Until We Touch (Fool's Gold #15)(43)

“Good for you.” Jack and the teen walked along the sidewalk. The sun had set about fifteen minutes before and now the sky darkened quickly.

Percy glanced at him. “There were a couple of guys in the library who were starting at Cal U Fool’s Gold in a couple of weeks. They said they wished the school had a football team.”

“Trying to influence my vote?” Jack asked.

“Maybe.”

“You don’t have to convince me, kid. I think having a football program will enrich the college. But I’m not the decision maker. Besides, starting a team from scratch...” He shook his head. That would be a tough one. “I’m not sure where they’ll find a coach willing to take that on. It would be years before they were decent enough to play in any of the ranked leagues. You’d be giving up maybe a decade of your career to be in the shadows.”

Percy brows drew together. “I thought coaches were in it for the love of the game and teaching their players.”

“A lot are, but you also want to be seen as a winner. It’s hard to win when you don’t get to play.” Jack wondered how long until the program could join the small leagues. Three years? Four? “Plus, it’s going to take some real money to do it right. Scholarships have to be established, equipment bought, staff hired. A job like that would be consuming.”

He knew what he was talking about. Football had consumed him for a couple of decades—but in the best way possible. He’d seen the sport change lives. Having a team on campus would be a good thing—he believed that. But he doubted the university was willing to make the commitment.

Football had saved him, he thought. Had given him a place to belong after his parents had left for Africa. It had been easier to survive that year after Lucas had died. The year of firsts. First Christmas without his brother. First birthday. In a way, the latter had been more difficult. Because he and Lucas were twins—they’d shared a birthday.

“At least they have a good name,” Percy said. “They’re the Warriors. That’s from the town. The Máa-zib tribe that settled here. Larissa was telling me about it.”

“Did she also tell you the Máa-zib are matriarchal?”

Percy looked blank.

Jack grinned. “That means the structure of the tribe was based on women having the power instead of men. A male-dominated society is patriarchal. Like if a boy is born, he’ll be king, but women can’t rule.”

“There’s a queen of England,” Percy said.

“Right. But that’s only because there weren’t any male heirs. Prince Charles, her son, is her oldest child so her daughter will never rule.”

“That sucks.”

A generational comment, Jack thought humorously. He was pretty sure most men over the age of sixty would think nothing of that. But times had changed.

Percy grinned. “So you’re saying the Cal U Fool’s Gold Warriors should have a woman dressed up like a warrior instead of a guy?”

“Yup.”

“Sweet. You gonna tell them?”

“Probably not.”

“If you change your mind, I want to be there,” Percy told him.

“On the fringe of making trouble, but not actually doing it yourself?”

The teen nodded. “All the show and none of the danger.”

“My brother was like that,” Jack said without thinking.

Percy glanced at him. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“I did. He died a long time ago.”

Percy’s humor faded. “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. He was...” Jack hesitated, then figured what the hell. “He was seventeen. We both were. Lucas was my identical twin.” Although not completely identical, he thought. There was the matter of their very different hearts.

“That had to be hard.”

“It was,” Jack admitted. “He was a good guy. He saw the best in people. And he never complained.” Not about all the treatments, the surgeries, the suffering. Not even about whatever twist of fate had landed him with the crappy heart.

“You still miss him.” Percy wasn’t asking a question.

“Every day,” Jack admitted.

The kid nodded. “It’s like that with my mom. Some days are easier, but I never forget her. I guess it’s always like that when someone you love dies.”

They continued to walk toward Jack’s house. They were mostly silent, but it was companionable. He thought of his earlier conversation with Larissa. “So there’s going to be a bird at the house.”

Percy nodded. “Larissa said something about it coming to stay for a few days. It’s nearly healed and they needed room for more injured birds.”

Which was more than Jack knew. No doubt Larissa would have told him the details, but he liked to be as uninformed as possible. It made his life simpler.

“Did she mention how long it was staying?” he asked.

“Three days. By then it should be able to fly. Once it’s ready, it’ll be released in the wild.” He sounded excited. “She’s going to show me how to feed it and everything.”

“I hope it’s not a raptor.”

“You mean like a dinosaur?”

“No. A raptor is a bird of prey. Like an eagle or a hawk.” Because Jack was starting to have a bad feeling about the whole bird rescue-visit thing. No good deed, he reminded himself.