Tales Across Crimson Cove (Anthology)

Part 3: 1O1: A Lesson for Young Lovers - Homecoming

The bleachers on the left side of the field erupted into cheers from the spectators. The Pack's cheerleaders start chanting, "GO KINGSTON, GO KINGSTON, GO!" The crowd in the stands join in. People passing by the school field can hear the chant.

"I just got a few more yards to go," Damian thinks to himself. As he runs, he notices someone running alongside him on the other side of the outer bounce line. It was his girlfriend, Sharaty, all dressed up in her cheerleader outfit. She drops her pom poms to the ground to cup her hands around her mouth.

"YOU GOT THIS BABE! I LOVE YOU; NOW MAKE OUR DREAMS COME TRUE!" She finishes by blowing him a kiss and pointing down the field towards the in zone.

Damian turns his focus back to running and he pushes himself to run even faster. There's no Patriots behind him.

"Kingston," Angela says, "has just ten seconds left on the clock!"

Paul interjects again, "With three yards left to go!"

The Pack fans cheer loud for Kingston to keep going. Angela and Paul both start the countdown which gets the Pack side to join in.

"FIVE, FOUR..."

The stands on the other side of the field start roaring, "STOP HIM!"

A Patriot player flanks Damian from the left. Damian notices them and the short distance he's from the goal line.

"THREE, TWO..." the Pack fans continue.

The rival player is now on Damian's tail.

"ONE!"

Damian and the player leap into the in zone.

"ZERO," the Pack's stands finish their countdown.

"TOUCHDOWN, THE PACK ARE GOING TO THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP," Paul screams into the microphone. Cheerful noise comes from the Pack stands and players as the other stand and team groan.

The referees officially announced that Damian had made the touchdown, but there was something wrong.

"Hold on Paul," Angela speaks up with concern in her voice. "Damian isn't moving down there." The field and both stands go quiet as the officials rush to Damian's side. They move the Park View player away from him as one of them checks on Damian. Two women cry out for him as tears stream down their faces.

"SWEETHEART GET UP," an older black lady screams from the railing of the bleachers, it's Damian's mother.

"He's going to be fine, honey," Damian's father says while holding Damian's mother.

"BABY NO," the other one came from Sharaty, who's trying to get closer to Damian, but the coach of the Pack is holding her back.

After a long time, Damian is finally carried off into the back of an ambulance for a severe injury. Sharaty joins Damian in the back; she was okayed by Damian's parents; they'll follow them in their car with Damian's young siblings.

- - -

Once again, the scene in front of your eyes fades out to black, then fades into blinding white. It takes a second before your eyes adjust to the white room. You notice Damian lying in a hospital bed with his right leg in a cast being propped up by a few pillows. He's surrounded by a few balloons with variations of "wishing you a speedy recovery" scribbled on them.

You hear squeaking patterns of shoes on the newly waxed floors outside of his room, you hear a nurse taking a call and someone coughing. Until the sound outside becomes non-existent, you just hear Damian and the little TV playing in his room. The announcer on the TV pulls your attention.

- - -

••• Dec. 10 - Championship Game •••

"The 2011 championship game between Heritance High School and Oscar Smith has come to an extraordinary conclusion. Oscar Smith took the win with forty-seven to twenty-one. The Pack played a good game, but Oscar Smith played a better game," the young male announcer takes a beat.

"It's an unfortunate loss for the Pack especially after the outstanding win that got them into the championship by Damian Kingston which also cost him his scholarship and put a sirous halt on his football career..."

"Fuck you," Damian throws the remote, but it hit his foot of his injured leg which caused him pain. The impact of the remote causes the TV to turn off. As the pain runs up and down Damian's leg, he holds back the tears.

Ping... A notification from Sharaty pops up on his phone screen. A slight smile comes across his face. Just what he needs right now in his darkest hour, a loving message from his girlfriend.

"I love you babe, but I'm sorry... I don't think I'm strong enough to see you through your trials and tribulations. It just brings me so much pain to see you in that room all broken. I know you're going through so much right now, so I think it's best for us to separate to give you time to focus on your recovery. I don't want to be a steady reminder of a dream of us walking into GSU, it's a dream you'll never see come true. This brings me to tears just to type this all out. Just know I will always love you and will always be here for you as a friend. - Once your Lady."

As tears run down his face Damian throws his phone, this time the object clears his foot and smashes against the wall opposite him. He pulls his good arm up to cover his face as he subs.

- - -

You start to feel an ache in your heart as if you could feel the pain the young man is going through. You try to place a reinsuring hand Damian, but the scene in front of you starts to shake and become blurry. A force pulls you away.

"Aye aye," AT gently shakes your shoulder.

You blink widely at them then you scan the dark room frantically. The air tastes a bit stale and feels warm, it looks like a boiler room.

"Aye Newbie," Sable kneels next to you. "Where'd you go?" A wicked smile crosses her face.

More calmly now you look around to see you're surrounded by some of the members from the Cove. You must've blacked out or something during the walk to this location. You tell Sable and the gang what you saw.

"Aye, it sounds like the Newbie had a spirit walk y'all," Sable says as the rest of the group laugh and cheer for you. You just sit there wondering what the heck is a spirit walk.

• • •