by Bob Blanton
He then hopscotched through some small towns before he could make out the glow of San Antonio. From there, Houston’s city glow was easy to pick out. Now he just had to navigate the streets to the headquarters building of Consolidated Semiconductor. He spent time wandering around the area, getting a strong feel for it so he could return without all the weigh stations. He made a quick test, turning his virtual camera off, and then bringing it back up inside the boardroom. “YES!” It was after 10:00 p.m.; Matthew was surprised his mother wasn’t already knocking on his door to tell him he was up too late. He turned off the lights and turned in for the night; he was ready for the Friday board meeting.
. . .
At school on Friday, he followed the new pattern of sitting in the back of the class so he could avoid attention while he was checking out Consolidated’s board meeting. The meeting started out with a discussion of the four potential buy-out candidates. The analyst had picked it right; they weren’t considering anyone else. After a report on the condition of the four candidates, the board quickly eliminated ATDC due to the weak financial position of the company. The fact that their main new project was rumored to be way behind schedule played a big part in it. The private investigator hired by the board’s financial council confirmed that the project was in trouble. He added that there were strong rumblings that the entire effort was misguided and would probably fail. The board also eliminated ITIC due to the sudden rise in the company stock price and the concern that there was just too much overlap in their technologies and assets. They felt that although they might be able to make their money back by selling off the duplicate assets, they would be better served buying a company, which complemented Consolidated more. They decided to focus their attention on AMMC and SSTC, and authorized the CEO to open discussions with them about a possible merger or buy out. They would meet again the second Friday in October to review progress. The rest of the meeting talked about their expansion plans for fiber networks in China.
That night Matthew split his money sixty percent in SSTC options, since they were thinking they were a good fit with Consolidated and forty percent in AMMC options. He also closed out all his puts except for ATDC. If the investigator had figured out that they were in trouble, it wouldn’t be long before it became public knowledge. “Man, this is too easy.” As he went to bed Matthew thought that after a few years like this he’d be as rich as the Winthrops.
The Football Game
The next week, Matthew continued to try and track the activities of the various boards while he was in class.
“Matthew, can you explain the difference between mercantilism and capitalism?” Mrs. Jefferies asked. She had noticed Matthew zoned out in the back of the class for the last few days. Now she was putting him on the spot.
Matthew was totally caught off guard. He quickly sat up straight and tried to figure out the question Mrs. Jefferies had asked. He hadn’t heard a word. He looked around. Jason was trying to help him out. He was drawing a triangle with his hand and mouthing the word capitalism.
“The delta between capitalism and what?” Matthew stalled, hoping Mrs. Jefferies would repeat the question.
“Mercantilism. Explain the difference between mercantilism and capitalism,” Mrs. Jefferies said. “We’ve talked about it for two days now.”
“I know. I just wanted to make sure you wanted me to contrast the two.”
“Well…”
“Mercantilism relied on government action and was focused on exports as the major means of generating wealth,” Matthew said. “In contrast, capitalism is based on broader economic activity, both internal and external forms of trade.” He was glad that he’d read the assignments even if he hadn’t been paying attention in class. “Do you want me to go on?”
“No, that’s enough,” Mrs. Jefferies said.
Matthew gave a silent sigh of relief; he was happy he was getting off so light.
After class, Emily grabbed him. “Matt, what’s going on? I knew she was going to try and nail you. I tried to get your attention, but it was like you weren’t even there.”
“I’m just a little preoccupied, that’s all. Thanks for trying to warn me.”
“No problem. You’re lucky you knew the answer, or she’d have really nailed you.”
“Yeah, I’m glad she asked about something in the book. I always stay ahead on the reading.”
Jason walked by. “Way to go, sport. Are you trying to make the rest of us look good or what?”
“No, I just zoned out that’s all.”
“Hey, you guys want to go to the game Thursday?” Jason asked. “It should be a great one.”
“You think so?”
