The Young Coyote

The town of Cipher, Arizona was set twenty-seven miles back of the canyon rim that permits a striking view of the Painted Desert--far enough back that the inhabitants of the town miss the view and see only sand and red rock. The paucity of plant life makes for views little different from the mountains of Mars. God made the Painted Desert as beautiful in its own way as Lago Maggiore in Northern Italy or Mount Timpanogos in Utah are in theirs. Cipher--well-named--on the other hand, might as well be where the Creator rested on the seventh day and left behind some unfinished work. Whatever was decided, the town no longer exists.

The town was small and poor, drab, dusty, and plain--plain ugly. In 1940 the city consisted of seventy-eight habitations, most in need of paint, one all-purpose store, an elementary school, one vintage Mormon church, two competing up-to-date beer joints, a service station, a café and a junk yard. Given the social milieu, the principal industry of the municipality was jury duty. Third Street was at the edge of town, and coyotes, desert hawks, and Apache Indians, ruled the sands outside the town’s meager streets.

Garven Aloysius Carmichael, age ten, sat on the top wooden rail of a broken fence watching a sandlot football game that raged with the intensity, and--to him--the importance of Armageddon. Garven was a competitor with a ferocious will to win and sitting on the fence rail while the drama of the game unfolded in front of him and without him was maddeningly frustrating. His problem was that he was the new kid in a town that required time to adjust and more time to assimilate. The establishment of the town’s boys had no reason to open ranks and to let him join them. Garven was scrawny and short, had a high pitched pre-pubertal voice, and--worst of all-was the new teacher’s son. That was an automatic social disqualifier. With all his social debits, Garven sat silently watching for the wedge of an opportunity to enter the fray.

Garven and his mother, Rachel, had moved into the floridly dusty and scorching town after Garven’s father deserted them in Phoenix. The town could not induce any other teacher to come there, and Rachel found it expedient to re-locate without leaving a forwarding address. The mayor and the Mormon bishop, the two officials of note in Cipher, and the only two persons other than Garven privy to her circumstances, felt they had made a fine deal. Rachel had smiled, agreed, and had tried not to appear as crestfallen as she felt when she saw the one-room adobe school house--her future. She hated the town, the dust, the daily encounters with coyotes (not all of them four legged), and the demeaning professional status to which she had been reduced.

Of the one hundred forty-one men, women, and children living in Cipher—not counting the reservation Apaches—one hundred thirty-nine were Mormons, some active, some jack. The two exceptions, as of less than a week, were ten-year-old Garven Aloysius Carmichael and his mother, Rachel, who had moved into the floridly dusty and scorching town after Garven’s father deserted them in Phoenix. The town could not induce any other teacher to come there, and Rachel found it expedient to relocate without leaving a forwarding address. The mayor and the Mormon bishop, the two officials of note in Cipher, and the only two persons other than Garven privy to her circumstances, felt they had made a fine deal. Rachel had smiled, agreed, and had tried not to appear as crestfallen as she felt when she saw the one-room adobe schoolhouse—her future. She hated the town, the dust, the daily encounters with coyotes (not all of them four legged), and the demeaning professional status to which she had been reduced.

Garven was a loner by nature, and his interactions with other people had inculcated in him a crafty wariness and cunning that matched the coyotes roaming on the outskirts of the new town he saw during his solitary walks. He and his mother moved into the trailer provided by the school district rent-free the day before the ten-year-old assumed his wistful perch on the fence rail to watch the boys at war. Garven’s father had not been a superior provider when he was at his best; and when he deserted them, he took most of the furniture of any value; so, the move-in had taken only a few hours. It was July 12, l940.

The boys, arbitrarily divided up into their Gog and Magog teams, raged up and down the gravel-covered scrabble ground of the playing field, churning up dust clouds with every tackle, run, or altercation. Had there ever been any vegetation growing in the field, it was long since trampled into the coarse parched dust and forgotten by the generations of boys who battled there.          The game that so captivated Garven was being fought out under the canopy of a cloudless azure sky. The temperature on the ground was 120°, and the ground was bricky dry.

