Sooley
- Автор: Гришэм Джон
- Год: 2021
- Язык: английский
- Год: Doubleday
- ISBN: 978-0-385-54768-0
- Жанр: Современная русская и зарубежная проза
Электронная книга - «Sooley». Краткое содержание книги:
Grambling won by 12. As soon as the game was over, Robin turned to him and asked, “Wanna fool around?”
Sooley walked to the door, opened it, and nodded to the hallway. “Not with my best friend’s girl. Sorry.”
“Come on, Sooley. No one will ever know.”
“Please. Get out of here.”
Chapter 36
Robin texted him throughout the day and hinted that she might return to the dorm. Sooley spent the day in The Nest, alone, taking a thousand shots, watching college and NBA games in the film room. He slept there too, with the door locked.
Prairie View beat Central by eight.
On New Year’s Eve, he walked half an hour to the Walker home and had dinner with the family. Afterward, they watched Central lose a well-played game to Fisk, a superior team. Murray played only three minutes in the first half and his parents weren’t happy about it. During the second half, Sooley eased away from the tension and went downstairs to the basement to watch the game alone. Jordan followed him, and as they lost interest in the game some serious flirting ensued. At first Sooley was delighted to get so much of her attention, but became rattled when she seemed more aggressive. However, Miss Ida smelled trouble and soon joined them. Sooley was relieved, on the one hand. On the other, he had trouble sleeping on the sofa, his thoughts of nothing but Jordan’s fine legs.
The team arrived home on New Year’s Day. The three losses were difficult to stomach, and Coach Britt was not happy. They practiced hard for three straight days, and on January the fifth beat a hapless Division 3 team by 20 points, in front of fewer than two hundred fans. Had their faithful already given up? It seemed so.
And then there were ten. After the game, DeRell Compton, a reserve guard, sent an email to his teammates that read:
Hey Guys. I just met with Coach Britt and informed him that I am leaving the team. I’m transferring to Pico Community College in Texas where I’ll be eligible to PLAY immediately. I love you and wish you the best. DeRell
The news was surprising but not shocking. DeRell had been saying too much in the locker room and his dissatisfaction was well known. He would not be missed by the team. His departure left them with eight players, plus Sooley and the walk-on who was seeing almost no action. Harry Greenwood was recovering from knee surgery and Evan Tucker’s elbow had not mended well.
Murray was out with Robin and was not back at midnight. Sooley went to sleep and was awakened shortly thereafter when his roommate made a noisy entrance and turned on the lights. He was distraught and said he needed to talk to someone. When Sooley could focus he realized Murray’s eyes were red.
“She broke up with me,” he said, his voice hoarse and strained.
“What?”
“She ditched me, just like that.”
“Did she say why?”
“Of course she said why. We’ve been at it for the past two hours. Said she’d found somebody else and wanted out. Said all sorts of crazy shit.”
Sooley suddenly had a knot in his stomach and was horrified that he might be the “somebody else.” “I’m so sorry, Murray. I don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing to say so just listen, okay? How can she do this to me? I love this girl and I thought we were on to something great. And, man, was she hot in bed. I mean, one minute we’re doing great and the next thing I know she’s found another man. I don’t believe this.” He wiped his eyes and for a long time stared painfully at the floor, completely heartbroken.
Timidly, Sooley asked, “Any idea who the other guy is?”
“No. She was too chicken to tell me.”
What a relief. Sooley suspected that the truth was that Robin had slept with several athletes, and he was secretly thrilled that she was out of the picture. His best friend deserved better.
Sooley’s phone buzzed quietly. He looked at the screen and was horrified to see a text from Robin: I still wanna c u naked.
He put the phone under his pillow and stretched out on his bed.
Women!
Chapter 37
Conference play began in earnest with a short bus ride to Greensboro for a game against North Carolina A&T, Central’s biggest rival. With the students still on break, the small gym was only half full and both teams were sluggish. Midway through the first half, Coach Britt yanked Duffy Sunday, a guard who’d thrown up four bricks, and replaced him with Murray. Still feeling jilted and with something to prove, he promptly stole a pass at the top of the key, sprinted to the rim, and finished with a rousing slam dunk. Sooley had never seen him move so fast and the play inspired the Eagles. The next trip down, he hit a long three and screamed at the bench. The team came to life and went on a 10–0 run that put them up by six at the half. A&T fell apart in the second half, primarily because Murray was all over the court. He played 27 minutes, led the team with 15 points, then led the singing all the way home. Late that night, in the dorm room, he called Ernie and they debriefed for half an hour.
Their home opener was against Coppin State, Monday, January 11. Miss Ida, Jordan, and Ernie arrived early and Sooley visited with them in the stands before the game. They were excited because Murray would be starting. It was amazing how a little playing time could lift the spirits of parents.
Miss Ida said, “He’s playing better because he got rid of that girl.”
Ernie said, “She was nothing but trouble, but he’s playing because he deserves to play.”
Sooley offered no opinion on the girl. Robin had stopped texting and had probably moved on to her next victim. When it was time to get dressed, he hugged Jordan and said goodbye for a few months. She would leave the following day for law school.
Murray gave them plenty to cheer about. He and Mitch Rocker controlled the backcourt and kept the pace a little slower, something Coach Britt had planned. Coppin State was small but fast and preferred to run, but struggled from the outside. Murray had three steals and six assists in the first half, and though he didn’t score he played 15 minutes. He hit two bombs to start the second half and the Eagles never looked back.
Four days later, the team left on a chartered flight to Tallahassee to play the Rattlers of Florida A&M. FAMU was a top preseason pick and had beaten Howard at home four days earlier. The Central coaches were hopeful that with two straight wins the team had turned the corner and found some traction. The new lineup, with Murray at guard and Jabari Nix at forward, had looked unbeatable against Coppin State. FAMU was known for its aggressive man-to-man defense, and surprised the Eagles by pressing full-court from the opening tip-off. Murray and Mitch Rocker struggled to break the press and the offense was out of sync. When they managed to cross mid-court, 10 seconds were gone and they couldn’t run their plays. FAMU jumped to an early lead and never slowed down.
Flying home, Coach Britt checked the other scores from around the conference and saw what he expected but didn’t like. Central was the first MEAC team to lose 10 games. And two of those teams, Howard and FAMU, were even better than the experts had anticipated. At 6–10, with fourteen conference games to go, he had the queasy feeling that his team was in free fall, and he wasn’t sure how to save it.
Once home, he shared a late-night pizza with his wife and three kids. He went to bed at eleven, couldn’t sleep, finally dozed off, and was awakened at 3:30 Sunday morning by a phone call from a student manager. Four of his players were running high fevers and showing flulike symptoms. Lonnie called the team doctor and arranged for the sick players to go immediately to the student infirmary. He called the other coaches and told them to quarantine for forty-eight hours. It was too late for Jason Grinnell, who had a fever. “That damned airplane was packed,” Jason said.