Foul Trouble

by John Feinstein

  “What if I choose neither?” Terrell said, feeling queasy at the thought of going into business with any of the men in the room.

  Judson smiled and looked directly at Terrell’s mom. “Our job in the next few minutes is to make you understand why you would be making a big mistake by not choosing one or the other. We’ll explain how all of us are going to change your life for the better in a lot of ways. Mrs. Jamerson, any questions before I begin?”

  “Not at the moment,” Mrs. Jamerson said.

  Even in four words Terrell could tell by his mother’s tone that she was not a big fan of Paul Judson.

  Bobby Kelleher’s information would prove stunningly accurate—his numbers were almost identical to those that Judson now laid out. He’d been missing only the exact figures for certain performance bonuses. And another thing Bobby hadn’t mentioned: an insurance policy that would be taken out for Terrell in case of injury, which, according to Judson, was actually not against NCAA rules. Terrell could see his mother’s eyes widen as Judson, reading from a piece of paper and occasionally pausing to double-check a figure with Montana, Hitchcock, or Johnston the Third, plowed ahead. He finished with a flourish by saying that making a commitment tonight could mean ten million dollars to Terrell within a year. Plus the house for his mom, plus a car, which could be bought, with the insurance policy serving as collateral. Later, both would be paid off by Athena in full.

  Terrell took a deep breath. His mom was looking right at Judson.

  “Other than the insurance policy, which you made a point of saying isn’t against the rules, is anything you’ve mentioned within the rules?” she asked.

  “Technically speaking,” Judson said. “No.”

  “Which means, in English, no—right, Mr. Judson?”

  “Mrs. Jamerson, we could get into a philosophical discussion here on the validity of NCAA rules,” Judson said. “We don’t think they are designed to protect the student-athlete.”

  “Student?” Terrell said. “I haven’t heard much about me being a student.”

  Barrett Stephenson, who had said nothing until that point, jumped in. “Terrell, there’s nothing being discussed here that says you can’t be a student.” He was speaking to Terrell but, like Judson, looking mostly at Terrell’s mom.

  “We should hear the other offer,” Mrs. Jamerson said.

  Hitchcock and Montana, who was far less cocky than he had been in the past, quietly left the room. A moment later, Billy Tommasino and David Forcier entered.

  Judson ran through all the specifics of the second offer. There were two key differences in the Brickley/Mass State offer: Mike Todd did not, at that moment anyway, have a coaching spot open for Barrett Stephenson. And, because of Brickley policy, a lot more of the money being offered was tied to performance.

  “This is what we call an offer that’s on the come, Terrell,” Judson explained. “If you play as well as we think you can, you’ll make more money ultimately with Brickley. On the other hand, there’s more up-front money and more guaranteed money with Athena.”

  “Either way, you’ll be involved in the deal, though—right?” Terrell asked.

  Judson smiled his smarmy smile. “Yes, Terrell, that’s right.”

  There was an awkward silence.

  “Okay, then,” Melinda Jamerson said. “Gentlemen, could we please have the room for a few minutes?”

  “Of course,” Judson said.

  “And leave us those papers, if you would.”

  Everyone headed for the door—except for Barrett Stephenson. Terrell’s mom looked at him. “Barrett, excuse us, please.”

  “But, Melinda…”

  “My son and I will talk about this alone,” she said firmly.

  Seeing the look on her face, Coach Stephenson turned and left.

  When the door closed, Terrell’s mom looked at him and said, “So…door number one, door number two, or door number three?”

  When Danny saw the last of the super friends finally come out of the bedroom, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was standing with Laurie and Valerie, and the glares from all of the various super friends’ minions were beginning to make him wonder if he had forgotten to zip his fly. At one point, just to be sure, he checked. Maybe it was his imagination.…

  “Why are they all looking at you like that?” Laurie asked—which was a relief, since it meant he wasn’t being paranoid, they all really did hate him.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “But where are Terrell and Mrs. Jamerson?”

  Neither had emerged.

