28

GAME DAY DAWNED BRIGHT and sunny in Gallatin. Knowing that it was going to be a long and exhausting day, Eddie tried to sleep in, but even before the sunshine peeked through the curtains in his bedroom, he was already imagining his favorite sound. Swish! Swish!

He knew he might as well get up. Everyone else was still sleeping, so he went over to the school’s outdoor courts to shoot some baskets before breakfast.

At the Ligon home, Anna peered into Bill and Tyree’s room. Tyree stirred, but Anna was shocked to find that Bill was not in his bed. Nor did it look as though it had been slept in the night before.

“Tyree?” the boys’ mom called.

“Huh?” Tyree answered, barely awake.

“Where’s your brother?”

“Dunno. He dropped me off after work last night and said he’d see me in the morning. Said not to worry, that he wanted to practice his sky hook shot. Ha, that’s funny, isn’t it? Practice a sky hook in the dark.”

Anna was concerned. Her first inclination, however, was not to worry but to pray. A woman of great faith, Anna knelt beside the couch. “God, wherever Bill is, let your angels surround him and keep him safe. He’s belonged to you since he was a little boy and that hasn’t changed. Please watch out for him and bring him back home safely.” She also decided to make some calls when she was done praying. She lived by the adage that she taught her children: “You do what you can do, and God will do his part.”

Bill was perfectly safe but not necessarily comfortable, as he had fallen asleep in the station wagon’s front seat. He began to rouse when he heard the sounds of children laughing outside the car. After opening his eyes a bit, he noticed several children pointing at him, clearly amused that he had been sleeping in the car along with a basketball on the other seat. Bill grabbed the ball and shuffled out of the vehicle. He put the ball between his legs and stretched his long arms high in the sky and then bent over and touched his toes, stretching his stiff muscles.

He glanced around, remembering where he had parked—right outside the fence to the basketball court in the whites-only park—the one he and Eddie had once sneaked on and played basketball, nearly causing a bigoted man to go nuts; the one near the old house where he and his family used to live when he had first met Eddie and they played over at his cousin Ella Lee’s backyard court.

Bill looked up and saw a couple of curious white kids staring at him from outside the fence, perhaps wondering what a Negro was doing on their court. Bill smiled at them and raised one finger to the sky, as if to say, “Watch this, kids!”

Bill, still in his dress clothes, took several dribbles toward the basketball goal. He took a wider arc and sprinted the remaining distance to the hoop, leaving his feet just inside the free throw line, sailing through the air, and slamming the ball through the hoop.

“All right!” the boys called out.

Bill retrieved the ball, gathered his belongings, got back into the car, and drove home to get some sleep before the big game.

It was a busy afternoon at the Sherlin home as everyone anticipated the evening ahead. Eddie took out his new leather Converse All Star shoes and packed them into his gym bag. He tossed in the other items he needed and retrieved his freshly pressed uniform bearing the large number 22 on the chest. It was almost time to go.

“Hey, it’s my turn in the bathroom,” Debbie whined as she and Delilah fought for time in front of the mirror, bumping each other out of the way as they excitedly combed their hair and applied makeup, wanting to look just right.

Jim and Betty helped Bo into the car. The entire family was excited about getting to the Springfield gymnasium early so they could get good seats.

Across town, Anna Ligon called out the back door to Tyree, who was shooting baskets in the backyard. “Come on, Tyree. Time to get ready. We don’t want to be late.”

“Okay, Mom. One more shot.” Tyree tossed up a sky hook shot of his own. Swish! He threw his hands in the air. Yes! That’s a good sign, he thought before hurrying inside.

Anna and Delores waited patiently as the boys did their final primping, Bill being especially careful to get his Afro fluffed. He dressed in his Sunday best and checked his uniform twice just to make sure he had everything he needed. If a Negro player forgot an item, he couldn’t stop along the way to purchase it. It was unacceptable for a Negro to run into a grocery store or even a gas station operated exclusively for whites. Whatever he needed, Bill had to take with him. Finally, he stepped into the living room carrying his gym bag. “I’m ready,” he announced.

Out on the Bonner tobacco farm, Roy Jackson scattered some grain for the chickens before joining his grandfather. “Come on, Grandpa,” he said as he helped the older Jackson into Mr. Bonner’s car. Mr. Bonner had offered to drive Roy to the school to catch the Union team bus and then take his grandfather all the way to Springfield.

“We sure appreciate your kindness, Mr. Bonner,” Grandfather Jackson said as Roy got into the backseat.