“Sure, the Trojans are still mad we beat them last year to take the conference. They’ll be going for blood.”
“Come on, Matt, it’ll be fun,” Emily said.
“Sure, I’m there. You want to meet at the stadium or what?”
“I’m bringing Alex,” Jason said looking at Emily to see if she would pick Matthew up.
“I’ll give you a ride, Matt,” Emily said. “Why don’t I pick you up at 7:00, the game starts at 7:30.”
“That’d be great.”
Mrs. Jefferies walked up. “Matthew, I’d like a word with you,” she said.
“Well, we’ll be off,” Jason said as he and Emily beat a path down the hall.
“I’m sorry about not paying attention in class, Mrs. Jefferies.”
“I should have known you would have read the material. I wish I had asked you a question not covered in the book.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
“This is not like you, Matthew. You’ve been sitting in the back not paying attention to the lecture for a week now.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve just been preoccupied, that’s all. I’ll get my act together, I promise.”
“Okay. I expect you to pay attention and participate in class from now on. I’ll be checking.”
“Sure thing.”
“Now go on to lunch.”
“Thanks.”
Matthew realized that he’d better find a better way to keep up with the company activities. He would have to focus on the board meetings instead of trying to catch all the other activities. He would lose a little edge in making his trades, but otherwise it would take too much of his time to keep up. This was turning into more work than he thought it would. There was so much information exchanged at the meetings, most of it was boring stuff, but you had to sift through all of it to get the few pearls.
At lunch Matthew was looking for Jason when Tyler walked up. “Hey Matt, I heard you were taking a nap in Political Science today. What’s the matter, staying up late surfing the web?”
“None of your business, Tyler; don’t you have better things to do than check up on me?”
“Sure I do. But it’s just so unusual to hear you slacking off; I wanted to make sure the star of our math team was okay.”
“I’m fine.” Matthew hoped Tyler would just let it drop. He’d managed to avoid him since the trip to France, but he could just see the old pattern starting up.
“What did you bring for lunch?” Tyler grabbed Matthew’s lunch bag.
“Give that back,” Matthew hollered at him.
“Let’s see. Looks like a PB and J sandwich, a fruit bar, I’ll keep that, you’re looking a little fat lately.”
“Give it back, Tyler!”
“Or what? You’re going to hit me with an integral?” Tyler laughed at his own joke.
“Just give it back!”
“Just a minute. An apple, some V8, here you go.” Tyler put the V8 and the fruit bar in his pocket and handed Matthew his lunch bag back.
“I hope the Trojans stomp you into the dirt.”
Tyler turned back to him, his eyes blazing with anger. “That’s the problem with you,” he hissed. “You’ve got no school pride. You may not like me, but this is your school, and rooting for the other team is bull.” Tyler smacked Matthew on the shoulder and stormed of
f.
“Jerk!” Matthew looked around to see how many of his classmates saw his encounter with Tyler, but it was just a few of the guys from the football team backing Tyler up. Matthew was glad Emily wasn’t around to see his humiliation. “One day I’m going to just unload on that guy.”
. . .
Emily picked Matthew up for the game on Thursday night. “Good, you brought a jacket,” she said as Matthew got into her car. “It always gets cold at night.”
“I know.”
It only took them ten minutes to get to San Dieguito High. The PCA Cougars played their home games at San Dieguito’s football stadium since they only had a practice field. The schools were practically neighbors, but San Dieguito was five times the size of PCA. It was a good deal; they just had to hold their home games on Thursdays instead of the usual Friday nights. The school actually liked it that way; there was always less trouble with a Thursday game versus a Friday game.
They pulled into the parking lot just behind Jason. He was driving his father’s Mercedes instead of his own Lexus. As he got out, it was obvious why; he had brought Brianna as well as Alex. “Hey, great timing.”
“It’s like we planned it,” Emily said. “Hi Brea, I didn’t know you were coming.”
“No way would I miss this game. This will be a real grudge match.”
