James Sheehan - The Law of Second Chances

“He doesn’t know me. I never married his mother.” Luis took a long drag on his Marlboro. “We lived together for about two years after Benny was born. We were both on drugs. She left. I didn’t see her after that. Years later, when I got clean, I couldn’t find them. That’s it. That’s the story.”

“So you assume he doesn’t want to hear from you?”

“Yeah.”

“But you don’t know?”

“No, I don’t.”

“How do you know that this Benny Avrile is your kid?”

“The name, the age, and the picture in the paper. He’s a dead ringer for me. Benny’s my kid, all right.”

“And you want to do this because you feel you owe it to him?”

“Yeah. It’s a little bit more complicated than that, but that’s essentially what it’s about.”

Sal thought about his own kids for a minute. He hadn’t seen them since his wife left. Maybe , he said to himself, shrugging his shoulders.

“Here’s the deal, Luis. You need to talk to Benny about this. It’s a legal requirement and I can’t have it blow up in my face. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.” Those who really knew Sal would have gagged at that last remark.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Luis replied. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk to him. It just might be better coming from somebody else.”

There was no way Sal was giving the five thousand back. “Well, it’s going to be either you or me, Luis. I assure you, if Benny’s reluctant after talking to you and finding out the money’s from you, I will eventually convince him that it is in his best interests to have me represent him. But I think you should talk to him first.”

“All right, I’ll give it a shot,” Luis said reluctantly.

Benny was lying on his cot in his cell feeling downright miserable. He’d been in jail before, but the charges had never stuck and he was always out in a day or so. This time it was different. He’d been here for two months already, and the prospects didn’t look good. Hell, they weren’t even trying to reduce his bail. His stomach was in a perpetual state of violent upheaval from the swill that masqueraded as food, not to mention the ever-present smell of ammonia, which they used to mop the floors. After the first few days he’d refused to eat, but then he got so dehydrated and hungry he had to-his body demanded it. When he did, the churning in his stomach started all over again.

Why do guys say they want to come back here after they get out? he asked himself on one of the many days he had absolutely nothing to do. Man, I was homeless and I lived a lot better than this .

While Benny was contemplating death as a pleasant alternative to his present condition, two guards approached his cell.

“You’ve got a visitor,” one of them shouted at Benny.

“Who?” Benny asked.

“How the hell should I know?” the guard responded. “What am I, your press secretary or something? I want you to stand up and turn around and face the wall. Now.”

Benny immediately did as instructed. There was no percentage in playing games with these guys.

“Now I want you to kneel down and put your hands behind your back.” Benny again did as instructed. He’d never had to follow this procedure before when the public defender visited. This must be special treatment reserved for murderers who have visitors , he concluded.

“Now we’re going to open this cell door and handcuff you, but I don’t want you to move until I tell you to. Do you understand?” Benny just nodded. “I need a verbal response,” the guard told him.

“Yes, sir,” Benny replied.

“That’s better.”

As they led him handcuffed out of the cell and down a long corridor, Benny wondered who the hell it was that was coming to visit him. He knew it wasn’t his public defender. They only showed up a few minutes before a scheduled hearing, and he had no hearings coming up. There was nobody else. Maybe it’s Tillie , he thought. Maybe he misses me .

The Navajos had won the Greater Metropolitan League Championship four years in a row, and they appeared to be on their way to another one. They were undefeated, and their average margin of victory was twenty-one points. They didn’t like to merely defeat their opponents-they liked to crush them. They wore the Green Bay Packers colors-not just shirts like the Lexingtons, but everything: shirts, pants, socks, helmets. Hell, they even had their own cheerleaders. To top matters off, the Mount Vernon field was their home field. The deck was certainly stacked in their favor .

Frankie O’Connor huddled the team up before the opening kickoff .

“All right, guys, this is what all the sweat all year was about. Let’s show these blowhards how to play football.”

The Navajos took the opening kickoff and marched down the field for a touchdown. Their kicker made the routine extra point, and on the ensuing change of possession, they forced the Lexingtons to punt. A twenty-yard punt return gave them excellent field position, and they scored again. After the second extra point was made, the score stood at fourteen to nothing and the game was only five minutes old. The defense stiffened up after that. Still, at halftime, with the score fourteen to nothing, the Lexingtons looked like a defeated team .

Frankie O’Connor gave an impassioned speech in the locker room at halftime .

“Those guys are a bunch of prima donnas!” he told them. “Yet they’re playing like a team. We fought hard to get to this game. We’ve had each other’s backs the entire season. Now let’s go out there and show it!”

It was a short speech, but it had the desired effect. Everybody ran out of the locker room with fire in his eyes .

They fought back in the second half, and with three minutes left in the game the score was fourteen to twelve. Even with their new kicking team, the Lexingtons had missed both extra points. Jimmy Walsh was kicking well and they had their timing down, but Rico was too small to play center and the middle linebacker was blowing by him every time and blocking the kicks .

It didn’t look like the team would have another opportunity either. The Navajos had the ball, and they weren’t about to give it up. It was third down and four yards to go. A first down would seal the victory .

The next play was like slow motion for Johnny. He watched the quarterback take the ball from the center and set up for the pass. The wide receiver came off the line and ran five yards downfield, then gave his first fake and planted his opposite foot. Johnny reacted instinctively, moving toward the area where he expected the ball to be thrown. He cut right in front of the receiver and caught the ball in full stride. There were two linemen to avoid, and then it was off to the races. He got past the first one, but the second one caught him by the ankles, slowing him down just enough to allow the quarterback to make a game-saving tackle on the twenty-yard line .

All the Lexingtons went crazy when Johnny intercepted, and they were still going crazy when he ran to the sideline after the play was over. Rico slapped him on the helmet. “Way to protect that turf, Mayor.” Johnny laughed and slapped his hand .

The ball was now on the Navajos’ twenty-yard line: there was less than two minutes left, and they were down by two. However, they only gained three yards on the next three plays. With ten seconds left, there was only time for one more play. The euphoria of minutes ago had vanished. The Lexingtons’ sideline was hushed. Joe Sheffield called a time-out and summoned the entire offensive team over to the sideline .