Initiation (7 page)

“You’re a transfer, right?” Coach asked.

“Yes, sir,” Carter said.

“Where you comin’ from?”

“Panama. Central America, not Florida.”

“That’s a long way.”

Carter nodded.

“Coach Pitts and I like what you been doin’ in practice and in the scrimmages.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I’m movin’ you up to the first team. This is a big responsibility. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I mean we already got a proven commodity with Noah. And I don’t like benchin’ a senior, especially one that’s pretty damn good. But dammit, boy, you sure are hard to ignore.”

Carter stared, blank-faced.

Coach Cowan chuckled. “What I’m tryin’ to say is you keep doin’ what you been doin’, you’ll be just fine. If you slack off even one bit, Noah will be there nippin’ at your heels. You get what I’m tryin’ to tell you?”

“I think I understand, Coach.”

Cowan scowled. “You think? There ain’t no time for thinkin’ in this game, you gotta know.”

Carter stared at his coach, his eyes unblinking. “
I know
I’ll be the best defensive back you’ve ever coached.”

Coach Cowan nodded his head with a grin. “You know what all the best defensive backs have in common?”

“No, sir.”

“Confidence.”

Chapter 6: Initiation

– 6 –

Initiation

The sun was orange and low in the sky. Devin steered the compact car uphill on a gravel road. Carter read the photocopied directions.

“Is this right?” Devin asked.

“According to the directions,” Carter said.

“There’s nothing out here but farms.”

“I think that’s the point.”

At the crest of the hill, they could hear the faint sound of music and a cacophony of voices.

“That’s gotta be it,” Devin said.

Midway down the hill, close to a hundred cars and trucks were parked haphazardly on the pasture in front of the stone farmhouse. Devin pulled into an open spot just off the road. They stepped out of the car. Carter and Devin walked down the road, the volume increasing with each step. Devin’s hair was freshly cut, his fade slanted, with three lines shaved into the side of his head. Carter wore a pair of baggy jeans and a white T-shirt that said
Operation Just Cause
across the front. He walked with his hands in his pockets.

They passed a couple making out in the back seat of a Buick. Devin slowed down to catch a peek. He glanced at the back of Carter’s shirt as he caught up to his friend.

“Is that a pineapple on your shirt or a man?” he asked, laughing.

Carter grinned, his teeth white and straight. “Both. It’s ol’ pineapple face, Manuel Noriega.”

Zach’s farmhouse had a front porch that spanned the entire length of the building. The metal roof was rusting. A group of teenage girls clustered around a swinging chair attached to the porch roof. They were laughing and talking. A few turned their heads toward them. Devin blushed and gave them a wave. They giggled. He looked down and scowled at his dusty white Nikes.

“Got my new kicks dirty already,” Devin said.

“Should we knock?” Carter asked.

Devin looked up from his shoes. His nose was long, his cheekbones high, his brown skin had a tinge of red.

“I don’t know,” Devin replied.

A girl from the group sauntered over, her hips rocking back and forth, her cowboy boots clomping on the wooden porch. She held a bottle of Corona with a lime wedge inside. The girl wore short jean shorts and a tank top. She smiled at the boys through perfect teeth.

“Carter and Devin,” she said.

They widened their eyes. “How’d you know that?” Devin asked.

“You’re the two transfers everyone’s been talkin’ about. I saw you guys at the scrimmage. You came to the right place.” She smiled and bit the corner of her lower lip.

“For the party or the school?” Carter asked.

She giggled. “Both. I’m Amber by the way.”

Amber had big, round, green eyes, and a thin nose.

Carter stood, staring. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Devin looked at the pair with his head cocked.

“Why don’t you two walk around, enjoy the party,” she said. She opened the front door and stepped aside. Voices and music flooded the air.

Devin stepped inside. As Carter moved to follow, Amber grabbed his hand. He stopped and turned.

She raked her teeth over her bottom lip. “Why don’t you come find me later?” she said.

Partygoers were scattered everywhere. The house had a rustic feel. Exposed wooden beams crisscrossed the ceiling, and a generous stone fireplace was set into the wall. Deer heads were scattered haphazardly across the walls. To their right, guys were crowded on a couch watching college football. Voices and music drowned out the commentary. Beyond the television was a staircase going up. Girls stood together, red plastic cups in hand, laughing and telling secrets. To the left a group of girls and guys bounced quarters into shot glasses on the dining room table. Carter followed Devin straight ahead, down a short hallway to the kitchen. Zach, Justin, and Noah sat around a square kitchen table, casually drinking, a half-dozen girls around them. In front of the kitchen counter, three kegs were submerged in trash cans filled with ice. Dwayne and Luke pumped piss-colored liquid into red cups held out by underage girls like it was communion wine.

