Blue Bloods of Bois D’Arc by Dick Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

chivalry or romance in choosing up sides and killing each other over misplaced ideals. Seems like we are still choking over that one. This is where it all happened, though. Almost single-handedly, Abe Lincoln held the government together. No small feat when you consider his election was a fluke and he was probably the most unpopular president we ever had.”
    Turning to look Rod straight in the eye, Jack said, “I see your situation as being a lot like ole Abe’s. You grew up on the wrong side of town and aren’t particularly well liked by Bois D’Arc’s old-money blue bloods. Old man Worthington made that pretty clear when he told Cass not to see you, not that it stopped you. But, you have usable talent. And they will use you . . . let you think you have become an equal until they are through with you. Then the game is over. Do you understand what I’m saying, son?”
    “I think so,” Rod said haltingly, “but what can I do for them?”
    “Power, prestige, they want to pull the strings when all the college coaches come courting you after this season. Football is bigger than religion in Texas, and that’s pretty big. You’ll see. If you win your first three games, even old man Worthington will come around. Might even acknowledge you are dating his granddaughter, and believe me, he knows it. Nothing happens in that town that he doesn’t know.”
    “I already know I’m going to A&M, thanks to you,” Rod said. “I don’t see how they can have anything to say about it.”
    “Don’t kid yourself. You can bet old man Worthington will have plenty to say. He will insist you go to SMU if you want to continue seeing his granddaughter. He carries a lot of weight at the Hilltop. That’s what the well-to-do alumni call their old stomping grounds at SMU. There’s a little ten-thousand-dollar bet with some of his Dallas Highland Park cronies over who can recruit the best high school football players for their dear old alma mater. Money is no object and they throw a lot of it around. I’m not in their league when it comes to putting players on salary. I’ve sponsored a lot of scholarships, but that’s where it stops. The player has to earn his slot and make his grades. No free rides on my money.” With that, Jack headed for the bathroom to get ready to hit the sack.
    Jack’s comment about Mr. Worthington allowing him to date Cass caught Rod by surprise and his heart was pounding just thinking about it. They had been caught taking a midnight skinny dip at the country club pool by Mr. Gardner. Mr. Worthington almost had a coronary when word leaked of the incident and made a belated effort to hush up what everybody in town already knew. Most people figured he and Cass would end up at SMU together because of old man Worthington, not in spite of him.
    What if I have to choose between A&M and Cass? The brief rush he felt quickly faded in light of Jack’s scenario. If he went to SMU and led them to a Cotton Bowl win on New Year’s Day, a future could be possible for him and Cass.
    The senior Worthington’s own son was a complete disappointment to him. Dominated by a headstrong woman of impeccable breeding, he was putty in her hands. Her genes had been passed on to their only child, Cassandra. Cass knew she could have whoever or whatever she wanted, with or without her grandfather’s blessing. He would just have to accept the fact that Rod grew up poor living with Mexican and black families in the Flats. His pedigree was in football, and that outweighed her grandfather’s prejudice against Rod, whose troubles were only beginning.
    “Well, sport,” Jack said, sauntering in from the bathroom, “I don’t know about you, but I need to be fresh for Colonel Norbeck tomorrow. The future of my business depends on it.”
    Rod sat quietly in the dark in a quandary about the life altering-decisions he would have to make soon.

Chapter 11
    The next morning, Jack carefully picked his way through the maze of guarded doors at the