by I D Johnson
Peggy and Frank’s house was just as nice on the inside as it was on the outside. The living room was right inside the entryway. All the furniture was clean without a single hole anywhere to be seen. The floral print was lighter than the old, dirty couch at home, in shades of blue and white, and the reclining chair next to it looked like a great place to fall asleep listening to the radio.
Elliott walked around the corner, still holding Jimmy’s hand tightly and froze. There in front of them, on the floor, across from the couch, was a contraption he’d only heard about and never really seen with his own eyes. Until now. “Is that a….”
“Television set?” Frank finished. “It is. It’s brand new. We just got it a few months ago.”
“Wowee!” Jimmy exclaimed, letting go of Elliott’s hand and taking several steps toward it.
“Don’t touch it, honey,” Janette said.
Jimmy shook his head, as if to signal that he wouldn’t. He stared at the box for a long time, and Elliott couldn’t help but smile at the look of awe on his little brother’s face. From cockroaches to cheeseburgers to television sets. Maybe this day wouldn’t be so bad after all, even though he did think it was weird that Jordan wasn’t coming inside. There was something no one was telling them.
“Won’t you have a seat?” Peggy asked, offering a place on the couch. Elliott stepped over and grabbed Jimmy by the shoulder, pulling him away from the electrical box of wonders. He looked at the light colored sofa and then back at Peggy, who nodded that it was really okay for them to sit there, and Elliott sat down on the edge of it, afraid he might get it dirty with his old holey jeans. Jimmy sat down and scooted all the way back so his shoes were dangling off the end, the torn sole in the bottom of his right sneaker showing his sock. Even from here, his eyes didn’t wander far from the television.
Frank sat in the recliner, and Peggy perched on the arm while Janette took a seat on the other side of Jimmy. “We’ve been thinking about getting an additional sofa, a smaller one,” Peggy said apologetically, as if her house didn’t meet the brothers’ standards. No one said anything in return so she cleared her throat and said, “So… Jimmy, you’re in the first grade? Is that right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded, managing to look her way for a moment.
“He’s seven,” Elliott filled in for her. “And I’m twelve. I’m in sixth grade.” He almost started talking about his classes and his friends, but then he remembered he’d be going to a different school now. He ran a hand through his hair and tried not to think about that, especially not to think about Carla.
“Do you like school?” Frank asked. “Do you play any sports?”
“No, sir,” Elliott replied, and then realizing that might be misleading he said, “I mean, I do like school. Mostly. But I don’t play any sports. Yet. I was thinking about it, though.” He remembered Jordan’s comment that he should play football, and it sounded like a good idea to him. It might give him a chance to make some friends.
“And what about you, Jimmy? Do you like school?” Whenever Peggy looked at him, her smile broadened, as if he were the little boy she’d always wanted but never had.
“Yep,” he replied, running his tongue along his bottom lip and then staring back at the TV.
Elliott elbowed him, though not hard. “Say, ‘Yes, ma’am.’”
Jimmy groaned, more from the correction than the pain. “Yes, ma’am,” he snarled.
Peggy smiled awkwardly. “It’s okay,” she said. “We aren’t used to having children around, so we aren’t used to being called that.”
“You both have very good manners,” Frank remarked.
“So, uh, we were thinking… you could both have your own rooms, if you’d like. Or you could share if you’d rather.” Peggy offered a small smile, not sure what their reaction might be.
Elliott’s eyebrows shot up. “Our own rooms?” The thought of having his own personal space was more than he had dared to hope for.
“Can I have a television set in my room?” Jimmy asked.
All of the adults laughed as if he were the most adorable person ever to walk the face of the Earth. “I don’t think that would be a very good idea, but you could have a radio.”
“A radio?” Jimmy repeated, his face brightening. They didn’t even have a radio in their house anymore, not one that worked anyway.
“Me, too?” Elliott asked, excitement overtaking him.
