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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Over the next week, the team practiced and formulated games plans each one a little different to use against who their first playoff opponent might be. It was the consensus among the coaches and players that the most likely opponent would be Milwaukee Rufus King. As Coach Slater put it, "Racine Horlick is overall a more well-rounded team than King, but against that we have to weigh that they don't play in a real tough conference. They're the kind of team where we beat them by opening up the kind of game we played against Madison West, and they're probably not as tough of an opponent as West.
"Rufus King, on the other hand, as bad as the Milwaukee School System is, is their showcase school. They get the best of everything. Now, if we end up playing King, as we've seen from the tapes their style of play is typical of an inner-city school. They're very fast, very athletic, but less well disciplined and don't have the range of play that we have. I apologize if that's not a hundred percent politically correct, gentlemen, but I'm not a politician and our objective is to play to win. We will make dispassionate assessments of our opponents. At any rate, we have more talent across a wider range than King even though we're not as fast. This is the kind of team where when you play them you make the rules work for you: hard-counted snaps to draw neutral zone infractions, drawing their Defensive Backs to commit pass interference and the like, a wide variety of intricate plays to confuse them. We haven't played a team like them in our conference.
"I believe King would be the tougher opponent, but I believe in you, gentlemen. I believe we can beat them. And I want you to believe that, too. Whichever team we face, we will beat them by forcing them to play our kind of a game. At any rate, we'll know who it's gonna be this Saturday."
The team settled in to practices involving time spent on executing offensive and defensive strategies for both teams. Tim was selected to be the starting Quarterback. Coach Slater put the team on strict rules regarding diet and sleep until the playoffs were over letting them know that there wasn't a man on the team that could jack off and he wouldn't find out about it. The City Park Department again enlarged the home team seating capacity at Monterey Stadium from 16,000 to 20,000, and again made no provisions for enlarging the Visitor's seating capacity. To them, home field advantage meant home field advantage. If one has it, one uses it. Otherwise, it isn't worth working hard to gain it.
Sean got notice that week that a Court date had been set three weeks hence for the custody hearing Bill Kennedy filed for the twins once they were born. The only good thing about that was that it would be after the season was over. Sean and Joe met with George whose advice was that in Court they would immediately move for dismissal as Colleen Kennedy was an adult and therefore Bill had no standing to file the action. In the event the Judge rejected the motion to dismiss, George felt that Kennedy would show up with glowing financial statements showing his ability to take on two children, the fact that he had a wife at home who did not work who could raise the kids, and his good standing in the community. Against that, he recommended that Sean assert his rights as a father, present his own financial statement showing that in terms of assets he owned personally about as much in terms of net worth as Kennedy did, and if needed they would present to the Court Kennedy's father's will along with Kennedy's birth certificate showing that the financials he presented were not on solid ground and subject to vanishing altogether if his father's estate were to be reopened.
In George's words, "This is why Ginny gave you a copy of that birth certificate. I will obtain a certified copy of the original from the County before Court and let the Judge know that Ginny is in possession of the original should he care to view it. Yes, she gave it to me to place in a safe deposit box for safekeeping, but legally she retains possession. Because Ginny is his mother, the Judge would be unlikely to question that. Anyway, I don't think Kennedy has a case. I find nothing in the law that he could rely on as a precedent for his claim. The Judge isn't going to be inventing new precedent here, either."
"Do you think it would help if by the Court date we had photos of the nursery ready to go? Oh, and how about a letter from the Nanny service in London? I mean, what's he gonna come in with other than a financial statement?" Sean asked.
"That's brilliant, Sean. Yes, I do think it's a good idea. Have Andy get it fixed up just like he did with the rest of the house. I'll have Peggy give you a list of what to put in a nursery and where to get it. She's a mom, she'll know. When it's done, I'll have Ginny send her real estate photographer over to snap photos. That way we can hand the Judge something professional-looking if we need to. We'll also put together character references for you. Coach Slater, some of the guys from the team, your old Coach and whoever you can get from the Tremper team. A couple of teachers would look good, too, and as many report cards as you can put together. And some of your old lawn customers from Kenosha. You will also volunteer to complete a parenting course should the Judge require it. Now, as I said, I think we will be successful with a dismissal motion, but we need to be ready in case we're not."