“It’s the army boys,” Zach said, raising his cup. His crew cut was gelled, his button-down pressed.

Carter and Devin turned toward the table.

Noah glowered at Carter. “Hey, douchebag, you’re not keepin’ my position.”

A strawberry blonde sitting next to Noah giggled, baring a mouth full of metal.

Carter smiled. “It’s a lot easier to keep it than to get it.”

Justin stood up, stretching his six-foot-two frame. His fresh crewcut was turned into a tight Mohawk. “It’s a party, boys. Tonight ain’t about football. It’s about fuckin’ and gettin’ fucked up.”

A handful of guys raised their cups. “Yeah, buddy!”

Justin stepped between Carter and Devin and put his arms around them. He walked them to the kegs.

“Hey, Dwayne, you know these two boys,” Justin said with a crooked grin.

Dwayne looked at Carter with a scowl. Large diamond studs punctured both his earlobes.

“What’s wrong, Dwayne? You want your red jersey?” Justin laughed.

Dwayne handed his drink to the girl next to him. “I’m gonna fuck you up.”

Justin had a shit-eating grin.

Luke jumped between them, wrapping Dwayne up in a bear hug. “Relax, he’s just fucking with you,” he said.

Dwayne backed off, moving back to the keg. He glared at Justin.

“Quit being a dick,” Luke said to Justin.

“I’m just tryin’ to be a mediator here,” Justin said, trying to contain his smile. “Gettin’ defensive backs and receivers to call a truce. Maybe y’all can kiss and make up.”

“Fuck you,” Dwayne said.

“Well at least get my boys here some beer.”

Dwayne motioned to Devin and handed him a beer in a red cup. Luke handed Carter a beer. Dwayne started to give Devin a crash course in how best to secure female companionship.

Carter opened the sliding glass door and walked onto the deck. It was packed with groups of guys and girls talking and drinking. Everyone had an orange tinge from the last bit of sun as it dropped below the horizon. A handful of girls smoked. He guzzled his beer. A tall girl in heavy makeup and a tight shirt took a drag from her cigarette. She dropped her hand to her side, burning Carter’s forearm. He yanked his arm back.

“Hey, watch it,” he said with a scowl. “You burned my arm.”

“Then move out the way,” she said, matching his scowl and placing her cigarette back to her lips.

In the blink of an eye, he snatched the cigarette from her hand and tossed it over the edge of the railing. She stood dumbfounded. He turned away from her and walked down the deck steps to the back yard. A mixed group of kids sat around a fire pit, mesmerized by the flames. Most of the boys were backup defensive backs, Ben included. The girls looked young, probably tenth grade.

“What’s up, guys,” Carter said as he approached.

“Hey, Carter,” one of the guys said, a skinny kid with patchwork facial hair. “What are you doing slumming it out here?”

Ben stared into the fire, his back to Carter.

“Didn’t y’all hear?” the skinny kid continued. “Carter’s the new starting free safety.”

“Good for you,” another kid said, raising his red cup.

Carter gulped the rest of his beer. The girls, previously uninterested, eyed Carter with curiosity. The boys made no attempt to continue the conversation or to make room for him around the fire, so he walked past toward the barn. A single lightbulb shined above the barn door. The wooden building was dilapidated, its red paint peeling. A metal trash can stood to the right of the open door. He dumped the plastic cup in the can. He glanced inside the door. It was empty except for an old motorboat on a trailer. It was a cruiser, but the engines were long gone. The upper deck was open air. Portholes along the hull signified lower deck sleeping quarters.

He hiked past the barn, stopping at the top of a bluff. Down the hill was a pond about half the size of a football field. Bulrushes and cattails sprang up from the water edge. The middle was still and blue. He moved down to the edge and stood listening to the frogs, his hands in his pockets.

“There you are,” a female voice said.

Carter turned around. Amber stood with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face.

“Hey,” Carter said.

She strutted down to the water, bumping him with her hip. “I thought you were gonna come find me?” She pulled the hair tie from her ponytail and shook her head, letting her dirty blonde hair settle on her shoulders.