“I hope we really kick some Trojan butt,” Emily said. “Tyler had a great game last week so we’re on a roll.”
“He sure did,” Brianna said. “Three touchdown passes and he rushed for one.”
“Hopefully he’ll be able to keep it up,” Emily said. “We want to repeat as conference champs.”
“I hope we take state this year.”
“Hey, we’d better head in before the game starts.” Matthew didn’t like hearing his friends talk about Tyler.
“All right,” Jason said. “Do you want some popcorn or something?”
“Popcorn would be fabulous,” Alex said, “And a Diet Sprite.”
“Matt, why don’t you help me get the snacks while they find the seats?”
“Okay. Does anyone want something else?”
“A Coke for me,” Brianna said, “and a pretzel.”
“I’ll take a regular Sprite,” Emily said. “I’ll share your popcorn, if that’s okay.”
“No problem,” Matthew said as he and Jason got in line at the concession stand.
“I heard about Tyler rousting you at lunch the other day,” Jason said.
“I’ll bet the whole school has heard. I should just kick his butt and get it over.”
“You can’t lose your scholarship. Everyone knows he’s just being a jerk, so don’t sweat it.”
“That’s easy for you to say. He’s not making a fool out of you.”
“And he’s not making a fool out of you either. Just don’t lose your cool and he’ll be the only one that looks like a fool.”
They bought their snacks and went to find the girls. The girls had arranged the seating so that Matthew had to sit between Brianna and Emily. Emily was next to Alex with a seat for Jason next. Jason smiled at Matthew, “Can’t blame her for trying,” he chuckled.
Matthew just rolled his eyes and sat down. The captains were on the field for the coin toss. The Cougars won the toss and elected to receive the ball.
“Great, if we can score first, we’ll get them thinking,” Brianna said.
The kickoff was deep to about the 5-yard line. The Cougar receiver caught it and headed up field. He was able to follow blockers until the 30-yard line when he made a dash into the open field. It looked like he was going to take it all the way when he was cut off by one of the Trojans at the 50.
“All right, it should be a piece of cake to score from here,” Brianna yelled.
Everyone in the stands cheered as Tyler led the offense onto the field; that is everyone except Matthew. The first play was a play-action pass. The linebacker, number 55, didn’t even look at the running back; he plowed right into Tyler with a ferocious hit, tackling him for a six-yard loss. “Ohhh,” everyone in the stands felt the hit.
Tyler got up and shook himself off, walking back to the huddle as if nothing had happened. The next play was a sweep to the left. Tyler handed the ball to the halfback then faded back like he was going to pass. Number 55 was there to greet the halfback at the line of scrimmage. The Cougar halfback was able to dance around 55 but the Trojan safety was right behind him. They only made two yards on the play.
“This isn’t going too well.”
The next play was a pass. The Cougar receiver ran a fade route down the field. The corner and safety were on him the whole way. Tyler had to throw the ball away to avoid a sack.
“Oh man, now we have to punt,” Emily said.
“That was pathetic,” Jason said. “We start out at the 50 and move back four yards and punt.”
“Tyler’s not looking so good.” Matthew tried to contain his pleasure at seeing Tyler suffer.
The Cougar punter put the ball out at the Trojan 10-yard line. The Trojans ran three plays and only moved the ball to the 19. They set up to punt the ball. Their kicker nailed a line drive punt, which chased the Cougar punt returner back to his own 40-yard line. But he out-kicked his coverage, and the Cougars were able to return the ball to the Trojan 45-yard line.
“All right, now we’re cooking,” Brianna shouted as everyone in the stands cheered.
Tyler led the offense back onto the field. Setting up for the first play, he dropped back for a pass. The Trojan linebackers blitzed, sacking Tyler for an eight-yard loss. Tyler got up, shook himself off and called the huddle. One of the wide receivers ran in with the play. The teams lined up and Tyler took the snap. He faded back for a pass, then pulled the ball down and started up the middle. Number 55 was just waiting for him. He drove Tyler into the ground with a bone-crunching tackle.
