The Final Cut

The Final Cut

Born William Joseph Crawford but known from his first year as Billy Joe, he was a handsome boy, taller than his classmates and always running around.

“He’s gonna be a star, he is, the way he runs all over the place. Yes siree! Billy Joe’s gonna be a football quarterback or wide receiver, just you wait and see. I just know it! You can bet yer boots on it!”

Granddad was right. Billy Joe Crawford did turn out to be a star receiver in high school. Star receiver of the Trenton Tigers team. Practically every girl in school had her eyes trained on him whenever he walked by. It didn’t matter if he was alone or with his teammates. He stood out from the crowd.

“Billy Joe Crawford! You’re late for practice again! We start at 3:30...not ten to four. You hear me?”

“Aw, c’mon coach. Cut me some slack, will ya? I’ve been your star receiver for the past two years.”

Billy Joe grinned at the coach, himself a former football great.

The coach came right up to Billy Joe and stood with his face right in front of the young star’s nose.

“Don’t let that go to your head, Smartbutt. This year several others would love to take over your spot on the roster. The final cut is not for a couple of weeks yet and that’s when I decide who makes the team and who gets cut. Did you get that? If you want to play on the Tigers team this year, I want you here for practice on time every time. Is that understood? Because you are a star, it is up to you to set a good example for the rest of the team.”

Billy Joe said, “Okay coach. I’ll be here.” Then he turned and waved to the Tigerette cheerleaders who were practicing on another part of the field.

Billy Joe Crawford has been the main topic on the minds of most of the girls in Trenton High... especially the cheerleaders.

Lori and Patty left school at the usual time…around 3:30. Yea! No extra classes or band practice this aft. What to do? Walk down to the Mall and see who is there? Maybe some of the Tigers. But as they passed the football field, they noticed the team practicing and the Tigerettes going through their cheerleader routines off to the side.

“Want to watch them for a few minutes, Patty?”

“Nah. I’m not much for window shopping unless it’s something I want to buy.” They both laughed.

Although Billy Joe could well have his pick of the cheerleaders, for a guy, it is more fun when there’s a challenge. The cheerleaders would fall over backward for a chance to date Billy Joe Crawford...and to be the envy of almost every other girl in school. Although Billy Joe flirted with the Tigerettes, he never asked any of them out. Lori had seen how he smiled and looked at her whenever they passed each other in the hallway.

Lori had little interest in Billy Joe. To her he was too full of himself...big football hero and all. No, she hoped he wouldn’t ask her out. ‘If he ever does,’ she thought to herself, ‘I think I’ll tell him I like girls. That ought to get rid of him.’

Lori must have been psychic because the following week, she was walking home after school one day when Billy Joe pulled up beside her in his sleek, shiny, silver Chevy Corvette.

“Hey Lori, how’s it going?”

“Okay.” She tried to ignore him and continue walking but Billy Joe just followed her slowly in his ‘Vette.

“Hey,” he said. “I’m inviting a few special friends to a party Friday night, you know, to celebrate making the final cut when the coach selects the football team for the year. I know he’ll want me as his star receiver again. I’ve booked a party room at the Highway Inn from 7:00 – 10:00 and I’d like you to come. Best to come early.”

“Friday night? I thought the coach was going to make his selections on Saturday?”

“Uh, yeah well, he is but, like, you know...it’s a foregone conclusion that I’ll be on the team so I’m asking a few friends to celebrate with me a little early, that’s all. It’s room 18, okay? Try to get there close to 7:00. Gotta go. See ya, Lori!”

Lori’s mind was working overtime. ‘Well, at least he wasn’t trying to hit on me, anyway. But why did he ask me? I thought he’d be surrounded by nubile cheerleaders this week? Room 18? Doesn’t sound like a party room to me. Hmmm. I’ll have to think about it.’

By Friday, Lori had forgotten about Billy Joe’s party. She had a couple of school assignments she needed to get started on over the weekend. Her brother was playing baseball on Saturday afternoon and she wanted to watch him play. Her mom was in the real estate business, so she was always in and out with no set schedule. If someone wanted to see some houses, she was out the door and often Lori had to babysit...oh, not her baseball-playing brother..., her other brother, the toddler, Andy, who was three and a real handful. Continuous motion that only stopped when he was hungry.

Her phone rang. “Hi, Mom. What’s up?”

“Hi, sweetie. I just got a call. Someone wants to look at the Reynolds house at 5:00. You will be home by then, won’t you?”

“Yeah, I should be. No problem. I’ll watch Andy.”

“Thanks, Sweetie. See you later. Love you.”

“Love you, too, Mom! Bring home some pizza, would you? Lots of mushrooms and cheese, okay?”

“Sure, Sweetie.” Lori knew the routine. She asked for pizza. Her mom, whose mind was always wrapped around her real estate business, would forget. They would order when she got home, and Lori would get double cheese on her pizza.

So, around ten minutes before six that evening, her mom walked through the door. “H Sweetie, I’m home. How’s Andy?

“Oh, he’s playing with the cat.”

Suddenly, Andy bursts around the corner and ran to his mother, wrapping his pudgy little arms around her legs. “Momma, momma!”

She bent down and hugged Andy. Then she turned to Lori. “Oh, I saw a couple of the Tigerettes in their uniforms near the mall. They look smart, don’t you think so?”

