the Big Time (2010)
Read the Big Time (2010) Online
Authors: Tim Green
A Football Genius Novel
For my brother, Kenny, because you're big time
ALL HIS LIFE, TROY dreamed of meeting the father heâ¦
“HE BELONGS TO ME,” Troy's mom said, “the one whoâ¦
TROY'S MOM'S GLARE FADED. She hung her head and quietlyâ¦
“MY GOD,” TROY'S MOM said under her breath.
“WHAT, MOM?” TROY ASKED, his voice dull.
FROM THE MIDDLE OF the woods, Troy thought of somethingâ¦
“WHOA,” SHE SAID. “I know you took some shots inâ¦
“MOM, WHAT ARE YOU doing!” Troy yelled, the blast ofâ¦
“HEY, MISTER,” HIS MOM said, raising her voice and bangingâ¦
“THERE ARE LAWS,” GRAMPS said, “that give your father someâ¦
“SO,” TROY SAID, EYEING her hand, “we don't do anything,â¦
“WE LEFT SO FAST last night,” Troy's mom said. “Iâ¦
THE DOORS TO THE dome had been opened, and fansâ¦
TROY APPROACHED THE YELLOW rope, his heart swelling with pride.
“I TOLD YOU,” TROY'S mom said to Drew, her faceâ¦
“IF YOU DON'T WORK with me here, I'm going toâ¦
“WHAT SAME THING ARE you two thinking?” Tate asked.
BEFORE SETH'S FINGERTIPS EVEN touched the ball, Troy felt aâ¦
SETH CALLED COACH MORA'S defenses from that point on, thatâ¦
TROY FELT A MIXTURE of anxiety, frustration, and regret.
GRIFFIN LENGYEL WAS BIGGER, faster, and stronger than Seth.
TROY LOOKED UP AT his mom. She inclined her headâ¦
AS SETH PREDICTED, TROY'S mom did understand when Troy explainedâ¦
THE TREES ABOVE SHIFTED restlessly in a steady wind thatâ¦
“YOU LOST, KID?” THE security guard asked, scowling.
“BUT,” TROY SAID, HIS voice barely rising above the mutedâ¦
TROY SHOWED HIS FATHER how he and Tate sat, withâ¦
“I DOUBT YOUR MOTHER will let me help,” Drew said.
TROY LAY COMFORTABLY IN his dream on a sandy beachâ¦
TROY LEANED TOWARD THE screen, afraid that what he sawâ¦
IT WASN'T HIS FATHER'S orange Porsche but Seth's yellow H2â¦
“SURE,” JOHN SAID. “I lost my own dad when Iâ¦
“YOU ARE TESSA WHITE?” the man asked again, nodding toâ¦
TROY CLUTCHED HIS ROLLED-UP bathing suit and pulled back theâ¦
“I TOLD YOU G Money has the keys to thisâ¦
THE MASSIVE FISH VEERED off and swam away.
THEY PULLED UP INTO the dirt patch in front ofâ¦
TROY AND HIS FATHER sped down not the interstate thatâ¦
FROM INSIDE THE TERMINAL, Troy eyed the flailing mob throughâ¦
SETH COLE SAT DOWN so that Troy was seated betweenâ¦
“SETH,” TROY'S FATHER SAID. “Wait! You can't.”
“I KNOW LETTERMAN ISN'T locked in, but you don't reallyâ¦
TROY'S MOM SLAMMED THE door and turned to him withâ¦
TROY'S MOUTH FELL OPEN in disbelief. His cheeks burned withâ¦
TROY SAW HIS MOM making a beeline from her seatâ¦
TROY HUNG HIS HEAD.
TROY DIDN'T SPEAK TO his mother the next morning, andâ¦
BOB McDONOUGH STOOD TALL and slender, with close-cropped, graying hairâ¦
“YOUR FATHER IS MILLIONS of dollars in debt, Troy,” Bobâ¦
TROY BOLTED UP OUT of the chair, tipping it overâ¦
TROY SAW HIS GRAMPS'S pickup in the dirt patch alongâ¦
“WHEN WE SAW YOU at G Money's the other night,”â¦
“HE'S YOUR LAWYER,” BOB McDonough said with a solemn face.
TROY'S MOM WHIPPED UP macaroni and cheese for him andâ¦
TROY KICKED AND THRASHED, but the hand held tight.
THE SECURITY GUARDS AT the gate to G Money's drivewayâ¦
TROY SLIPPED HIS FINGERS into the pocket.
LUTHER'S PINK GRIN APPEARED in the midst of his beard,â¦
TATE POINTED AT THE floor, and the men's eyes allâ¦
TATE'S EYES FLASHED IN the direction of the bar. Sheâ¦
THE SMILE FLASHED BACK onto his father's face instantly.
TROY TOOK A RIGHT at the next stop sign andâ¦
TROY NEVER LOOKED BACK; he bolted up the ladder, spun,â¦
“TROY, HONEY,” HIS MOM said, rushing to him and huggingâ¦
TROY COULDN'T SPEAK.
