The following short story is a selection from my new book "Alabama Stories". Copies available at alabamastories.com.
**********
8:06 a.m. Nov. 4, 1973:> Eighteen-year-old Robert James Worthington, high school football star, honor student and senior class president, turned over in bed and opened his eyes. For a moment, he stared straight up at the white tongue-and-groove ceiling of his bedroom and tried to wake up. The big game, he thought, the big game with Lanier is tonight. Got to get up and get started.
With that, he threw his feet over the side of the bed and sat up. As the fog of sleep slowly faded away, he reached for a small gray vial marked “High Energy Protein Supplements” on the bedside table. The team doctor had said they were good for building strong muscle fiber. Popping the cap, he shook four of the tablets into his hand, replaced the cap, then swallowed them down with one big, dry gulp. Moments later, he was in the bathroom shaving.
8:36 a.m.:> Shaved, showered and dressed for breakfast, Robert James Worthington--tall, handsome, muscular, a fine specimen of a young American male--strode down the stairs to the family dining room where he saw his father seated at the table, sipping coffee and reading a newspaper.
“Bobby,” the father greeted him happily. “The paper says Lanier’s star fullback may not play today. He’s got a pulled hamstring.”
“It’s not a hamstring,” the son replied. “It’s a groin injury. Our team doctor knows their team doctor.”
“If he plays, it could make a lot of difference.”
“Maybe,” the son answered, seating himself at the table. “He’s never played against a defensive line as fast and as strong as ours.”
The son looked over at his mother, who was standing in a bathrobe at the cookstove.
“Morning, Bobby,” the mother said.
“Morning, Mom. What’s for breakfast?”
“Steak and eggs with hash browns.
“I like my hash browns well done,” he said.
“I know, dear,” she said patiently, placing a cup of steaming hot coffee and fresh cream in front of him.
“Belinda called earlier,” the mother continued. “She said that
you should drop by sometime after
ten a.m.”
“I’ve got to be at the stadium at two p.m. for pre-game practice,” he said, taking a sip of coffee.
“I promised her I’d tell you,” the mother pressed.
“Thanks, Mom!” the son replied.
“Also,” the mother added, “Jimmy called. He said to tell you to bring the lucky chin strap.”
“Oh, yeah,” the son remembered. “It’s in the medicine chest in the downstairs bathroom. Will you get it for me?”
“Soon as I finish your breakfast,” the mother replied.
The son turned to his father.
“I’ll need the station wagon to go to practice,” he said.
“That’s fine, son,” the father said. “Now that you’re going to college, you’re going to need your own car,” he added, looking knowingly at this wife.
“Yeah,” Robert James Worthington said absently, taking another gulp of coffee. “And soon…”
“How do you see the big game tonight?” the father asked.
“We can beat ’em if we can get it all together. Their big fullback is our main concern right now.
“You’re gonna stomp ’em,” the father said confidently.
“I hope so.”
“Oh, you will,” the father said again. “You’re Bobby Worthington.”
With that, eighteen-year-old Robert James Worthington’s mother placed a huge platter, brimming with rib-eye steak, three scrambled eggs, well-cooked hash browns and a side order of protein-rich wheat toast in front of him. With no time to waste, Marshall County High’s class president, top student and star quarterback dove right in.
10:06 a.m.:> Enjoying the crisp late November weather, Robert James Worthington swayed lazily in the front porch swing with beautiful Belinda Wilson, his fiancee, class valedictorian and head cheerleader at Marshall County High. A tall, statuesque brunette, she and Bobby had been going steady since they were juniors and had been engaged for seven months.
“After we graduate from Marshall,” she said wistfully, “I want to get married, but I don’t want to have any children until I get my degree.”
“That’s fine,” the star quarterback said. “We can live in the married dorms on campus.”
“After I get my degree and teach for a couple of years, then I want to have a child.”
“I thought you wanted two,” he injected.
“I do. A boy and a girl, but I want them to be spaced a few years apart.”
“Your dreams are already laid out, aren’t they?” he asked, almost making a statement.
