Part 9


Kevin stood in the huddle looking over at his coach.  The voice came through his helmet while the coach also made some hand gestures.  Nodding, he looked at his team.  This was their first game of the year.  While they would still be playing the same Ivy League teams they play each year, this year they would also be playing some of the toughest teams in college.  For the second year in a row, multiple publications named them for being in the top five teams in the nation.  After being third last year, expectations were high.

"Okay, we're doing the overpass play.  Jackson, run to the ten, cut right.  Martin, lookout for Rodriguiz, he seems to be out for meat tonight.  On the count of three."

Holding his hand in the center, the others joined him and let out a mass grunt.

*****

"There he is, the star quarterback." 

Kevin tried to slap Chris upside the head, but his friend ducked out of the way.

"Kevin Richardson.  Is that how I brought you up?"  Although Ann Richardson's voice was stern, her eyes were twinkling too much to be taken seriously.

Kevin looked properly chastised.  "No ma'am.  But sometimes a man has got to take things into his own hand."

Chris actually made it ten seconds before he started laughing.  After composing himself, he looked at Kevin's mom.  "So, Mrs. R, how long are you staying for?"

Linking one arm with Chris, and the other with Kevin, she led them from the stadium towards her car.  "Well, Chris.  Seeing how this is Kevin's final year, I thought I would try to make it to a few more games than in the past.  Bev has offered her spare room to me, so, I'm going to stay for about ten days now, and then the boys and I will return at the end of the season.  Be here for the last three games and Thanksgiving."  She winked at her son.  "If that's okay with you two."

Kevin leaned down and kissed his mother.  "I'm thrilled to be able to see you so much."

"Yeah.  And the good southern cooking will be appreciated too."

*****

Kevin scribbled away at his notebook before punching a bunch of numbers into his calculator.  His final year of school, and he was down to the required classes for his degree.  That meant two finance classes, which seemed to take most of his free time.

"Hi Kevin.  Do you think you might be able to help me some tonight?"

Kevin rubbed at his temples.  He really didn't seem to have any free time this semester, and literally spent each evening studying at Bev's until midnight before he and Chris would head back to their own apartment.

Molly was now a freshman at one of the community colleges where she was taking college algebra.  He looked up at her, and saw that she was embarrassed to be bothering him.  Chris told him that Bev had talked to the girls, telling them not to bother the boys while they studied.  If she was asking, she must be desperate.

Pushing his books aside, he gestured to the seat next to him.  "Sure.  What are you studying?"

The relieved smile was worth the extra time he'd have to put in once he got back to his own place that night.

*****

Chris looked up from the sports page.  "Man, that is..."  He gestured at the paper in awe.  "That's just incredible.  Number one in the country.  You actually did it."

"Season's not over yet.  We still got four games left."  Kevin leaned against the kitchen counter, a glass of juice in his hand.  He gestured to Chris, "You still getting hassled?"

"Nah.  Not since those two scouts approached me at the beginning of the year.  The secretary the school gave you seems to be doing her job.  Finally."

Kevin nodded.  It had been a fear that his fame would cause Chris problems due to their friendship.  His friend had been dealing with people trying to use him to get to Kevin since their sophomore year.  Other players had talked of getting themselves agents as soon as their playing was over with, but Kevin wanted to have control of his career -- one of the reasons he chose finance as his major.  That didn't seem to stop agents from trying to sign Kevin as well as scouts from the NFL trying to woo him.  In his junior year, the school had offered to give him a secretary to field inquiries.  The one given to him this year seemed to be a bulldog, incredibly protective of Kevin, and he was thankful for that.

"You going to make it to the game on Saturday?"

Chris' grin covered his whole face.  "You betcha.  Mom's bringing the girls.  Are Ann and the guys gonna be here?"

Kevin shook his head.  "Mom called last night.  She'll be here next week.  Jerald will be coming the week after, and Tim will be here for Thanksgiving.  By the way, tell Bev that mom is insisting on helping with Thanksgiving dinner since your house will be hosting" he made the quote marks with his fingers, "all them growing boys."

Chris laughed.  "I don't know what mom will do with actual men in the place.  Not that you and me aren't men, but, you know..."

Kevin chuckled.  "I know what you mean."

***** 

Kevin was on the ground.  The pain in his shoulder was unbearable.  It took everything he had not to pass out.  He could hear the crowd around him, as they slowly halted their yelling.  They knew something was seriously wrong.

"Kevin, can you hear me?"

Kevin looked up into the team's trainer's eyes.  "My arm."  That's all he said before passing out.

*****

The throbbing in his shoulder and elbow was excruciating.  As he opened his eyes, he could see he was in a hospital room.  His mother dozed in a chair by his bed.

"Mom?"

Ann jolted awake, looking at Kevin.  "Oh honey."  She stood and moved closer to his bed, cupping a hand to his cheek.

"Thirsty."

"Just a moment."  She grabbed the cup by the bed with ice chips in it.  "Here."  She slid a couple of chips into his mouth.

He sucked at them, while blinking a couple of times.  Slowly some of the fog in his head cleared.  "How long have I been here?"

"About four hours.  They had to operate on your shoulder."

"What happened?"

She smiled sadly at her son, holding his good hand.  "You look tired.  Why don't you get some more sleep.  When you wake, the doctor can tell you what happened."

*****

The next time he woke, a doctor was talking to his mother.  Kevin tried to hear what he had to say, but they were talking too quietly for him to hear a word.

"Momma?"

The two faces turned towards him.  His mother was composed, but Kevin could tell she was greatly upset.  "What's wrong?"