The game itself was a combination of the intensity of a pirate crew scuttling a ship and putting the passengers to the cutlass and the desert version of Athapaskan Indian lacrosse. The contest started in the morning with no clear rules; it was more like the improvisation of a knife fight. Garven supposed that, if one of the players was unable to get up after a play, the others might consider calling a foul. Each day, the boundaries of play and the rules of engagement were painfully worked out in a fist fight after every contested play. The scene was an irresistible draw for Garven.

A narrow wedge of opportunity presented itself, and Garven ventured out onto the playing field. It was opportune because Jimmy Rodgers had developed a bloody nose, one of the few universally recognized indications for a brief time-out in the Cipher amateur football league. The opposite team was grousing about the delay, as if anyone in the entire county, especially a kid, had any kind of a deadline.    “Need anybody else to play?” Garven asked the milling boys.

“Nope,” answered Lyle Durche, the self-appointed leader and spokesman, being the biggest kid in that general age group in town.

“Oh, c’mon, lemme play,” Garven said, trying not to sound as if he were pleading.

“Who are you, anyway?” one of the other boys asked.

Garven was the first newcomer they had ever seen. The demographics of influx and efflux in Cipher were simple and stable.

“Garven,” he answered simply.

“Jimmy’s nose had stopped bleeding.

“Okay, let’s play,” ordered the big kid in charge.

“Hey, we need somebody. You got two more guys than we do.”

“Jimmy’s little brother don’t count, and you know Edgar will have to go milk the cows before we finish,” said the boy who had appointed himself in charge of fairness.

“Then let him play until Edgar has to go. What’s it matter, anyhow? He’s as scrawny as Jimmy; can’t make that much difference.”

“How old are you, Gary?”

“Garven.”

The questioner had never met anyone named ‘Garven’ and made the next obvious observation, “That’s a funny name. You come from the city?”

He said, “Me and my mom, we moved here from Phoenix.”

“Jeez...Phoenix,” one of the boys muttered in slight awe.

None of the boys had been to the capital city or more than a hundred miles from Cipher, for that matter. Garven gained an immediate measure of respect. Such were the vagaries of social acceptance at that level.

“We gonna fish or cut bait?” Lyle, the big kid, asked, perturbed at standing around in the baking sun.

“Let’s play. C’mon, Gary; you’re on our side.”

Garven let it go.

The raucous and joyful mayhem started again immediately after the yelled debate over who last had the ball. By the persuasion of superior size, Lyle Durche’s team naturally won that discussion since no one could really remember who had had possession when they stopped for Jimmy’s nosebleed, anyway.

Garven was on the same side as Jimmy and his little brother. The captain and only big player on their side was Hyrum Smith. Hyrum also called all the plays in view of his size-dictated authority. The concept of democracy had not filtered down to the boy level in Cipher as yet. Since none of the boys on either side could pass the football with the least accuracy, all tactics concerned the running game.

“Jimmy, you block Tadd so’s I can run a sweep to the right. Gary, you and Jimmy’s little brother wait back and block anybody who gets through. Clark and Steve, you run in front of me and block for me when I head out for the left side,” Hyrum instructed.

“When do you want me to hike it?” asked John Tatum, the fat twelve-year-old who played center.

“Jist hike it when I do like this,” Hyrum told him, making the well-recognized finger flipping sign with both sets of fingers. “I’ll count a bunch of hut numbers, but fergit them. Jist watch me. Got that?”

“Okay.”

Garven had his own thoughts about how to run the play but thought that he had better not press his luck, since he was only the new boy. He held his peace.

“Hut one! Hut two! Hut three!” yelled Hyrum to set up his deception.

But before he could get the next “hut” out or flip his fingers in the agreed upon signal for the hike of the ball, fat John fired it off from between his legs with the momentum of a torpedo. The thirteen-year-old signal caller and running back was not ready for it. The ball hit Hyrum square in the chest, and Lyle’s team were across the line of scrimmage screaming like attacking Huns.

Garven had hunkered down unobtrusively and anticipated the onrushing defensive lineman. He curled into a ball and propelled himself directly into Tadd’s knees, so the bigger opponent tripped and fell on his face in the dusty gravel. Garven’s block gave Hyrum enough time to get control of the ball and to get started around the left side of the unmarked line of scrimmage. Lyle was lumbering with full menace towards Hyrum from right to left.

