After showering and changing, Bucky approached the tall senior. “Litton and I are going to grab a soda over at McDonald’s,” he said. “And maybe some ice cream if Brayshaw doesn’t see us. You want to join us?” A quick grin. “My treat.”
Wilson shrugged, then flashed that big smile again. “Hey, I’m gonna like this town. Yeah, man, you’re on. Let me grab my toys here.” He picked up a huge tote bag and slung it easily over his shoulder. “Lead on, comrades.”
Over three tall sodas and a single dish of ice cream, the players compared notes. “Man, I still can’t believe you’re on our team now,” Dan said again, shaking his head. “When we lost Gorton last year, I figured that was it for Hampton. Straight into the cellar.”
“For sure.” Bucky finished the last of his drink and stuffed a napkin inside the cup. “This is going to be great.” He hesitated. “You like being called Wilson? Or Jonesy? Or what?”
The new player shook his head. “Don’t matter. Anything you like.” He cocked his head, thinking for a moment.
Bucky laughed. “What?”
Jonesy scrunched up his face and then decided to say it. “It’s just that I never thought I’d be playin’ with the two of you,” he said slowly. “The Jesus freaks.”
“What are you talking about?” Dan wanted to know.
“Come on.” The center snorted. “Whole district knows about you. Guys on the Tornadoes used to joke about it all the time. How you’d be losin’ at half time and then probably go off to some prayer meeting in the back and come back and score fifty points.” Suddenly he stopped. “‘Cept nobody was laughin’ after the finals. ‘Specially with what you did.” He jerked his head toward Bucky.
Bucky grinned. “What can I say? Guilty as charged.”
Dan leaned forward. “What do you think about, you know, God and stuff like that?”
Bucky looked up, startled. Dan had never shown any boldness when it came to sharing his faith.
But the basketball center didn’t seem to mind. “I don’t know. I’m not . . . like you guys or anything. But my folks and I go to church once in a while.” He finished his drink. “I guess it’s OK stuff.” Then he managed another little smile. “Didn’t hurt you guys none.”
As Bucky drove home that evening, his muscles still a bit tired from the first practice, he thought about what Jonesy had said. Had God brought another person into Bucky’s Hampton High circle of influence for a reason? He decided to add his new Panther teammate to his growing prayer list.
Saturday evening Bucky carefully prepared for his appointment with Lisa. “It’s not a date, it’s not a date, it’s not a date,” he muttered to himself even though he was getting dressed up as though it was. He had a strange sense of foreboding about the evening, not at all the kind of breathless rush he had once felt about his evenings with the slender girl.
“Good luck, honey.” Mom gave him an understanding hug. “I hope things go OK.”
“Yeah.” Managing a smile, he headed out to the driveway. It was a cold, almost damp evening, reminding him of his first date with Lisa back during their freshman year. Driving carefully with the dome light on, he tried to follow the directions she had given him over the telephone. At one point he turned the wrong direction and went nearly a mile before realizing his mistake. Muttering angrily to himself, he turned around, glancing at his watch. It was nearly 8:10 by the time he pulled into the strange driveway.
Although he had dreaded the possibility of meeting Mrs. Nichols again, as he turned off the engine he saw a movement at the window, and a moment later Lisa appeared. Before he had a chance to climb out of the car and open her door she was standing at the passenger side. Reaching over, he unlocked the door to let her in. “Sorry I’m late.”
She wiped away a stray raindrop that was slowly trickling down her face. “That’s all right. Weren’t my directions any good?”
“No, it was my fault.” Starting the car, he backed out of the driveway. “And I should have allowed more time.”
The conversation was muted as they drove into town where the biggest Pizza Hut was located. A disquieting sense that something had abruptly and forever slipped into the past began to overwhelm him. Gone were the days of shared hot fudge sundaes and giggling antics and getting a bubbly kiss after hitting a home run for the Panthers’ frosh team. Sitting next to him in the darkened Toyota, her shoulder belt outlining her more mature figure, Lisa was a whole new woman. And there was something else in her eyes – a kind of tired sadness that Bucky couldn’t understand.
