And so, among the courses he carried were trigonometry, calculus II, and statistics. To these he gave minimal attention. He was relatively unconcerned about finals. Had he really applied himself, he would now be flirting with something between 3.4 and 3.8. As it was, he would pass with enough to spare.
At this moment, his mind was launched on a stream-of-consciousness voyage.
“You’re, not here,” Beth Larson, his steady, said. “Where are you?”
“What?” Tony returned to the present.
“Well, there’s hope. You haven’t heard a word I’ve said for the past fifteen minutes. I was beginning to think I’d never get you back.”
“Uhmm.”
“We were going to study together tonight … remember?”
“I guess I got distracted.”
The two seniors were in Beth’s apartment in Kalamazoo. Final examinations loomed.
“I was wondering which team might take me. And what they might pay.”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself, aren’t you, sweetie? First come the exams.”
“Not for me. The exams come second. Football comes first.”
Beth, legs folded beneath her, was seated on the couch, surrounded by books. “I’m well aware of your plans, Tony. First comes the pro game. Then a long career as a sports announcer. And I know we’ve talked about this, so pardon me if I’m repeating myself, but tell me again why you can’t just skip the playing days and go right to the announcer’s booth without passing Go or going to Jail?”
“Yes, we’ve talked about it, Beth. It’s the coming thing. I know it. Sports announcers and commentators used to be hired for their voice. Guys like Red Barber and Van Patrick have sports voices. But put Van Patrick on the field in uniform. Let him try to return a kickoff and watch him have a heart attack.
“No, the coming thing is to get players-guys who’ve been in the trenches. But-and here’s the rub-they’ll want guys who are articulate. And, believe me, honey, there ain’t too many players can measure up.
“And that”-he rose from his chair and joined her on the couch-“is how come I’ve got to make it as a player before I can move to the safety of the booth.” He kissed her forehead lightly.
Beth’s figure was dazzling, though some might argue she was a tad slender. No one would engage Tony in such an argument. In Tony’s eyes, Beth was no less than perfect, mind, body, and countenance. Her lively eyes were set off by cheekbones that were the envy of less fortunate females; abundant light brown hair framed a classic profile. At five feet eight, she was tall for a young woman. But not too tall for Tony.
“Why all this concern about my playing career?”
“Because people get hurt playing that game.”
“Not everybody.”
“It’s a violent contact sport.”
“As someone said, dancing is a contact sport; football is a collision sport.”
“Just what I mean. I don’t want to spend our golden years helping you out of a chair or into a bed.”
“Honey, you will never have to help me into a bed. You get in and that’s all the motivation I’ll need.”
“Get serious, Tony. I see these stories about players who’ve been permanently injured. I don’t want you to be a statistic.”
“I’m studying statistics. That way I won’t be one.”
“Be serious!”
“I am, lover.” Tony swung around, knocking several books off the couch and settling down with his head in her lap. “I know the game cripples some guys. But not all. And I’m one of the guys who’s going to come out unscathed.”
“What makes you so sure?” Gently, she tousled his hair.
“I’m going to stay healthy. I’m going to keep working out. I’m going to remain strong.”
“And what happens if somebody hits you the wrong way, right at your knee joint? Your leg wasn’t made to bend that way. Then what?”
As Tony listened to Beth’s depiction of the classic knee injury, he almost could hear the dreaded sound of the muscle tearing away from the bone. Inwardly he winced, but was successful in hiding it.
He shrugged, picked up a book at random, and began flipping pages aimlessly. “What if I’m crossing a street and some nut in a car doesn’t see me?”
“That’s an accident. I’m talking about an injury that goes with the territory.”
“I don’t want to talk about injuries anymore. I’ve got a plan and I’m going to follow it. And that’s that!”
She dropped it for the moment. There was little she could do. By unspoken agreement, they hadn’t mentioned the possibility that despite the plethora of raves, Tony might indeed not play pro ball after all. She read the sports pages, if only because sports was Tony’s primary interest. She had agreed with the pundits, especially the locals, who had written that Tony was a sure thing for the draft, with a glorious pro career to follow. And once he had been passed up, and his chances at that pro career seemed suddenly slimmer and slimmer, she had hoped to be able to stop worrying about his being injured. But she played her part: She realized that if she continued to act concerned that would bolster Tony; it would make him feel that there was still a possibility-that he still had a good chance of signing and playing with the pros. He must have a chance, else why would Beth still be worrying about his being injured?
She was keenly aware of the physical dangers in the growingly violent game. Some nights she would wake suddenly from a nightmare, wincing, as Tony had, unbeknownst to her, just done.
She knew how much he’d been planning on this, banking on this. And, as far as she could see, his plan had seemed well conceived. If it had worked out. And now? If a pro team signed him. And if he could avoid becoming a cripple.
It was obvious that study was not in the cards this evening. She decided to change the subject. “Speaking of injury and discomfort, how’s your mother doing?”
He didn’t respond for several moments. “I don’t know what to tell you, Beth. I go home usually once a week, maybe more. There’s nothing I can do, just be there for a while. I can’t relate. Once they decided not to try radiation, I kind of washed my hands of the whole thing. I can’t imagine not fighting. She couldn’t be much sicker than she seems to be most of the time now. We’re just waiting around for death. It gives me the creeps.”
“Actually, isn’t there something? I mean, something instead of her simply dying of the cancer?”
Tony snorted. “Vinnie’s ‘miracle.’ I don’t know what’s wrong with the guy! He’s smart enough … maybe the Church brainwashed him. ‘Miracle!’”
Beth was on shaky ground. But then so was Tony. “Miracles happen, honey. Don’t you believe in them at all?”
“Oh, I suppose … I don’t know; I never saw one. Never had one. Why should the Delvecchios have our own little miracle? Because the priest in the family wants one?”
“You’d better go lightly here, Tony,” she warned. “You’re coming very close to making fun of God.”
“What making fun?! I’m excusing God from suddenly turning nature on its ear because some insignificant family on the east side of Detroit wants a fatal illness to be erased. I ain’t making fun of God. He’s just not going to do it. I’m just telling Him it’s all right with me … that I’m not counting on it.”
“Then what are you counting on?”
“Nature. Ma got cancer. I don’t know how or why. There was only one thing that might have turned it around-”
“Tony! You know what the odds are even with therapy.”
“Outside of a miracle that happens every other century there was only one alternative: therapy or death. They chose death.”
“They chose a miracle.”
“They chose death!”
His exclamation was so vehement that Beth thought better than to pursue that line of dialogue further.
In truth, she did not expect any miracle. She didn’t even know if there was such a thing. But she was concerned about Tony’s attitude toward his mother. Particularly at this stage of her life.