"I'll be ready," Sean said. "Trust me. I told Kennedy he didn't scare me, and he doesn't. I will win this if it comes to it. And you have my permission to let Kennedy's Lawyer know that I will use every tool at my disposal to win. I'm sure both of them will know exactly what that means. Now, I may be prepared to make some concession on visitation rights, but that will have to be on my terms, separate from the custody case and not until after the twins are born and in my custody. I'm not going to have this thing turning into a fucking circus. It's a simple matter we're dealing with here."
"I agree," George answered. "It's always best to keep things as simple as possible."
Saturday came and went with the usual team meeting, however that evening saw Coach Slater accompanied by his two Quarterbacks and Trent Westfahl as Captain of the Defense make the trip to Milwaukee to scout the Horlick-Rufus King game. At the last minute, Tim won Coach's agreement to have Brett and Andy come along. He argued that Brett would be a good addition as he played both Offense and Defense, and Andy should come in his role as statistician. This was one time when the boys didn't tease Coach Slater about his Dodge minivan as it seated the six of them comfortably.
The six of them made their way toward Wisconsin's largest city and once there exited the I-43 freeway at Capitol Drive making their way the half-mile, or so west to Rufus King High School. "Jeez, welcome to the Hood, hey... What street is this, Desolation Blvd?" Tim observed, frowning somewhat.
"What rock do you live under, Dix?" Andy mocked, rolling his eyes. "You ever been anywhere in your life? Not everywhere is the East Side of Janesville ya know..."
"You know, Mr. Dickson, back in the day Milwaukee was a wealthy industrial city. It's a shame what's happened, but a lot of companies and people packed off to the suburbs when the City government got out of control and with all the taxes and letting crime get out of control. Those people back the shirkers, not the workers They get away with it because no one who lives here is paying the bills. It's all other people's money. It's just how it goes in a lot of places. Chicago's worse. Let this be a lesson to you guys, this is no way to run a city. But even in my day which wasn't that long ago this was a beautiful, middle- class neighborhood. I grew up not too far from here. 60th and Capitol, about three miles west. My brother still lives in that neighborhood. He calls it `the inmates running the asylum.' I wouldn't be worried tonight, though, gentlemen. There will be a large Police presence at the stadium. You can't take a dump in this town safely without a Cop. We will leave towards the middle of the fourth quarter just in case there is any kind of post-game disturbance."
Once at the school, Coach Slater and the boys made their way to the football stadium which lay immediately to the south of the school building. The boys mentally noted that the seating sections were very small, and while obviously having been augmented for this game, there was nowhere near the seating that there was at Monterey Stadium with its recent, albeit temporary, modifications. Finding seats on the Racine side of the field, not wanting to stick out as not being part of the Rufus King crowd, they settled in to watch the game.
The game went about as they thought it might with Racine Horlick playing a text-book, well-practiced style against Rufus King's athletic yet rough-edged game. By halftime, the score stood at Milwaukee Rufus King 14, Racine Horlick 7.
Coach Slater told the boys, "From what I've seen in the first half, I think we could take either one of these teams with the right game plan. What say you, Mr. Dowling?"
Brett was a little surprised Coach asked for his opinion first, but as ever he was capable of answering intelligently. "OK, here's what I think. If we play Horlick we go conventional. They're good, but predictable it looks like. Their D-line isn't as good as our O-line so I'd rely on the running game and try to get out ahead and chew up clock time. If we play Rufus King, I think they are faster than we are, but they're sloppy. Their Defense would not deal well with our no huddle Offense. Their Quarterback takes too long to throw and always lines up in the gun for a pass play. It's a dead giveaway. Blitzes would kill them. They're good on the run, though. They're overall better than Horlick I think, but they are rather unsophisticated. I say we could take either one of them."