“Here we are,” he said lightly as they pulled into the parking lot. Jiggling the steering wheel in comic fashion, he jockeyed his way into a parking spot. It was the kind of thing that used to make Lisa laugh – now she didn’t notice.
Pizza Hut was always crowded on Saturday nights in Hampton Beach, and tonight was especially lively. The Panthers’ football varsity team was undefeated so far this season, and the whole school seemed to be in a mood for nonstop celebration. Several team members waved to Bucky as he ordered pizza and drinks for the two of them.
In a corner booth away from the crowd, Bucky chewed thoughtfully as he studied Lisa. “You really look great,” he told her. “I like your hair long like that.”
She swallowed before answering. “Thanks.” Then a tiny smile, remembering. “I thought you always said before that you liked it short.”
He flushed. “Yeah, well, that too.” A pause. “I guess you’d look good no matter what you did.” Don’t push your luck!
They finished off the pizza without speaking further. Twice Bucky tried to start up with another question, but loud music videos on the restaurant’s big - screen TV made it hard to talk. He motioned toward the door. “You want anything else? Otherwise, let’s go.” She shook her head.
Outside he glanced up at the clouds slowly easing past a nearly full moon. The drizzles had left, leaving a slightly dampened parking lot. He led the way past the parked Toyota, and when Lisa didn’t protest, they walked down the street and turned right to where there was a small city park.
“I remember this place,” she said, her voice a bit brighter. “This is where you spilled that huge cherry Slurpee all over me. Remember?”
“Yeah.” He looked right at her. “I was just thinking about that.” He forced a grin. “I thought you were going to try to forgive me for that.”
They found a park bench that was mostly dry and sat down. Soft lights on a nearby post illuminated the area. Over in the far corner music from someone’s boom box filtered through the cool air.
“How’s your mom?” Bucky asked.
She shook her head slowly. “Not very good, I guess. I mean, last Wednesday the lawyers called again and things are for sure over.”
“Oh, man. That’s too bad.” Bucky chewed on his lip. “Were things . . . bad for a long time?”
Lisa nodded. “Yeah. Worse than I had thought. Mom told me some stuff last week that I hadn’t known was going on.”
“Oh.”
They talked about school for a few minutes – mostly Bucky asking and Lisa responding. It wasn’t an uncomfortable conversation like he’d had on the phone, but every exchange still had a strain to it. Both of them seemed to be feeling their way along a pitch - black hallway where they didn’t know what jagged objects might be lying in wait on the floor.
Finally Bucky simply edged a bit closer to her and asked straight out, “Does all this feel as . . . weird for you as it does for me?” There. He’d asked her. The question hung in the air.
She thought for a moment, then began to shake her head. “No,” she said. “It’s not weird. Things are just different, that’s all.” Pulling one leg up onto the bench, she rested her chin on her knee as she looked right into the eyes of her former boyfriend. “Bucky, I just have to tell you flat out. Things aren’t like they were before for us. I’m sorry.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, genuinely puzzled.
“They just aren’t.” Even in the dark he co
uld see moisture in her eyes. “Trust me. It’s better for you if you just move on to someone else.”
“How come?” He took a deep breath. At least they were talking openly now. “I mean, because of Steve?”
A car drove by just then, its tires squealing as it went around the corner. She glanced over at it and then turned back to look at Bucky. “Well . . . yeah. Steve. Me. Things are just different. A lot.”
He tried to force a grin. “But he’s up in Seattle. That’s a long way off, you know. I’m right here just four inches away from you.”
The little joke didn’t work. Lisa wasn’t mad, he could tell, but something in her face tightened, almost in pain. She sighed, almost a whisper, then put a hand on his arm. The touch made him quiver.
“Bucky, listen to me,” she said. “Steve and I are . . . involved. I mean, really. Figure it out.” Slowly she climbed to her feet. “I’m not the little girl you dated back in ninth grade.”
