Top Wing (6 page)

It wasn’t long before he got an answer.

As soon as the Anchors got the ball, Tucker, Lance, and Abe kept it over on the left side of the field. Now and then, Jack
or Steve got a pass booted their way, but Dana might as well have been sitting in the stands.

Buzz Saw, however, was all over the place. He stole the ball from Abe and broke away clear down to the goal. There was no
way Jazz could hold him off alone. All by himself, Buzz Saw booted one in for the Grizzlies’ third goal of the game.

The scoreboard now read Grizzlies 3, Anchors 0.

“Defense! Defense!” shouted the Anchors’ fans in the stands.

But the offense is just as bad, Dana thought angrily.
They’re working as hard at keeping the ball away from
me
as they are at trying to score.

As the second half progressed, the ball occasionally found its way to Dana — mostly on mix-ups and wild scrambles.

Whenever he did get the ball, though, he didn’t hold on to it long. “Keep it moving,” the coach had said — and he did. Besides,
if the team saw that he was doing his best, maybe they would wake up.

They didn’t. About ten minutes into the second half, Lance had the ball. Dana was all by himself with no one between him and
the goal. It would have been an easy pass and a sure shot at a goal. But Lance booted it over to Abe. And as usual, a pack
of Grizzlies was all over the Anchors’ left wing in seconds.

Meanwhile, Benton strayed out of his zone and recovered a rebound off a stray Grizzlies backfielder.

“Go for it, Benton!” Dana shouted. Even if he wasn’t getting any shots at the goal, at least someone might put them on the
scoreboard.

But Benton started moving so fast, he tripped over the ball and collapsed in a heap.

The loose ball ended up in front of Steve. He
dribbled it toward the goal, then passed it to Dana, who was nearby on his right.

Dana trapped the ball, dribbled it a few feet, then pulled his right foot back. He got under the ball with his laces and booted
it toward the left side of the goal. It was an angle shot and tough by any count. But the Grizzlies’ goalie was way out of
range. He couldn’t get anywhere near it in time.

The black-and-white leather sphere rammed into the net for a goal.

Dana’s heart swelled as he heard the crowd roar. Then the Anchors’ cheerleaders took up the cry:

Give me a D!

D!

Give me an A!

A!

Give me an N!

N!

Give me an A!

A!

What do you have?

Dana! Dana! Dana!

Hooray!

S
teve came running over and gave Dana a high five. But with a 3–1 score and the clock ticking away, there was no time to waste.
If the Anchors were going to make any headway, they had to get the ball back quickly.

Abe took care of that. After the starting kick, he bore down on Buzz Saw Wallace and took the ball away with some fancy footwork.
Then he booted it downfield all the way to Steve, who was in the clear.

Steve brought it into the penalty area before he was sandwiched between two Grizzlies tacklers. He got off a little flick
pass to Benton before they completely boxed him in.

Wheezing and puffing, Benton took the ball almost into the goal area before he, too, was surrounded.

He could have passed it to me, Dana said to himself, sighing. He could have.

Instead, Benton heel-kicked the ball. Jack went for it, but it got by him. The Grizzlies took control and broke away toward
the goal.

Thunk!

The ball went crashing into the net for another score.

Grizzlies 4, Anchors 1.

“We still can do it!” shouted Steve. “Come on, you Anchors!”

Steve hasn’t given up, and neither will I, Dana said to himself as play continued.

But it would take more than their determination, he knew. The rest of the team had to pitch in.

A few seconds later, Dana got another chance to help out the Anchors with a score. A midfield snarl had produced a drop ball.
Jack was on the spot for the Anchors.

The ball squiggled over to Lance, who passed it on to Steve. The Anchors’ captain dribbled the ball toward the goal as best
he could. A swarm of Grizzlies bore down on him from all sides.

Steve glanced to his left, then to his right. Then he
kicked the ball with the instep of his left foot in Dana’s direction.

Running after it with all the speed he could muster, Dana got to the ball a split second before a hungry Grizzlies defenseman.

Over on the far side of the field, Lance and Abe made a big show of calling for the pass from Dana. But the Anchors’ right
wing booted the ball swiftly back to Steve.