“They sure are.”
“All of that will happen,” the star quarterback assured her. “Just the way you’ve planned it.”
“I can always count on you,” she said, looking at him lovingly.
He smiled.
“We’ll be so happy together,” Belinda said blissfully, “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” he said, kissing her lightly on the lips, “but right now I got to get to practice.”
“Tonight’s going to be your big night,” she said.
“Not unless I can throw some big passes to Jimmy,” he said.
“You just wait,” she said, smiling reassuringly. “You’re Bobby Worthington.”
2:04 p.m.:> Driving the family station wagon, Robert James Worthington pulled into the stadium parking lot at Marshall County High School. He was late. Jumping out, he pulled an equipment bag out of the back seat and hurried along the concrete corridor to the dressing room. As he walked in, the team was seated in front of the coach on gym benches.
“Bobby!” Coach Tom Walters said, looking up. “Let’s go. We’ve got lots of work to do.”
With that, Robert James Worthington took a place in the front row among the seated players.
“Tonight, we’re going up against one of the best high school football teams I’ve ever seen,” the coach began. “They can run the football, they have a highly effective passing and kicking game. If we’re going to win tonight, we’ve got to be fast, we’ve got to be strong and we’ve got to be mean.”
Robert James Worthington listened intently to his coach. Also listening and seated in the front row beside him was Jimmy Hagan, the star quarterback’s best friend and the team’s star receiver. Since the day the two had entered Marshall County High as freshmen four years earlier, Bobby and Jimmy had become the best of friends. They took the same classes, dated together, knew the intimate details of each other’s personal lives and, when they were away from school, spent most of their time together.
As athletes, Bobby and Jimmy were perfect complements. During the 1973 Marshall High baseball season, Bobby had been the star pitcher and Jimmy the catcher and the team won second place in the state finals. On the school’s basketball team, Jimmy, who was slightly taller, played center and Bobby played forward. Together, they had led Marshall High to the district basketball championships. But their greatest match-up was as a quarterback and pass receiver. In three years, Bobby and Jimmy had rewritten all the standing records for quarterbacks and receivers in the school’s history. During the 1973 season alone, they had connected for a remarkable 34 touchdowns, which broke the old record of 32 set way back in 1946.
The coach was finishing his speech.
“Okay, men, meeting’s over.” the coach barked. “Let’s get out there and start hitting.”
As the meeting broke up, the coach turned to his star quarterback and receiver.
“Bobby! Jimmy!” he called.
Robert James Worthington and his best friend turned to their coach.
“You guys got your pass patterns down?”
“We’re real close,” Bobby said.
“Close ain’t good enough,” the coach said crisply. “We can’t win unless you guys can pull off some big pass plays.”
“We know, Coach,” Bobby said.
The coach looked at his star players.
“Okay,” he said. “Jimmy, you go on out and start warming up. Me and Bobby’s got to look at some game film, then we’ll be out.”
2:38 p.m.:> Robert James Worthington and his coach, sitting in the film booth, watched the small movie screen as the flickering images of football players danced across it.
“Now you can see how that big guard is coming in from the left side of the line,” the coach explained, pointing to the screen. “If you have to scramble, scramble right. That way, you’ll be behind the strong side of our line.”
Robert James Worthington nodded with understanding.
“It’s the little things that win football games,” the coach said.
They turned back to the screen and watched for several more minutes.
“Now you see right here,” the coach said again, pointing to the screen, “Jimmy is running a post pattern and you were looking for a slant.”
“Yeah,” Bobby agreed.
“If the defender had been three yards closer, he could have intercepted the pass. That’s why you and Jimmy have got to have the pass patterns down. I mean down perfectly with no margin for error. We can’t afford any stupid mistakes.”
The star quarterback nodded.
“One stupid mistake, just one… can cost us the whole game,” the coach emphasized. “It’s the same in life. A whole lifetime can be destroyed in one moment of stupidity.”
4:38 p.m.:> Robert James Worthington, suited up at quarterback, was on the practice field scrimmaging with the Marshall High offensive team. Nearby, Coach Walters and a bevy of assistant coaches watched intently.