“Sure. Now, Janette only called yesterday to tell us you were coming, and we don’t have a lot of clothing and toys or books for either of you yet, but now that you’re here, we could go into town tomorrow and see what we can find.”
“But tomorrow’s a school day,” Jimmy reminded them, and Elliott fought the urge to elbow him again.
“We know, but we thought you might spend the next couple of days here at the farm and then start school on Monday,” Frank explained.
“A four day weekend?” Elliott beamed. Things were getting better and better.
“Is that all right?” The cheering answered Peggy’s question pretty quickly.
“Well, then, why don’t we go upstairs and look at your new rooms?”
At Peggy’s suggestion, they all stood, but before they headed over to the stairwell, Janette said, “I think this is where I leave you, boys.”
“You’re not going to stay?” Jimmy asked, the excitement in his face falling away.
“No, I’m afraid not,” Janette replied, clasping her hands in front of her. “Jordan and I have to get back home. We have some work to take care of.” Her eyes flickered to Peggy, and there seemed to be another silent exchange there, before she was looking at Jimmy again, and then at Elliott.
As if their only lifeline against what could potentially be an awful decision was about to be cut off, Elliott and Jimmy looked at one another for a long while before Elliott decided it was okay. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt he could trust these people—all of them.
Saying, “Thank you for rescuing us from the hellhole that was our home for our entire lives and tearing us away from our horrific mother,” seemed out of line, so instead, Elliott said, “Thank you for the cheeseburgers, Ms. Janette.”
“And the ice cream,” Jimmy added.
“You’re quite welcome.” She smiled at them for a moment before stepping over and giving each of them a tight squeeze, messing up their hair, and then stepping toward the door.
Frank offered his hand. “Thank you, Janette.”
“You’re welcome. Call if you need anything.” She looked at Peggy, and the women nodded each other, another signal to Elliott that something wasn’t quite right, but he could hardly ask what was happening.
The sound of Janette’s footsteps echoed toward the door and Peggy repeated, “All right. Let’s head upstairs.”
Jimmy took off, but Elliott walked a little slower, still clutching the pillowcase. All of this seemed like a dream that was too good to be true, and even though he was happy for his little brother, he was pretty sure he was going to wake up soon enough. Things like this didn’t happen to kids like him. To Jimmy? Maybe. But the end of the day, all Elliott Sanderson deserved was a shitty mattress in a broken down home and a mother who thought he was trash. Accepting all of that was over now was the surest path to disappointment that ever existed.
Chapter 5
Norman, Oklahoma, 1955
The scent of leather mingled with the freshly torn up dirt as Elliott took a three point stance and waited patiently for his opportunity to pounce. The quarterback called for the ball, and Elliott immediately jumped up, shifting his weight as he slid between two offensive lineman, snaking his way to the ball handler with the precision of a much smaller, nimbler youth. Within seconds of the football touching his hand, the quarterback was sprawled on his back, number ninety smirking down at him. “Well, well, well, if we don’t meet again,” he laughed as the quarterback struggled to get out from underneath him.
One of his fellow defensive linemen offered him a hand, an
d Elliott returned to his position. The score was Norman 45, Newcastle 14 with just a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, and with every snap of the ball, Elliott was driving the other team closer and closer to the wrong end zone. He’d taken it easy on them earlier in the night, but now that he’d found his momentum, he wasn’t planning on letting up any time soon.
“Nice move, Sanderson,” his best friend, Reggie Pope, who played corner, said as they broke from the huddle. Reggie was one of the few black kids on their team, or in their town, for that matter, but that didn’t make any difference to anyone once Elliott had befriended him three years ago when he’d first moved here. Elliott had looked the other kids in the eyes and told them Reggie was cool, and they’d all believed it. Of course, he’d told them the same thing about himself.
With the next snap, Elliott took his time a bit, let the quarterback get set, and just as the football left his fingertips, he launched into the other boy, causing the ball to shoot up into the air. Reggie swooped in and snagged it before it hit the ground, running it back for another Tiger touchdown. When the clock ran out, Norman had won again--by a substantial margin.