It was almost 11:30 by the time he pulled into the driveway back on Woodman Avenue. The evening had ended badly, he thought. Conversation in the car back to Lisa’s place had been nonexistent, with Lisa gazing silently out her side of the window, deep in thought. And the goodbye had been abrupt, a short “thanks for the pizza” kind of thing.
Mom and Dad were still up in the living room, watching the final credits roll on an old black - and - white film. “How’d it go, champ?” Dad wanted to know.
Bucky hesitated. “Bad.” He stood in the doorway for just a moment, staring at the television set, then went into the hallway to hang up his coat. Mom got up from the sofa and came out to where he stood. “What happened?”
He turned to face her. “Oh . . . nothing. It’s just that, well, she said there’s no way she and I are ever going to get together again.”
“And you were kind of hoping you could.”
He nodded. “Well, yeah.” All sorts of frustrating thoughts began to well up inside him. Sure, there had been other girls since Lisa. Tracy, for instance, was every bit as pretty as Lisa, a walking genius and fun to be with. And a date with Deirdre made a guy the envy of everybody at Hampton High. But somehow with Lisa there’d also been a spiritual side, an openness to Christianity. All of a sudden, that seemed to be gone too.
It was hard to explain to Mom that something about Lisa was more exciting, more intriguing. Maybe it was simply the fact that he couldn’t have her, but the senior girl’s air of quiet distance had a certain adultness that he couldn’t cope with.
“Well, I’m sorry, honey.” Mom awkwardly hugged him good night. “Give things some time. You never know.”
“Yeah.” Deep in his heart, though, Bucky sensed a certain finality to the three - year relationship. The way Lisa had looked at him and said, “Steve and I are involved” – he didn’t know what to make of that. Actually, in his heart he was pretty sure what it did mean, and something tore at him every time he considered it.
Maybe it would be easier, he thought to himself as he sat on the edge of the bed, to accept the end. Put Lisa out of his mind – he didn’t seem to run into her very often in the hallways of Hampton High anyway – and simply get through this senior year. Next year up at Pacific College with Dan and Sam, there’d be a thousand new girls to meet, all of them born - again Christians.
Still, it was hard to let go. With a grunt, he pulled off his socks and murmured a short prayer before climbing into bed.
Chapter Five: A Fleabag Hotel in Paradise
The new basketball season started with a bang for the Panthers. Even though Bill Volker was out of action, the Hampton Beach varsity squad notched two quick victories. Jonesy Wilson was just too good, and with both Dan and Bucky adding their own shot - making firepower, the opposing teams had to double - team “The Big Three,” as Big Max dubbed them. This left guards like Brandon and quick - dribbling Chili Rodriguez wide open closer to the hoop where even they could drop easy baskets.
“Man, can you imagine when we get Volker back?” Dan grinned, mopping the sweat from his forehead after the second fifteen-point win. The sullen home crowd booed as they exited from the playing floor. Dan ducked as a student from the Killer Bees’ cheering section playfully tossed a wadded-up piece of paper at him. “Told you we’d sit on you turkeys!” he crowed.
Bucky laughed, but quickly sobered. “Just remember, though, we still don’t know that we’re going to be able to play with Bill. That guy can’t stand you and me.”
Dan nodded, peeling off his jersey. “Yeah. But I think he will. He’s too good a player to skip his whole last year just because he hates our guts.”
The third game on the schedule pitted the elite Hampton Beach against their archrivals, the Tornadoes. Still angry over losing their star player to the Panthers, Walnut Creek’s squad was invading the Panthers’ home court, bloodthirsty for revenge. A number of local sportswriters from around the Bay Area showed up to cover the hotly contested varsity contest.
But by halftime the home team was up by a whopping seventeen points. The new center for Walnut Creek was hardly any bigger than Bucky, and Jonesy handled him easily on defense, holding his opposite number to a meager six points. By the time the final buzzer ended Panthers had piled up a safety margin of twenty-two points, with The Big Three resting comfortably on the bench for the last six minutes.
