Jessie hesitated before saying, “Clay, I need you to forgive me too.”
“No, you don’t. I forgave you as soon as I heard Tanner was born and you were both doing well. I loved you then as much as I do now.”
“This is something different, Clay. I did something wrong.”
Clay was confused. He had told her to forget in the hospital. She couldn’t be remembering, could she? Clay had wondered occasionally if she would ever recall anything from that day, but she never brought it up, even though at times he sensed she felt some sort of lingering guilt. Clay certainly never intended to talk about it. He had told her that it wasn’t her fault and that she shouldn’t blame herself. Why was she bringing it up now after all these years? “I don’t understand,” Clay said.
Jessie took a deep breath and tried to control the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. Clay gave her time to compose herself. Finally Jessie said, “I was with another man.”
“I know.”
“How could you know?”
“Because I saw you.”
Jessie was shocked. “You followed me?” Jessie had seen no indication that Clay was suspicious of her relationship with John. He never seemed to notice anything. Why would he have been following her?
“No, I just happened to be driving by when I saw you get out of his car. He helped you to your car and then just drove away.”
Now Jessie was confused. “What are you talking about? When did you see that?”
“I was driving by—it was just pure coincidence—and I saw you get out of a man’s car. Then I saw him get out and help you to your own car. I pulled into a parking lot and watched him drive away. Then I followed you to the hospital.”
“To the hospital? I never went to the hospital!”
“Of course you went to the hospital.” How could she remember and not know that? “It was where Tanner was born. But you got there in time, Jessie. The doctors saved Tanner, and he’s all right. Not having more children wasn’t the end of the world. I forgave you because I loved you. I told you to forget. I used my mind powers and told you to forget, and that it wasn’t your fault. I didn’t want you living with the guilt your whole life. I thought that I took care of it. I’m sorry, Jessie.”
“Clay, I was with him yesterday. I never went to the hospital.”
Now it was Clay’s turn to be confused. They didn’t seem to be talking about the same thing. “I’m talking about the day Tanner was born, Jessie. You were with another man that day. I used to think about it a lot. You must have been with him when your water broke. You knew Tanner was breech, and you must have known something was wrong right away. But you didn’t rush to the hospital like you should have. You couldn’t do that because you were with him in his car. So instead of going to the hospital, he drove you back to your car, and then you had to drive to emergency from there. Who knows how long the delay was, but there was certainly a delay.”
Jessie was sitting with her mouth hanging open. She didn’t remember any of that happening. She was intending to tell Clay about John. She needed Clay to forgive her for what she had done yesterday afternoon. Clay had hidden things from her their whole marriage, but he claimed that he had always loved her and never manipulated her, except one time in the hospital. After she slept with John, though, and got a taste of his temper, she realized it was Clay who really loved her. She had wanted to confess to Clay, but what she was hearing now was incredible.
“I followed you to the hospital and turned into a lot to park the car. I guess you collapsed while I was parking and paramedics rushed you inside. When I finally got to the check in window, I heard someone say that they needed to call me. When they realized that I was there already, they sent me to labor and delivery. During that whole delay, they already had wheeled you into the operating room.”
Something was stirring in the back of Jessie’s mind. She had often somehow felt guilt in her life, but she had never understood the feeling. Was this why she felt that lingering guilt for so long?
“You’re telling me that I was with another man on the day that Tanner was born? I was having an affair?”
“I needed to know, so I did a little investigating, and yes, I found that you were having an affair while you were pregnant with Tanner.”
“And you told me to forget?”
“I told you to forget—that the delivery problems weren’t your fault.”
“So for all these years, you’ve known my guilt, and you’ve hidden it from me? I’m responsible for almost killing my son and for ruining our chance to have more children?”
“You can’t know that for sure. And I don’t care about the affair. I loved you enough to forgive you.” Jessie looked devastated, so Clay pleaded with her. “I’ve been hiding my secret and yours our whole marriage, Jessie, but it’s out now. I need you to forgive me for keeping both secrets. Please, Jessie, please.”