“Nice job! Way to go!” Coach Little pounded each player on the back or smacked their backside as they made their way in from the field. The old man wasn’t used to winning. This was the first time in years the Tigers had managed a winning record. The tide had shifted when Coach had moved the sophomore linebacker up to varsity this year. He grabbed Elliott’s shoulder as he rushed by and pulled him over. “Way to hustle out there, Sanderson. I’m so impressed with you, young man!”
“Thank you, Coach,” Elliott replied, balancing his helmet on his leg as sweat dripped out of his hair down his face.
“You know, I think we’ve got a chance at a state championship this year, with you leading the defense.”
Elliott’s eyes widened, the idea very appealing. “It was a team effort,” he said humbly.
“Well, whatever you want to call it, I’m proud of you, son.”
Coach couldn’t have picked a more stirring word. “Thank you,” Elliott managed, trying not to think about the name Coach had used to describe him. He was no man’s son—even though Frank had done as much as possible to correct that in the last few years. At the end of the day, he was just the foster child of two people who’d been willing to take him in when his own mother wanted nothing to do with him.
He didn’t let that thought linger as Reggie pushed down on his shoulder, rocketing himself up into the air, a big smile on his face. But Elliott’s eyes were locked onto someone else. Over by the bleachers, she was waiting for him. He could see the edge of her cheerleading skirt sticking out from around the back of the aluminum structure, and when he rounded the corner, Nancy Farr took hold of his arm. “You played really well tonight, Elliott,” she said in that smoky voice of hers.
He looked down into batting blue eyes. “Thanks, doll. Hey, I’ll see you out at Lawson’s Point in a few, right?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” A smile started at the corner of her mouth and pulled its way across from one appled cheek to the other.
Elliott grinned back, but Reggie pulling on his arm got his feet moving again, and he continued on his way to the locker room.
A few steps away, Reggie whispered, “You really don’t want to have Cliff angry at you again, do you?”
“I give a rat’s behind what Cliff Humphrey thinks of me?” Elliott shot back, a little loud for Reggie’s taste as they were walking with the rest of the team toward the school, and several of Cliff’s friends were among them.
“Listen, I know you don’t care, but he is the quarterback.”
“You’re right,” Elliott nodded. “I don’t care. Nancy is my girl now, and if he doesn’t like it, he can kiss my ass.”
Reggie looked around, but Elliott kept his eyes straight and level. It hadn’t taken much for him to persuade Nancy to dump the senior letterman when he’d approached her at the homecoming dance just a few weeks ago. At first, he thought she might say he was too young for her since she was a senior like Cliff, and he was only a sophomore, but he’d cut in, asking her to dance anyway, and a few minutes later, he was pretty sure Nancy was his forever if he wanted her, and since she was the prettiest girl in Norman, there was no question, she was the one he needed to have on his arm.
“You giving me a ride?” Reggie called as they entered the building.
“When you getting’ your truck fixed?” Elliott asked, the sound of their cleats clicking against the waxed floor.
“I don’t know. My dad ain’t got money for the part.”
“You know I’ll give you a ride, but you need to get a job, man.”
Reggie made a noise in the back of his throat. “I ain’t got time for that.”
“Cause I got more time than you do? I work on a farm and at the car dealership,” Elliott reminded him. “And I still find time to practice football—and kick quarterbacks’ asses.”
Even as he spoke, a few of his teammates stopped by to congratulate him on the game, though most of them were defensive players. The majority of the offense stayed away from him as they were loyal to Cliff.
Elliott took his uniform off, grabbed what he needed, and headed off to the showers where lots of his teammates were already lathered up. He found and empty showerhead and followed suit, careful to get all of the grime out of his hair. Nancy loved to run her fingers through his long curls, and he didn’t want her getting any sweat on her hands.
Back at the lockers, Reggie still hadn’t let it go. “Man, you just walked into that dealership and asked him what it was going to take to put you in a Monterrey that day, and you walk out of there with a job and the keys to your own car?”