  “You need to be patient. Do not go in there.”

  But Danny couldn’t stand still. He ducked out into the hallway to call Kelleher. Where the hell was he? He wasn’t answering his phone, and Danny ended up leaving a rambling message about the closed-door meetings and the glaring presidents and how Kelleher had to get here soon or it was all going to be over.

  But really Danny knew—it was over already.

  THIRTY-FOUR

  Danny walked back into the room and saw that Terrell and his mom were standing in the corner talking to Laurie and Valerie.

  “I was coming to find you, man,” Terrell said. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Terrell, can’t this wait?” said Montana, who had followed Danny back into the room.

  “No,” Terrell said coldly. “It can’t.” He spun on his heel and walked back in the direction of the bedroom.

  Danny followed. He shut the door behind him and looked at Terrell, who sat in a chair next to the bed as if someone had put a 200-pound weight on top of him. Danny’s heart sank.

  “Listen, before I go back out there, I owe you this,” Terrell said.

  “Terrell, you don’t owe me anything,” Danny said. “You don’t owe anyone anything.”

  Terrell shook his head. “You’re wrong,” he said. “I owe my mom. She’s sacrificed a lot to get me to this point. She worked two jobs and put herself through school to become a teacher, so that we could have a better life. Now I have a chance to give her a better life. Even if something goes wrong—if I get hurt or even if I get caught by the NCAA or someone—she’ll have a house and a lot of money. We’ve never owned a house.”

  “But what about you?”

  “If I get hurt, there’s insurance,” he said. “Kelleher missed that—they’re going to take out insurance on me. If I stay healthy, even if the NCAA comes after me, I’ll end up in the NBA if I’m good enough.”

  For a moment, Danny couldn’t think of anything to say. “So your mom wants you to do this?” he asked finally. “Did Stephenson convince her?”

  Terrell shook his head. “No, he didn’t. I talked her into it. She’s against it.” He smiled. “She said I should go to Harvard with you.”

  Danny wanted to smile but couldn’t. “But she’s going to go along?”

  “I told her I was doing it. That I knew what I was doing and knew all the reasons not to, but that I still wanted to go ahead. Danny, the concussion scared the hell out of me. And you know as well as I do this isn’t a good versus evil decision. It’s a dirty game.… ”

  “But you get dirty this way. You don’t have to.”

  There was a knock at the door.

  “I’ll be out in a few minutes,” Terrell called.

  Danny heard Coach Stephenson’s voice. “Terrell, everyone’s waiting for you.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Terrell said.

  They stared out the window for a moment. The view was spectacular, but neither saw it at all.

  “Listen, Danny, I know what you think of all those guys,” Terrell said. “I pretty much agree.”

  “No, you don’t,” Danny interrupted. “If you did, you couldn’t possibly do this. Terrell, you’re nothing but a human ATM to those guys.”

  “You can see it that way. Or you could say they’re my ATM. Millions, Danny. We’re talking many millions.”

  “I know,” Danny said softly. “But you’re worth more.”

  Terrell just snorted.

&
nbsp; After a pause, Danny said, “So? Atlanta or Mass State?”

  “Atlanta. They offered more. If I’m gonna do this, might as well get the most guaranteed money out of it.” He looked at Danny. “You gonna stick around?”

  Danny shook his head. “You’ve made your decision,” he said. “I can’t stop you, but I’m not going to stand there and pretend I support it.”

  Terrell nodded and stood up. “Understood,” he said. “I hope we’re still friends.”

  Danny paused. He actually wasn’t sure. But he knew one thing. “I gotta go.”

  Watching Danny leave, Terrell felt sick to his stomach. He took a deep breath, gathered himself, and walked back into the big room.

  Barrett Stephenson was standing by the door. If Danny’s exit had bothered him, he didn’t show it. “You ready, Terrell?” he asked.

  Terrell looked at Valerie and his mom. Danny was gone, and so was Laurie. His mom had agreed to fill Valerie in while he was talking to Danny. He wondered if she would say something, but she didn’t. Neither did his mom. “I guess so,” he said. “Ready as I’m ever going to be.”