Steve trapped it with his left foot. For a moment, it looked like he would go for a goal kick even though the path was blocked.
He drew back his foot — then surprised everyone by flicking the ball over to Dana.

All alone and in the clear, Dana trapped the ball. He then quickly sent it flying toward the goal.

It was a perfect shot.

Goal!

The score now read: Grizzlies 4, Anchors 2.

“All right!” Dana shouted, waving his fist in the air. See, guys, the coach was right, he wanted to add. Teamwork pays off.

“Nice work, Dana!” Steve called over to him.

“Thanks, Steve,” he replied. “Thanks for the pass.”

As play started up again, Dana caught Benton’s eye. There was no joy beaming in his direction from that corner of the field.

There was no time to worry about Benton and his deep freeze act now. He would take care of that later.

The Anchors seemed to be coming alive. That’s what mattered. Now if they could only hold off the Grizzlies — and keep that
ball moving among themselves. It was their only hope. But everyone had to do his part. Everyone had to play one hundred percent
for the team.

As he ran upfield to get in position for a pass from the defense, Dana could see Benton lagging behind. At one point, he saw
him lean over, hands on knees, panting for breath.

No one else seemed to notice.

“Benton, are you okay?” he called.

But Benton straightened up, shot him a look, and rejoined the action.

Two Grizzlies were passing the ball back and forth in the Anchors’ penalty area. Jack was ping-ponging back and forth between
them when Pete worked his way in and stole the ball.

Jack broke loose and trapped Pete’s pass. He
booted the ball back downfield, toward the Grizzlies’ goal. It almost went out of bounds near the midfield stripe when Benton
stopped it.

He twisted around to start moving it toward the goal. But two Grizzlies were in his way, so instead, he booted it over to
Abe. Then he rushed off toward the goal.

Before Benton could get there, a coughing fit overtook him. Again, he doubled over hacking and wheezing.

Abe searched frantically for someone in the clear.

There was no one in front of him, but Dana was only ten feet to his right, all by himself.

“Abe!” Dana shouted. “Over here!” Frantically, he waved and shouted.

Abe ignored him. Instead, he tried to dribble the ball forward. He managed to squeeze by a few Grizzlies tacklers and gain
a few more yards. He glanced in Dana’s direction, then toward the goal. Then, seconds before a Grizzlies fullback reached
him, Abe gave the ball a hard, solid boot. It went zooming toward the goal.

But it never made it. The Grizzlies defender blocked the ball right in front of the goal line.

“Abe!” Dana yelled. “I was clear. Why didn’t you pass the ball?”

“Didn’t see you,” Abe muttered.

Dana stared at him. It’s like he’s taking Benton’s side, he thought angrily. I can’t believe Abe would turn against me just
because he thinks I didn’t tell my parents about a wedding! But what else could it be?

For a moment, Dana felt like quitting. What good was it to keep on playing all by himself? How could he pretend there was
an Anchors team on the field?

On the other hand, what would quitting accomplish? It might even make the guys think Benton was right, that he had somehow
been responsible for the fire. No, he had to keep on playing.

Some fancy footwork by the Grizzlies put the ball back in Anchors territory, where they struggled to defend their goal. Dana
stayed out of the thick of things, hoping the ball would come his way rather than Jazz’s.

Then he finally got it, on a forward pass from Jack. He started dribbling down the field, looking for an open receiver.

But it seemed he was all alone. Steve was closely
covered, and Benton seemed hardly able to keep up, he was wheezing so hard. Luckily, through some really good moves and fancy
dribbling, Dana held off the enemy.

Look at this, you wise guys, he thought, who needs all of you?

Then, while his head was all swelled up, a Grizzlies tackler snatched the ball right out from under his nose.

Dana stood there in a daze.

“Should’ve passed it, dummy!” a voice behind him shouted.

It was Lance. The Anchor halfback gave him a look that could have turned a green banana to brown. Then he dashed back into
Anchors territory, where the Grizzlies were again threatening.

Dana broke out of his fog and raced down the field along with the rest of the team.

He couldn’t get over it.
Dummy!
Lance never called anybody names.

Coach Kingsley must have heard the comment. He signaled for Lance to come out. Mac Reese went in for him.

But Mac only got to play for a few minutes before the whistle blew.

