Chapter 30: Friday Night Lights ... on a Saturday

The congratulatory pats on the back and raucous shaking from the freshman football team still in the locker room were easily heard outside the locker room where many parents and fans were waiting for the player-of-the-game to come out.

Tim finished transferring his stuff from the freshman locker area into the JV locker room. Johnnie and the rest of Tim’s friends were sitting around waiting for him so they could make an appearance at the Sombrero Rosa’s across the street where many of the team and their families would be waiting to congratulate the team on a well-earned win. Most were also anxious to congratulate Tim after his comeback from an apparent injury to take over the game.

Johnnie was out front with Tony, Jeff, Mark and bringing up the rear, Tim, wearing a smile from ear to ear. The first warning of a problem was when Tim could hear Johnnie, first, followed by the others.

“Uh-oh. No, he’s okay. He’s right behind us.”

Tim’s supposed friends parted like the red sea, and two blurs ran up the small set of stairs to the locker room door. One of the blurs tried to envelop him in a vice-like embrace while the other did the same but to just one leg. It took a moment for Tim to recognize his sister checking over his leg and his mother examining every other part of his visible body. The circuitous ramblings from the two most important women in his life slowly settled down.

First thing first ... Tim was able to remove his nearly manic sister from around his leg, then he gave her a strong hug and picked her up, putting her on his shoulders. It had become her comfortable place with her big brother. His mother had the decency to stop her questioning while the two siblings said all that needed to be said to each other with the brief warm embrace.

Tim’s father, Raymond, as well as a few other Roosevelt football parents watching the game, will have a life-long memory of how hard it was to keep both his wife and daughter from charging onto the field! Luckily, they were able to calm them before the police would have needed to be called and the jaws of life applied to remove Juanita’s hands from around the neck of one of the Clark players. At that time, she didn’t care which Clark player! Any of them would have sufficed.

“Timothy, are you hurt? I saw what happened, and it looked like they tried to rip your leg off. I swear they need to put those two boys down for trying to hurt you. I have half a mind to go into that coaches office and pull you out of football right now!”

The collective inhaled shock as well as a few giggles from understanding parents still outside was audible enough for Juanita to hear. She turned to see behind her, and the large group of maybe forty people waiting just outside registered with her. That was the moment she first really noticed a large group of people was waiting outside the boy’s locker room. The number of other teens also waiting did not go unnoticed. The fact a large majority of them were girls about the same age as her son also hit. That realization made her step back away from the crowd and her son. Besides, they were fans there to give her son his well-deserved kudos.

Raymond, one hand around his wife’s waist, continued pulling his wife away from the crowd and whispered in her ear. “You see, Juana. He got hurt, but not injured. Yes, when those boys started playing dirty and went after his knees, it did look like they were trying to injure Tim, but he was able to fight back.”

The confusion on his wife’s face was easy to read. “Hell, yes! I wanted to go out there and tear those two bastards a couple of new assholes, too, but look, your son is growing up. Now, let’s watch and, every once in a while, hopefully, he’ll come back for our help and let us nudge him back on the right track with either a soft word or a two-by-four across his thick skull.” Her smile was warm and thankful. A quick peck on the lips and they both returned their attention to their son as he was talking to the fans.

Tim’s parents looked over the crowd clamoring for position to congratulate their son for his performance this morning. Their baby was trying to get everyone to calm down so he could say something to them.

“Hold on. Hold on. Thank you all for watching the game and for cheering the whole team on to a hard-fought victory.” The cheers were loud and went on for a lot longer than necessary. “I do have some news to share, and it is why I was so late coming out.”

He smiled and calmly said, “I just got promoted to the JV and, starting next week, I will be playing with the JV team.” The cheering was almost as loud as they were during the game. The congratulations came full-swing with slaps on the back and high-fives throughout.

“Fellas, I’ll see you later. I’m gonna go home and get some rest before I have to go with the team, tonight,” Tim said to his friends who were waiting for him so they could all go to get tacos and receive their congratulations from the choice freshmen girls waiting for the ‘after the game’ party at Sombrero Rosa.

Raymond interrupted, “No, Tim, go with your friends. Do you have a ride home afterwards?”

Tim looked at his friends, and Mark was nodding his head ‘yes.’

“Yeah, my sister has the car today, and she was told to pick me up whenever I was ready to go home. She said if we won she would give us all a ride home.”

“Dad, I’m gonna go with my friends then, and I’ll be home for dinner because the coaches want me to go the game tonight with the team to see how everything works.”