“Ouch, that’s got to hurt,” Jason said.
“Man, he really nailed him.” Matthew was unable to hold back his pleasure.
Brianna backhanded him on the chest. “What are you doing, rooting for the other side?”
“Yeah,” Emily jumped in. “Tyler might be a jerk sometimes, but he’s our quarterback.”
“I can’t believe you would let your feud with Tyler make you turn on your own school,” Brianna said. “Don’t you care if we win?”
“Sure I care. I just couldn’t help enjoying seeing Tyler get picked on for once.”
“If you’re going act like that then go sit on the other side!” Emily yelled at him.
“I’m sorry. I do want us to win.”
“Good,” Brianna said, “then act like it.”
The next play was a busted play. The halfback missed the handoff from Tyler, so Tyler had to keep the ball. He ran around the left side. He gained 18 yards before a Trojan pulled him down. It wasn’t enough for a first down, but it set the Cougars up for an easy field goal.
“Man, if that safety hadn’t been there Tyler would have scored,” Jason said. “Their whole team was going after the halfback.”
Matthew thought that was a little suspicious. “Yeah, they sure were. It’s like the other team’s got someone in our huddle.”
The Cougars kicked the ball off to the Trojans. The Trojans had a great return, getting the ball all the way to the 45-yard line. It only took them three plays to score, capping off the drive with a 30-yard touchdown pass.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Matthew headed toward the restroom. He went behind the building and turned on his virtual camera. He took it to the Trojan sideline. It was bustling with activity, as the coaches got the defense on the field. Matthew looked for number 55. Since he was in on almost every play so far, Matthew wondered if he was getting some kind of help.
When he found him, he was just standing next to a guy with a cell phone. As he ran onto the field after the kickoff, he kept looking at the guy with the cell phone.
Matthew decided to watch the guy on the cell phone. After a few seconds he started talki
ng to the guy next to him.
“Okay, the first play is going to be a reverse,” he said.
“A reverse, which way?”
“Right.”
“Okay,” the second guy started to signal, number 55 was the only one watching him. When he finished signaling, 55 gave him a thumbs-up sign and yelled something at the other linebackers.
When the ball was hiked, Tyler handed it off to the running back going to the left. The running back handed the ball to the wide receiver, who was running to the right. Tyler turned to block for the receiver as he came running up toward him. Number 55 was barreling down from the right side heading directly for the receiver. Tyler threw a hard block into the linebacker knocking them both to the ground. The receiver ran by only to be greeted by the safety, who tackled him for a 2-yard loss.
Tyler got up and nodded at number 55. He turned back to the huddle and waited for the receiver to bring in the play.
The guy with the cell phone was listening intently. When the receiver ran onto the field, he turned to the guy next to him. “Pass play across the middle, to the tight end,” he said. The guy signaled something in to number 55. When the Cougars ran the play, the tight end was double-covered by a linebacker and the safety. Tyler just threw the ball out of bounds.
“They’re stealing our plays,” Matthew said to himself. “No wonder they’re killing us.”
He watched the next play unfold the same way. The two guys on the sideline signaled the play to number 55. Then number 55 yelled out to the defense. Tyler was sacked for a 10-yard loss as the Trojan linebackers did an all-out blitz.
Matthew turned off his virtual camera and headed down toward the field. As he got to the bottom of the stands, he saw Tyler throw his helmet into the ground in frustration. Tyler saw Matthew looking at him.
“Don’t say a word,” Tyler growled at Matthew. “One word and I’ll come up there and tear your head off.”
“Tyler, chill out,” Matthew said. “I only want to help.”
Tyler walked over to Matthew looking very menacing. “I said not one word.”
Matthew backed away from the rail a little. “Tyler, I’d just as soon watch you get your butt kicked. But not if we have to lose this game.”
