LitShark
Predator
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2002
- Posts
- 3,473
It was Friday night in Salem Texas and the bars were all empty.
The grocery store was closed, as were the gas stations, convenience stores and restaurants. In the widows of these shuttered businesses, custom branded signs proclaimed they were “Dancing with the Devils,” a local custom that meant they were watching the local high school football team: The Salem High Blue Devils.
The mascot was occasionally the point of some contention—given the overwhelming prevalence of evangelical Christianity among the community but like so many examinations into hypocrisy among the self-assured, it was dismissed as “Tradition” and therefore neigh on infallible.
Tradition is a big deal in Texas. It’s a tradition rooted in Football, Faith and Family—in that order, most would agree.
At the center of the Pantheon of regional, high school football idolatry—the sun around which the whole town orbits—the messiah of scholastic athletics—QB 1: Wes Caulfield. He was a five-star recruit with over a dozen offers from D-1 colleges. Full-ride scholarships, of course.
The trouble with false idols? They can be destroyed.
“Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey!” Wes called out, his gravelly voice ringing even above the sound of the crowd. He was changing the play. “Weak Sluggo—Y-Banana, trey-whiskey—hut-hut!”
The hard count confirmed what he’d suspected when he called the audible. The safety took a step toward the line, playing the run—and with good reason. The original play had been an interior run—that safety’s presence in the middle of their line would blow up the run play like a bowling ball among pins.
He’d audibled to a pass.
“Hike!”
The linebacker’s crashed in, his offensive linemen grunted under the stress of pass blocking. With the ball up around his ear, Wes dropped back three steps, bouncing on the balls of his feet—practically floating. He gave a grand performance of the play action fake, slipping the ball deep into the running back’s grasp before tugging it out.
The Sluggo route—or “Slant and Go” came open right away, the safety cheating in and the corner biting on the run fake. Nothing but open grass ahead of Jacob, Wes’ favorite target, WR 1. But it wasn’t enough, another few seconds and Wes knew that he could get Jacob free from everything, a guaranteed touchdown.
Pump-fake.
He could feel the rush baring down on him, so he fired.
The throw was perfect, he knew it as soon as the ball left his hand, but he’d underestimated the rush. As soon as he looked up, he saw the crown of a defender’s helmet.
Then…
The deep, empty black of unconsciousness.
Was this it?
Was he dead?
Had he been destined to be a martyr all along?
*-*-*
It was Friday night in Salem Texas and you could hear a pin drop.
The stadium, packed with over twenty-thousand locals that could be loud enough to be heard in the next zip code. At the moment, though—there was hushed silence. Only the incremental wails of his distraught mother and his weeping girlfriend occasionally broke through the silence. Both teams were kneeling around Wes’ unconscious body as they loaded the backboard up onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.
His facemask had been removed with specialized tools and his helmet was still strapped under his chin as his head was securely strapped down to the rigid backboard.
The ambulance had driven all the way onto the field and a gentle roar of respectful applause went through the crowd—despite the fact that Wes was clearly still unconscious.
Once the ambulance was clear of the field, the game resumed.
*-*-*
It was Friday Night in Salem Texas and a cheerleader came to a crossroads.
She had come to beg for the life of her boyfriend who was in a coma, barely clinging to life. She’d been a church girl for her whole life, a devout believer, a youth minister—a pillar of her community. But now, in her time of most dire need, when she knew she couldn’t count on God or Christ, she came to beg the Devil for a favor.
It was an Urban Legend about the Crossroads—the devil. But Urban Legends are their own type of tradition. And it just so happened that on this Friday night, the Devil showed up.
Why wouldn’t he?
It was Friday the thirteenth in Salem Texas.
The grocery store was closed, as were the gas stations, convenience stores and restaurants. In the widows of these shuttered businesses, custom branded signs proclaimed they were “Dancing with the Devils,” a local custom that meant they were watching the local high school football team: The Salem High Blue Devils.
The mascot was occasionally the point of some contention—given the overwhelming prevalence of evangelical Christianity among the community but like so many examinations into hypocrisy among the self-assured, it was dismissed as “Tradition” and therefore neigh on infallible.
Tradition is a big deal in Texas. It’s a tradition rooted in Football, Faith and Family—in that order, most would agree.
At the center of the Pantheon of regional, high school football idolatry—the sun around which the whole town orbits—the messiah of scholastic athletics—QB 1: Wes Caulfield. He was a five-star recruit with over a dozen offers from D-1 colleges. Full-ride scholarships, of course.
The trouble with false idols? They can be destroyed.
“Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey!” Wes called out, his gravelly voice ringing even above the sound of the crowd. He was changing the play. “Weak Sluggo—Y-Banana, trey-whiskey—hut-hut!”
The hard count confirmed what he’d suspected when he called the audible. The safety took a step toward the line, playing the run—and with good reason. The original play had been an interior run—that safety’s presence in the middle of their line would blow up the run play like a bowling ball among pins.
He’d audibled to a pass.
“Hike!”
The linebacker’s crashed in, his offensive linemen grunted under the stress of pass blocking. With the ball up around his ear, Wes dropped back three steps, bouncing on the balls of his feet—practically floating. He gave a grand performance of the play action fake, slipping the ball deep into the running back’s grasp before tugging it out.
The Sluggo route—or “Slant and Go” came open right away, the safety cheating in and the corner biting on the run fake. Nothing but open grass ahead of Jacob, Wes’ favorite target, WR 1. But it wasn’t enough, another few seconds and Wes knew that he could get Jacob free from everything, a guaranteed touchdown.
Pump-fake.
He could feel the rush baring down on him, so he fired.
The throw was perfect, he knew it as soon as the ball left his hand, but he’d underestimated the rush. As soon as he looked up, he saw the crown of a defender’s helmet.
Then…
The deep, empty black of unconsciousness.
Was this it?
Was he dead?
Had he been destined to be a martyr all along?
*-*-*
It was Friday night in Salem Texas and you could hear a pin drop.
The stadium, packed with over twenty-thousand locals that could be loud enough to be heard in the next zip code. At the moment, though—there was hushed silence. Only the incremental wails of his distraught mother and his weeping girlfriend occasionally broke through the silence. Both teams were kneeling around Wes’ unconscious body as they loaded the backboard up onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.
His facemask had been removed with specialized tools and his helmet was still strapped under his chin as his head was securely strapped down to the rigid backboard.
The ambulance had driven all the way onto the field and a gentle roar of respectful applause went through the crowd—despite the fact that Wes was clearly still unconscious.
Once the ambulance was clear of the field, the game resumed.
*-*-*
It was Friday Night in Salem Texas and a cheerleader came to a crossroads.
She had come to beg for the life of her boyfriend who was in a coma, barely clinging to life. She’d been a church girl for her whole life, a devout believer, a youth minister—a pillar of her community. But now, in her time of most dire need, when she knew she couldn’t count on God or Christ, she came to beg the Devil for a favor.
It was an Urban Legend about the Crossroads—the devil. But Urban Legends are their own type of tradition. And it just so happened that on this Friday night, the Devil showed up.
Why wouldn’t he?
It was Friday the thirteenth in Salem Texas.