“Okay, Tim. We’ll see you later for dinner.”

Tim bent over and let his sister get off his shoulders. “That was fun, but it got scary when they tried to hurt you.”

“Don’t worry about that. If anyone tries to do that again, I’ll tell ‘um they gotta deal with you, and there ain’t a single person in the world stupid enough to try you.” He gave her a quick kiss on top of her head, and she smiled as she jogged to catch up with their parents.

“All right, everybody, let’s go get some tacos!”

The crowd of twenty to thirty high school aged teens made their way out of the athletic parking lot to the crossing corner, then spanning the six busy lanes of Walzem Road to the quickly-filling Sombrero Rosa. The cheering was loud, and the radio was blaring out of the restaurant’s speakers, occasionally interrupted with an order number ready for pick up.

The guys found a seat after ordering and were busy accepting congratulations from the other teens and even a few older people eating at the inexpensive restaurant. The fact that they dared to deal with the raucous group of young teens highlighted the love of the tacos from multiple generations of Roosevelt students and parents.

“Dude, are you gonna dress tonight for the game?” Jeff Green asked just before shoveling a taco into his mouth.

“Nope, not tonight -- just in regular clothes. They want me to learn what warm-ups they do and when and how we are supposed to act when we get to the stadium and shit like that.” Tim answered and took another bite of his taco. “I’m supposed to teach you guys what to do before you get up to the varsity, so you know what to do, and they don’t have to tell you.”

“So, I guess we gotta get used to playing without you.” Johnnie quickly inhaled another half of a taco in one bite and continued. “But don’t worry, we’re all gonna get promoted to JV as quick as possible so we can play together again. Besides, somebody had to clean up after your mistakes,” Johnnie joked and had to duck from the hot sauce packets and napkins the others at the table threw at him.

“What I can’t figure out is how come it took you guys so long to beat Clark. I mean, shit, it was Clark. Everyone knows they can’t play worth shit!”

Tim and his friends looked up to see a group of five guys, dressed in red and gray t-shirts with the Judson Rockets logo proudly displayed for all to see. The tension on Sombrero Rosa’s back patio rose considerably. The grandiloquent leader made his way through the crowd, toward Tim’s table, and backed by four other Judson Rockets.

“When our freshmen played them last week, they won 70-0. You guys could only muster 63. That is absolutely pathetic.”

Tim and his friends stayed seated at their table and calmly continued eating, waiting for the blustering five to make their way through the dividing crowd. The crowd wasn’t leaving the patio, they just let the five into the area and then quietly, slowly surrounded the five boys.

“So, I understand you are Tim ‘Mayhem’ Murphy.” He made air quotes with both hands when he said mayhem. The five degenerates visibly looked up and down at the still-seated Tim as he continued eating his tacos. “Nah, I don’t see what the big deal about you is. Anyone can take steroids and get themselves all swollen in a summer.”

Tim quickly found his attention waning from this laughingly stereotypical jock confrontation. Normally, he would slink back behind much more upfront personalities, but he recognized his current standing forced him into that role.

While Tim was wrestling with his inner demons, everyone on the patio was waiting with baited breath, and the loud-mouthed leader threw his insult once again.

“Yep. Nothing much to see here. Mayhem is definitely well-oversold. He ain’t shit for us to worry about.” The air quotes were used again.

The mainly high school audience on the patio answered, “ooooohhhh.”

Tim smiled as he replied, “So that’s why you had to spend your Saturday morning watching a freshman high school football game, on the other side of town -- because you were worried about little ol’ me.”

Tim stood up, and people started backing up trying to keep from getting involved with the obviously physical confrontation getting ready to pop off. Tim, however, just picked up his tray with the wrappers and paper bag from the tacos he’d finished eating and threw them away in the trashcan nearby. He did save his drink before it fell into the can since he was not yet finished with it, and he could get a refill before they left. He sat back down in his seat, again looking up at the ringleader.

“All the way across town, because you were worried about little ol’ me.”

The leader’s face turned as red as the cubed tomatoes in the salsa bowls on every table of the restaurant. “Hey, listen up, you mother fucker. We went to see your game ‘cause we were tired of hearing about the great hope. The gifted one. The one player who might be able to bring a win over Judson to it’s much littler brother school, Roosevelt. We heard all about how great of a player you were supposed to be and wanted to see it for ourselves and, to tell the truth, I ain’t that impressed.”