Over the past hour, Bobby had put the team through a series of the team’s basic running plays. Now they were going through the pass plays.
“Give me a short slant pass over the middle,” the coach barked.
The offensive and defensive teams went into a three-point stance.
“Hut! Hut!” Bobby barked to the center. At the snap, Bobby took the football and backed up into the pocket, then watched as Jimmy raced through the line of defending backs. At the precise moment, Bobby released the football with an almost playful flipping motion and the football plopped into Jimmy’s outstretched hands like pure magic.
“Good work!” the coach, clapping his hands, shouted from the sidelines. “If you two can complete pass plays like that tonight, we’ll kick their butts.”
“Okay,” the coach continued, stepping forward and motioning for the players to gather around him. As instructed, the players sidled up and formed a circle around their coach.
“I think we’re ready,” he said, glancing through the crowd. His eyes stopped on his star quarterback.
“What about the trick two-point play?”
“We’ve been working on it, Coach,” Bobby said.
“Working on it ain’t good enough,” the coach said crisply. “I want you guys to spend the next hour running it over and over until you get it down. Okay?”
Bobby and Jimmy nodded obediently.
“We’re going to win tonight,” the coach continued. “That means we’ve got to put it all together.”
He stopped again.
“Game time is 7 p.m. Anybody that’s not in the dressing room and suited up at 6:00will be in big trouble with me. Got that?!”
“Yes, sir!” the team shouted in unison.
“That’s all!” the coach barked.
With that, Bobby, Jimmy and the other players watched as their coach, clipboard still in hand, turned and walked back to the dressing room.
“We got a job to do tonight,” Bobby said, turning to Jimmy.
“I know” his best friend said.
"Let's work on the secret two-point play.
“Okay,” Jimmy said. “Where’s the lucky chin strap?”
The star quarterback reached in his hip pocket and withdrew the worn chin strap.
“Great!” Jimmy said happily, taking the piece of leather and rubbing it across his chin. “We’re gonna kick their butts.”
For the past two years, Bobby and Jimmy had had a superstition about the chin straps they had worn during the 1971 state championship game. In that game, nobody dreamed that Marshall High had a chance against a mighty Phillips High team from Birmingham. But Bobby, a sophomore who took over in the third quarter when the first-string quarterback was injured, had thrown a miracle pass to Jimmy in the closing seconds to win the game. Jimmy said the ball “hit my chin strap and just bounced into my hands.” The now-famous pass play had made stars out of both players and they had saved the “lucky” chin straps. Since then, the two had made it a point to wear the “lucky” chin straps during all their big games.
7:08 p.m.:> Robert James Worthington, football helmet in hand, watched silently as the stars and stripes were raised and the assembled crowd of football fans sang the national anthem. Around him, the Marshall County High School stadium was filled to capacity. On one side, some 15,000 delirious Marshall High fans were clamoring to see their team give cross-state rival Lanier High a sound thrashing. On the opposite side, the stands were packed with screaming Lanier fans who carried signs and shouted victory chants in support of their team. Finally, with the words “land of the free and home of the brave,” a massive yell erupted from the stands and the two teams took the field to do battle.
Lanier High won the coin toss and elected to receive. After two short gains and a failed pass attempt, however, they had to punt. Robert James Worthington and the Marshall high offensive team took the field. But the Lanier defense was tough. After two short passes and a busted running play, Marshall High had to punt. The big game was now underway.
8:42 p.m.:> At halftime, with Lanier High ahead 14-7, the Marshall coach said the team had done well to establish a running game, but the Bobby-Jimmy combination hadn’t clicked yet.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, turning to his star quarterback and receiver.
“I can’t get open,” Jimmy said. “Their guy on defense is really fast.”
“I told you he’s fast,” the coach emphasized. “In their game
with
“We could send out other eligible receivers,” the star quarterback suggested.
“No,” the coach said thoughtfully. “He’s got to have a weakness of some kind. Either that or we’ve got to find some way to throw him off his game.”
