Chapter 30

Ren popped out of bed before Isaac’s alarm even started screeching. His movement brought Isaac out of his slumber. “Dude, you are up early,” Isaac said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Yes, I have a lot going on today,” Ren responded. “I hear you. Let’s get to it,” Isaac said as he climbed out of bed to get dressed. The morning routine was the same: go to the training facility and get their workout in, then head off to class. Isaac finished his last class for the day at half past twelve. He pedaled his way to the practice field, thinking about how Ren’s day was going. At this point, Ren should have called his mom. Ren’s class ended at noon, so if he got through to her, they would be talking now. As Isaac pulled into the parking lot, he noticed Ren’s car there already. Ren was just getting out of his car and grabbing his backpack. Isaac strained to see what type of expression he had on his face. “Turn around, would you?” Isaac quietly willed Ren to perform. Quickly, Ren did turn, and Isaac could see that there was a big smile on his face and that his eyes were a little red. Must have gone good, Isaac thought to himself. “Hey, Ren,” Isaac called out. Ren waved his hand and jogged over to where Isaac was getting off of his bike. “So how did it go?” Isaac asked impatiently. “It was really cool. I explained to her that I did not get her letters until very recently. She explained that she had feared that my dad would hold them but did not think he would still be doing it. We talked about life and my being here in school. She lives in the St. Louis area and has since she moved away. She explained that my dad’s lawyer made up a bunch of stuff, so that is why my dad got full custody. She had hoped I would reconnect with her, and we could at least keep in contact, but it broke her heart when I never replied to any of the cards or letters. I shared with her that I recently became a Christian. I even told her a little about you. How you were a pain, but I put up with you out of pity for you,” Ren said with a smile. “Pity? You are blessed to have me to share a room with,” Isaac responded with a laugh. “I am so happy for you,” Isaac shared. “So what is next?” Isaac continued. “Well, I invited her to come up this weekend. We get an allotment of tickets, so I invited her to come to the game against the University of Iowa, and then maybe we could go out to dinner and get to know each other. You can join us, can’t you?” Ren asked. “You want me to join you? Wouldn’t you prefer to meet her alone?” Isaac questioned. “No, we are in this together. I would never have gotten to this point without your help. I may be slow, but I can see that God has been working on this all along. You know what I mean?” Ren stated. “I guess you are right. His fingerprints are all over this, aren’t they? He is that good. Well, okay, sounds good. My parents will be coming with my little brother. He pouted until I promised to get him tickets to this game above all others,” Isaac replied. “Why this game?” Ren asked. “Oh, yes, you are not from around here. This is what they call a rivalry game. The entire state pretty much shuts down so everyone can watch it. Did you not notice the pressure the coaches have been putting on us?” Isaac shared. “Yes, but I thought that was normal. This is the first game that I get to dress out for. I probably won’t play, but at least I get on the field. Hey, we need to get in to practice. It starts in fifteen minutes,” Ren said.

As they entered the locker room, there was a tag on Isaac’s locker. “See Coach Williams.” Isaac’s heart leaped into his throat. He had heard about notes like these before. They are not usually good news. Normally, it means you are being red-shirted until next season or that you are no longer on the team at all. Isaac quietly prayed as he walked toward Coach Williams’s office. He quietly knocked, then realized it was probably too quiet but did not want to knock again louder in case he heard the first one, but if he didn’t, then he would look stupid standing here. As Isaac continued to argue with himself, he heard Coach Williams answer, “Come in.” Whew, he did hear it, Isaac thought to himself, relieved. “You wanted to see me?” Isaac asked. “Yes, have a seat,” Coach offered. “Kramer, have you learned the playbook yet?” Coach asked him. “Yes, sir. Ren, I mean Carter, and I have gone through it forward and backward,” Isaac replied. “That is what I expected to hear. As I told you when we first met at your house in Ankeny, there was something about you that I felt led to investigate. You can call it intuition or Holy Spirit, but from that first day, I knew you were going to be important to this team. So I wanted to let you know that you are dressing out this week. As you know, this is an important game. Being from Iowa, you know coaches at both universities and careers are made or lost on their record in this game each year. I do not know if you will play or not at this point, but I need you to be ready in case you are called upon to take the field,” Coach explained to Isaac. “I will be ready, Coach.” Isaac pledged. “Now get on the practice field. We have you working with the second team today,” Coach informed him. “Got it, Coach,” Isaac answered as he stood quickly and left his office. Once in the hallway and the door was closed, Isaac jumped in excitement. Yes, I get to dress out, he said to himself with a smile. Isaac ran to find Ren to share the news with him.

After the first three practice series, Coach Tompkins yelled for the second-team offense to take the field. Ren cautiously ran out to the huddle, hoping he would not mess up. Coach Tompkins was standing in the backfield calling the plays for them to run. Ren ran over to him to get the next play. “I left thirty-four dive,” Coach informed him. “Yes, sir,” Ren said as he joined the huddle. “I left thirty-four dive on one,” Ren informed his team. The second-team offense moved to the line of scrimmage. Ren called out, “Set, hut”; the ball was snapped, and Ren handed it off to the fullback coming toward the line. “Good,” Coach Tompkins reported. Ren hustled back to the coach. “I left Taco Charlie,” Coach Tompkins called. “Yes, sir,” Ren replied as he hustled back to the huddle. “I left Taco Charlie on two,” Ren announced to his team. As Ren stepped up to the center, he thought through the play in his head. Two wideouts, curl routes. Running back is the safety valve, he told himself. Ren scanned the defense to see what formation they were in. “Looks like the outside linebacker is cheating to the line, maybe a blitz. “Set, hut, hut,” and the ball was snapped. Quickly, he knew that he was right on the blitz and spun to his left as he scanned the field. There he saw the left receiver break free from his defender. Ren threw a perfect spiral that hit him in stride and went through his hands to the turf. “Come on, guys, get it together. Johnson, why did you not slide out to pick up the blitzer? Randall, you have to concentrate on catching the ball first, then running. You running down the field without the ball does us no good. Run it again,” Coach Tompkins yelled. Ren had a blast running several more plays. Isaac took the field for three of them, but they were running plays, so he did not get a chance to catch a ball. As practice ended, Ren and Isaac showered and headed outside. They stopped by Ren’s Camaro. “Dude, this is so amazing. You know?” Ren asked. “I get it. To think that we get to do this every day—it’s unbelievable,” Isaac replied. “Well, let’s get back to the dorm. I am starving,” Ren announced. Isaac left his bike chained at the practice facility since they would both be back there in the morning and rode to the dorm with Ren. They enjoyed spaghetti dinner at the cafeteria and made it back to their room. Ren had his call with Pastor Dan and shared how the talks with both his dad and mom went. At that point, both boys were exhausted both physically and emotionally with all that had been going on. Soon, both were sound asleep.