  Coach Stephenson led him to the center of the room. “Everyone, can I have your attention, please?” he said, raising his voice.

  The room quieted.

  “Thank you all for coming tonight. I want to thank Stan Montana and the folks at Athena for being our sponsors for this celebration.” He nodded at Montana and held his glass up while everyone clapped. “I know we all want to congratulate Terrell and the rest of the Minutemen for winning Lexington’s first state title in boys’ basketball!”

  More applause.

  “But now”—he paused—“for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…”

  Everyone laughed.

  He put his arm around Terrell. “Terrell and his mom and everyone who cares about him—and I think it’s fair to say that includes everyone in this room—have been through quite a process in the last year. He’s had to make some very difficult decisions, and he’s very lucky to have had the support group around him that he’s had. Terrell, I’m very proud of you. And, Melinda, I’m very proud of you too. I know the most important thing to you is taking care of your family, and you’ve done that tonight.”

  Lots of applause now from all the “friends.”

  Terrell’s knees were feeling weak.

  “Now I’ll let Terrell tell you all where he’s going to college next year.… Terrell, the floor, just like when you play basketball, is all yours.”

  Terrell would have been a lot happier if he’d been on a basketball floor at that moment. Everyone was clapping. He actually felt a little bit light-headed. “Thanks, Coach,” he said. “Thank you, everyone. Thank you for this party.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I’d like to tell you where I’m going to go to college.”

  He saw Dr. Haskell starting to move to the front of the room. He noticed he was carrying something in his hands. He knew almost instantly what it was: a University of Atlanta basketball jersey. He would bet a million dollars it had his name on it. For a split second, he almost laughed. Heck, he thought, I don’t need to bet a million dollars, I’ve got a million dollars—and a lot more.

  He looked at his mom, and he looked at Valerie.

  They were both staring at the floor.

  “I’d like to tell you where I’m going…,” he repeated. He stopped, took one more look around the room, and shut his eyes.

  “But I can’t.”

  When he opened his eyes again, everyone was staring at him, jaws dangling.

  He went over to his mom and kissed her on the cheek. Then he kissed Valerie. “I’m sorry,” he said to the two of them. “I’ve gotta go.”

  Then he fled.

  Danny was sitting at the end of Long Wharf in the rain, barely noticing that he was slowly getting soaked.

  He had his phone in his hand, so he almost jumped when it started vibrating. It was Bobby Kelleher. He knew he should answer, but he wasn’t ready to tell him what had happened. After all, if he told Kelleher, he could jeopardize Terrell’s future. Then again, it was Terrell who was jeopardizing his future.

  The phone buzzed again. He sighed and started to turn it off, but when he glanced at the number, he saw it wasn’t Kelleher—it was Terrell. For a split second, he thought about not picking up. He didn’t want to deal with a plea to come back to the party. But his curiosity was greater than his anger. So he answered. “What’s up?” he asked, trying to sound cool.

  “Where are you?” Terrell sounded breathless.

  “What do you mean? Why?”

  “Just tell me where you are, damn it!”

  That got Danny’s attention.

  “I’m at the end of the wharf by our hotel.” After leaving the party, Danny had told Laurie he wanted some time alone. She argued briefly, but he insisted, pointing out she would get her dress and her hair wet in the rain.

  “Stay there,” Terrell said now. “I’ll be there in about two minutes.”

  Danny didn’t know what to think. The rain slackened, but it didn’t matter because he was already drenched. A moment later he saw a lone figure coming in his direction, half walking, half running. Clearly, it was Terrell—no one else was that tall.

  “What are you doing here?” Danny asked as Terrell pulled up, just a little bit winded. “Where are your mom and Valerie?”

  Terrell waved a hand. “I couldn’t do it,” he said. “I looked at all those people—that horrible president and all those sleazy guys, who, it suddenly struck me, I would be so happy never to see again. I don’t want to be owned and operated by anyone. I just ran.… ”

  “Oh my god! That’s great! Beyond great! But…oh—what about your mom and Valerie?”

