Page 29 of When It Burns

Miss Mabel’s eyes widen, and I think she’s about to burst into tears. “Oh, I am so sorry. I wasn’t trying to upset anyone!” Her old hands start to shake, and I immediately feel like the world’s biggest asshole.

Before I can say anything, Zach is by Miss Mabel’s side and leads her over to a chair at the table. “It’s okay Miss Mabel. You’re okay. You have a seat and Derrik over there will bring you a plate, okay?” Zach makes eye contact with Derrik who nods and immediately sets to work fixing Miss Mabel a plate. “Chief Johnson, can I speak to you for a minute?” Zach asks after making sure that Miss Mabel has calmed down.

I jerk my head at a loss of what to say. Once again, I couldn’t keep my mouth closed and I made myself seem like a jerk. I step outside the kitchen behind Zach who turns around looking sheepish.

“Listen Chief, I don’t mean any disrespect, but I think you need to know the whole story. Miss Mabel lost her husband this time last year to cancer. They were high school sweethearts and had spent the last sixty-two years together in this house. Her kids are being little shits and refusing to help take care of it. They want her to go into an assisted living home in Huntsville, but she says this house is all she has left of Mr. Ralph.

“I know the way she handled it was wrong, and we should talk to her about that. But I do think she’s just really lonely. Plus I think having lunch with her could help your image. Yelling at old ladies isn’t really the way to go about winning the town over you know?” he says, looking a bit uncomfortable. “We have our radios, so if there’s an emergency we can leave.”

I look at him as he shifts from foot to foot. He looks nervous, like he’s worried I am going to chew him out, but I realize he’s right. “Okay, you’re right. I need to apologize to her anyway. Hell, this is gonna be bad if it hits the STS,” I tell him. Zach lets out a laugh, and we make our way back to the kitchen where Miss Mabel is talking away to Derrik and Samuel.

“Hey, Miss Mabel,” I say, making my way over to the elderly woman and bending down so that I am level with her. “I am really sorry for getting frustrated with you. We got off on the wrong foot. It’s something I am working on. If you still want us to stay, we would be honored.”

Miss Mabel smiles at me before saying, “Chief Johnson right?” I nod at her, and she laughs. “Oh, I’ve heard all about you. What an entrance to Springside you made! I appreciate the apology. You were right, I shouldn’t have made it sound like an emergency. I am sorry, I’m just so damned lonely. I’d love for you to stay so I can find out if you are really as horrible as everyone seems to think,” Miss Mabel says as she lets out a loud laugh.

I smile awkwardly before turning back to the men. “Well you heard Miss Mabel, let's eat gentlemen.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

THEO

By four o’clock, I am still stuffed from the lunch Miss Mabel cooked as I pull up to the football field where the team is getting ready to start practice.

It had turned into a nice afternoon, despite her deception in getting us there. Her cooking was incredible, and I couldn’t help but smile as she told us stories about her late husband. He sounded like a character, always getting into more than he could handle around the farm and having to call her for help. She swears he did it on purpose so that she would have to spend time with him, but the smile on her face told me she’d never minded much. Before we’d left, Zach had given Miss Mabel his cell number and promised to come take care of her yard next week. My initial irritation at the woman had completely dissipated, and I had to admit, it felt good to not be seen as the villain in Springside.

I am halfway to the field when my phone rings. I glance at it quickly and see a number I don’t have saved. I would normally let it go to voicemail, but since I don’t have many numbers in town I slide to answer it just in case. “Hello,” I say leaning against the entrance to the football stadium.

“Theo? This is Huey. I got Brian to send me your number, I hope that’s okay. How are you?” the familiar voice explains over the phone.

“I’m good. How are you?” I say back.

“Good as gold. I heard you had quite the afternoon with Miss Mabel,” Huey says and I don’t miss the hint of laughter in his voice.

I let out a small laugh and sigh. “What do you mean you heard? It’s barely been two hours since I left her house.”

