End Zone by Tiki Barber

Author:Tiki Barber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books

CHAPTER NINE

THE CAPTAIN’S BURDEN

* * *

COOTIE HARRIS WAS THE STAR OF THE BIG PEP rally held that Saturday evening at the school gym. The Eagles’ mascot did flips, somersaults, and cartwheels, and led the bleacher creatures in Eagle cheers and songs.

Tiki and Ronde weren’t new to pep rallies. There’d been one last year too, on the way to their state championship. But to Tiki, the rally he liked best was the one after they’d brought home the trophy.

Rallies like this one, before they’d even won the league championship, could only jinx a team. If they went on and won, great, but it was what everyone expected. If they lost, though . . .

Tiki thought back to the mirror breaking over Thanksgiving. He knew it was supposed to mean bad luck. He also knew that was just a superstition. But where did superstitions come from, he wondered? How did they get started? There must have been a real case of bad luck, way back in the day, for people to start talking about it, right?

And the mirror hadn’t been the end of things either. Ronde’s lucky penny went missing the week after, and twice, Tiki’s path had been crossed by a black cat.

“Hey, Tiki . . .”

“Huh? What?” Tiki stared up into Cootie’s concerned face.

“You okay, dude?”

“Y-yeah. Why?”

“’Cause you look kind of spaced-out.”

“No, no, I’m okay, man. I’m fine. Fine!” He smiled and nodded to show that he was just as excited as the rest of them. Cootie, satisfied for the moment, turned away, back to the business of working up the crowd.

Soon, Tiki fell back into his own private thoughts. Manny had been knocked out of his quarterback spot for the last two games. They’d somehow managed to win without him. But just today, Manny had told them he was still on the disabled list—doctor’s orders.

So Hayden Brook was going to be the man again, for the third game in a row. Well, at least he has some big-game experience now, thought Tiki, looking over at Hayden.

The kid looked confident, all right. He was already being treated like a star by most of the kids in school—especially his fellow eighth graders. Three cute girls surrounded Hayden now—two of them cheerleaders. Hayden was beaming with pride.

Tiki suddenly had a sinking feeling—one he’d had before. Sure it was good to be confident—but Hayden looked way too confident.

North Side had a record of 11–1, and they’d done it all with their defense. The Rockets had a ferocious pass rush and good cover guys. Hayden would really be up against it this Wednesday.

Tiki thought of the broken mirror again. Was the bad luck Manny going down? If so, it hadn’t hurt the Eagles—yet.

• • •

Monday at lunch, the team’s tables in the corner of the cafeteria were mobbed with people. Hayden was holding court, telling everyone about certain plays in the Pulaski games—plays featuring heroics by him.

He wasn’t bragging, exactly, Tiki thought. He sounded humble, saying how scared he was when those big guys were coming at him—but still .

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