“You’re sure about this,” his mom said.
“Mom,” he said. “I have to do something. It’s like a game I can’t sit out. Her dad losing his job and the insurance just clinched it. They’re barely going to be able to send Abby to Perkins. And besides, we’re going to be fine now. I mean money-wise. Aren’t we?”
She was smiling again. “We’re going to be fine. How could we not be?”
Nate said, “You’re the one who’s always telling me that the most valuable thing in the world is a random act of kindness, right?”
“Yeah, kiddo. I am.”
“Well, now we know how valuable one of those acts can be.”
“A million bucks,” Sue Brodie said.
“Or as much of it as Abby needs.”
His mom was staring again. After all the noise of the night before, the house seemed amazingly quiet right now. Finally she patted her heart twice and reached over so Nate could pound her some fist.
“Well, then,” she said. “I guess it’s pretty much like your father said last night, right before we walked onto the field.”
“What was that?” Nate said.
“Let’s do this,” she said.
CHAPTER 34
I
t was just a matter of time now, even with hardly any time left on the clock.
No need for Nate to look over to the sidelines. He already knew what the next play was and, if they didn’t score, the play after that.
Nineteen seconds left, first down for Valley from the 42-yard line, down by four points.
That close to the championship. And that far.
He thought of Tom Brady on the field at Gillette, telling him how nobody thought he could do it in that first Super Bowl, when he was the same as a raw rookie.
Maybe people thought that about me this season, Nate thought.
But now he had taken
his
team down the field, and they were this close to pulling it off. Winning the title with a freshman quarterback.
One year and four days since he’d made the million-dollar throw at Gillette. One year exactly since they’d beaten Blair in the eighth-grade championship game.
Time really did fly.
Just not now.
Nate, Malcolm, Pete, LaDell, and the four other freshmen starting for varsity this season would be the youngest Valley team to ever win the league. But only if they could put the ball in the end zone.
Nate did all the talking in the huddle, as usual, even surrounded by so many upperclassmen. Told them the snap count, told Pete not to turn too soon on the Hutchins-and-Go, just to trust it, trust that when he finally turned around, the ball was going to be there.
Nate called the signals from out of the shotgun. He knew Dennison would be coming on the blitz, and they were. But LaDell picked up the outside linebacker. Malcolm seemed to clear out everybody else. Nate had time in the pocket as he watched it all develop, football making as much sense to him as it ever did.
The way his world did now.
As soon as Pete had an inside step on the cornerback, Nate pump-faked the sideline route. The cornerback bit, hard, then was caught flat-footed as Pete spun and sailed down the sideline.
The ball was already on its way.
Pete cradled it in his hands at the fifteen-yard line and sprinted the final steps into the end zone.
The touchdown that gave the Valley Patriots the championship of the Berkshire League. But that wasn’t even the best part for Nate, even if he had to admit it was pretty darn good.
The best part was that it wouldn’t be Nate’s last pass of the day.
Because he’d promised. And you never made a promise, even with your heart, that you couldn’t keep.
So after the celebration with his teammates, and after the trophy presentation, after they’d finally cleared the field of players and family and friends, Nate went and collected the game ball from Pete, who hadn’t given it up since he’d scored the winning touchdown, and asked if he could borrow it.
Pete handed it over.
Then Nate turned to Abby and said, “Okay, go long.”
She was bouncing up and down on her toes, clapping her hands, like the happy kid that she was.
“Got it,” she said.
“And remember,” Nate said, “
look
the ball all the way into your hands so I don’t hit you in the head.”
“Not happening,” she said. “Not anymore, Brady. Got me the best eyes money can buy now.”
She took off down the field then, running on her long legs, long hair flying,
Abby
flying. Nate let the ball go, watched as she ran under it, watched it settle into her hands, watched Abby press it to her chest and keep running, Nate knowing she wasn’t stopping until she got to the end zone.
He ran after her then, ran down the open field, knowing nothing could stop either one of them, feeling as if both of them could see forever.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Lupica, over the span of his successful career as a sports columnist, has proven that he can write for sports fans of all ages and stripes. And as the author of multiple hit books for young readers, including Heat, Travel Team, Summer Ball, and The Big Field, Mr. Lupica has carved out a niche as the sporting world’s finest storyteller.
Mr. Lupica, whose column for New York’s Daily News is syndicated nationally, lives in Connecticut with his wife and their four children. He can be seen weekly on ESPN’s The Sports Reporters.