“I didn’t know you, and I didn’t even know myself all these years,” Jessie nearly whispered. She looked to be in shock. Tears began flowing down her cheeks again. Clay stepped forward to embrace her, but she backed away. “You knew these things, and you forgave me?” She seemed lost in a flood of questions, emotions, and newly found guilt, yet she didn’t know what to do or say, so she grabbed her things that she had already gathered for Tanner’s game, and she left the house and drove away.
Clay was left wondering what it was that Jessie had been talking about. Who was she with yesterday? Why did she need him to forgive her? What had she done wrong? Clay obviously had been suspicious of Jessie recently. Was she planning on telling him about John when he mixed everything up? Clay had told her the whole story before he figured out that she hadn’t remembered anything about the earlier affair; she had been intending to tell him about her most recent one. Now with Jessie gone, he could only hope that she would end up at Tanner’s game and he would get another chance to make things right. Whatever she had done, he knew he could forgive her again. He was more worried about whether she would ever forgive him.
CHAPTER 30
The game was the last scheduled basketball game before a long Christmas break. As part of their attempt to strengthen their schedule, the Kearsley Hornets were playing the Knights of Flint Southwestern Academy on the Knight’s home court. The Knights featured the Jones twins, two of the most heralded juniors in the state. Their names, Earvin and Gervin, were in honor of two of the NBA’s greatest players, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and George Gervin. Many believed that the brothers could be destined to follow their namesakes to the NBA. Both were high intensity players who talked a lot of smack and who weren’t above a hard foul or two, leading to an occasional technical foul call. Two things were certain, however. They played very well together, and they were extremely talented.
When Goodrich High School’s team played at Flint Southwestern just two weeks prior to the Kearsley contest, the car windows of three different cars had been smashed in the parking lot. In addition, in a non-league game a week and a half later against Saginaw Buena Vista, there were unconfirmed rumors of two separate fights. Because of the stories, there wasn’t as good of a crowd turnout for the visitors as usual, and the Hornet fans were outnumbered more than two to one. It was going to be an unusually difficult playing environment, and many college scouts, news writers, and bloggers were wondering how Tanner Thomas would respond.
Jessie and Clay arrived separately and sat separately, though they were able to keep an eye on each other, and Clay was keeping a close eye on his wife. Detective Hutchinson and Officer Janski were in attendance, and the city of Flint had a contingent of officers on hand at the game, as well. Jack Harding was seated alone in a far top corner of the visitor’s bleachers. Dr. Zander Frauss and an assistant coach for the University of Michigan basketball team snuck in just before tip-off and took a seat behind the Southwestern Academy team bench. Mark Simpson, looking a little sluggish, and his wife, Carlee, were also late arrivals to the game.
The game started with both the
Jones brothers guarding Tanner. The other three defenders were playing a 2-1 zone. The two Knight defenders at the top of the zone were shading Luke and Kevin closely, while the one player defending down low in the zone was paying close attention to Sprout Monroe. This odd defense generally left Mike Powell, the weakest offensive player, open. The Jones brothers were both trash talking from the opening tip. Defensively for the Hornets, they were playing a 3-2 zone because neither Luke nor Kevin was quick enough to cover either of the Jones brothers man-to-man. It was a raucous crowd, the Knight’s coach was intimidating, and the Southwestern players were quick and extremely aggressive.
The game started with a double team on Tanner, a hack across his wrists, no foul call, a turnover, and an easy basket for Gervin Jones. On the second possession against full-court pressure, Kevin Harding was swarmed, knocked to the floor, and another turnover resulted when no foul call was made. It was Earvin who converted the second basket. Coach Piggott was already screaming his head off and the game was only 30 seconds old. The pressure continued and each time the referees called a foul on Southwestern, the crowd went nuts, and the coach had a fit. It seemed like each time there was no foul call, often with a resulting turnover, Coach Piggott would blow a gasket. Intensity was high, and the Kearsley players were getting nearly assaulted. At the end of the first quarter, Flint Southwestern had an 18-6 lead, but they had already committed eight fouls and Kearsley was in the bonus and shooting free throws. Earvin and Gervin Jones both had two fouls, and Tanner had already made four free throws. The only basket came on an assist from Tanner to Mike Powell, who was left unguarded under the basket.