Garven sprang to his feet as soon as Tadd went down and cut across the field as fast as he could travel. He picked a point of contact between himself and the hard running Lyle. Lyle was oblivious to anyone but Hyrum carrying the ball. The honor of both boys’ teams was at stake.

Garven was small enough to escape Lyle’s peripheral vision, and the much larger player did not see Garven’s head before the smaller boy crashed into his midsection in a spear block. Lyle took an ungainly fall to the left. Garven still churned up the dust with his feet, all the while keeping his head driving into Lyle’s gut. They hit the ground together with a sudden exhalation by Lyle, who then lay on the ground gasping for breath. Garven wondered briefly if his own neck was broken. He could move everything and could not hear any funny sounds emanating from his neck; so he figured he was all right. Hyrum went on for the touchdown.

He came back and chucked Garven on the shoulder.

“Good block,” he said, and he was unused to granting such lavish praise.

“Crap,” gasped Lyle when he could get his breath.

“Losers walk,” Hyrum said, gloating over his team’s first touchdown of the day.

Lyle’s team lined up on the opposite side of the field, glowering with unaccustomed disgruntlement at the eager team facing them. They were not magnanimous in their usual role as winners and were not even close to accepting defeat with equanimity. Lyle muttered something about that new kid and glowered darkly at Garven across the sun-bleached playing field.

“Whoever catches the kickoff, give the ball to me,” Hyrum said with his usual authority.

Garven nodded affirmatively like the rest of his teammates, though he had no intention of giving up the ball if he got the kickoff. Tadd kicked the pigskin way over Hyrum’s head on purpose far to the left where the weakest kids were assigned. The ball sailed accurately into Garven’s waiting hands, although he had to run over the top of Jimmy’s little brother to make it happen. He saw Hyrum put out his hands to take a lateral; so, he could run the ball instead of the smaller Garven.

This was his big break, and Garven had no intention of handing off the ball. All the glamor was in carrying the ball, and Garven was about to make the best of it.

He faked out Lyle who came in too fast. He dodged and paused, ran and darted his way through all of the would-be tacklers until he was running easily with only Tadd between him and a kickoff return touchdown. Tadd was faster than he looked and covered more ground than Garven would have anticipated. Garven could only get another ten yards before Tadd read his mind and met Garven in a stand-up tackle that jarred the smaller boy’s joints loose. He fell to the ground with Tadd draped over him. Tadd checked around for the other boys who were beginning to limp his way. Assured that no one was close enough to witness, Tadd hauled off and slugged Garven on the cheekbone with his clenched fist.

“Wanna make somethin out of it?” whispered Tadd with fight in his eye.

Garven was still on the ground and, as a result of that, he did not get his head knocked about, just scraped up on the gravel. He had a florid bruise on his cheek in a matter of seconds. He was not drowsy, and he was not intimidated.

“I can wait,” Garven answered in a steady voice.

He held Tadd’s eyes in a direct stare. Tadd blinked first.

Garven’s cheek smarted and started to discolor and to swell. He ignored it.

“You okay?” Hyrum and Steve asked as he got up.

“Yeah,” Garven responded tersely, “I’m okay.”

Hyrum punched Garven’s shoulder.

Garven and his teammates huddled; and as usual, Hyrum called a running play with himself in the starring role.

“Could we try something else one time?” Garven spoke up.

He was greeted with expressions of consternation.

“I guess we might could,” said Hyrum with a tinge of surprise in his voice. “Watcha got in mind?

“A pass.”

“Kin you pass?” Clark asked, his expression full of exaggerated disbelief.

“A little. But I thought Hyrum could do the best job if we could block for him long enough for him to get set.”

“Yeah, good idea,” said Hyrum, warming to the idea now.

“Then everybody but me and Jimmy’s little brother block for Hyrum. Me and him will run straight down the sidelines on both sides. I’ll go short, and he can go long.”

“I can run purty fast,” piped up Jimmy’s little brother for the first time anyone had heard him talk on the football field. He was generally regarded as cannon fodder.

“Okay?”

“Okay,” everyone said.

They were unconvinced; but it was worth a try since they never got anywhere on the ground, each of them thought privately.