“We haven’t found it yet,” Bobby said.
“Be watching!” the coach said.
9:55 p.m.:> With 2:12 left in the fourth quarter and Lanier ahead 21-14, Marshall High took over on downs on their own 37-yard line. Marshall was in a do-or-die situation. In the huddle on first down, Robert James Worthington called for a short slant pass.
“Jimmy, when you run the pattern, go straight out, then suddenly veer sideways, then go back in a straight line.” the quarterback said.
“We’ve never run that pattern in practice,” Jimmyreplied.
“I know,” the quarterback said. “Let’s see what the defender does.”
At the snap, Jimmy ran the pattern exactly as the quarterback had suggested. Immediately, when Jimmy went back to the straight route, he broke free and easily caught the pass for a 15-yard gain.
“That’s his weakness,” Jimmy said back in the huddle. “He does fine going from a straight line to a lateral motion, but he’s all thumbs when it comes to moving from a lateral move back to a straight line.”
“I know! I know!” Robert James Worthington said, smiling happily. “See the gold streamers hanging down on the goal posts?”
Jimmy Hagan looked away from the huddle toward the opposite end of the field.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Line up directly in front on the streamers and imagine a straight line between you and them.”
“Okay,” Jimmy said, peering down the field.
“Off the line and about ten yards out, veer off to the right, then come back and run in the same straight line toward the streamers.”
“Got it!” Jimmy said.
“I’ll hit you about the ten,” Bobby said, rubbing his lucky chin strap.
With that, the Marshall High team broke huddle. As Jimmy broke from the line of scrimmage, the Lanier defender was keeping stride with him. Even as he veered off, the defender stayed right at his side. But once Jimmy fell back into the straight line pattern, the confused defender lost several steps and Jimmy broke free and clear.
Robert James Worthington could see that his tight end was racing ahead of the defender. Standing confidently in the pocket, he cocked his arm and threw the football. More than 30,000 pairs of eyes followed the football as it arched high above the stadium. Spiraling through the crisp November night air, the football traveled to the exact spot it had been intended at the ten yard line. As Jimmy Hagan caught the football and raced into the end zone, the Marshall High fans went wild with delirious joy.
Raising his arms happily in a triumphant salute, Robert James Worthington trotted back to the sidelines.
“Great work!” the coach said happily. “Now,” he said, “get back in there! Run the trick play!”
As the Marshall High team trotted back on the field for the extra point, the score was 21-20 in favor of Lanier.
As the Marshall team lined up for the extra point, it was obvious to the Lanier defenders that Marshall was going for two points and the win rather than one point and the tie. They knew something fishy was about to happen, but they didn’t know just what. The obvious two-point play was for the quarterback to take the snap and pass the football, probably to Jimmy Hagan. They were 99 percent sure it would be some kind of pass. At the snap, the ball was centered to Jimmy Hagan. As the Lanier defenders looked on in confused horror, Jimmy slipped into the pocket and Bobby went out for the pass. Five seconds later, Bobby Worthington hauled in the 14-yard pass and stepped into the end zone. This was the very last time the Lanier defenders had expected. All of them were convinced the ball would be centered to the quarterback who would then pass it, probably to Jimmy. It was a complete reversal of roles for the star quarterback and his favorite receiver and it took the Lanier defense totally by surprise. It was the old Alabama “Flea-Flicker” play and it worked to perfection. As the confused Lanier defenders threw up their hands in disgust, the game clock ticked off the last few seconds and the final scoreboard read Marshall High 22, Lanier High 21.
10:30 p.m.:> After the big game, pandemonium reigned supreme in the Marshall High dressing room and it was filled to capacity with celebrating fans, school alumni, well-wishers, the players’ families and friends and, of course, the press.
“You’re gonna be one of the greatest,” sportswriter William Vernon Johnson said, hunkering down in front of star quarterback Robert James Worthington as he removed his shoulder pads. “You got the arm, the eye, the quick release, the timing… everything you need to be a great quarterback… You could be another Joe Namath.”