“Well, son that may be true but Miss Mabel is best friends with Mrs. Sarah Beth. Remember we told you Mrs. Sarah Beth runs the STS. Y’all weren’t out of the driveway before Miss Mabel called her to tell her all about her afternoon with the fire chief. Good news is she sang your praises and said that even though you almost made her cry you were a good man. It all went out to the chain about an hour ago. I don’t know that you’re completely out of the dog house with the town yet, but I’d say today was a good start,” Huey tells me, and I can tell he is trying to keep the laughter out of his voice.

“This damn town,” I mumble under my breath as I shake my head.

Huey laughs again before saying, “Anyway, that’s not why I called you. I made some calls for you on the animal front. Mr. Willy owns a farm out on Highway 137, and he is looking to downsize since he’s gotten older. I talked to him this morning, and after convincing him that you’re not as bad as Mrs. Sally has made you out to be, he said he’d be interested in talking to you. I am going to text you his number, and he said to call sometime this weekend.”

I swallow, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable. It’s clear my initial response to Huey was completely wrong, and I can see why he is so beloved by the town. Shaking away my discomfort I say, “Oh, awesome. Thank you, Huey. I really appreciate it.”

“Not a problem, Theo. If I hear anything else I will let you know. Have a good afternoon,” Huey says before disconnecting the call.

Slipping my phone back into my pocket, I make my way to the other coaches standing on the sideline while the boys stretch on the field. “Hey, Theo,” Will says before returning to his conversation about next week’s game against Saddle Ridge. The town was so close that this game had become a pretty big rivalry over the years. “Just a reminder, y’all are welcome to come over tonight. I’m going back over their film from last year, and I’ll order pizza. Theo, how are the wide receivers looking?”

“Pretty good. Wesley and Bobby are making really good progress. I think TJ and Ty will be ready too after I run some more footwork drills with them. Their routes are much cleaner and faster than when we started,” I say confidently. Will nods at me and I look over to the boys who are getting ready to run through the plays for the day before we break off into groups to run drills.

A flash of brown catches my eye from the gate at the end zone furthest from me, and after looking closer I realize Caroline is leading her squad onto the turf. About that time, Will calls the team over and says, “Okay gentlemen, we’re gonna run through the new plays we introduced earlier this week. I want to make sure everyone knows what to do. Also, the cheerleaders have asked to practice on the sidelines to make sure they are ready for the game next week. We are going to stay out of their way, and if any of you cause them any issues your ass will be running until you throw up, clear?”

A chorus of “Yes, sir” and “Yes, Coach” comes from the boys and Will claps his hands. “Perfect, alright gentlemen, let’s get to work. We’re gonna start today with Navy-76.” The players jump into action lining up in the play that Will had introduced on Monday. I had to admit that Will is a talented coach, and I can see how he got the job over men twice his age. The players respect him, and the plays he creates have a real chance at securing us a state championship this year. After looking over a bit of their film from last year it seems like he always manages to do the opposite of what is expected, and despite my initial reluctance in coaching the team, I am happy I’ve been given a chance to be a part of this.

The center snaps the ball to the quarterback, and Wesley runs the slant route we’ve been perfecting over the last week. The quarterback, a junior named Blake, rares back and throws a perfect spiral to Wesley who catches it and sprints to the end zone, dodging three defenders on the way in. I let out a loud whoop and run the length of the field to Wesley, who is hollering and waving the ball around. I slap his helmet and he turns to give me a high-five. I let out a loud cheer again, before I take a breath and turn to see the rest of the team and the cheerleaders standing there watching our interaction.

“I’ll be damned, Coach J can do something other than scowl,” Bobby, one of my other wide receivers, jokes. Everyone goes still for a moment before I break out into a laugh, and Will brings the team over.

“Okay guys, that is what I want to see! Wesley, hell of a catch! Coach Johnson said you were working hard at drills and that work is showing off. Let’s run it a few more times.” Will says, and all of the boys move to take their positions.

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