“My pleasure, Mr. Jackson. I wouldn’t want you to miss out on Roy’s biggest game.”

At the Hamilton home, a group of gorgeous race horses trotted away from the white fences lining the lane as Missy, dressed in her cheerleader uniform, and her parents rode down the long gravel driveway in Charles Hamilton’s favorite automobile—a vintage Cadillac he drove only on special occasions. “This is certainly one of those times that merits a special ride,” he said. It may have occurred to Charles that the heavy old car might provide a safer, stronger, more secure vehicle if things turned ugly at the game.

The Herron family had already had a challenging day. Susan Herron was convinced that it was unsafe for Peggy Sue to attend the championship game. Fully aware of the tension surrounding the mandatory integration policies, the moment Susan learned that Gallatin would face Union, she fretted that the game could easily turn into a riot. The cross-burning on her front yard had pushed her over the edge. The day of the game, she admitted her fears to her daughter. “Peggy Sue, as much as I want you to show your school spirit, it simply is not safe for you to attend the game tonight.”

“Mother! You can’t be serious! This is the biggest game of my life. And it may be Eddie Sherlin’s last game. It is sure to be the greatest game in Gallatin history! How can I not be there?”

“I understand all that, but it is simply too dangerous—with your father’s position and the animosity in town right now. Perhaps another time.”

“Mother! There will never be another time like this, ever again!”

“Peggy Sue, your father and I have discussed it. We are concerned for your safety. I know you don’t understand right now, but hopefully someday you will appreciate our desire to protect you.”

“I understand that you are ruining my life!” Peggy Sue objected as she ran out of the living room and sealed herself in her bedroom.

“She’s a smart girl,” Susan said to her husband. “She will figure it all out sooner or later.”

Peggy Sue remained in her room throughout the day, regardless of her parents’ efforts to coax her out.

When it came time to leave for the game, Principal Herron knocked on Peggy Sue’s bedroom door. “Peggy Sue. Sweetheart, we are leaving. Don’t worry. You’ll get to go to many other games before you graduate.”

“I made up a plate of food for your supper,” Susan added. “It’s in the refrigerator. Now, no more pouting, Peggy Sue.” She turned the knob on Peggy Sue’s door. “Peggy Sue?” Susan pushed the bedroom door open and looked inside, her husband right behind her.

“Peggy Sue!” Susan shouted.

They stepped inside the bedroom. Peggy Sue was gone.

At Union and Gallatin high schools, the bus drivers pulled up their vehicles to the front of the schools where large crowds of students were waiting. Sixty-six passengers loaded onto each bus, filling every seat.

The players, coaches, and cheerleaders had already climbed aboard their respective buses. The cheerleaders chattered with excitement, but the ballplayers and coaches were subdued, lost in thought, already playing the game in their minds.

Most people in town were getting into their vehicles to head toward Springfield, but many neighbors and fans remained on the streets to send the teams off with cheers. Some of the older neighbors who couldn’t attend the game sat or stood out on their front porches to wave at the team as the buses rumbled by. A number of young boys ran down the sidewalks, trying to keep up with the buses, waving and calling out encouragement to their favorite players as the team rolled past.

While his bus passed the Negro barbershop, Bill noticed the group of elderly men climbing into an old car in front of the shop. The barber and his friends paused to wave at the Union bus as it whooshed by.

As the Green Wave team bus rolled through the town square, people cheered as though the players were celebrities in a parade. Shop owners stood outside their front doors and waved. Others were busy hanging CLOSED signs on the windows and locking up the stores. They paused long enough to wave at the passing buses and then loaded up their cars and headed to Springfield.

Four police patrol cars were lined up in front of the courthouse. Chief Braden had put every officer on the Gallatin police force on alert. Nobody had tonight off, unless they had a personal emergency to handle. Every patrolman was in place, either in town or surrounding the Springfield gymnasium in cooperation with the local authorities. When the last school bus passed through downtown, the four police cars, loaded with armed patrolmen, followed closely behind.

As the buses approached Springfield, state police troopers pulled out ahead of them, escorting the buses into town. People in the little town of Springfield had never seen so many police officers.

The team buses rolled to a stop at the back of the school near the locker room entrance where several somber and heavily armed police officers guarded the doors.

Almost simultaneously, Bill and Eddie stepped down off their respective buses. Both boys stood for a moment before entering the school, the stoic expressions on their faces belying their excitement and anxiety.

This was the game the two friends had thought about, dreamed about, prayed about. It was time to play ball.