The high school audience groaned again, “oooohhhh.”

“Well, we know who this is,” Johnnie said, pointing to Tim who was once again comfortably seated and probably the only person in the restaurant still that way. “But who the fuck are you?”

“I’m Rodney Valentine. I’m the starting running back for the Judson Rockets.”

One of his fellow Rockets patted him on his shoulder. The others gave encouraging non-verbal grunts of affirmation. Valentine turned and gave him a slight nod of thanks, and he turned back to Tim who was rising from his seat.

“Well, Rodney, it’s good to meet you, and I bet Clark is happy you came to see the game and also for the $2 admission charge.” A smattering of laughs streamed from several people within hearing distance.

The uptick in tension didn’t go unnoticed by the management of the restaurant.

“All right, fellas. All right. You know the rules. No fights or I close up and kick everyone out,” the manager announced as he made an appearance, standing between the five Judson Rockets and the table of Roosevelt players.

“Oh, don’t worry, sir. There’s not going to be a fight,” Tim turned toward the Judson players. “Isn’t that right, Rodney?”

The undercurrent growl from Tim even unnerved Johnnie and the others a little.

“No, you’re right, Tim. We didn’t come for a fight. We just stopped by to give congratulations and to tell him we can’t wait until he becomes a junior and his coach finally lets him play varsity ball.”

Rodney’s friends laughed like the henchmen they were, but they didn’t get why some other patrons on the patio laughed at their leader’s joke, too.

“Guess you fellas didn’t hear. Tim, here, got promoted to the JV and is dressing out for the Varsity game tonight. He is just one injured or under-performing player away from lining up across from you,” Johnnie added as he sat back down and began inhaling another taco. The others began to slowly sit down as well when the Judson boys backed out of the restaurant door and made their way toward their two cars.

“Did you see the look on Rodney’s face when you told him Tim got promoted to JV? Christ! I thought he was gonna puke all over himself. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time,” Jeff Green said while adding more sliced jalapeños to and pouring more hot sauce and salsa on his tacos.

“I have to admit, the smug look on his face changed pretty damn quick once he heard about your promotion, Mayhem. Say, you don’t think there is a chance you could play varsity next week against Judson, do you?” Jeff asked before finally taking a big bite of one of his five-alarm hot tacos.

“Anything is possible. The coaches are happy about having the chains removed and getting to coach closer to the way they wanna coach. Well, that’s my take on it, anyways,” Tim answered while he drank a little more from his iced tea. “Anything is possible, but I’d have to beat out not only Mike Smith and Tommy James for a chance at either defensive end spot, but then I’d also have to beat Mike’s older brother Jeff. He’s got a shot at all-city this year – the way he has been playing.”

The conversation closed for a few minutes while the patio got back to what they were doing before the visit from Judson’s current prized running back. The last seven players who were starting running backs for the Judson Rockets found themselves with scholarships to good division-one college football teams at schools all over the country. Rodney Valentine’s recruitment was well-chronicled and began toward the end of his freshman season when he was the top substitute in the playoffs.

The Judson faithful were salivating at the chance for a top-tier talent playing the star position of the Judson Rockets offense, and he was there for at least three more seasons. When counting his college scholarship offers, it was easier to count the schools not recruiting him – mainly schools where academic standing was not as important than athletic prowess. Rodney Valentine was not an unintelligent young man; he just did not work at that part of his life. He was going to play football, and that was going to be his profession.

“Dude, you are already tons better than Mikey or Tommy. You can beat those two into the ground after Monday’s practice,” Tony Parker said while also scoping the patio for unattached ladies to go after.

“Yeah, Tim, Tony’s right. You can beat both of them now. Easily. I think if you work hard, you’ll be better than Mikey’s brother and/or Tommy James. Shit. If coach is smart he’ll change one of those two down to tackle and get an incredible push with three of the best defensive linemen in Roosevelt history,” Johnnie added.

“Yeah. Jeff Smith is pretty damned good, and I bet I can learn a lot from him. Tommy James is almost unstoppable once he gets going. Maybe I’ll move inside so that we can keep the three best pass rushers on the field at the same time,” Tim said off-handed while contemplating the future.

“Holy shit. Did I hear that right? Did Mayhem Murphy just call himself one of the three best pass rushers in the school?” Johnnie stood up next to Tim and looked down at him like an overbearing parent. “Who taught you how to act like that?”

Tim gave a little smile and loudly answered, “You, alright? I learned it by watching you!” The jeers came at them from several tables as well as several packets of sugar and hot sauce.