He blushed. “I was just looking around.”

“Are you shy?” she asked, interlacing her hand in his.

He looked at the water.

She slid in front of him, her chest brushing against him, her hand still intertwined in his. “Do you like me?” she asked.

“Well, we’ve known each other for thirty minutes.”

She frowned. “I didn’t say love. You should know if you like someone right when you see them.”

“Are you asking if I’m attracted to you?”

She nodded, her bottom lip pushed out. “Don’t I look pretty?”

“You look beautiful, there’s no doubt about that.”

“Awwww, aren’t you just the sweetest?”

She stepped closer, pressed against him, and slid her hands around his lower back, just below ol’ pineapple face. He pressed his lips to hers. Her mouth parted, her tongue stirring against his. After a moment they separated.

“I like you,” she said. “I’m sure now. A kiss can tell a girl everything she needs to know about a guy.”

Carter narrowed his eyes. “All that from a kiss?”

She giggled. “So … if you happen to find yourself in the basement later, I want you to come down here to the barn. Nobody will be here. It’ll be easier.”

Carter raised his eyebrows. “Easier for what?”

“You’ll see.”

“I’m actually thinking about getting outta here.”

She frowned. “You just got here. The party just started. It’s gonna get good, you’ll see.”

“All right.”

“You hungry? I saw some pizza somewhere.”

“Yeah, I could eat.”

They strolled arm in arm up the hill, past the barn, to the fire pit. Only the girls remained from the group. Carter glanced up at the deck, and again – only girls. They stared at Carter.

“What’s going on?” Carter asked Amber. “Where is everyone?”

The corners of Amber’s mouth quivered. “Not sure. Let’s go inside and see what’s goin’ on.”

They wandered through the crowd of girls on the deck, opened the sliding glass door and entered the kitchen. A couple of girls squirted wine from a box into their cups. The same girls from earlier still sat at the kitchen table. Zach and Justin stood in the hallway across from a closed door. They leaned against the wall, their arms crossed. Amber looked up at them and motioned with her eyes. Justin moved first, stepping in front of Amber and Carter to open the door. Zach wrapped up Carter in a bear hug, using his mass to push him toward the open door. Carter saw the stairs leading down. He thrashed, pushing back, not giving ground.

“Relax,” Amber said. “It’s okay.”

“Just go down there, damn,” Justin said. “It’s for your own good.”

Carter continued to struggle. Zach had control of Carter’s upper body. Justin grabbed Carter’s legs and they carried him downstairs. Amber closed the door. Zach and Justin carried him through a crowd of his teammates to the middle of the room.

“I knew he’d be a dick,” Zach said as they dropped him.

Carter looked around. The light was low, the ceiling was low, the wooden joists visible. It was musty but cool. The floor was gravel. Sixty or seventy football players crowded around the edge of the room. A dozen or so of Carter’s teammates stood with him in the middle, stuck in a similar position. Ben and Devin were included in this group. He stood up and dusted off his jeans.

“What the fuck is this?” Carter said.

“Initiation, bitch,” Noah said. He stood with his arms crossed, his biceps bulging. A cardboard box filled with cucumbers sat at his feet.

Carter glanced around for an exit. “I don’t give a fuck about your initiation. Let me out.”

“It ain’t my initiation, it’s yours,” Noah replied.

Carter walked toward the stairs. Zach and Justin stood at the bottom of the steps, almost five hundred pounds of muscle blocking the way.

Zach shook his head. “No way you’re getting out of this.”

Carter turned around and saw another set of stairs on the opposite wall. He marched across the room. Eight guys blocked the exit, Dwayne and Luke in front.

“Relax man,” Luke said. “It’s not that bad. It’s actually pretty fucking awesome. So quit being a dick.”

Carter took a deep breath and shook his head. “This is fucked.” He walked back to the middle of the room. He stood alongside Devin.

“Chill,” Devin said. “Team player, remember.”

“All right,” Zach said, stomping to the middle of the room with his captives. “Now that everyone’s here and accounted for we can begin.” Zach glowered at the players standing in the middle of the room. His beefy arms were sunburnt, his cheeks red. “Everyone who plays varsity football for the North Potomac Marauders has to pass the initiation test. A lot of you guys fresh off the J.V. squad already passed at the party during spring camp, but we still have a few bitches left.”