“Looks like that rivalry has gone down the tubes,” one of the subs snickered as the Panthers breezed back into their locker rooms
“Don’t get too excited yet,” Bucky warned. “There’s still a lot of basketball to play.”
Indeed, as November wore on, the varsity Panthers did “come back to earth” as high school squads throughout the district geared up to beat the champions. Despite the furious play of Brayshaw’s troops and Bucky’s brilliant assists to Jonesy, several close contests went against them.
“This still looks like a dynasty town,” wrote Big Max in his sports column, “but the varsity basketball squad badly needs a top - quality shooting guard. It remains to be seen whether or not the suspended Bill Volker is the missing puzzle piece.” When the Thanksgiving break arrived, the Panthers were just a decent 5-3. With a longer sixteen-game schedule to play, that meant Volker could rejoin the team starting in December.
Bucky spent a quiet holiday weekend with his parents and Rachel Marie. The Saturday night with Lisa seemed to be just a faded memory now. During the past couple of months he hadn’t seen her in the hallways at school more than half a dozen times. She would flash him a quiet half - smile and then quickly disappear around the corner, like an interrupted dream.
After lunch that Saturday he and Dan and Sam drove over to Lake Berryessa for the afternoon. It was a cold November day with just one or two boats out on the choppy water. They hiked lazily along the shoreline as Sam described the intense pre-med academic schedule of a college freshman.
“But it’s great,” he told the other two. “I’d take it over high school in a second.”
“Man, all you do is study, though,” Bucky observed.
Dan gave a short, almost bitter laugh. “Yeah, what’s different about that? I’m beatin’ my brains out just to finish high school.”
“Yeah, but it’s a lot better in college,” Sam told him. “There you’re taking stuff that you need for your career and all. That makes it more interesting. Plus the church up there is awesome beyond description.”
The following Monday at basketball practice Coach Brayshaw called the team together before the workout began. “You guys all know that Bill’s back,” he said, motioning to the wiry little player. “And what went on last year.”
Bucky glanced over at Bill, whose face was impassive. “Anyway, that’s in the past,” Coach said. “Bill messed up, and he’s the first to say so. But he sat out his games, and we’re going to go right from here and get some wins. Forgive and forget and all of that.” He turned to the newly returned guard. “Anything you want to add, Volker?”
Bill shook his head silently. “OK, then. Let’s get in
some work.”
The long layoff had apparently not affected Volker’s shooting skills. During practice Bill dropped in twenty-footers, and alertly snagged Bucky’s lightning - quick assists.
“Nice shot!” Bucky commented, offering a high - five after yet another long bomb barely rippled the net. He was determined to get back on the good side of his former adversary.
After Coach signaled “Enough!” Bucky went over to where Bill was peeling off his drenched uniform. “Listen, Volker,” he began, “I just wanted to tell you . . . we’re really glad you’re back, man.”
The guard looked at him without answering. “I’m glad things worked out for you to play again,” Bucky added. “We’ve missed you a lot.”
The other athlete gave an awkward little shrug. “Thanks.”
Bucky jerked his head toward the other side of the room where Dan was sitting. “You want to go for a pizza with Litton and me?” he asked. “Seems like maybe we owe you one from last year.”
A strange look crossed the guard’s face as he remembered the unpleasant pizza parlor argument from the prior season. He hesitated, then nodded slightly. “Sure. I guess.” Out of the corner of his eye Bucky could see Dan shaking his head in disbelief.
The large cheese - and - olive pizza had arrived before Bucky really leaned over the table to make his big pitch. “Look, man,” he began, “I just wanted to tell you again that as far as Litton and I are concerned, last year never happened. I mean, at all. You had a mess-up . . . and maybe the two of us, Litton and me, didn’t handle things that well either. But we still got a shot at stringing together some W’s and going back - to - back as winners.”
“Plus Hawaii,” Dan put in.
“That’s right,” Bucky confirmed. “So I just wanted to say that we really want to, you know, get along with you and do all we can to have a great second half.”
Bucky Stone: The Complete Adventure (Volumes 1-10) Page 85
