billy, Mindy, and Tim all easily found a place to sit in the bare stands, the opposing team scored a touchdown.
The opposing team was just too good for the unprepared, unexperienced East Dillon Lions. At the end of the half, they were loosing. The other team quickly rushed off the field, excited about their winning half. The Lions returned to their locker room like a bunch of dogs with their tails between their legs. One player was limping, another was wiping blood from a cut on his lip. Their already ragged jerseys were now even more grass stained and some were even ripped.
The Riggins and Taylors, who made up half of the fans, waited for the team to come out of the halftime, but only Coach Taylor emerged. He called the refs together and told them something before returning to the locker room.
"The East Dillon Lions forfeit the game," One of the referees announced. On the other side of the bleachers, they all cheered and celebrated their win. The few East Dillon fans sat in defeat.
"Well, I guess we go home now," Tami stated. Tim drove himself home while Julie, with RaeLynn in the backseat, followed him in her car. Tami decided to wait and talk to Eric
Tim parked his pickup on the curb while Julie pulled her car into the driveway. The automatic porch light flipped on when it detected Tim's movement outside of his pickup. Light flooded the porch where Tim and Julie were greeted with signs that read "Quitter" and "Forfeit" and even "Taylor is a Quitter." A few For Sale signs were scattered across the yard.
"Take her inside snd get her ready for bed, I'm going to pull these signs before your dad gets home."
Tim began pulling the wooden signs out of the ground and piling them up beside the dumpster, but he didn't get them all pulled before Coach Taylor pulled into the driveway.
"Go inside, I'll take care of this," Eric harshly told Tim.
"It's fine, I got it," Tim argued.
"Go inside," He repeated. Tim laid down the sign in his hand and went inside. He quickly showered and climbed into bed next to Julie.
"It's crazy how much power you get from money," Tim stated.
"What?" Julie asked, confused.
"Money gives you power. I mean look at Joe McCoy, he basically took over the Dillon football team with his money. He got your dad fired, hired a coach that would cater to him and his needs. Your dad went from coaching one of the best teams in Texas with a talented coaching staff to coaching a start up team alone."
"Yeah, you have a point."
Hope you all enjoyed this story. I've got lots of Tim and Eric stuff planned out, so you have that to look forward to ;)
I'm also going on a week long trip and have used up everything I've already written for this story, so the next update might be a while.
Until next time...