She tried to smile as she moved towards him.  "Nothing's wrong, Kev.  The doctor was just explaining to me the extent of your injury."

Kevin turned his attention to the doctor, wishing his head were a little clearer.

"Hello Kevin.  I'm Dr. Ambrose."  The man nodded to Kevin.  "I was just telling your mother the extent of your injuries.  What is the last thing you remember?"

Kevin scrunched his eyes as he tried to remember.  Penn was leading by two touchdowns, there were four minutes left in the game.  He called out the play.  "Uh, I was tackled after making the pass, I think."

"Right, right.  Somehow your arm went a direction it's not supposed to causing the shoulder to become severely dislocated.  Tendons were torn, and there was some cartilage damage.  We operated on your shoulder, insuring that everything was in place.  You also have a broken bone about two inches above the elbow.  It was a clean break, and shouldn't be a problem.  Do you have any questions?"

"Um."  Kevin could feel the sleep overcoming him again.  "No sir."

The doctor patted Kevin's leg.  "Don't worry, son.  If you think of anything later, just ask.  We have you on some heavy-duty pain medication, which is probably making you tired still.  Why don't you go back to sleep."

"Okay."  He closed his eyes, then opened them again, looking for his mother.  "Will you be here?" 

She smiled down at him.  "Yes, honey.  Sleep now."

"K."  And he was asleep.

*****

Kevin slowly woke, taking in the pain.  This time when he opened his eyes, he saw both his mother and his friend. 

Chris noticed the open eyes, and moved to the bed.  "Hey man.  That was quite a game you had."  Kevin tried to talk but found his mouth too dry.  Chris grabbed the cup Ann had used earlier and held the straw for it to Kevin's mouth.  "The doc said you'd be thirsty.  All the pain meds and what not."

"Who won the game?"

Chris snorted.  "I can't believe you're asking with everything that's happened, but we did.  I don't think many people will remember exactly how the game ended.  Jeff stopped by earlier and said that Davis did a good job finishing the game.  The team is going to hold a press conference tonight about your condition."

Ann reached forward and began to run her fingers through her son's hair.  "Coach Brown called.  He'll be by when he can get away.  Apparently the vultures from the NFL have moved in.  They tried to hold them off, but the news was just too big."

Picking up where Ann ended, Chris continued.  "Coach thought if maybe he talked to them, they'd stay away from the hospital.  Security has really been increased since we got here.  It's not going to be pretty."

Kevin closed his eyes absorbing everything.  "I'm fucked, aren't I?"  He knew his mother was frowning at his language, but he honestly didn't care.

"Oh honey.  You need to let yourself get better.  The doctor said there's a very good chance you'll be as good as new."

"But there's also a chance I won't.  And even if I heal completely, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to play."

Kevin could feel his mother's thumb rub over his brow, trying to soothe him.  "Kevin, I know you must be experiencing many emotions right now, but don't jump to conclusions.  Give yourself time.  Alright?"

"Yes, ma'am.  I'll wait."

*****

Chris helped Kevin put his shirt on, careful not to move the injured arm.  "You sure you're ready to head home, man?"  Kevin nodded, then grimaced when his arm was jarred.  "Sorry, sorry.  Okay.  Mom has the spare room all set up for you.  Set up a spare bed so that Ann can sleep in the same room and take care of you.  I'm gonna sleep on the sofa."

"You're staying at Bev's too?"

Chris snorted.  "I've been staying there since the game.  For the last 8 days, our apartment has been reporter central, among other things.  It's a zoo.  A few have found mom's place, but that's the nice thing about a secure building, they can't get in.  Well, a couple have, but the girls have gotten really good at being snarky to them.  Mr. Moorehead has been real helpful, told mom if she needs anything while you're recovering, to just let him know.  He's also had a computer installed at moms so that you can do your schoolwork.  Oh, by the way, all your teachers are going to give you incompletes this semester, so don't worry about your classes."

Kevin stopped moving and stared at Chris.  "Even hurt, I'm still getting the star treatment."

"What can I say?  They've put a lot of time and effort into you."

"And now I'm no good."

"Fuck, man.  You have taken the team to the top.  Number one in the country.  And, you trained Davis to be probably the best backup quarterback in the country.  You saw the final game of the season the other day.  And because of you, Penn now has a program that will continue for years to be among the best.  You have done more for this football program than you think."

Kevin smiled weakly at Chris, letting his friend button up his shirt.

"I can't believe the team is going to the Rose Bowl, and I'm not going to play."

"Yeah."  Chris kneeled on the floor and began to tie up Kevin's shoes.

*****

Kevin sat in front of the computer, his left arm braced to his torso.  With his right he picked away at the keyboard.

"I thought you were able to get an extension for all your classes."

Looking up, Kevin watched through the kitchen door as Molly started rummaging around in the refrigerator.  "I did, but I don't want to get too far behind.  Next semester will have its own work, and I want to graduate with the rest of my class."

She sat by him, looking at how he pecked away at the keyboard.  "That can't be easy.  How about we make a deal?"  Kevin quirked a brow at her, making her laugh a little.  "For helping me with my math, maybe I can help you by being your hands."

"Can you type?"

"Uh huh."

He held out his right hand to her.  "Deal."

*****

California was considerably warmer than Pennsylvania on New Year's Day, but Kevin still wore a jacket.  He spent most of the game either sitting at the end of the bench, or standing with the coach, discussing various plays.  Coach seemed determined to include Kevin as much as possible.  Every time out, Coach sent Davis to talk with Kevin to determine what he could do to improve their chances of winning.  The plan seemed to work.  Game end, the score was Penn 21, Florida State 15.

Penn would end the season ranked number one in the nation.


Interlude