“In fairness, I walked in there with enough money to buy the car. I’ve been working on my dad’s farm since I was twelve, you know.”
“Must be nice to live with rich folks,” Reggie muttered. He had no idea what Elliott had escaped, though he did know that Frank and Peggy weren’t really his parents, even if he’d taken to calling them Mom and Dad after they asked him to a couple of years earlier. Jimmy, on the other hand, had started calling Peggy Mommy by the end of the first week after they moved in.
“Listen, Reggie, I work hard for what I have. All of it. And if you think you can get your shit in one sock and work hard, maybe I can talk to Mr. Anderson about getting you a job at the dealership, too.”
“You think?” Reggie asked.
“Sure. But like I said, it’s gotta be on the back of hard work. None of that, ‘I’m too tired,’ bullshit you pull when your ma asks you to help out around the house.’”
“Man, that’s just ‘cause I don’t want to do the dishes,” he protested. “All right, man. You get me a job at the dealership, and I’ll be your best friend for life.” He offered his hand, and Elliott took it, thinking he’d be his best friend for life anyway.
They cleaned up after themselves and grabbed the equipment that needed to go home with them, heading out the door when Elliott heard a stern voice behind him. “Hey, Sanderson!” Slowly, he turned around to see Cliff Humphrey staring at him, his brown eyes narrowed.
“Whatcha want now, Humphrey?” Elliott asked, smirking. “You gonna apologize for makin’ us spend so much time on the field? I mean, it’s okay. Everyone throws a pick every once in a while.” He chuckled, as did the few guys that were still hanging around the locker room, everyone but Humphrey.
“You going out to Lawson’s Point with my girl?” His arms were folded across his chest, his pecks straining against his black, sleeveless shirt, his biceps bulging. He was all lean muscle, but Elliott wasn’t frightened. He knew Cliff wouldn’t do anything to mess up his throwing arm since he was planning to play at OU next year. Or his face, which he thought was his ticket to replacing Nancy.
“Nah, I ain’t takin’ your girl anywhere,” Elliott replied with a shrug. Then moving a step closer, he added. “I’m takin’ my girl to Lawson’s Point.”
Cliff launched himself at Elliott, his fist in the air, but two of his friends grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back, reminding him that it wasn’t worth it. If coach caught them fighting in the locker room, he’d bench them, even if it did cost them state.
“You better be careful, Sanderson. You don’t know what you’re dealing with. I got friends, you know? Connections!”
Elliott stared at him for a moment, not sure what to make of the threat. The boy’s eyes were still narrow, and his skin seemed sallow. There was a flicker of something behind his eyes that made Elliott think perhaps he wasn’t bluffing. Would he try something tonight at Lawson’s Point? Surely, he wouldn’t send anyone after him when Nancy was out there and might get hurt. He really was all show; he probably told his friends to hold him back. “You can keep your empty threats to yourself, Humphrey. I ain’t scared of you or anyone you know.” He turned on his heel and headed for the door, Reggie next to him.
“Just remember,” Humphrey shouted as Elliott’s hand hit the door, “you’re getting my sloppy seconds. Hope you like your women all stretched out like a train tunnel, cause that’s what my dick did to your girl!”
Elliott spun around and closed the distance, his fists clenched, but Reggie yanked him back by his shoulders as Cliff’s friends did the same. “Don’t you dare talk about Nancy that way!” Elliott shouted. A few other boys came over and started pushing him toward the door, picking up the belongings he’d dropped in his rage and handing them to Reggie as they reminded him that Cliff was just trying to make him angry. Before he turned around, Elliott saw Cliff make a V with his finger and stick his tongue through it, waggling it around. Elliott wasn’t even sure what that meant, but he wanted to punch the guy in the face even harder now.
“Come on, man! He’s just trying to make you mad!” Reggie assured him once they were out in the hallway and the other team members had released him.
