Chapter 3
“Rumor, let’s take our seats,” Brock says. “Harris, it was good seeing you.”
We sit back on the bleachers, and Brock gets out his phone.
“What did he mean?” I ask. “Is someone going to go beat up the Legion players?”
Brock doesn’t answer; his focus is on whatever’s on his phone.
“Uncle Brock?”
He glances at me. “What do you need?”
“What that guy said just now. About Legion players getting injured. Are they planning something?”
He laughs. “Of course not. He’s just joking.”
“What if they are? What if that guy knows something? Maybe Miles told him they’re going to do something.”
He eyes me. “Why are you so concerned about the Legion players?”
“I’m not. But I don’t want the guys on our team beating up another team just so we win. Or what if they got arrested and couldn’t play?”
“I think you’re worrying far too much about this. Harris was just making a joke. He didn’t mean anything by it.” Brock looks back at his phone and sighs.
“What’s wrong?”
“I haven’t heard back from an audition. I was supposed to hear something by today.”
“Is this for the show that shoots in Canada?”
“No, that one’s out. They cast someone younger. This was for the movie Morgan is doing.”
“She’s the star of it, right? Can’t she do something to make sure you get the role?”
“She could, but I doubt she will. She’d have to demand they give it to me and threaten to leave if they don’t. I can’t see her doing that, not when she’s working her way to the top. When she’s a bigger star, she can make those types of demands but she’s not there yet.”
“So you don’t get the role. You’ll get another one.”
“It’s not that easy. There aren’t many roles for men my age. And when there are, they cast men who are ten years younger. I’ve been going on auditions all summer and haven’t even been asked back.” His jaw tightens. “I can’t keep auditioning without getting a role. It’s going to ruin my reputation.”
“I’m sure something will come along soon,” I tell him.
My phone dings with a text from Trystan.
You’re seriously sitting with my dad?
I look across the field and see Trystan looking back at me as he walks with his friends toward the student section.
I didn’t want him to sit alone, I text back.
Yeah, right. You’re just sucking up after getting in trouble.
Trystan and his friends take the row a few up from the field. There are at least ten of them, and I see more following behind. It must be the whole soccer team.
“Is that Trystan?” Brock asks, his eyes on his phone.
“He just got here. How’d you see him? You didn’t even look up.”
“I meant on your phone. I assumed that’s who you were texting.” He looks up, scanning the bleachers. “Where is he?”
“Over there.” I nod in Trystan’s direction, not wanting to point when everyone’s watching. People have been staring at me since I got here. They probably think the principal forced me to sit here as punishment for hitting Kristen. “He’s behind the cheerleaders.”
Brock spots him, then does something on his phone and brings it to his ear.
“I want you home by midnight,” he says.
I watch as Trystan stands up, his phone to his ear, staring in our direction.
“I don’t care what your plans were,” Brock says.
“You spent all afternoon with them. And you’re with them now.
You don’t need to be with them all night.
” Brock leans forward, rubbing his eyes.
“I’m not arguing with you about this. I want you home by midnight or you lose the car.
” He listens. “You know why. Every year something happens after the first game. I’m not replacing another car because some stupid kids got out of control.
” He sits up, staring across the field at Trystan.
“Your brother has to go out. He’s part of the team.
” He straightens up even more, gripping his phone.
“Enough! You keep talking and the car is gone. As in sold. Or I’ll give it to Rumor.
Then she’ll be the one driving you around.
” He puts his phone down and shakes his head.
“Some days I wish I never had children.”
“Why? What’d he say?”
“That he hates me. Thinks I’m a terrible father.”
“That’s just something kids say. You can’t take it seriously.”
He turns to me. “Did you say that to your mother?”
“No. Never. But it was different for us. We were best friends.”
He sighs. “I’m sorry.”
I shrug. “Shit happens.”
“Rumor, I—”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I point to the field. “Look. The band’s here. The players will be out soon. You think Braden’s nervous?”
“He is, but he’ll hide it. That’s where his acting skills come in. He’d never act in a play or on TV, but he’ll act in real life. It’s why he’s successful. He knows when to play a role and when to be himself.”
“You mean he’s a good liar.”
“We all lie.” Brock smirks, his eyes on the field. “Some of us are just better at it than others.”
The band starts playing. They’re not very good, but it’s probably hard to get a good band together in such a small school.
