Victory's Tragedy

Victory’s Tragedy

The pavement was wet and cold beneath my neck. I couldn’t understand why it would be, it hadn’t been raining all night. Our game would definitely have been canceled. I looked around trying to make out my surroundings, but all I could recognize was smoke and flashing lights.

“Garrett? Garrett, can you hear me?” a faint voice above me asked. It was my friend Jerry, the quarterback of our football team. His voice was hard to distinguish, but I could still hear the shakiness of it. He began to cry, I think, and began to raise me up and hold me against his shoulder. “Hang in there, buddy.”

My vision was a little better in this position and I finally understood what was happening. The red stains now on his shirt explained the moisture I felt on the back of my neck. I was dying.

It seemed hard to believe, considering the start of the evening. My football team, the Vikings, had just won the Season Championship for the third year in a row. The entire town was watching from the stands and the opposition didn’t stand a chance. Locals showing spirit was the best motivation for the team and we beat the Falcons to a pulp. The scoreboard read 56-0 and we knew what that meant…Party!

Every victory party was held at the head cheerleader’s house because it was the biggest and best in the tri-county area. A huge pool, a refrigerator full of alcoholic beverages, and numerous bedrooms perfect for doing dark deeds, were just a few of the perks of having a party there.

Marek, Jerry, and Adam offered to give me a ride after the game and I gladly accepted. The four of us had been friends forever it seemed like and we had been teammates for just as long. We hurried out of the locker room and piled into Marek’s jeep. I was so excited about the win that the thirty minute car ride felt like seconds. Running into Staci’s house, everyone cheered for the star players and my face went red. I loved the attention, but at that moment all I wanted was a drink and a kiss from my girlfriend.

“Baby!!!” came a shriek from across the room as Mandy ran towards me. She jumped up into my arms and gave me a huge kiss, then handed me a beer.

“Thanks sweetie,” I whispered to her and told her that I needed to chill with the team for a minute. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and ran back to some other girls on the squad. As the rest of the team and I circled the party we knew how lucky we were to have a life like we did. I wish I had appreciated it more.

“I’ve called 911,” Jerry’s voice interrupted and I was brought back to reality. Pain started to change to numbness and he asked me what the last thing I remembered was.

“I remember leaving Staci’s house…”

It was a little after three in the morning. Mandy and I had been dancing all night, and I took back some shots of vodka with the boys.

“Train’s leavin’!” Marek screamed, making it known that he had definitely been intoxicated since we arrived. I kissed Mandy one last time and told her that I loved her. Then, we all piled into the jeep and hauled ass out of Staci’s driveway. We had the music blaring and mixed with the drinks everything around us was a blur. Adam was rapping, Marek was describing his night with some girl he slept with at the party, and then everything stopped.

I could barely move as Jerry cradled me. I wanted to cry as I thought of Mandy, my family, and all of my friends. I looked back on high school and thought of everything I was going to miss. I won’t take Mandy to our senior prom. I won’t walk across the stage with my friends and grab my diploma from my principal. I will never get married and have children. But I will die. And before everyone else.

Tears began to run down my face and Jerry wiped them away, then his own. “Garrett, Garrett! The ambulance is coming!” I could hear the sirens and I thanked Jerry for everything. As soon as I saw the lights, they stopped, and so did my heart.