"Mr. Wyman?"
"Can't add anything to what Dowls just said. We have plays we can use that will totally confuse either one of these teams."
"Mr. Churchill?"
"Going by my stats, and my gut we're gonna end up playing Rufus King. I say if that's the way it turns out we just hit `em with everything we've got. The whole nine yards. I say we win."
"Mr. Westfahl?"
"What he said."
"And last, but not least, Mr. Dickson."
"I think it'll be Rufus King, too. Biggest thing I noticed is that they lack concentration, especially on the D- line. We could get five, or six encroachment penalties against them easy. Easy. I notice they like to hit the Quarterback late, too. I'd take a shot, or two from them for fifteen yards a crack. I bet we'd get a hundred yards in penalties out of them if we played them. If we play Horlick, I dunno... I think they're good, but maybe not quite as good as Madison West. We'll take the game, Coach. We haven't come this far because we're made outta sugar candy."
"Good to hear, gentlemen. I think so, too. We'll watch the third quarter and if it's all the same then we can take off. I don't wanna get caught in traffic."
As it turned out, at the end of three quarters of play, Rufus King still held the lead, 21-14, and the balance of play was much as it had been in the first half. Coach Slater and the boys elected to leave in order to avoid the end-of-game rush of hundreds of cars attempting to exit the narrow, old Northside Milwaukee residential streets.
"One of you guys open up the link to the Milwaukee Journal on your phone. We should know the results of the game before we get back. Mr. Dickson, as a special treat just for you I'm going to take a different route out of town just so your sheltered eyes can see at least for once in your life what the worst part of the Hood of Milwaukee looks like. Don't be afraid," Coach laughed, "nothing will happen as we'll be passing straight through on main streets, but you need to see it if only once, and you can make of it what you will."
Coach guided his minivan back out onto Capitol Drive, but instead of making for the freeway he turned west, then south on Teutonia Avenue. The boys all looked around observing, but not saying a word. About a mile south they rounded the bottom of Union Cemetery, then turned heading west on Burleigh Street.* Still the boys observed in silence the miles of closed and boarded-up storefronts, the mean housing and the dirty streets. What few people were out appeared to have an empty look in their eyes, and perhaps not to have homes at all.
Reaching Sherman Boulevard, Coach headed south and after a mile, or so eased onto the 175 Freeway to the way back to Janesville.
"I hope you found our detour constructive, gentlemen. You should make no judgments about the people you saw and I am sure you won't, but you by all means should make a judgment about whether, or not what you saw is any way to run a city."
By saying so, the boys except for Trent Westfahl had the feeling that Coach knew a little more than he was letting on. At the same time, they were grateful to have had for, no matter how fleeting the time, at least the opportunity for a cursory glance illustrating to them the responsibility that someday they would shoulder, and what could go wrong if they made a mess of it. And they took it to heart.
At that point, Brett let everyone know that Rufus King had in fact won the game by the score that stood when they had left at the end of the third quarter. They knew now who they would face.
"Gentlemen, when we get back I will begin outlining a game plan for King. I'm going to start from the premise that King scored 21 points against a team that's similar to Madison West. Now, we allowed West to score 17 points against us, so that makes things pretty close. We're going to beat King, gentlemen. It will require a great effort, but not one that is at all outside of our abilities. I'm sure of that."
The boys agreed, and they told Coach so, all letting Coach know that the team was of a mind not to leave anything on the field.
On Monday, Andy saw Doctor Schroeder for his follow-up appointment. The Doctor, genial as always, let Andy know that he was pleased to see that he'd gained four pounds since their last meeting. He drew blood, and sent it out for a quick test. In a little while, Doctor Schroeder returned with the results.
"Andrew, here's what we got... Now, you are slightly less anemic than last time, and while there has been some improvement it's not as much as I had hoped for, and the numbers still aren't where they should be. I'm going to draw some more blood and send it out for further testing."
