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I stood at the doorway as he made his way down to the kitchen I started to shut the door when I heard Brady’s voice travel up the stairs

"What’s for dinner?" he asked

"Chicken spaghetti I thought Maggie ht like it since it’s your favorite," Aunt Coralee replied Then, dropping her voice a little: "I wish you’d take the tiet to know her"

"Just talked to her She, uh, wrote to me," he replied

"And? Ain’t she sweet?" Aunt Coralee sounded so sincere

"Sure, Mom She’s real sweet"

But Brady didn’t sound very convinced

Told Ya to Run

CHAPTER 2

WEST

I was getting drunk That wasmy truck door, I headed toward the field where I could already hear thethe darkness This was our last Friday night before football became our lives for the next threeCouples would be hooking up in the back of pickup trucks, everyone would have a red Solo cup full of beer in their hands, and there would be at least one fight over a girl before the night was over It was the end to our su to need a beer or six to celebrate Watching my dad throw up blood as my mother wiped his forehead with pure fear in her eyes--that had been too da ot sick, the little boy inside

I loved my dad He’d been my hero my entire life How the hell was I supposed to lose hih my hair and pulled hard I was ready for the football field, and next Friday night I’d be back in my pads and hel to nu, and I pulled it out of ripped irlfriend’s na Dad was still safe at hoto get et you I’ if you don’t get h was noruess I’ll see you later, then Ain’t in the h had no idea abouthow sick he was We kept our mouths shut and, since the local hospital wasn’t sufficient to treat advanced colon cancer, we took him to the hospital an hour away in Nashville Usually you couldn’t keep shit like this a secret in a small town, but we did for the most part Made it easier that my momma didn’t have et it, but now I did My dad had been the golden boy in high school He was Lawton’s clai football at the University of Alaba on to play for the New Orleans Saints While my mother, she was a total princess--her father pretty much owned most of Louisiana--and ht afterhis career with the Saints, he found out he’d gotten his girlfriend pregnant He ht her back here to Alabama The to it as: He’d been their hero, and she’d stolen him from them Seventeen years later and they still kept her at a distance But Momma didn’t seem to care She loved my dad He and I, ere her world And that was it for her

"Are you listening to hts

Raleigh and I were a particular kind of couple: She liked being on my arm, and I liked the way her body looked There was no love or trust between us We had been dating for over a year, and she was easy to keep at a distance And right now that’s all I had the ti a headache I need a break Let’s take a break, and we’ll talk about it next week, yeah?" I didn’t wait for her to respond, and hung up I already kneould be yelling and threats about how she’d go sleep with one of my friends I’d heard it all before

I just didn’t care

I picked up the pace and headed across the grass and between the trees to the open field where the parties always took place The field belonged to Ryker and Nash Lee’s grandfather They were cousins and both played on the tea people use this field for parties since his sons had been in high school It was just on the outskirts of the town li to us And even that was a good mile away We could hbors watching our every ens,me the football since ere in Pop Warner Best quarterback in the state and he knew it

Brady held up a beer in greeting when he saw ate of his truck, which he’d driven up here so we could use the generator in the back to play s No surprise They’d been together a lot this summer Ivy was a senior and head cheerleader and deterraduated and moved halfway across the country