— Chapter Six —

Big Man on Campus

F

elix picked up the ringing phone and answered it. He thanked the front desk for the wake-up call, hung up, and got out of bed. His tired body went to the bathroom and got ready for the day. Felix put on his clothes from the previous day, then called The Herald. His call went to Minnie’s desk. She picked up. Felix told her he had found Tate and would be getting an interview from him that morning.

Felix left his room and went straight to Jack’s floor. His head was sore, but he was feeling good. As the elevator doors opened to the fifteenth floor, he noticed the police. They were outside and inside Jack’s room. An officer stopped Felix before he walked into his friend’s suite.

“And, where do you think you’re going, Mac?” said an officer by the door.

“This is Jack Tate’s room. —I’m here for an interview,” said Felix.

“And, who are you?” asked the officer.

“I’m Felix Kendell. I’m a sports reporter for The Herald,” he said. “What’s going on? —Did Jack do something wrong?” he asked.

“Did he do something wrong? —Yeah, you can say that,” said the officer. “A cleaning maid found his room door open and walked in early this morning, around five, to understand why. That’s when she found him sitting in the chair —dead.”

“WHAT?” Felix said in a state of confusion. —”It can’t be? You must have the wrong guy?”

“We don’t think so, Pal. It was one shot to the head with what looks like a 32 caliber,” said the officer.

“His execution happened sometime in the early morning. No one heard the shot because the killer used a pillow as a muffler. And no one witnessed anything until the hotel maid found him.”

“Are you sure the body in the chair is Jack Tate?” asked Felix.

“We’re sure,” said the officer. “And, we’ve already contacted his father to come to the police station and identify his son’s body.”

“I want to see him,” said Felix as he attempted to barge into the room. As he pushed himself into the room, he saw a detective with a mustache looking around the scene of the crime. The police officer braced up against Felix and said.

“NO WAY, Mac!” said the officer. —”Tate’s tagged, bagged, and removed from the hotel. We’re wrapping up here with photos. We’ll be closing this room until our investigation of the area is complete. You need to leave now —there’s nothing more here for you,” he said.

Felix turned and walked away. Soon, he found himself back in his hotel room. How the young report got back, even he couldn’t say. Felix’s head was ringing, and he felt beside himself. Everything was surreal. Felix picked up the phone to call back Minnie.

“Sports Department, Mr. Badcock’s office. This is Minnie. May I help you?” she said.

“Minnie, it’s me —Felix,” he said.

“Hey Felix, so did you get the story?” asked Minnie.

“—No,” Felix replied in a low, quiet voice.

“Oh, jeepers, Felix. This isn’t going to go over well with JB. Why not?” Minnie asked. “Did the fellow not show? —Felix? —Felix, are you still with me? Did we get cut off?”

“I’m here. —Jack Tate is dead —found murdered this morning,” said Felix.

“My God, Felix. —I’m so sorry,” said Minnie. “JB told me you two were friends. Can I do anything for you?”

“Yeah, you can. —I want Jack’s death in today’s paper,” said Felix. “Perhaps something good can come out of this if the word gets out.”

“Of course, we’ll make it happen. What do you have, Felix?” asked Minnie.

He repeated everything he knew to her about how Jack was staying at the Blackstone Hotel. His door was open during the night. Shortly after five, a cleaning maid found him in the morning, sitting in the chair, dead, one shot in the head with what seems to be a 32 caliber. The police believe it was an execution. No one witnessed anything or heard a shot—a pillow, used as a muffler. The time of death occurred after 1:00 a.m.

“Is that everything?” asked Minnie.

“No, —there’s one more thing. I’m not coming in the rest of the day,” said Felix.

“Okay. I’ll fill JB in on what you told me. —Thanks, Felix,” she said. Minnie wished him well as they ended the call.

Miss Minnie Jacoway got up from her desk. Popped her head into JB’s office and said a phrase that meant a hot story came in. “JB. —Stop the presses!”

Felix sat on his hotel bed and stared straight ahead. His friend was murdered. He couldn’t believe it. The young reporter lay straight back, hit his head on the mattress, and closed his eyes. His head was hurting from drinking last night, along with the news of his friend, who’s now dead.

The feeling of a queasy, sharp pain was in his stomach; he knew he wasn’t sick and that the pain was all in his head.

Still, the pain was as bad as when he had his appendix removed. He remembers that day lying in a hospital bed, unable to go to the big revel football game. On that day, Felix had to listen to it on the radio instead of watching his friend Jack Tate play. His mind drifted back to an October day, when the announcer called the play-by-play on the radio.