“I heard Twisted Pine lost two of their best players,” I say casually.
“Two?” Brock asks. “I only know of one.”
“Which one? The guy who went to Legion?”
“Yes.” He looks at me. “The boy who lives down the street. Who was the other one?”
“The guy who died. They said he had a heart problem. I think his name was Jason.”
Brock nods. “That’s right. Braden and him didn’t get along.”
“They didn’t? Why?”
“Braden wanted to lead the team, but the coach picked Jason. Everyone said he was a better player, but Braden disagreed. He said if he’d been given more time on the field, he could prove it. And eventually he did.”
“Because Jason died. If he hadn’t, Braden wouldn’t be quarterback, right?”
“I suppose not, unless the other boy wasn’t playing well. But from what I heard, he was very good. Colleges were keeping their eye on him.”
“It’s strange he just died like that. At sixteen? That’s really young.”
“It was probably a condition he’d had since childhood, and it just wasn’t diagnosed.”
I pause. “Did they do an autopsy?”
Brock looks at me. “That’s rather morbid. Why are you asking?”
“I just wondered. I watch a lot of crime shows. Sometimes the killer makes it look like the victim died of a medical condition when they really didn’t.”
“You’re saying Jason was killed?” he says with a smile. “And what would be the motive?”
He thinks I’m kidding, which is good. I’m trying to be casual about this, like I’m just filling time before the game starts. I don’t want Brock thinking I’m in any way serious, even though I am.
“I didn’t know the guy so it’s hard to say what the motive would be. I guess maybe if someone wanted to make sure he never played football again.”
Brock laughs. “Oh, so now you think Braden killed him?”
“No!” I shove his arm like I’m just kidding around.
“I’m just doing like those crime shows do and coming up with ideas of why someone would want him dead.
In those shows, they’d have at least one of the football players be a suspect.
And then probably the guy’s girlfriend, and maybe someone from his past.”
“Have you considered writing for TV?” He smiles. “You might have a future in it.”
I look out at the field. “I was just trying to come up with something to talk about.” I pause. “So Jason and Braden weren’t friends. But Braden was friends with Jackson?”
Brock’s eyes are on me, but I keep mine on the field. “You’re good at remembering names. First Jason, then Jackson. Even I can’t remember them, and they both used to hang out at my house.”
“They did?” I turn to him. “So Jason used to be friends with Braden?”
“When he first started at Twisted Pine. But you know how it is at your age. You’re friends with someone one day and the next day you’re not.”
“Was it because of football? Is that why they weren’t friends anymore? Because Braden didn’t think Jason should be quarterback?”
“I’m sure that was part of it. I wasn’t around much back then. I was filming a TV show in Atlanta. Didn’t even air six episodes and they pulled it.”
He can’t stop talking about his acting career. He’s completely self-centered. All he wants to do is talk about himself. Most parents could talk for hours about their kids, but Brock can’t even talk about them for a few minutes before bringing the conversation back to himself.
“Maybe Jackson killed him,” I say in a joking tone.
Brock sighs. “Nobody killed Jason. He had a heart condition.”
“But if he didn’t, Jackson could be another suspect, right? I mean, if he’d stayed at Twisted Pine, he would’ve been competing with Jason to be the top player, unless he got rid of him.”
“Jackson isn’t a quarterback. He wouldn’t have seen Jason as competition. If anything, he would’ve wanted Jason there to help the team win. He would’ve picked him over Braden.”
“But Braden and Jackson were friends back then.”
“Yes, but Jason was better on the field. Jackson wants to win for the team. Braden wants to win for himself. There’s a difference.”
“I heard something else last week.” I pause, not sure if I should bring this up, but as long as we’re talking about murder, I might as well. “Something about Braden.”
“What now?” Brock asks, sounding exasperated. Braden must get in trouble a lot.
“It’s not anything recent. It happened last year, I think. Something about a girl falling over one of those plexiglass railings like you have at your house?”
Brock clears his throat. “The girl was drunk. She was being careless. The very idea that people would even think to accuse Braden sickens me.” He lowers his voice.
“Half of the people sitting behind us right now were bringing up Braden’s name after it happened.
And they wonder why I don’t participate in parent activities.
How would they feel if I accused their child of a violent crime? ”
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I was just saying what I heard.”
“Stop listening to it,” he says, his jaw clenched. “If they bring it up, just walk away.”