"Does that mean there's something wrong?" Andy asked.
"Well, here's the thing, Andy. You look healthy and you've gained four pounds, but you are still anemic. I wouldn't have expected that. All that tells me at this point is that this might be a case of simple anemia, and then again it might not be. The quickie test I ran this time and last time don't tell a person any more than that. Now, that doesn't mean there's anything seriously wrong with you, but this is the point where we need to look a little further under the hood. That make sense?"
"I guess so, Doc... When will I know?"
"Probably in a few days, maybe a week, or so. That's about what you're looking at. We'll send the blood out and give you a call once we hear back. Then we'll take it from there."
"OK, sounds good..."
"I'm going to give you another booster shot like I did last time, and I'm going to give you a new scrip for medication with a higher iron content, and we'll see. That about wraps it up for today, Andrew. You gimme a call if you need me, and if not you'll hear back from us like I said, OK?"
"Yup, and thanks again, Doc..." Once back in his car, Andy texted Sean letting him know they needed to talk.
Andy and Sean took lunch, just the two of them, at the Italian Restaurant that day.
"OK, Brown Eyes, spill. We need to talk?"
"Um, yeah..."
"I'm all ears." While appearing composed, Sean's stomach was in knots. He had no idea what could be so serious and although not one given to flights of fancy, he was nevertheless unsettled.
"Well, they hadda take more blood..."
"OK. I guess just tell me the whole story, then, And." Sean reached across the table and gave Andy's hand a squeeze. "Is it bad?"
"Doc says he doesn't know. All he said was that I'm still anemic and he didn't think I still should be. So, he took more blood and it's gonna be tested and I won't know for maybe a week, or two..."
"OK, so how do you feel? I mean physically?"
"I feel normal, I mean I don't feel as run down as I did. I gained four pounds. I feel fine..."
"You don't look like you're sick, I mean your color is good. You still fuck me like I'm a rag doll, and your cum doesn't taste any different. I dunno if cum taste means anything, but it tastes the same to me..."
"I'll tell the Doc that I passed Sean's cum-taste test. I think I'm gonna let Doc Schroeder know about that one!" Andy laughed.
"Don't you fucking dare!" Sean said, returning Andy's laugh.
"I won't, but I'd love to see the look on his face. Somehow, I don't think it would faze him, though..."
"Probably not. You think we should tell dad?"
"Nah, not until we have the results back. I mean, what would be the point, Blondie?"
"Yeah, you're right. OK, well, I guess we'll see what we see..."
"I'm not worried. Let's just get the football season and the babies behind us and settle down as a family. It'll all work out, it always does..."
"Yeah, it does..."
The football team continued their practices at Monterey Stadium. Coach Slater decided to go that route as he reasoned that more hours spent on the field let the team absorb every nuance of the turf, every imperfection in the surface, and that might prove to be an advantage. At the same time, it was decided to increase the visiting team seating capacity to 3,000. Everyone knew that there wouldn't be 3,000 people coming down from Milwaukee for the game anyway, maybe half that at the most.
But it was all part of a strategy. Milwaukee is a major metropolitan area with big-city sports and entertainment venues, not a small town like Janesville. A High School football game in Milwaukee was at best an unnoticed triviality most people wouldn't be aware of, or care about, whereas in Janesville, Friday's game would be the biggest thing to happen all year.** A larger visiting team seating capacity would make it look to the visiting Rufus King Generals like a lot of their stands were empty while across the field they would face the Cougars' massive, standing room only crowd. Again, it was reasoned that having worked hard for, and having won home field advantage, that is what one does when they have an advantage: they use it. Fairly, yes, but use it nevertheless. They had earned it.
Throughout the week's practices, the team was buoyant and confident. They watched the films of their upcoming opponent, they practiced plays best designed to foil them, and the entire team was without injuries not only to key personnel, but to their backups as well.