“Hello and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome, as we are broadcasting from Evanston, Illinois, on a beautiful autumn afternoon. Today should be a stellar game for you. The University of Chicago versus the home team, Northwestern. Both squads have only one loss this season. With two games left, the winner today will likely secure the Western Conference title. You have Chicago with its strong defense. Whereas Northwestern, with their All-American star ‘Cracker’ Jack Tate, had an explosive offense. This is the game of the year that everyone has been waiting for this season.

“The captains from both teams are out on the field for the coin toss. Northwestern won the coin toss and will receive the ball to start the game. Chicago will be defending the south end of the lawn. Before the captains leave, they shake hands. We’ll be starting the game with Chicago kicking off.

“—With both teams now on their field, they line up waiting for the start of the game. That’s the whistle, and here’s the kick. Chicago kicks it deep to Northwestern’s five-yard line as Tate picks up the ball and runs it up the middle. With a twenty-yard pickup, Tate’s tackled to their twenty-five-yard line.”

As the game continued, Felix heard that his team’s lead changed hands a couple of times before halftime. His old roommate, Tate, ran up the yards with two touchdowns during the first half. But Chicago kept answering back to tie the game. Then, right before going to the locker room for halftime, Chicago took the game lead with a field goal.

After halftime, Chicago receives the kickoff. The Maroons fumble the ball, allowing Northwestern to recover it. The Purple Wildcats scored a field goal and tied the game. By the end of the third quarter, Chicago had Northwestern backed up to its end zone. Smith, the quarterback, fumbled the handoff. The quarterback recovered the football. Then he was sacked in their end zone for a two-point Chicago Maroons’ safety.

In the following play, Northwestern had to kick the ball to Chicago. Chicago marched down the field and ate up the clock on a long drive, ultimately ending with a field goal. Northwestern finally regained possession of the football and began its offensive drive. As they started on their twenty-yard line, the first two plays in the series gained them no yards. They have to take their last time out with the game clock running out. The fans were anxious as the broadcaster called the game’s final minutes.

“—Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have a great football game so far on this beautiful autumn day. Northwestern’s game against visiting Chicago is everything we expected. The game has been close, with both teams taking the lead back and forth. Now, with only two minutes left, the Northwestern Purples are down by five points, and they are on their twenty-yard line. After taking their last timeout, the Northwestern team will soon be back on the field.

“They need to figure out how they’ll win this one, but it doesn’t look good. The Chicago Maroons have stopped Northwestern in their last three positions. You have to give credit to the Maroons’ defense. In the first half of the game, Jack Tate was eating up the yards from the Maroons. Then the Maroons readjusted their defense at halftime and slowed Tate to a crawl.

“But remember, folks! They don’t call Northwestern’s running back ‘Cracker’ Jack Tate for nothing. When the chips are down, this team will put its running back in a position to pull off something monumental. This footballer doesn’t know the word quit. He’ll play hard right up to that final gunshot to close the game.

“Both teams are now breaking from the sideline from the timeout. The Northwestern Purple fans are now on their feet, and the stadium is at a roar! The fans are screaming for Tate to take the snap from center. Northwestern goes from the wishbone formation to its famous Flying V formation. Will this be a strong indicator that Tate is going to get the ball? Once again, the quarterback Smith takes the snap from the center.

“Smith gets the ball and fakes the handoff to Tate, pitches it to Johnson! Johnson sees room on the field and runs for over twenty-five yards! The Maroons’ defense was queuing up on Tate, which let Johnson have the open field for a significant gain. Northwestern lines right back up in the T formation with no-huddle.

“Here’s the snap. Smith again fakes a handoff to Tate. Again, the defense takes the bait as Johnson gains another fifteen yards. Northwestern lines up on the ball again with a no-huddle as time is running out! Here’s the snap! The quarterback pitches the ball to Tate, and the running back FUMBLES the football! Now there’s a mad dash for the loose ball! Tate recovered it, and Northwestern lost many yards on that play.

“Jack Tate hops up red-hot mad and is yelling at his quarterback. Time is almost up as the offense is back on the line. Now for the last play of the game! Can Northwestern do something to save itself? Here’s the snap to Tate! Tate runs it up the middle, but there is nowhere to go. Now, Tate bounces out to the weak side of the field. The defense overcommits to the center. Tate runs to the sideline and stiff-arms a cornerback defender. Tate breaks to the post and runs upfield as the fans go crazy!

“The running back, Tate, sheds another defensive player. He’s at the twenty, the ten, the five, TOUCHDOWN. TOUCHDOWN. The stadium erupts in cheers! ‘Cracker’ Jack Tate wins the game for Northwestern as the gun goes off to end the game! I can’t believe the wild ending to a fantastic game. The fans storm onto the field as they hoist Jack Tate onto their shoulders and carry him off! ‘Cracker’ Jack will be tonight’s Big Man on campus!”