FRIDAY

Summary

Messina mourns like it never has before. All the shops and offices close and students are dismissed from school. Even the courthouse and the factories on the edge of town close. By eleven in the morning, the stands are almost full, and all Rake's former players, many in their green jerseys, mill around the fifty yard line. When Miss Lila and her family arrive, they greet as many players as they can, but Rake's coffin is not there. He had already been buried beside Scotty Reardon that morning. When the bleachers are full, people begin lining the fence around the track. The players take their places on folding chairs placed around the tent. There are 30 members of the '87 team there, and Neely sits between Paul and Silo. At 12:30, the service begins with a bagpipe playing at the north goalpost. Many begin to cry, especially Silo, and no one is ashamed to show their tears. Father McCabe begins the service with a short biography of Eddie Rake. He also explains that Rake was buried next to Scotty, and that Coach had told the priest the week before that he couldn't wait to see Scotty again and tell him he was sorry.

Just then, as people are choking up with their emotion, a car pulls up with a loud radio squawking. A giant of a man - Jesse Trapp - is escorted onto the field by two prison guards. He is wearing his prison uniform, and the crowd freezes as they recognize him. He looks around, unsure of where to sit, and then everyone hears a voice call his name. It is his..........

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