A Story By: L.B. Horton
Austin: Since my father’s passing I think the hardest thing to adjust to, was changing schools. You’d think it wouldn’t be too difficult seeing as though I’m only a freshman but I’d certainly beg to differ. Imagine being the most popular kid in the school to and now you know no one. A little background about myself, my name is Austin Jefferies. I grew up in what some would call an “upper middle class” home with both of my parents. My mom was a teacher in my school district and my dad drove for UPS. Everyone knew who they were so no matter where I was someone knew me as “Chuck and Connie’s kid”. I didn’t really take offense to it, I mean hey they were great people. I was an only child for a time until they had my younger brother Ethan, who’s six years younger than me. We don’t really have your average big brother little brother relationship…we’ve actually gotten along from the start. Our house was pretty close, we did your regular everyday family things. Dad would take us to games and try to talk to us about girls, mom would always say we were too young to talk about that. Of course Ethan and I didn’t think so. We wanted to hear all about it. He would always tell us, “never play with anyone’s emotions and remember to keep your nose clean.” Neither one of us understood the second part until I’d gotten older…granted I’m only 16 but still. Dad and I were always a little closer than he and Ethan were, probably because our personalities were so similar. We both loved football! He’d always tell me I’d make it to the NFL someday because I had what he called “a pro arm”. So of course when the time presented itself, he signed me up to play and of course he immediately jumped in the coach’s ear to try me at quarterback. Coach listened and that’s been my position since little league. Fast forward to my eighth grade year…the cool thing about our district is, if they’re good enough eighth graders can play freshman ball! That automatically made me want to impress anyone I could and it worked! The freshman coach pulled my dad to the side and asked if he’d be ok with me moving up. It seemed like before coach could get the question mark out my dad was saying yes. Eager to get home and tell mom about my opportunity, I rushed out of the locker room after the game. But my dad suggested we didn’t tell her because she’d object. I was small for my age and mom always feared I’d get hurt, a fear I never developed. We were a pretty good team but the freshman team? They were ridiculous! I’d had some friends on the team that I’d known since little league and they were monsters. Only part I wasn’t a fan of was, eighth graders couldn’t start so this was the first time I’d had to sit the bench. My folks were at every game religiously, rain or shine. They’d even drag Ethan out there to cheer me on. It was like having my own cheering section, I loved it. The day of our last game of the season, UPS had given dad the day off so he could stay home and take care Ethan who’d had the flu. For whatever reason the day dragged on, I mean to the point where I had to stop looking at the clock because it was so nerve recking. The dismissal bell finally rang and I could finally start getting into game mode. After everyone had gotten suited up, coach led onto the field for warmups. Normally dad is there before anyone but I figured he was home with baby bro so he’d be late. Once we finished warm ups we headed back to the locker room. One thing that’s certainly different about the freshman squad in comparison to the eighth grade one is….coach! Coach Gold as he makes us call him, turns into a different person on game days. It threw me off at first but now I’m use to it. I rarely got playing time but today was different. We’d already locked up a playoff spot and clinched our division….so Coach Gold got me in early! I played a majority of the first half and did pretty well according to coach. Caught up in the flow of the game, I didn’t notice that my family hadn’t shown up yet. Shortly before the second half started I glanced up at the stands and noticed their usual spot was empty. I figured they were just at home taking care of Ethan so I continued on with the game without thinking about their absence again. We finished the game with a win, which of course made Coach Gold happy but it set me up to be a starter next season. I rode the team bus home, which I normally didn’t do. I got off at my stop about two blocks away from the house. Excited to tell them about my win and the opportunity I’d just gotten, I hurried through the door straight to my dad’s study which was empty. Thinking he was probably upstairs, I darted up the stairs. It wasn’t until I got to Ethan’s room I noticed that the house was empty. Slightly startled I called my dad’s phone which he always answers but this time was different….my mom answered it but she didn’t sound like herself. She’d told to stay there she’d be home in an hour. At this point I’m wondering why they’d take my brother who was sick out of the house and why does she sound that way. About an hour and a half had gone passed when I’d heard what I thought was my mom’s car pull into the driveway. As I looked through the window to make sure it was her I noticed she was the only one in the car…when she got out of the car I noticed she was carrying my dad’s wallet and phone. Slightly unnerved I asked “Hey mom, what’s going on? Where’s dad and Ethan? Are they ok?” She quickly told me to go back in the house because it was cold. As we walked through the door I asked her again but this time she didn’t respond, she just walked straight to the kitchen for a glass of water. As she drank her water she called me into the kitchen and had me sit down in front of her. I could see tears welling in her eyes and her voice shuttered as she took both my hands. “Things are going to be a lot different now.” she mumbled…I quickly asked “Why? What’s going on?”…she replied “Your dad and brother are gone…” “What do you mean gone?…Where’d they go?”….”Your dad and brother were on their way to your game…..when they were at the light across from the school…the light turned green….your father went to turn and collide with someone who’d just ran the light….your brother died on impact and your father passed just after I’d gotten to the hospital, that’s why it was me that answered the phone.” In disbelief, all I could say was “you’re kidding….this isn’t funny!”
To be continued.
Respect. 