Saturday, December 2

This morning Joey calls again. He tells Paul that Betty Bright’s yellow Mustang is at the Donnelly house. Paul rides his bicycle over there and finds Shandra Thomas in the passenger seat of the Mustang. Shandra tells Paul that Coach Bright and Shandra’s brother, Antoine, are inside the house, talking to Mr. Donnelly.

Shandra says that Antoine is upset, more than usual.

When the front door opens, Antoine walks to the car and tells Shandra that, from now on, they will tell the truth. Betty Bright introduces Antoine and Paul. Antoine asks Paul if he is Erik’s brother. When he finds out that he is, he also tells Paul that it is time to tell the truth. At first, Paul doesn’t understand exactly what Antoine means, but, when Antoine says something about hiding under bleachers, he knows exactly what he means.

As Coach Bright, Shandra, and Antoine leave in the Mustang, Antoine tells Paul that they are on their way to tell someone else the truth now.

As Mr. Donnelly pulls out of his garage, he stops and asks Paul if the coach told him what the meeting was about. Mr. Donnelly decides not to tell him either. Everyone will find out at the same time, tomorrow morning.

Later, over pizza, Mom and Dad tell Paul that they are going to have an important meeting at their house tomorrow.

Sunday, December 3

Paul’s household receives their Sunday morning newspaper at the same time the rest of the area receives theirs. Not long after that, the Fisher phone rings with the first of many calls from people who have read the big story. The story is about Antoine’s confession that he went to Lake Windsor High School while living in the Tangerine district. And, it is about what followed the admission, the nullification of all Lake Windsor High School football victories since Antoine started playing on the team. That was three years ago.

Mr. Donnelly has an article in the paper saying that Antoine Thomas is the greatest quarterback in the county. But, most people, including Dad, want to concentrate on blaming Antoine and only Antoine. Finally, Paul manages to get Dad to see the obvious.