Free Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte Page A

couldn’t quite run them off.
    The house was still empty when he got back. Pete andBrody had left messages on his cell phone. Just checking in. Four messages from Dad. He erased them without listening to them. A girl left her number. She said it was a new one. Could have been Sarah Ringe. He tried to remember what she looked like. There were three click offs from private numbers. He didn’t want to think who that could be.

TWELVE
    The Welcome Home rally seemed quieter than in past seasons, Matt thought, but maybe that was just in his mind. He stood with the Back Pack in the middle of the seniors on the platform in front of the grandstand. The rest of team was on the grass around them. Chris wasn’t there. Be surprised if he was, Matt thought. Mandy was up front with the cheerleaders. She made a show of turning her back on Matt.
    Brody caught the move. He elbowed Matt. “Jewelry. Worked for Kobe.”
    â€œThey were married.”
    â€œYou want to keep tapping that ass, right?”
    There were at least two hundred people in the stands. He spotted Dad, Mom, and Junie in the front row. A Rydek Catering van was parked nearby. They’d be handing out lemonade and cookies afterward. Goodfor business, Dad always said.
    Coach Mac welcomed the crowd, then turned the cordless mike over to Pastor Jim, the team chaplain. He was the youth minister at the Rydeks’ church. Matt had never liked him, another adult with all the answers. His lips brushing the mike, Pastor Jim asked God to give the Raiders the strength to get back up when they were knocked down, to forgive cheap shots, and to win clean. He closed his eyes and asked the crowd to beam special energy to the young warriors representing them.
    When Pastor Jim opened his eyes, he turned to the seniors. “Your last season here, be proud of your team, make your team proud of you. Be bigger than the game. Brody, next time you pass that pigskin, put a little extra spiral on it for the kids who look up to you.” Brody waved to the crowd. “And Matt, you and Pete and Tyrell run just a little faster for them. You know, if Jesus came back, he’d be a Raider, hitting hard and hitting clean, linebackers like Ramp and Curt and Donny and José. He’d be kicking the money changers the way Jay kicks the ball. All of us, and that certainly means you, Ted and Kevin and Troy and Reggie and Tariz and Marquis and Michael, we have to turn it up a notch in our daily lives, crank the amps for ourselves and for those who need us.” He signaled someone to hand up his guitar. “I’m going to ask some members of the Nearmont High School Select Chorus to join me now in the song ‘Climb With Me.’”
    Five kids came up on the platform behind Pastor Jim. Matt spotted Sarah Ringe immediately, as good-looking as he remembered. So I wasn’t that wasted, he thought. Pastor Jim strummed a few bars and they began to sing, voices strong and clear even up against the noise of cars moving in and out of the lot. A tall, fat boy he had seen in the football marching band sang the first solo; then Sarah’s high voice sent a shiver down his spine.
    Take my hand and we will lead
    Each other up the highest hill
    Trust the Lord and teach it
    Together we can reach it
    If you take my hand and climb with me.
    He sneaked a glance at the cheerleaders. Mandy was glaring at Sarah. Better do something before they team up. Barbecue my balls.
    Coach Mac took back the mike and introduced all the seniors again. Matt could hear Junie shouting when his name was called. The mayor came up and said something, and a few other town big shots, but their voices faded. Matt thought he saw Chris standing alone behind the wire fence in a far corner. He blinked sweat out of his eyes and Chris was gone. Had he ever been there?
    Pastor Jim ended the rally with a prayer for a successful, injury-free season. Matt felt numb. When it was over,he followed Pete off the platform,