Knights of the Hill Country Read Free Page B

off the box with a knife. I'm sure glad you're on our team. I don't want no one laying me out like that.”
    “That ain't no lie,” Jake said. “So tell me, Hamp, how's it feel to score an eighty-yard touchdown?”
    I glanced over at Blaine. He didn't say nothing, but the way he was strangling that steering wheel, I could tell he was still pretty good and annoyed with old Jake.
    “I don't know,” I said. “Why don't you ask Blaine? He scored one eighty-five yards and some change.”
    “Aw,” Darnell said. “That was all the way last season, though.”
    “That's right,” Jake said. “This year it looks like he's gonna need you to bail him out if we're gonna get us another undefeated season.”
    Jake don't know when to keep shut up.
    Blaine didn't stomp on the brake this time, though. He just snorted like he couldn't hardly be bothered with something so stupid. “That'll be the day,” he said.
    “I don't know,” Jake kept on. “You better watch out or Hamp's gonna go off to OU without you, and you're gonna be stuck here riding up and down the strip and circling through Jolly Cone on Saturday nights right on through till you're sixty.”
    “Shoot,” Blaine said. “Hampton's not mean enough for big-time college football. Not yet.”
    We'd talked about going over to Norman to the University of Oklahoma together since we was in fifth grade, and this was the first time he'd said anything about how I wasn'tmean enough for big-time college football. I didn't like it. Sure, he was irritated at Jake trying to get his goat, but I didn't see why he had to take it out on me none.
    “What are you talking about?” I said. “Didn't you see me flatten that quarterback? I bet you he thought I was plenty mean enough.”
    Blaine smiled a little snickery smile. “Yeah, and I also seen you helping their man up on the sideline, patting him on the butt like he was your boyfriend too.”
    “All that is is sportsmanship,” I said.
    “It's soft is what it is. You can't let the enemy see you being weak. Ever. That's rule number one. You're a Knight, son. My dad told me back in his day, every team they played got scared just watching the Knights run on the field. It's the way they carried themselves. The swagger. That's how you keep on top. You can't let 'em see you look weak, and you can't let 'em see you hurt. And sometimes you have to be downright brutal. When it counts.”
    We rode along without saying nothing for a moment. It never even crossed my mind to bring up what would've happened if Wynette'd scored them a touchdown on top of his fumble. But that's the way it always was with Blaine. He could think up an argument for his side quicker than a rich man's lawyer, but me, I had to mull things over, look them up and down and inside out, so by the time I come up with an answer, there's no one around to tell but my bedpost.
    “But don't worry, Hamp,” Blaine said finally. “Come February first, when we finally get to set down and sign a National Letter of Intent, I'll make sure you sign on with OU right alongside me. We just gotta get a little more
mean
in you. You'll do just fine. Old Blaine'll look after you.”
    And I would've just let it lay right there, happy to getthings back on an even keel, or at least as even as things usually got with Blaine, but Jake had to throw one more stick on the fire.
    “What are you talking about, Blaine? You ain't even heard from OU. Hamp'll do just fine on his own. And I'll bet he'll go wherever he wants, with folks like Harvey Warrick calling him up.”
    “Who?”
    “Harvey Warrick. All-American linebacker five years ago for—”
    “I know who he is,” Blaine said. “Just about the best line-backer to ever come out of this state.” He looked over at me. “What I'm wondering is why I ain't heard about this till right now.”
    “It ain't nothing official,” I said. “He just wanted to tell me about his old college program and all like that.”
    I had to turn and look out the