Bobby Worthington inhaled thoughtfully.
“Nothing on earth would make me happier,” he said. “I love the game of football.”
“How does it feel to have a full scholarship to the University of Alabama," 32-year-old Billy Johnson asked.
“I always wanted to play for Bear Bryant,” the quarterback said. “To play for the Bear and be a star quarterback at Alabama is the greatest dream I ever had…”
“And you got a 4.0 grade point average to go with it,” Billy Johnson noted. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
The star quarterback laughed self-consciously.
“I’ve been lucky,” he said, reaching down and touching the chin strap on his helmet.
“What’ll it be after college?”
“Either the pros or med school,” the quarterback said. “If I
play in the pros, I’d like to play for
Dallas.”
“One last question,” sportswriter Johnson ventured.
“What’s that?”
“How does it feel to have the world on a string?”
Robert James Worthington paused to consider the question.
“Pretty good!” he said, with a slow, confident smile. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added: “No, not just pretty good; it’s great!”
11:03 p.m.:> Robert James Worthington, dressed in street clothes, was walking from the football dressing room to the stadium parking lot with his girlfriend Belinda and Jimmy Hagan when he saw place-kicker Wayne Thompson hurrying to his car.
“Wayne!” Bobby called.
“Hey!” the place-kicker answered.
“My folks are having a little victory celebration over at my house,” Bobby said. “You’re invited.”
Wayne hesitated.
“No, I better not,” he said apologetically. “My girlfriend’s mother is in the hospital. I promised I’d be there after the game.”
“Okay,” Bobby said, “Maybe some other time.”
“Thanks anyway,” Wayne said. “See you later.”
With that, Wayne Thompson, having made possibly one of the most important decisions of his life, waved goodbye to Robert James Worthington and continued walking to his car.
12:04 a.m.:> All the people who were important in Robert James Worthington’s life--his parents, his girlfriend, Belinda, his best friend, Jimmy Hagan, and his head coach Bill Walters--were all present at his parents’ celebration.
For the event, his father had bought four magnums of champagne and his mother had prepared cheese snacks, green onion chips and dip and finger sandwiches.
For Robert James Worthington’s father, the night was a cause for true celebration so he wasted no time opening the champagne. After several toasts and a round of glorifying comments, Bobby had four or five glasses of champagne.
“Did Marshall High play a great game or what?” Bobby’s father asked the crowd jubilantly. A whoop of joy and elation erupted from the crowd. Finally, after the celebratory mood had died down, the father asked for quiet.
“I got something I want to say,” he said. “All of you know how proud I am of my son. He has been the greatest son I could ever have asked for.”
There was a round of approving nods and proud smiles from the crowd.
“What I’m about to do is really just a little thing, but I wanted my son to know how proud I am of him,” the father said.
With that, he motioned for the crowd to come out to the garage. Outside, he unlocked the garage door and opened it. The assembled crowd gave a collective gasp of envy as the door raised and revealed a brand spanking new 1974 Ford Custom Sports Sedan.
“Wow!” Robert James Worthington said, his eyes glistening with delight. “This is great. Just great!”
With that, he opened the door to his new car. “Wow! Leather seats. Cassette deck and factory air. Sports package. Oh, dad, this is too much!” he said joyfully.
“Nothing is too good for my son,” the father said.
With that, the son hugged his father. The older man beamed with delight. Tears of joy formed in the father’s eyes as he held his son tightly for a fleeting moment. Finally, the father broke the embrace and kissed his son on the cheek. Then, beaming proudly, the father reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys.
“Go ahead!” he said. “She’s all yours.”
“Jimmy!” Robert James Worthington said, taking the keys. “Come on, let’s take her for a spin.”
“Ready when you are!” Jimmy said.
“Are you okay to drive after that champagne?” the coach asked.
“Oh, sure,” his star quarterback replied confidently.
With that, Robert James Worthington got inside the car and started the engine. For a moment, he listened as the mighty engine roared.
“That’s music to my ears,” the star quarterback beamed as his best friend got in and slammed the door on the passenger side.
