David Morrell (ed) by Black Evening

Author:Black Evening
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

***

The rest of the season was brutal. We lost every game. Sitting with Rebecca on the sidelines, trying to show enthusiasm for the team, I felt terrible for Joey. You could see how depressed he was, not being a winner.

West High won the championship. Monday, the big news was that over the weekend somebody had smashed the glass in the trophy case and stolen Mumbo Jumbo. Nobody knew who had it, although all of us suspected Coach Hayes. He resigned that spring. I’m told he teaches now in upstate New York. I think about him often.

Joey’s grades were good enough that Yale accepted him on a scholarship. With my C’s, I won’t even tell you what college accepted me. I didn’t go anyhow. Rebecca got pregnant that summer. In those days, abortions weren’t easy to arrange. I’m not sure I’d have wanted her to have one anyhow. The child, a daughter, breaks my heart with love every time I look at her. Rebecca and I got married that Halloween. Both sets of parents were good about it. We couldn’t have made a go without their help.

We have three children now, two girls and a boy. It’s tough to pay the rent and feed and dress and give them everything we want to. Both Rebecca and I have jobs. She’s a secretary at our high school. I work at the chemical plant in town.

And Joey? You know him as Joseph “Footwork” Summers. He played receiver for Yale and was picked up by the NFL. You saw him play twice in the Superbowl. For sure, you saw him in plenty of beer commercials. The one where he beats up five motorcycle guys, then walks to the bar and demands a beer is famous.

“What kind?” the bartender asks. “What those guys were drinking?”

And Joey says, “That stuff’s for losers. When I say I want a beer, I mean the best.”

And you know what brand he means. The commercial got him into the movies. I saw DEAD HEAT last week and loved it. The action was great. His acting gets better and better.

But a part of me…

I’ll try to explain. Three years ago, Joey came back to town to see his folks. Imagine how surprised I was when he called me up. I mean he hadn’t exactly been keeping in touch. He asked me over to his parents’ house for a beer, he really drinks the brand he advertises, and while I was there, he took me up to his old bedroom. A lot of good memories. He gestured toward his battered dresser. I was so busy looking at him (hell, he’s a movie star, after all) that I didn’t know what he meant at first.

Then I really looked.

And there it was. In his open suitcase. Mumbo Jumbo. As ugly and shitty and creepy as ever. I felt spooked the way I’d used to.

And abruptly realized. “No. You don’t mean… You’re the one who stole it?”

He just grinned.

“But I thought it was Coach Hayes. I thought…”

He shook his head.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.