WHEN TROY REACHED THE edge of the bridge, he couldâ¦
THEY RODE FOR TEN minutes in Seth's H2 before Troyâ¦
TROY AND THE GEORGIA team were down by six andâ¦
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ALL HIS LIFE, TROY
dreamed of meeting the father he never knew. Never once did he imagine it would turn into a nightmare. Still, the rage oozing from his mother's voice when she saw his father's face wasn't a complete surprise. But when her hateful glare scorched Troy, too? That was a shocker.
She acted as if Troy had invited the man to show up on Seth Halloway's front steps when, in fact, the appearance of his missing father shook Troy to the core.
“We don't want you here,” Troy's mom said.
Seth, the Falcons' star linebacker, appeared behind her and stepped onto the front porch of his stone mansion as if to protect Troy and his friends, Tate and Nathan, from the intruder. Noise from the party by
the pool out back filtered up over the slate roof and into the night sky. The entire Duluth Tigers football teamâwhich Seth had coached as a favor to Troyâand the players' parents were celebrating the team's victory in the Georgia Junior League Football State Championship.
“Can I help you?” Seth asked, the cords in his muscular neck now dancing in the porch light.
Troy's father stood an inch or two over six feetâas tall as Sethâwith a handsome face worn from weather and worry. He laughed a soft, friendly laugh, and he stuck out a big hand with a slim gold watch on his wrist.
“I'm Drew Edinger; I'm staying with a client who lives a few streets away,” Troy's dad said, extending his hand even farther until Seth had no choice but to shake it. “I know who you are. I admire the way you play.”
“I said we don't want you here,” Troy's mom said, crossing her arms and jutting out her jaw.
“I'm the boy's father.”
“You're not his father,” Troy's mom said.
Drew looked at Troy, gave him a sly wink, and said, “You're saying he belongs to someone else?”
“
HE BELONGS TO
ME
,”
Troy's mom said, “the one who changed his diapers and bathed him and cooked for him and helped him with his homework and took care of him when he was sick. Just because he's got half your genes doesn't make you a father.”
Drew turned his attention back to her, shook his head, and said, “You haven't changed a bit, have you, Tessa? Still beautiful. Still full of vinegar.”
Troy's mom pointed a finger toward the street. “Go.”
“You think this boy doesn't deserve to know his father?” Drew asked, his heavy eyebrows settling in on his brow. “At least a little bit? What do you think, Troy?”
Troy felt his mouth sag open, but no words spilled
out. He looked at Tate. She had good sense, better than he and Nathan. Her big brown eyes widened, but she only shrugged her shoulders in confusion.
“You're twelve years too late, Drew,” Troy's mom said. “Don't make us call the police.”
“Police?” Drew said, raising his eyebrows.
“Tessa,” Seth said, speaking quietly. “Let's not go crazy here.”
“I didn't even know Troy existed until I saw you and him on TV with Larry King,” Drew said, his hands splayed open, his voice nearly begging. “I knew then. He looks just like me.”
“I
told
you,” Troy's mom said.
“You never told me
anything
,” Drew said. “We fought about getting married and having kids, something you wanted and I didn't. Back then, with my injury and hoping I could make a comeback, my whole life was a mess. I never knew we had a
son
. You think I wouldn't have seen him all this time? You think I wouldn't have helped pay for things? I've done well, Tessa, even without football.”
“I'm not going back in time to do this all over again,” Troy's mom said. “I've moved on. We're fine.”
“But you never told me,” Drew said. “He deserves to know the truth, Tessa. I can't imagine what he must think.”
“He thinks what he thinks,” Troy's mom said.
“You need to tell him,” Drew said.
Troy felt dizzy. “Mom?”
“He knew,” she said, raising her voice and stabbing her finger at Drew. “Maybe I didn't throw myself at his feet and beg him to stay, but he
knew
.”
“In law school they teach you to ask if innocence is
possible
,” Drew said.
“I'm not a lawyer,” she said.
“I am,” he said, winking quickly at Troy again. “It's called presumption of innocence. It's what separates us from Attila the Hun. Think about it. Isn't it possibleâgiven what I was going through at the timeâthat I didn't put two and two together?”
“You were a math major,” she said. “Adding two and two was something you shouldn't have missed.”
“Maybe I shouldn't have,” Drew said, nodding. “Okay, I agree; but I'm asking you if it's
possible
that I did. Isn't it? Couldn't me not being around for Troy all this time be a big mistake?”
Troy looked at his mom. Her lower lip disappeared beneath her top teeth as she studied Drew Edinger.
“Tessa, if you tell me no,” Drew said, pointing down the stone path toward the driveway and the Porsche convertible in which he'd pulled up, “then I'll walk away, go back to Chicago, and neither of you will ever see me again.”
Troy held his breath.