She’s got her own life to lead, and it doesn’t include pre tending she’s fourteen again, which is the age she claims I treat her as if she’s home longer than a weekend.

“He sounds like a real good kid,” I say, meaning it. What did the other lawyers promise him? I don’t know enough about this case to talk about it. I would brag about my success in rape trials, but I don’t have but a couple of out right acquittals in this area. Most of these cases plead out without going to court.

“He’s a hell of a good boy,” Roy says, his voice flat, as he looks down at his watch. He has at least a two-hour drive ahead of him. Outside, he has a Ford pickup that looks ten years old.

“Is he doing okay in school?”

“Right on schedule,” his father informs me in a mono tone. He seems about to stand up.

“He’s not just up there to play football. We want him to graduate.”

I’ve got to say something quick or I’m going to lose him.

“I can see the possibility of getting this worked out,” I say, more decisively than I feel.

“The plain truth is that the Razorbacks need Dade more than he needs them.

This is our best start since Ken Hatfield took them to back-to-back Cotton Bowls when they were still in the Southwest Conference. Dade is too important to the offense simply to kiss off the rest of the year without a very good reason, and the football program has been down too long to pretend this year isn’t crucial. My recollection is that when the incident occurred in ninety-one involving the basketball team, it was right before the NCAA tournament and none of the players got punished until after it was over. That was a year we thought we had an excel lent chance to go to the “Final Four.” He hasn’t been kicked off the team yet, has he?” I ask, recalling that the article in the paper said neither the university nor Coach Carter had any comment, but the matter was being investigated.