groovygamers.com

Saturday, October 6th 2007

The Noon start time for the game has the stand full and a slight chill in the air.  John Maxxon is filling as quarterback, since Calvin Stewart has left the team and is returning to Texas with his family.

End of the first half and the game is tied 7 to 7.  It's been a brutal game with five injuries, and tempers on the field seem to be heating up.  After one of the Oak Park defensive line fouls, and hurts one of the P. West guys a fight breaks out on the field.  Withion seconds both teams are on the field and a massive brawl is under way.  It becomes obvious that several players from both sides are probably on Superman as they begin to literally hurl other players around.  Several of the coaches and adults go out to try and break it up and things get worse.  Within a minute or two the players on Superman are battling each other in a titanic fist fight that is tearing up the field.  Bystanders clog the field and none of you can get to any of the action to help or stop the fighting. 

In less then five minutes it's all over.  Police and ambulances begin to arrive and it's like the scene of a major disaster.  The authorities evacuate people and set up a perimeter.  Ambulance and firefighters are taking people out and several of the players are taken into custody.  The police pull the tapes from the cameras and interview a few of the people off the field, but soon they are telling people to go home.  Paniced parents are arriving looking for their children and it's almost a mob scene outside the stadium.

Rumors are flying and it'll be several hours before any real answers can be had.  Colin managed to get some good pictures of the chaos from the press box and Kel and Sylvia certainly saw enough to do a story on the events from where the pep squad was on the field.

OOC:  This will be the only post for the weekend of the 6th and 7th.  I'll start the next chapter on the following Monday with the fallout from the events at the game and the details that become available.

Now that I'm back I will try to get back to posting, but it'll be a little slow as the wife is in town until Sunday.  Then I'll have plenty of time to post and get us rolling again.

After all the stress of the day, on friday night Colin fell asleep just as he touched the bed. Thankfully no dream too intense came to disturb him, and he feels quite rested as the alarm clock wakes him up, uncerimoniously as ever, early saturday morning. Even on saturday there are newspapers to be delivered. He drags himself to the bathroom, and when he comes out he actually feels like a human being.

He goes to the kitchen for his usual energetic breakfast, and as he crosses the living room  he stops for a moment, noticing Chris' jacket. It's not the first time he spends the night there, but Colin isn't yet used enough to it to take it in stride. In the kitchen, he grabs himself a cup of milk, cereals, and some orange juice. He toasts a couple slices of bread in the oven while he eats the cereals, and liberally spreads them with butter and berries jam. On his way out he makes some coffee for his mom and Chris and grabs a banana too. His mother was hooked on continental breakfast on a travel to Europe, and Colin took after her. Seeing a grey sky outside, Colin takes his raincoat by the door and is out his bike.

Cycling gives him time to think and put a little order in his mind. Lately, his life has been full of villains and challenges. Now, he decides to let Chris do his job with all the clues he provided him, and to take a day off. And on a day off there's one thing he would really like to do.

When he comes back he finds Alex and Chris in the kitchen chatting in front of their breakfast. He greets them and says good morning to his mom with a kiss that surprises her a bit. Then he goes to do his homework. Just because he has to be up early on week-ends too doesn't mean the others can't enjoy sleeping in a bit. He has to wait a bit before he calls her.

When his clock says 10:16 he's done with the homework, and... it's actually time. He goes to the phone and comes back three times, every time realizing he's not sure what to say. The fourth time he thinks he's finally got it, so he grabs the phone and dials her number. He lets it ring a while. Finally someone answers.

"Hello, Sarah?"

Mom was downstairs doing laundry and Dad was banging on a piece of the house outside.  Sarah grabbed the phone before Mart could get his hands on it and sticks her tongue out at him.  "Hello?"  Her voice brightens when she realizes who is on the phone,  "Colin?  Hi!  What's going on?"  Mart catches Sarah tone brightening and grins at her in a way that only little brothers can grin when they've found something juicy. 

Colin notices Sarah's tone too, and he struggles to keep his smile from invading the neighboring countries.

"Thankfully, not much at all. Yesterday has been draining, what with Donnie's fake disappearance, Seth's revelations, and all that happened in the evening... I'm finally having a totally mundane day, and enjoying it. What about you? Are you coming to the game? And... have you got any programs for the afternoon? Sorry for the barrage of questions, I... I was hoping we could spend some time together- just as friends, you know... I promise I won't try anything. You get to choose what we do. No strings attached. What do you say?"

Sarah laughs, "No, don't worry about all the questions.  I was asking a barrage of them last night so it's only fair.  I actually was planning on going to the game today.  I'm going to try a new approach for a while and see how it works.  I call it the 'Sarah leaves the house once in a while' plan.  Do you want to meet there or walk over together?  As for afterwards... I'm up for hanging out.  I don't have any plans.  We could grab a slice of pizza or get some sandwiches somewhere and go for a walk?  Soon enough the temperature is going to drop around here and it will take a crowbar to pry me outside so I might as well enjoy it before then." 

"Walk... it's the thing you do when someone steals your bike, isn't it? Just kidding. I'd love to go for a walk. Pizza is fine too. I'll just meet you there, then I'll show you some secret beauties of Oak Park. Not all of them, though, so I'll have something left to tease you out of your house in winter too."

He chuckles.

"I'm glad you have time. I missed you a bit, and I feel I have many things to tell you and to ask you. See you later then. Mitakuye oyasin!"

"Huh?"

"Oh! Sorry, it slipped out. I've had a chance to think about my dad lately, and it's one of the things he sometime said. It's a Lakota goodbye. It means "we are all brothers and sisters". I just meant goodbye."

"Oh... that's kinda nice.  Um.. same to you.  I'll see you there!"  Sarah ends the conversation just as her brother Mart starts making smoochy noises over the other extension.