It was decided to run an exclusively no-huddle Offense unless specific situations such as clock- management dictated otherwise. On Defense, King's passing attack was deemed to be inconsistent and probably easily defended against, but their running game brutal due to their quickness. The decision was to run varying defensive formations and packages, some calling for the Defensive Backs to act almost as Linebackers. It appeared to both Coach Slater and the team as a whole that the Generals were on point when it came to running quick-start plays against lesser teams, but seemed to falter when presented with something unexpected, or having to make quick adjustments. The game strategy in broad terms would be to run up as many points as possible on Offense while, although having to concede some quickness on Defense, to simply pound on the King Offensive Line and Running Backs.
With their skill level, discipline, expansive playbook, and their game management skills, the Cougars and their Coaches were as confident as they could be of another victory come Friday night. At the end of Thursday's practice, there was a special team meeting in the Small Auditorium. The NFL players phoned in, went over the team's game plan, some observations of their own about the upcoming opponent, what to look for, and bid the team farewell.
The old Lineman among them wrapped it up. "Guys, this is it for us. We've done all we can. I hope we've been of some value to you and I think I speak for all three of us when I say you're a remarkable group of young men. You're what I like to call learners. You've taken everything we've tried to impart to you and you've learned from it. You've grown. I mean it when I say there's a hell of a lot of College teams that don't play the game as well as you do. Now, I don't know about my partners here, but I'll be watching Friday night's game. I might even be in the stands, but wherever I sit my ass I'll be watching each and every one of you. That's all, guys. Good luck, and God bless."
The team gave them a standing ovation knowing full well that they could not see them, but that they could hear it. Coach Slater thanked the NFL players and called his team to order.
"Gentlemen, I have nothing to add. We're as ready as we're ever gonna be. As you know, if we win tomorrow night then it's on to Madison next week and we play for the State Championship. If we get there, we don't know who we'll be up against. It's going to be either Neenah, or Eau Claire North. Tough teams both of them. Like us, Neenah is undefeated, but if I haven't said it a million times already this season, I'll say it again: I'm proud of you. All of you. Now, let's go home, get a good night's sleep and tomorrow night let's do what we have to do."
And that is exactly what the Cougars did. There was a standing room only crowd of 20, 843 on hand for the home team, and as they had predicted the Rufus King stands were nowhere near full. As might be expected from a home town Wisconsin football crowd, the Cougar stands were deafening when Rufus King was on offence, and dead silent when Craig had the ball. The team's assessment of King being rough-edged in their play proved accurate, and while King proved to be an extremely athletic adversary, the Cougars controlled the game through superior skill and discipline. When it was all over, the home team came victorious by the score of 35-13. Through all their hard work, their cohesiveness, the quality and professionalism of their coaching, and their sheer work ethic, the team was bound for the State Championship game in one week.
Curiously, the mood in the locker room, while jubilant, was quiet as the entire team knew that it all came down to one game. The one they hadn't played yet.
Coach Slater advised the team that for the Championship game their opponent would be the Neenah Red Rockets. And as he reminded them, the Red Rockets were also undefeated. The team was also told that they would be sent a link to the school's athletic department site for a private area of the site containing files they were to view of Neenah's last four games. Coach further said that each man on the team would get a personal briefing on Monday of the player he would be opposite, noting that Monday's practice would therefore be about doubled in length. In addition, Coach Slater let the team know that at the beginning of the season when it became obvious that he had a special team on his hands, he had winnowed the odds on who they might face if they got to the Championship. He said that in his gaming scenario it came down to two teams, either Green Bay Preble, or Neenah, and that he already had a game plan that he refined all season long which would be presented to the team for their consideration and suggestions.
The team broke at that point, all heading out for the night. Of course, there were the post-game parties scheduled. Andy and Sean decided not to make the party scene that night. Andy was feeling tired, and Sean, curiously, was not in the mood for a party. He had a lot on his mind and stowing it all during that night's game left him wanting merely peace and quiet. Tim gave Andy and Sean a hard time about not wanting to go out, but was quieted down when Brett told him to lay off or there "wouldn't be any fucking later on. Shut up, or your boyfriend for the night's gonna be your right hand..."