As the teams took the floor to begin the second quarter, a shoving match ensued between Luke Simms and a Knight player. Both were assessed technical fouls, but the foul was the Knight player’s third and the team’s ninth, so the Hornets would be shooting the double bonus for the remainder of the half. The player, one of the Knight’s quickest athletes, was forced to sit on the bench. Southwestern’s coach screamed at the referees, screamed at his player, and screamed at Coach Piggott. The intensity picked up another notch. On a drive to the basket, Tanner was violently knocked to the floor by Earvin Jones, who stood over Tanner and said, “Don’t you be bringin’ that weak ‘mess’ to my house!” (Except he didn’t say “mess”). Before the referee could “T” him up, Mike Powell gave Jones a shove, resulting in his own technical foul, but somehow in the melee that ensued, and after order was restored, Earvin Jones’s poor sportsmanship was overlooked, saving him from his fourth foul. Tanner made his two free throws, but Gervin Jones shot the two technical free throws at the other end, and he also made them both. When the Knights were given the ball out of bounds, Kearsley’s fans were screaming about the oversight, and Southwestern’s fans responded with even more vigor. Midway through the period, when a Knight player was called for an over-the-back foul on an offensive rebound, the Southwestern coach laid into the referees once again. He called a time out to chew out his players as well. Several of the police officers were talking nervously on the sidelines. It was beginning to look like things could get out of hand.
On the way to the bench, Tanner Thomas did a strange thing. He walked over to Southwestern’s head coach, coolly looked him in the eyes, and said very calmly and clearly, “Listen to me, Coach. You’re showing very bad sportsmanship. We have two good teams here, but the game’s getting outta control. You need to be a better example to your players and your fans. You need to be a leader and calm down.” Then he smiled a big smile, shook the coach’s hand, and walked to his bench for the remainder of the time out. There he told Coach Piggott to calm down as well. Both coaches smiled, talked calmly to their players, and sent them back onto the court.
Sprout made the first of two free throws coming out of the time-out, but when he missed the second, there was a tremendous fight for the ball, ending in a loose ball and a pile-up on the court. The pile-up was turning ugly when all of a sudden, Tanner, whose intensity had peaked to a new level, yelled, “Everyone, STOP!” And everyone stopped. “This craziness has to stop!” Even the crowd was quiet. “We have two good teams. We should be playing a good game. Let’s just play basketball!”
Southwestern’s coach walked to the floor, put his arm around Tanner Thomas, and spoke up very clearly. “This young man is right. This isn’t what high school sports is all about. It’s a game. We have a responsibility to show sportsmanship or we shouldn’t be playing. I apologize for my behavior. And I commend Tanner Thomas for speaking out.” He began to clap, and the fans in the stands followed suit.
The coach shook Tanner’s hand again, and returned to his bench. Clay turned to look at his wife, who had a dumbfounded look on her face. She looked at her husband, who mouthed the words, “His mind-powers are very strong.”
When the referees went to the scorer’s table to sort out the previous play, Earvin and Gervin Jones spoke to Tanner. “Let’s play some ball,” Earvin said with a smile.
“Let’s see what kind of player you really are,” Gervin said as he offered his hand to Tanner.
“Okay…let’s do it,” Tanner responded.
***
With the Jones twins both in foul trouble, they settled back into a traditional man-to-man defense, and the real game began. At half-time the score was 34-22. Tanner had made one basket and nine of ten free throws. In the second half, however, he exploded. Both teams played with a poise and intensity rarely seen in a high school game. The Knight’s coach encouraged and praised and patted his players on the back. Pete Piggott sat calmly on the bench. Fans cheered instead of complaining, and what a great game they were to witness. At the end of the third period, the score was 56-50. Fifty points were scored in the third period, but it was nothing compared to the fourth. Tanner lit it up for 18 third quarter points, while the Jones brothers were making one remarkable shot after another. Tanner had 29 points, while both Joneses had twenty-two.
