Chapter 40: Steel Truss Bridge
(Song lyrics are in italics)
There wasn't much parking in the area, but he found a spot and set his aging SUV into park. Finally, he shut off the engine. Opening the door, he pulled his coat tight against his body. Having spent time up north, especially in the winter so he had the coat for the frigid weather that presented itself. Walking down the side of the road he came to this steel truss bridge. He looked at the railroad bed below him.
Step out the front door like a ghost
Into the fog where no one notices
The contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
The angels get a better view
Of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.
He stood in such a way he could look under the bridge. He stood there for a while and sighed. It had been years, but he would remember the stories he was told in the past. Finally, he turned around and leaned on the rail of the bridge. The wind blew up the railbed and messed up his already messy hair.
Looking up into the superstructure of the bridge. There were times in the past he would cross this bridge dribbling a basketball on his way to the park to play basketball. That changed when he went to college and then moved to other cities. But he came back here to raise his family, but this bridge was always a significant part of his life.
I walk in the air between the rain,
Through myself and back again.
Where? I don't know
Maria says she's dying.
Through the door, I hear her crying
Why? I don't know
'Round here we always stand up straight
'Round here something radiates
Lucas Scott turned back and stared at his SUV just sitting there. He reached up and scratched his scalp and sighed. Cars passed by several times as he just stood there and watched them.
After a few minutes, a THPD Car stopped on the bridge and rolled down the window. The police officer leaned out the window.
"Are you okay, sir?" The Police Officer asked.
Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
She said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis
And she walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land
Just like she's walking on a wire in the circus
She parks her car outside of my house, takes her clothes off,
Says she's close to understanding Jesus
She knows she's more that just a little misunderstood
She has trouble acting normal when she's nervous
Lucas nodded, "I'm good," he said.
"Coach Scott, is that you?" The Police Officer asked.
Lucas nodded, "Yeah," he said, "Jernigan? Corrina Jernigan?"
The Police Officer nodded, "Yes, it's me, well it's Miazga now," she said.
Lucas laughed, "How things have changed," he said.
"It's been a long time since I warmed your bench," Officer Miazga said.
Lucas laughed, "You were a good teammate though," he said.
"Yes, I was," Officer Miazga said, "Anyways, what are you doing out here on the bridge by yourself?"
"Just remembering," Lucas said.
'Round here we're carving out our names
'Round here we all look the same
'Round here we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
'Round here she's slipping through my hands
Sleeping children got to run like the wind
Out of the lightning dream
Mama's little baby better get herself in
Out of the lightning
"Remembering what, Coach Scott?" Officer Miazga asked.
"When I was a high schooler, I use to cross this bridge to play basketball with my friends on the River Court," Lucas said.
Officer Miazga laughed, "Yeah, it's a bit cold for nostalgia, Coach," she said, "Also people were calling in a jumper."
Lucas shook his head, "No, not planning on jumping, just looking over the bridge, and remembering," he said.
"Well, I'd head on out of here, it's freezing, and you should be inside," Officer Miazga said.
Lucas nodded, "I will," he said.
Officer Miazga nodded, "We'll talk to you later Coach Scott, and beat Masonbourgh," she said.
"I'll do that," Lucas said.
She says, "It's only in my head."
She says, "Shh, I know it's only in my head."
But the girl on the car in the parking lot
Says: "Man, you should try to take a shot
Can't you see my walls are crumbling."
The THPD Police Car drove off. Lucas watched the taillights of the police car disappear in the haze of the day. He sighed and looked back over the rail towards the ground under the bridge, and after a thought or two, he straightened up.
Lucas Scott pulled his coat close to him and bundled it up against the cold. Slowly he turned and walked back towards his car. His feet banged down against the concrete of the sidewalk on the bridge. Once off the bridge, he headed towards his SUV.
Then she looks up at the building
And says she's thinking of jumping.
She says she's tired of life;
She must be tired of something.
'Round here she's always on my mind
'Round here (hey man) I got lots of time
'Round here we're never sent to bed early
And nobody makes us wait
'Round here we stay up very very very very late
Once at his SUV he opened the driver's door and got in. Closing the door behind him, he started the SUV and turned the heat on. While he waited for the SUV to warm up, he looked out the windshield at the bridge.
He felt the cold for the first time after he sat down in the driver's seat. It was another new year and he was here again. Over the last three years, he ended up here looking at the bridge. But this time he was interrupted by a local police officer. Someone was watching the bridge this year and was calling to make sure he was okay.
It made Lucas laugh. He put his hands against the vents and felt the warm air against his hand. Nodding he, buckled his seat belt.
Putting the SUV into gear he pulled out into traffic and drove down the street. He looked over the bridge as passed over it. Once he was across the bridge, he looked around the streets and turned down one of the side streets.
He's been coaching for many years now, and it wasn't uncommon to run into his old players. This was the first time he could remember running into one of his players who was now a police officer. Well, now he was off to his next destination.
I can't see nothing, nothing
Around here
You catch me if I'm falling
You catch me if I'm falling
Will you catch me because I'm falling down on here
I said " I'm under the gun"
'Round here.
Oh man I said "I'm under the gun"
'Round here.
And I can't see nothin', nothin'.
'Round here.