“We’ll be back,” he said.
“Be careful!” Belinda cautioned, as the star quarterback backed the car out of the garage.
“We will,” her husband-to-be replied with a confident smile.
12:38 a.m.:> Robert James Worthington pulled the shiny new sports car off the residential side street and on to the main highway.
“It’s really a nice machine,” Jimmy commented, opening the passenger side window to let in the crisp November night.
“Yeah,” the star quarterback agreed happily. “It’s a V-8. Let’s see what this thing will do.”
Jimmy looked at the speedometer.
“She’ll do up to 140,” he noted.
“And probably more,” the star quarterback added. With that, he rammed the accelerator pedal to the floorboard and the speedometer began to climb.
“The straight-away over the lake is just around this curve,” Robert James Worthington said. “I’ll open her up then.”
Within seconds, the sports car was whizzing along the rural highway at 95 miles an hour as both young men watched the speedometer climb.
At 100 miles an hour, Jimmy, a worried look on his face, was no longer enjoying the ride.
“Bobby,” he said, “we’re going too fast. You better slow this thing down.”
“Nah,” the star quarterback said confidently. “These things are made to go fast.”
With that, he pushed the accelerator all the way to the floorboard and the speedometer shot up to 105 miles per hour. As the car rounded the curve and approached the bridge to the lake, Robert James Worthington suddenly saw two concrete blocks that had fallen off a truck in the middle of the highway. At 110 miles an hour, Robert James Worthington swerved very slightly and missed the first block, but the four glasses of champagne had dulled his reflexes just enough that it was too late to avoid the second one.
“Look out!!” Jimmy screamed, genuine fear in his voice.
For a brief instant, Robert James Worthington tried to brake, but it was too late. The car’s right front tire hit the second concrete block dead-on and, since it was traveling at 110 miles an hour, the car flew up into the air and flipped over the bridge railing. As the car tumbled through the air, Robert James Worthington watched helplessly as his best friend was thrown out the open passenger window and he could feel himself being tossed around willy-nilly inside the vehicle. As the car slammed on to the surface of the water right side up, the star quarterback instantly regained his senses. Water was pouring through the open passenger’s window and that side of the car was rapidly sinking.
Robert James Worthington knew he had to act quickly. Wasting no time, he tried to force open the driver’s side door, but it was stuck. With all his might, he pushed against the door again and again but it was futile. The car was almost filled with water. Quickly, he jumped to the passenger side of the car and tried to pull himself through the open passenger window, but the onslaught of water pouring into the car was too much for him. Twice, three times, four times he tried, but with each new effort, the force of the water rushing into the car pushed him back. He had one last chance. Quickly, with his head underwater and holding his breath, he swung himself into the rear seat and, with desperate fists, he beat on the car’s cracked rear window, but he was helpless to break the glass. He was trapped. The interior of car was totally filled with water now and he had no breath left. As his oxygen-starved body thrashed helplessly in the last throes of life, he thought to himself: “This can’t be happening to me. I’m Bobby Worthington.”
1:14 a.m. Nov. 5, 1973:> Once filled with water, the shiny new 1974 Ford Custom Sports Sedan sank slowly and quietly to the bottom of the lake. Inside, the star quarterback’s bloated body--eyes still wide open, lungs and body cavities completely filled with water--floated aimlessly within the murky, liquid darkness. Eighteen-year-old Robert James Worthington, high school football star, honor student, class president, lover boy and a young man who had “the world by a string” was dead.
******
This is a very powerful and well written short story. And it is so iconic.
We had a very similar fellow in my high school -- star athlete, handsome, popular, etc. He was the only child of privileged parents who doted on him.
When he graduated from high school in upstate New York, his father relocated his business to Florida, so his son could attend the U. of Florida. And the parents gave him an expensive red sports car for a graduation present.
Within weeks of arriving in Florida, which completely uprooted the entire family for the son's convenience, the boy took the car for a high-speed run and killed himself.
Posted by: American Daughter | September 21, 2007 at 11:34 AM