  “Told them I’d see them later,” he said. “I doubt either one of them will be upset with me—except for leaving them with those creeps.”

  “Huh,” said Danny. “I might be pretty mad about that.”

  “Yeah.” Terrell shook his head, but he looked happy.

  “Why are you smiling?”

  Terrell pulled a sheaf of papers from his pocket. “Valerie might be irked that I left without her, but Bobby Kelleher is going to love me for what I didn’t leave behind.… ”

  The state champs from Connecticut and Massachusetts were on the court warming up the next morning. The interstate matchup had a noon start because the Celtics were playing at six that evening.

  Danny noticed Terrell and Jay Swanson talking intently at midcourt. He had no idea what they were talking about but figured it had something to do with college. Swanson hadn’t announced his college choice, either.

  Danny and Swanson had actually exchanged hugs when they spotted each other on the court a few minutes earlier. They’d come a long way since Danny had thrown the ball in Swanson’s face in New Jersey.

  Now he went over to join them. “I guess we should try to get fired up for this game. But the idea of being New England champions…”

  “I know.” Swanson laughed. “And let’s not forget, it’s the ‘Brickley New England Championship.’ ”

  “They can call it whatever they want,” Terrell said. “It’s our last high school game. We should enjoy it.”

  Enjoy it they did. The game was played for three quarters almost like an all-star game. No one played much defense, and everyone shot the ball when they felt like it. In the huddles, Danny’s dad was as detailed as ever, but the intensity wasn’t there. The trophy he wanted was already sitting on the bus for the trip home to Lexington.

  It wasn’t until the last few minutes that everyone’s competitive juices kicked in. Terrell and Swanson had both been putting on a show all day, and in the last two minutes they each drilled a pair of threes. Swanson made the last one with fourteen seconds left to give Norwalk a 95–94 lead. The score alone told you how much defense had been played.

  Coach Wilcox called time to set up a last play.

  “Let’s run our four-down play and let Terrell go one-on-one with Swan
son,” he said. “I promise you, Terrell, they won’t double you unless you go into the lane. I’d just run the clock down and make your move.” He looked up at the scoreboard, which showed point totals for each player in the game. “You’ve got thirty-nine already,” he said. “Finish with forty-one or forty-two and let’s go home.”

  Danny liked that idea. He was relieved the teams were only one point apart, because he didn’t want overtime. He was exhausted, drained physically and mentally. He was ready to go home. He was more than happy to take his chances with Terrell going one-on-one with Swanson.

  They came out of the huddle, and Terrell gave everyone a pat on the back. “I’ve got it, pal,” he said to Danny. Then he walked over to James Nix and whispered something to him—no doubt the same thing.

  Terrell inbounded the ball to Danny at midcourt, and Danny immediately flipped it back to him and ran to the baseline. The clock was at ten seconds as Terrell dribbled outside the key, with Swanson giving him a little bit of space to keep him from driving. Everyone else was below the free throw line, so the two superstars could face each other alone.

  With five seconds left, Terrell started his move. He dribbled hard to his left, crossed over to his right, and began to leave his feet with Swanson scrambling to get back to get a hand up. Danny was transfixed, not moving, when he noticed James Nix sprinting to the far corner. The clock was at two seconds as Terrell left his feet. Danny could feel the crowd noise ratchet up as he went into the air, leaping so high that there was no way Swanson had any chance to get near the shot.

  Only he didn’t shoot. Instead, without even looking in that direction, he flicked a pass to Nix, who was wide open on the baseline. No one on the court—or in the building, for that matter—had been paying any attention to him. Nix caught the pass in full flight, heading directly at the basket. He took one dribble for balance and was in the air as Danny saw the clock go to :01. He hung up there, way above everyone else for a split second, before slamming the ball through the hoop. The ball hit the floor just as the buzzer sounded.