Epilogue
By Monday after the district tournament Zach
knew that whatever was wrong with his wrist before, he’d made it worse by
wrestling over the weekend. It was too
painful to wrestle with in practice so he spent his afternoons for the week
running and riding an exercise bike to keep his weight down.
Friday morning he was three pounds over
the limit so he devoted a lot of time to working off the weight before
weigh-ins. Coach Crisfield had a sense
of what was going to happen and tried to talk Zach into dropping out of the
region tournament because of his wrist.
Still giddy over his district title, Zach wouldn’t hear of
quitting. The worsening injury and the
extra time needed for making weight took their toll, however. Exhausted and only able to wrestle with one
arm, Zach was pounded 10-0 by a sophomore from Ventnor in the first round,
ending his season on a sour note.
After the tournament Mrs. Bowie insisted
that Zach see a doctor after finding one that accepted credit cards. Only one x-ray was needed before the doctor
told them that Zach had suffered a transverse wrist fracture to the radius bone
in his forearm. “I don’t know how you
were able to wrestle with it,” he said. When
Mrs. Bowie asked if it could have happened while Zach had been wrestling, the
doctor nodded and said that was almost certainly how it happened. “This type of thing usually occurs when a
person falls forward and tries to break the fall by throwing their hands out,”
he explained. Zach was glad nobody asked
him if he could remember anything like that.
He was fitted with a light cast to immobilize the arm so it could heal
on its own.
Fauquier didn’t hear from the showcase
committee until Tuesday, but the news was good.
They had been among the five bands inducted into the ‘Golden Roll of
Rock’, the highest honor awarded at the showcase. There was no record contract, but there were
plenty of spoils to go along with the victory. He was told the band could count on a stream
of complimentary musical equipment and instruments from all the major makers,
who were anxious to put their products in the hands of tomorrow’s stars. Aside from that they were enrolled in a
management program which, among other things, guaranteed a steady succession of
high-end appearances in regional concerts and upscale venues. Fauquier pretended to be dissatisfied but he
eventually confessed to the others that he was excited because he knew it was a
big step in the right direction.
Instead of going to
During the week after the state tournament
Coach Crisfield called a team meeting in his office. “I told you that wrist was hurt too bad to
wrestle,” he told Zach when he saw the cast.
He talked to the team about off-season conditioning, summer camps and
the value of competing in a few tournaments.
Later, as the wrestlers were leaving, Crisfield darted out of the room
and caught up with Zach halfway down the hall.
“I hope you keep everything I said in
mind,” he said. “Of everybody I have
coming back you’ve got the most potential.
You are coming back aren’t you?”
Zach nodded. “I’ll be here,” he said.
“Looking forward to it then, Zach,”
Crisfield said. “Maybe
a little less band next season?”
Zach rolled his eyes. Here we
go again, he thought. They turned
the corner without saying another word about it. Some things were better left unsaid.