The game ended with a victory for the Grizzlies, 4–2.

Dana knew he couldn’t let the rotten situation go on. He had to clear things up with Benton.

The coach was obviously disappointed in the way the Anchors had played. Before they left the field, he called them over to
one side.

“I think you all know what’s going wrong,” he said. “I’m not going to say anything more until next practice. Everyone had
better be there!”

Benton turned to pick up his knapsack. As he lifted it off the bench, a T-shirt covered with dark smudges fell out.

Dana stooped down and picked it up. He thought the shirt smelled like smoke, but before he could be sure, Benton had whisked
it out of his hands and stuffed it back into his sack.

Dana planted himself in front of his teammate. Angry as he was, he could hear his mom’s voice saying, “You can catch more
flies with honey than with vinegar.” Okay, he decided, I’ll give it a try.

As gently as possible, he asked, “Benton, I’ve been wanting to talk to you all week. I tried to get you before the game today,
but you weren’t here. I think we need to clear the air about —”

Benton suddenly straightened up and snapped at him. “I don’t have anything to say to you — or anyone else in your family!”

“Wait a minute!” Dana protested. “You can’t keep blaming me or my folks for what happened to your house. You never asked me
to tell my mom and dad that your folks were going out that night. It wasn’t their fault the fire got out of control!”

“Oh, yeah?” Benton sneered. “Well, for your information, the fire was all your father’s fault in the first place!”

Dana was dumbfounded. “My father? You’re nuts!”

“You think so? Your old man, the ‘brilliant’ electrician, did a lousy wiring job on our house. If it wasn’t for that, we’d
still be living there, not across town in some crummy apartment. And … and I wouldn’t be coughing so much from the smoke that
got in my lungs from the fire!”

“Benton! How can you say that? The smoke must have gotten into your brain!”

“My mother told me. She said it all happened on account of electrical problems. And your father rewired our house last year,
so it’s all his fault!”

Dana stared at him in disbelief.

“She’s wrong! My dad’s an electrical engineer. He designs wiring for new houses and stores and offices. There’s no one who
knows more about electricity and wiring, and … and the fire couldn’t have happened ’cause of his work!”

By now, just about everyone had left the field. Some of the Anchors and fans were down near the entrance gate. Benton had
gotten his wind back and rushed off to join them.

“Besides,” Dana called after him, “You’re forgetting one big thing. My dad saved your life! And your sister’s! And —”

But by this time, Benton was beyond the sound of his voice.

F
our to two, that’s a shame,” said Mrs. Bellamy. “But Dana, you scored both goals for your team. You must be very proud — and
happy, at least, about that.”

“Uh-huh,” Dana replied. He closed the car door and slumped down in the seat.

“You don’t sound all that cheerful,” she said.

“Are you and Benton mad at each other?” Christy piped up from the backseat. “I saw you looking at him like he was poison —
and he acted like you were the ’lectric chair.”

Dana hesitated. He just couldn’t keep it to himself. Benton’s accusation was too … too … it was rotten!

“Benton’s a no-good, miserable, dirty —”

“Whoa! Wait a minute!” exclaimed Mrs. Bellamy.
“What’s going on? You don’t use that kind of language, Dana.”

“Well, Benton said something really bad.”

“Did he use a naughty word, like —”

“Christy!” Mrs. Bellamy snapped. “Quiet down! Now, Dana, what did Benton say?”

Dana gritted his teeth. “He said his mother told him it was Dad’s fault their house caught on fire.”

“What?” Mrs. Bellamy’s hands clutched the steering wheel. “Grace Crawford blames the fire on your father?”

“Uh-huh. She says the house caught on fire because of an electrical problem. And ’cause Dad did the wiring, the Crawfords
blame him.”

“This is incredible,” said Mrs. Bellamy. “How could the Crawfords jump to such a hasty conclusion?”

“Why would Dad want to burn down their house, anyhow?” Christy said, fuming. “It’s stupid. The Crawfords are stupid!”

“Christy, behave yourself,” said Mrs. Bellamy. “I’m sure the fire upset Grace very badly. So naturally,
she’s grasping at anything she thinks might be an answer to why it happened. And when she heard
electrical,
well, one thing led to another.”