The Essay A Novel (31 page)

“Sorry to come over so early, Miss Singletary, but I'm leaving for college in about a half hour and I needed to talk to you.”

She nodded and said, “Come in, come in.” She pushed the door shut and pointed toward the kitchen. “Let's sit down in there.” She buttoned her robe as we walked. “You're leaving for college already?”

“Today's the day we report to football camp. Two-a-day practices start in the morning.”

“Goodness. In this heat?”

I shrugged. “If I can get through Coach Battershell's two-a-days, I can get through this.”

She pulled a can of coffee from the pantry shelf. “Want some coffee?”

“No, ma'am. I've got to get back. Edgel's waiting on me and he's more nervous about this than I am. We've got to check in at the stadium at Ohio Methodist by nine o'clock. “I just wanted to stop by and say good-bye and . . .” I choked up on my words. “You know, tell you thanks for everything you did for me last year. None of this would have happened if it wasn't for you.”

“Oh, Jimmy Lee, I appreciate that so much, but I didn't do anything. This was all about you. You wrote the essays and you did it without my help. All I did was help get you the opportunity. You did the work.”

“But if you hadn't been there, they probably wouldn't have let me even compete at the county competition. They would have found a way to take that award from me. You were the first person to ever stand up for me, and I'm very grateful.”

“Well, I appreciate that, Jimmy Lee, but don't sell yourself short. This was a great lesson for you and for any kid in that school who chooses to believe in himself. You are the one with the talent. No one can take that away from you.”

“I would have given up without your help.”

“I don't believe that, Jimmy Lee. It's not in your nature to quit. Sometimes in life we just need a little nudge. You just needed . . .”

She frowned for a minute. “What's the first guy in the backfield called, the one without the football who runs through the line first?”

“The fullback.”

“Yes, but you call him something else.”

“The blocking back?”

“Yes, that's it. I was your blocking back, but you were the one who had to carry the ball and run through the hole. I appreciate you coming down here and thanking me, Jimmy Lee, I really do. It touches my heart. But you were the one who worked and those were your words and thoughts on that paper that won, not mine.”

Miss Singletary promised to come to a game early in the season, and I left before the coffee pot had stopped percolating. Edgel was pacing the kitchen floor when I returned at six forty. “We're going to be late, dammit.”

He was wearing a white cap with a blue bill that he had bought when he had taken me to Ohio Methodist for my freshman orientation. It was pulled down close to the ears and the bill was flat across the brow. I took the cap from his head, rounded the bill and tightened the plastic strap in the back. “You've got to learn how to wear your cap,” I said.

“Get your suitcases and get in the car,” Edgel said.

I snagged the suitcases and put them in the trunk of the idling Rocket 88. I was proud to have Edgel taking me to school. He rolled down the driveway, leaving billowing clouds of dust in our wake. The Rocket squealed onto County Road 12, heading into the morning sun and leaving the dust to settle over Red Dog Road.