There was rarely a possession in the fourth quarter that didn’t end in a score. Earvin Jones committed his fourth foul with seven minutes remaining in the game and sat on the bench for four minutes. In those four minutes, Tanner led his team to a two-point advantage. With three minutes to go, Earvin reentered the game and scored on a three-point play the first time he touched the ball, giving his team the lead back by one point. From there, each team scored on every possession, and heading into the last two possessions, the lead had changed hands 12 consecutive times.
With 11 seconds remaining and Kearsley down by one point, they took the ball out of bounds on their own offensive sideline. No one guarded Luke Simms as he took the ball out of bounds, and once again, both of the twins covered Tanner. Tanner was posted on the ball-side block on the right side, underneath his own basket. Kevin and Mike lined up on the wing opposite the ball. Sprout flashed to the ball and received a lob pass from Luke. When he stepped inbounds, Sprout immediately returned the pass to Luke, who drove baseline to his right, right in the direction of the spot that Tanner had vacated. Tanner cut across the lane in the opposite direction and received a screen first from Mike, then from Kevin, and then from Sprout, as he circled all the way around the court and back toward the side of Luke’s drive. A Knight defender was forced to stop Luke Simms. Luke pulled up about six feet from the basket and rose for a jump shot, but instead of shooting, he fired a hard right-handed pass to Tanner Thomas on the run. Quarterback passing to wide-receiver, just like in the football season. Tanner received the pass in stride and lofted an 18 foot jump shot that hit nothing but the bottom of the net. Kearsley had taken the lead again by one point. The Knights called their last time-out.
There were 3.8 seconds remaining and Flint Southwestern Academy had to go the length of the court to score. The only information Coach Piggott gave in the huddle was to play man-to-man and not to foul. Southwestern was in the penalty and would shoot free throws after any foul. There was almost complete silence in the gym as the Knights took the ball out of bounds. The inbounds passer hurled a
long, three-quarter-court pass down the court. Earvin Jones leapt high in the air, and without landing, passed the ball to his brother who was sprinting down the court past his twin. Gervin caught the pass from his brother, took two dribbles ahead, planted, and let fly a three-pointer from the far right corner with Tanner Thomas’s hand in his face. The shot hung in the air for what seemed like eternity, the silence in the crowd giving the moment an eerie, surreal feeling. The ball appeared to rotate in slow motion while everything else seemed motionless and silent. The clock wound down in super-slow speed as the ball continued to float toward the basket, banging off the back of the rim, and ricocheting down through the net. The Knights had won the game, 84-82. Sixty points had been scored in the fourth quarter and the lead had changed in each of the last 14 possessions. Gervin Jones had scored 34, Earvin Jones 30, and Tanner Thomas, a game and career-high, 47. He had scored 36 points in the second half alone.
After the game, the twins went to Tanner. “You’re one sweet ballplayer, I gotta tell ya,” Gervin said.
“Best I ever played against,” Earvin added, “includin’ my stupid brother here.” He was smiling like crazy. “You know I shoulda got that last shot, ’stead of you.”
“Coach had me shootin’ ’cause he knew youda never made it.”
“Shoot, man. He knew you couldn’ta jumped high enough to catch that pass. Had ta have me catchin’ that pass or we woulda never even got no shot off.”
“Great game, you guys,” Tanner said with a smile. “You played an awesome game.” They shook hands and walked off the court with the respect that only truly great players can have for each other.
As Tanner headed for the locker room, he heard Southwestern’s coach tell a newspaper reporter that Tanner Thomas should be given credit for the greatest game he’d ever been a part of. “It was Tanner Thomas,” he said, “who convinced two teams, two coaches, and a crowd of angry people that high school athletics is about sportsmanship and self-control. Not only is Tanner Thomas a great basketball player, but a great leader who should be commended.”
Loving the Rain Page 16
