Snap Decision by Nathan Whitaker

Author:Nathan Whitaker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Published: 2014-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

Tripp didn’t come to school Monday. Chase hadn’t seen him on Sunday, either. Neither was a total surprise. He’d been by the house twice Sunday afternoon to check, and had spoken with Tripp’s mom and sister again. They said Tripp should be back to school soon.

It was making Chase’s stomach hurt, and he was glad that Coach Skalaski held short practices on Mondays. It was a day to watch film, catch up on schoolwork and science labs, and stretch out the soreness. He was glad JV was over.

As soon as he finished practice Monday afternoon, Chase’s mom drove him north up Highway 301 from Lincoln to Interstate 10 and east into Jacksonville. They didn’t talk much; she knew that the stuff with Tripp was weighing heavily on his mind, and there wasn’t much left to say.

His mom started to park her Toyota Tundra in a spot outside the stadium, when Chase pointed toward the entrance gate. “You can just drop me off,” he said. “I can get myself in, and you can head off to the mall.” Chase’s mom didn’t mind occasionally driving him to Jacksonville, as it gave her a chance to go over to the new St. John’s Town Place Center and its acres of outdoor shopping and nice stores, none of which could be found in Lincoln.

“You sure?” she asked.

“I’m sure, I’ve done this a million times.”

Chase walked through the short concrete poles and planters that ringed the stadium, the City of Jacksonville’s attempt to keep a truck bomb or anyone else with bad intentions away from Sunday afternoon football crowds. He touched the shoulder of the big obsidian sailor statue, which stood two feet taller than he, as he walked past.

A sailor from a Navy destroyer.

He buzzed at the gate, thankful that the weather was cooling and the concrete wasn’t hot anymore. He didn’t have to wait long. The guard, Tony, recognized him and buzzed him through the gate quickly.

“Coming for Mr. Stevens?”

Chase nodded and Tony walked him back through the maze of cubicles and offices in the Destroyers’ ticketing and public relations departments to the main hallway running underneath the stadium.

Shawn Stevens’ name was on the wall outside a small office on the other side of the hallway, tucked in next to the visitors’ locker room, a few steps away from the coaches’ offices. As Chase expected, Mr. Stevens was in his office watching film, but he was surprised to see that there was another man seated across his desk in the darkened office. Chase paused in the doorway.

“Come on in, Chase. Coach Douglas and I are watching last week’s game between the Carolina Tigers and the Atlanta Redhawks. We’ll be done in a few minutes, but you may as well watch with us now.”

Mr. Stevens explained, as he ran the game film back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. They were watching a running back that the Carolina Tigers had just released. “We liked this guy when he was coming out of Notre Dame, but the Tigers drafted him.

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