"Fuckin bossy there, hun..." Tim laughed.
"When we get home I'll show you bossy, alright. My dick's gonna be so far up your ass I'll be fucking your tonsils!"
"Promises, promises..." Tim eyerolled.
"OK, well, let's blow this popcorn stand. Coach says the bus is ready anyway..." Brett said, pointing toward the door.
"Dix, man, wait up!" Sean said. "I'm not dressed yet. Andy and Brett can go ahead and we'll catch up to them on the bus, how's that?"
"OK, fine," Brett said. "Get dressed and we'll see you two assholes on the bus. Let's go, Andy."
"OK, see you guys on the bus!" Andy said as the two boys exited the locker room.
"Jeez, Dix, Brett's getting' kinda bossy there!" Sean snickered.
"What can I say, Wymo? If he wants to fuck my ass tonight, he'll fuck my ass. I hit the jackpot with him, though, I'm smart enough to know that much I tell ya..."
"Yeah, ya did. You know, you guys won't have ugly kids if you use Brett's sperm..."
"Fuck off, Wymo! I want at least one red-head running around..."
"Make sure it's born with three feet so it can still walk while it's got its foot in its mouth."
"Asswipe! Tim laughed. "Anyway, so you think we're gonna take Neenah?"
I'll have to watch their games. I'm gonna start tonight. I wanna analyze what kind of offense we should run against them. With YOUR approval, of course, douche bag..."
"But of course, Weed Hopper!" Tim teased, playfully punching Sean in the shoulder. "OK, you done letting me watch you get dressed? If we win State, you wanna fuck me?"
"WHAT?"
"You heard what I said..." Tim said, pointing at his noticeably-tented crotch, lightly rubbing his swollen cock.
"Mister Dickson, would it be too much to ask you to refrain from ejaculating either in your pants, or on the locker room floor?" grinned Coach Slater, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Besides, Mister Wyman appears to be putting his clothes on, not taking them off... Probably best to let him finish dressing. Wherever you wanna park your dick later, I don't give a shit."
All three of them got a good laugh out of it, Coach Slater turning, letting them know, "Bus is ready to leave, gentlemen. Let's get a move on!" Coach then walked out.
"Yeah, I'll fuck you if we win," Sean said, smirking. "As long as Andy says I can. Why don't all four of us fuck? I'd love to see you squirm once Andy's fat cock is shoved up your hole..."
"Maybe I'll volunteer for bukkake duty and you guys can just blow your loads all over my face..."
"I'd do that. That's actually kind of hot if ya think about it..."
"Yeah, well, just don't spooge in my eye. It hurts like hell. Brett spooged in my eye once. He cums like a horse, ya know, and it fucking stung like fuck for like at least an hour, man..."
"Brett the Eye Spooger. OK, well, I'll keep that in mind... I'm ready, let's bolt."
The two boys made their way out of the locker room and into the parking lot behind the stadium to board the bus. They were the last two out, except for the old Janitor who acted as the attendant, locking up after everyone was gone. They made their way across the parking lot, dark by now, toward the bus. Rounding the corner at the end of a row of parked cars, a man's voice called out.
"Hey! Over here!"
Sean and Tim turned toward the voice, seeing at a distance the shape of a man. "Yeah, over here. Thought you were pretty smart, didn't ya, faggot. Thought you could ruin lives and get away with it... Not tonight..."
Suddenly, Sean and Tim saw the man raise his arm, and clearly made out a gun.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tim yelled.
"Crack! Crack!"
Sean felt himself go down, his head hitting the pavement with a thud. "So, this is how it feels to be shot... He gasped for air, tried to call out, but couldn't. His head turned sideways. He blacked out.
END CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
*NOTE: Proper local pronunciation of Burleigh is "burr-lye" where lye rhymes with eye.
**NOTE: The Championship games are played at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, the home field of the University of Wisconsin Badgers. Camp Randall has a seating capacity of 80,321.