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TIM GREEN
For my five kids: Thane, Tessa, and Ty,
who inspired me with their love for reading, and to
the real Troy and Tate, who made writing this book a
pure joy, breathing life into the story with
their ideas and assistance
“It is time for us all to stand and cheer for the doer,
the achiever—the one who recognizes the challenges
and does something about it.”
—Vince Lombardi
Contents
Epigraph
Chapter One
TROY KNEW IT WAS wrong. It was wrong to sneak… 1
Chapter Two
ONE OF THE RICH people who lived inside the wall… 6
Chapter Three
TROY’S MOM HAD A saying she used all the time… 11
Chapter Four
BUT THE SECURITY GUARD kept going down the hedge.
He… 15
Chapter Five
BECAUSE HE DIDN’T FEEL so good about tricking his mom… 19
Chapter Six
ON TUESDAY MORNING, THE day after Labor Day, when Troy… 25
Chapter Seven
HIS MOM HAD A parking pass for the garage where… 33
Chapter Eight
“MR. LANGAN GAVE ME these passes personally,”
Troy’s mom said. 38
Chapter Nine
“COACH, I KNOW WHAT they’re going to do!” Troy yelled… 45
Chapter Ten
TROY WAS ALREADY IN trouble. It couldn’t get worse. But… 49
Chapter Eleven
TROY’S MOM GLUED HER eyes to the road. Her hands… 54
iv
Chapter Twelve
IT WAS DARK AND cloudy under the water, and Troy… 59
Chapter Thirteen
EXCEPT FOR THE PART about Nathan and Tate going with… 63
Chapter Fourteen
“I’M VERY SORRY,” HIS mother said in a quiet voice. 70
Chapter Fifteen
THE SUN WAS ALREADY below the trees and the grass… 76
Chapter Sixteen
TROY HAD NEVER REALLY been grounded before.
Maybe his mom… 81
Chapter Seventeen
TROY DROPPED THE HOSE and stood up, barely noticing the… 85
Chapter Eighteen
NEITHER OF THEM HEARD his mom’s car, but the screen… 91
Chapter Nineteen
KROCK HEAVED HIMSELF AROUND in his chair to face them… 98
Chapter Twenty
“YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED to his leg?”
Nathan asked, looking… 104
“SWEETHEART,” GRAMP SAID TO Troy’s mom,
“I know you don’t… 113
CRICKETS AND CICADAS BUZZED in Troy’s ears. He pushed
aside… 118
“TATE,” TROY SAID, FROWNING at her. “You will,” she said. 123
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
SETH DROPPED TATE OFF in front of her apartment building… 128
IF HAVING SETH WALK out on him wasn’t unpleasant enough… 135
EXCEPT FOR THE GLOW of the big screen, Coach McFadden’s… 139
“CAN’T YOU JUST FIRE him?” Seth asked. 145
NATHAN STARED AT THE door to Troy’s bedroom with the… 150
THE SUN HAD ALREADY dropped below the trees and it… 155
Chapter Thirty
“LOOK AT FIRST PLACE,” Tate said, holding it closer so… 161
THEY WORKED THE SAME way on Friday, and Tate threw… 166
“SIXTEEN YARDS, TWO FEET, three inches,” the judge said. 171
THE NEXT DAY, THE Falcons lost to the Saints in… 174
TROY’S MOM LOOKED UP, trying not to smile. When she… 178
SHE LOOKED PUZZLED, BUT Troy couldn’t worry about that.
He… 182
THE CROWD IN THE Georgia Dome rumbled to life as… 186
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
TROY WAS RIGHT. 191
KROCK HELD UP HIS mom’s phone and snapped it in… 196
“WHAT DID SHE SAY?” Tate asked when Troy ended the… 199
Chapter Forty
TATE GRIPPED TROY’S ARM and yanked him away from the… 203
“WHAT’S GOING ON?” BOB McDonough asked. 206
NO ONE ASKED TO see their passes now. Bob McDonough… 210
MR. LANGAN WALKED OVER and said, “Don’t worry,
you’ll get… 214
THE THREE OF THEM followed the owner out onto the… 218
THE FALCONS’ OFFENSE TOOK the field. 221
TROY’S MOM MADE HIM put on a shirt and tie… 227
TROY DID HIS THING, and the Falcons won their next… 230
TROY WANTED TO SHOUT, but he bit into his cheek… 235
TROY WAS RIDING HIGH up in the passenger seat of… 239
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
242
Chapter Fifty
BACK BY THE TRUCK, Troy could see his mom, shading…
About the Author
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
CHAPTER ONE
wrong. It was wrong to sneak out of
the house after midnight. It was wrong to take someTROY KNEW IT WAS
thing that wasn’t yours. And, even though he wasn’t
that kind of kid, that night, he was doing both.
Usually, on a night like that night, the crickets’
end-of-summer song and the moths bumping against
the window screen would put him to sleep. Usually, he
didn’t hear his mom turn off the TV in the living
room. And usually, if he was up that late, the water
groaning through the pipes while his mom ran her
bath would finish him off. But that night, worry kept
him awake. Because he really wasn’t the kind of kid
to sneak out, and especially to take something that
wasn’t his.
1
TIM GREEN
But if he did have to quietly slide open the screen,
straddle the window, and drop to the ground with a
thud, this was a good night to do it. Stars swirled
around the big yellow moon, casting shadows perfect
for hiding. Shorts and a T-shirt were all he needed to
stay warm.
He didn’t plan on having to run, but he laced his
sneakers tight in case he did. His feet fell without a
sound over the path through the pine trees. He could
smell the trees’ sticky sap, still warm from the hot
September day. An owl hooted somewhere close. A
rabbit screamed, then went quiet. The crickets
stopped, and only the buzz of mosquitoes filled the air.
Troy looked back at his house. It was nestled into
the pines, with no side or backyard. In front, there
was nothing more than a gritty patch of red clay. A
tire hung from a limb at the edge of the patch. A target for footballs. The house was more like a cabin,
a single-story box with a roof covered by fallen pine
needles.
Still, the weak orange glow from the night-light in
the bathroom window was like a friend, calling him
back. Away from the owl and the mosquitoes.
But Troy had other friends, and he dodged through
the pine trees into the darkness, finding his way to
the railroad tracks almost without looking. He stood
on the steel rail, balancing his sneakers and looking
down the long line toward the Pine Grove apartment
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FOOTBALL GENIUS
complex, where his friends lived. He tried to whistle,
but it came out wrong. He tried again, and again,
before giving up.
“Tate?” he called, first soft, then louder. “Tate.”
A whistle came back at him from the woods, high
and clear, the way you’d call a dog. In the light of the
moon, he watched two figures climb up the stony railway bed and start walking his way on the tracks. One
of the figures was as thin as the rail she balanced on.
Tate McGreer, a pretty girl with dark eyes, olive skin,
and silky brown hair tied into a ponytail.
The other was big and burly. A twelve-year-old in
the body of a high school kid. Nathan had a buzz cut
like his dad and he liked to laugh, big belly laughs. He
wasn’t laughing now. His eyes were wide and shifting
nervously, and he was puffing. Tate was the only one
who stayed calm when they heard the low, sad sound
of the coming train.
“The Midnight Express,” Tate said, peering down
the tracks. “It wakes me up almost every night.
Atlanta to Chicago.
“Like clockwork.”
They all scrambled back down the bank into the
rocky ditch, and Tate chewed her gum and nudged
them both and asked, “You got a penny?”
“A penny?” Troy said.
Nathan dug into his pocket and came up with a
nickel.
3