Lori smiled. “Do you mean the girls or the uniforms?”

Then she remembered. Billy Joe had asked her to be at the Highway Inn about six.

“Ah...I just remembered. I am supposed to be somewhere at six? Mom, can you drop me off please? Jimmy is home so he can watch Andy till you get back.”

“Sure honey. Where do you have to go?”

“The Highway Inn. Do you know where that is?”

“Yes, I do. What a coincidence...and maybe an omen. It hasn’t been doing so well and I have been thinking about going to see the owner and ask him if he is interested in selling his business. The location is good and with a facelift...”

Lori looked exasperated, “Mom!”

“Well, c’mon then.” She called out to Jimmy. “Jimmy, watch Andy for a few minutes, please. We girls have to go out for a bit. We won’t be long. Bye, Honey!”

Twelve minutes later, they were there. “Not sure how long I’ll be. I’m supposed to meet a few friends there.” Lori looked down the row of motel units. ‘Funny’, she thought to herself, I don’t see many cars.’ There was only one other car besides Billy Joe’s Corvette and that was parked way down by the end unit.

Her mom said, “I’ll be in the office having a chat. Do you need a ride home?”

Lori hadn’t thought about that. “Oh, I’ll just take a taxi, thanks.”

“Okay, Sweetie. Have a good time and see you later. Oh, dear...”

Lori looked concerned. “What is it, Mom?”

Her mom said, “I’m sorry, Sweetie. I forgot your pizza!”

“Oh, never mind that Mom.” She expected there would be food of some kind at Billy Joe’s party.

Her mom walked towards the office as Lori walked past all the units looking for no. 18. She knocked on the door. Billy Joe opened it.

“Thanks for coming, Lori. You’re the first one here.”

Lori went inside and immediately felt there was something wrong. There was an unopened bottle of wine on the night table. That was all. No food.

Billy Joe sat down on the bed and patted the bedspread beside him.

“Come sit down, Lori. The others should be here soon. Hey, it’s great to see you. You look terrific, you know?”

Lori chose to sit in the only chair in the room. There was no way she was going near the bed where Billy Joe was sitting. He had a strange look on his face.

Lori looked over at him and politely asked, “So who else is coming, Billy Joe. This seems to be a strange place for a party. It’s really small.”

Billy Joe squirmed, and Lori could see that he was uncomfortable. “Oh, ah, the party room is being renovated and this is the biggest room they have at the moment.”

“So, who else is coming to this ‘party’?

“Ah...a few of the guys, couple of Tigerettes, and other girls I don’t think you know. Hey, why don’t you come and sit over here next to me so I can get to know you better, Lori?”

Lori stood up. “Billy Joe, tell me the truth or I’ll never speak to you again, you hear me? This whole thing is a set-up to get me alone, isn’t it? There is no party. If it was a party, there would at least be food and beverages. Not one lonely bottle of wine. There aren’t even any wine glasses... only a couple of glasses out of the bathroom and they don’t look very clean either. What kind of a party is this? There aren’t any others coming either, are there? What did you think would happen, Billy Joe? Do you think I would let you do whatever you wanted with me? Well, forget it!”

Billy Joe stood up. “Hey, c’mon, Lori. It’s not like that. I like you is all and I wanted to get to know you. Can’t a guy do that...get to know a girl he likes?”

“Of course he can, but there are ways to do that and this isn’t one of them. Inviting me to a sleazy motel room is disgusting. You’re disgusting Billy Joe.”

Billy Joe was sweating. He walked over to the dilapidated old fan on the wall and pushed the button for the fastest setting. Amid groans suggesting it was old and needed oiling in the worse way, it sprang to life, its fan blades gathering speed towards the fast setting. He reached out to Lori.

“Don’t you touch me, Billy Joe, unless you want to be talking to the police. How would that look in the school paper? Star receiver of the Trenton Tigers in jail for attempted whatever you were planning, Billy Joe. Think that might hurt your chances of making the final cut? I’m out of here!”

Lori pulled the door open and walked out. Behind her, she heard Billy Joe kick the door shut and she could see the outside wall shake. Her mom’s car was still parked by the office and her mom was just coming out.

“Did you have a nice visit, Sweetie? You know, I talked with Mr. Phillips, the owner, and told him I was sure I could find a buyer for the motel. He seems interested and wants to think about it. I said I would call him on Monday. Isn’t that something? Luckily, you had to meet your friends here, isn’t it? It must be fate. Don’t you think so? I do.”

They got in the car and headed home. On the way, Lori’s mom picked up her phone and ordered a large mushroom pizza with double cheese.

What they didn’t know was what went on in Room no. 18. When Billy Joe kicked the door, not only did it make the wall shake, it unhinged the screen on the old wall fan and that fell on the floor. He picked up one of the glasses off the nightstand and flung it at the fan. The glass shattered as it caught the tip of one of the blades, freeing it from the fan assembly. The momentum of the spinning fan blades, already set on high, spun out towards Billy Joe’s neck as he turned away towards the bed.

In the end, it turned out that Billy Joe didn’t have to worry about making the final cut for the football team. The final cut had already been made and Billy Joe wouldn’t have made the team anyway, being now a foot shorter...or more correctly, a head shorter!

2159 Words

©March 2021 Robert W. F. Taylor