“Dude. Did that guy say he was promoted to the JV? I thought they never promoted freshmen to JV – not until they were at least sophomores,” one of the Judson players asked from the back seat as Rodney Valentine sped back to Judson High.

The entire drive back to the locker room was quiet since the one question asked as soon as they left Sombrero Rosa’s. The perks were plentiful for the young and highly skilled running back, including a student parking spot in the front row just outside of the locker room. His white 2018 Dodge Challenger rumbled into the parking spot set aside for Rodney. It was a gift from the Judson administration. The sign indicating only Rodney was allowed to park there was paid for by the Judson Sports Booster Club.

“Rod, I told you going there would be a mistake. Besides, Coach said he wanted the film of the game as soon as it ended.” Damon Baker could have been talking to a wall for all the reaction he was getting from his friend, Rodney Valentine. It was all he could do to keep up with the football star as they entered the Judson football locker room area.

Once inside the locker room, Rodney finally stopped and acknowledged everything his friend was saying. “Hey, man, I needed to see him for myself. I needed to see just how good he was, and it looks like, for once, the internet and the high school football talking heads are actually underselling him. If anything, he might be the best player in the state – right now!” Rodney exhaled visibly. “And I know what coach said, but I think he will want to know that the guy he told us not to worry about has just done something no one thought would ever happen. He got Roosevelt’s coach, Big John Fontana, to change one of his fundamental rules!”

Not Damon, Rodney, or any of the other three football players who went to the Roosevelt-versus-Clark freshman football game had seen their head coach, John Baker, sitting on a bench around the corner.

“What are you and Mr. Valentine talking about, Mr. Baker?” Judson’s head coach asked loudly to get his players’ attention. He also motioned for the boys to follow as he walked into the coaches office. “And where is the film I asked you men to get?” Damon quickly turned the iPad he was holding over to the coach.

“Coach,” Rodney began. “We stopped to get something to eat, and we heard a rumor that we need to verify because it will involve us pretty soon.”

“What rumor?”

“Tim Murphy from Roosevelt has been promoted to the JV.”

“Who?”

“Remember the video I showed you? They called it ... um...” Rodney looked to his friend for help.

“The perfect defensive player.”

“Right. The perfect defensive player.”

The recognition quickly overcame the coach’s face. “Oh yeah, that player that got you all worried. What happened to him? Did he get hurt or did he quit?”

“No. They just played his second game, and they beat Clark and won easily,” Rodney stopped and swallowed heavily then looked at his friend. Damon shook his shoulders in a universal ‘I don’t know’ shake. “Tim Murphy got promoted to the JV after today’s freshman game.”

“Oh, is that all? Jesus Christ! I thought you were gonna tell me something like one of you got in trouble or something!”

Coach Baker wiped the sheen of sweat on his forehead threatening to turn into full-on deluge down his face, with the back of his hand.

He stood, put his hands on Rodney’s shoulders and looked deep into his eyes as he said, “Rodney. I told you then you didn’t have to worry about some guy playing for Roosevelt. If he lines up against us, then we deal with him.” Rodney was about to say something when the coach stopped him and continued. “He played two games so far, right? Clark and who else? What? Warren? He ran up against two going-nowhere teams. Our JV can destroy both of their varsity teams.”

The coach spun Rodney around and began slowly marching him and Damon out of his office. “There is nothing to worry about from just one player.” He walked the two out to the main locker area where the Judson football players were milling about getting ready for their game that night. Their entrance caught the attention of the players in the room. “The only thing you guys need to worry about is what you are gonna do to Lake Travis, tonight.” Coach Baker projected out to the rest of the team. He motioned for the two players to get to their lockers.

“Go ahead and pack up, the bus leaves for Austin in about an hour. We gotta go to our pre-game meal, first. Let’s go, ladies!”

With something new to focus on, the two Judson players put their face-off with the Roosevelt freshman out of their minds. After all, Coach Baker was right. They had work to do, but Rodney Valentine could just feel he was going to see if the press was right about Murphy sooner rather than later but, tonight, he was going to let out his frustrations by running all over Austin’s Lake Travis Cavaliers.

“Hello, I’m home.” Tim walked into the living room, and no one was there. But he did hear people’s voices coming from the kitchen and dining room.

“There he is: the man of the hour,” Tim’s father, Raymond, announced to the man sitting at the dining room table. “Tim, I’d like to introduce you to someone.”