“I don’t give a fuck if it’s Pegasus! I ain’t pissing away a red cent on it as long as I’m—”

There was a knock at the door. Curtis entered.

“Welcome to the party, Sheriff,” said Coach Hickham dryly. He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “What can I do for you?”

“I just came by to tell you that your starting quarterback is AWOL, and that I’m pretty sure he’s rolling around in the woods with your daughter. So what’s happenin’ here?”

Hickham sighed. “I’m trying to figure out how to break down a strong nickel defense with an extremely inexperienced quarterback.”

Mr. Hodges spun around. “Who you talkin’ ’bout, Jimmy?”

“Our backup. He’s a little green.”

“You mean Smoot? You’re not gonna start Teddy Smoot, are you? He’s a damn freshman, had hardly any PT all season.”

“Mr. Hodges, what say you run this school and let me run my team?”

The principal stood down. “Yeah, Jimmy. Sure. Of course. But … well, what about Logan?”

“Cole Logan lost two of his fingers this morning, Mr. Hodges. While I appreciate his courage and determination, I’m sure you can understand why I might question his effectiveness on the field tonight.”

“Especially considering that he hasn’t had any medical attention,” added the sheriff.

Mr. Hodges looked around the room. “So … what are y’all sayin’? We’re just gonna piss away the damn game?”

“I thought we had just decided that there wasn’t going to be a game,” said Mr. Gallbreth.

“There is going to be a game.” All eyes suddenly turned to Cole, who was standing at the door with Savannah. “And I am going to play.”

•   •   •

Cole stepped into the cramped room, sensing the tension immediately. Savannah remained at the door.

“There’s the man of the hour,” Mr. Hodges said, smiling. “See, Coach, I told you he was fine.”

“Nice of you two to show up,” Curtis said. “I hope you don’t think this means you’re off the hook.”

Hickham stood and came around the desk. “Savannah, would you care to tell me what you’re up to?”

Cole answered for her. “We’re just here to tell you that I’m fine to play tonight, Coach. Just like I told you I’d be.”

Mr. Gallbreth cleared his throat. “Before we go any further, I am going to insist that Mr. Logan remove the ornamentation from his ear. He is, after all, on school grounds.”

“Christ, Gallbreth, put a cork in it,” said Mr. Hodges. “Can’t you see there’s more important issues at hand here?”

“It’s all right,” Cole said. He removed the earring and slid it into the hip pocket of his jeans. “I can still give it everything tonight, Coach, so don’t worry about me.”

Hickham’s eyes went to Cole’s hand, now concealed under a black biker’s glove.