“Meridien is very proud of their football,” Figg says. “No one wanted to be the guy who wrote the scathing article about the Guardsmen and published it in the Register. Likely find a flaming bag of dog poop on their front porch after doing something like that.” He chuckles, only half joking. Then his expression turns serious. “But it wasn’t Eric Vance that started arguing with the Taylor team. He was trying to get the team to ignore what was happening. He insisted, actually, that they keep their heads in the game,” Figg says quietly. Then he sighs. “Your father and Eric were friends. Really close friends. And when that Taylor team came out onto our field, clearly trying to make a laughingstock out of Jeffrey Jackson’s best friend… well, it didn’t exactly go over really well. It was your dad that started that fight. He was sticking up for his friend.”

My stomach is in knots. My dad was the one who started the fight? With everything I’ve ever known or heard about him, he doesn’t seem like the guy who would start a massive fight, especially at the homecoming game in front of the entire town.

“Then why did Elijah’s dad stop playing football?”

Figg takes another deep breath and meets my eye. “It was complicated, really. From what I understand, Eric took the fall for your dad. Told him that he was probably going to have to quit playing football after his senior season anyway because he had a baby on the way and a girlfriend that he loved, and he wanted to do the right thing and take care of them. He knew your father had a chance at college scholarships and whatnot. So instead of going to the coach and telling him the real story, Eric Vance insisted that the fight started with him, that he was the one who started the verbal argument and threw the first punch. That was all the coach needed to hear, and Eric was made an example of and kicked off the team.”

“Whoa,” I say, trying to pull all the pieces of this wild story together. “So, Eric suffered the consequences even though my dad was the one that started everything? The coach didn’t even blink?”

“It was easier for everyone to believe it was Eric’s fault,” Figg says, hanging his head. “He was a decent kid, but he always seemed to be around whenever there was trouble. Had a real knack for finding himself in the middle of it even when it had nothing to do with him. Taking the fall for your dad was a really selfless thing for him to do.”

“So how come you knew about it back then and never said anything?” I can’t quite keep the heat out of my voice. “You just let Eric Vance suffer the consequences and never turned my dad in?”