Garven knew he was not big enough and secretly knew he was not able to pass well enough to do anything worthwhile in that department. He also knew that Hyrum would throw to the guy who ran short because he probably couldn’t pass worth anything either. And Garven knew he could run the ball if he could get the chance. This was his best opportunity to get in with these guys, and he intended to capitalize on it. His main hope was that Hyrum could at least get the ball somewhere near him.

The team lined up in the usual single-wing formation facing the opposition. The town’s footballers had abandoned the clumsy double-wing formation as soon as the new single-wing offense was introduced at the state finals the year before. Everyone took football seriously, and they kept up on the newest changes. Fat John had been firmly admonished after the lousy hike in their previous series of plays. He was determined not to screw up the delivery this time. He watched Hyrum’s fingers for the sign, then centered the football right into the waiting hands. Fat John then extended his usefulness by falling in front of Tadd and Clint as the two of them crashed in after their usual target, Hyrum.

Hyrum set himself and looked frantically for a receiver. Steve, Clark, and Jimmy all got in some blocking, using a little more hands action than Lyle and his team thought fair. Hyrum looked at Jimmy’s little brother who was streaking for the goal line, never looking back. Garven was in the clear, not far from the line of scrimmage with only Teddy Sorensen between him and the goal. Hyrum threw a short, wobbly, end over end pass for which Garven had to backtrack two steps, but it was roughly on target. Garven uncrossed his fingers and caught at the ball. The football bounced on his chest, juggled briefly in the air; and Garven caught it again.

By this time, Lyle, Tadd, and Teddy, on the opposing team, figured out what was going on and converged on the scrawny ten-year-old with the ball. It was now only a matter of a foot race to the goal line. Garven was not very fast and was steadily losing ground, but the distance to the goal was growing shorter. With eight yards to go, Garven was ahead of the three tacklers by four yards. At four yards to touchdown, Garven could hear and almost feel the hot breath on his neck. He saw the line scratched in the dust directly ahead of him less than a body length away. He visualized success and in his mind’s eye, he could see himself crossing the goal line first. He could feel victory, acceptance, and even a little glory.

Garven felt two sets of hands grabbing at his legs. He eluded the first pair and heard an “oomph” as his tackler fell prone in the dirt behind him. The second set of fingers tripped up his dust-churning feet, and Garven tumbled headlong over the line, clutching the sweat-soaked football in a desperate clasp. Tadd Stricklin was still on his feet behind Garven and arrived a full second late, just in time to throw a vicious kick into the wiry little boy’s exposed thigh. The other two tacklers saw the unnecessary bit of villainy and looked at each other in a questioning glance. Lyle was about to stick up for the fallen and abused newcomer, even though Garven was not on his side, when he saw the new boy spring to his feet like a wounded tiger. He decided to watch how the city boy handled himself.

Garven was in real pain and having trouble fighting back tears. Lyle and Teddy watched the struggle in fascination. Each boy knew they could witness the new kid’s ruination. To cry after being hurt in Cipher, Arizona, was the worst thing you could ever do. Garven clenched his teeth in a concentrated effort that shut off the pesky tears. In a blur of movement, he whirled his thin body about so that he was in direct line with the taunting face of the much larger boy. Tadd had the reputation of being the best fighter in Cipher, pound for pound; but Garven could not be expected to know that. Even Lyle felt a small pang of sympathy for the new kid, Gary or whatever his name was.

Garven’s expression was one of complete concentration on his objective. He kept his flashing hazel eyes locked onto the pupils of the larger opponent, drawing Tadd’s attention irresistibly to the intense focal point. In the brief fraction of a second that Tadd looked at Garven’s eyes, Garven threw a low kick at blinding speed and caught Tadd precisely on his left testicle. The pain was so sudden, surprising, and so terrible, that Tadd had no time to react. His mind wanted him to crumple to the ground, but his body had not had time to comply. He had a completely stunned expression on his face as the first two sharp pointed fist blows bolted through his fogging vision and into his tender nose and exposed teeth. Before he could hit the ground and find relative safety, two more vicious jabs pounded his broken nose and cut his cheek. They were thrown with blinding speed. Tadd did not want to fall, or to cry, or to pass out; but he did all three in rapid succession.

Garven stood over his tormentor, who lay before him completely hors d’ combat. Garven wore a disappointed look on his face. He still had murder flashing from his eyes and nowhere to commit it. The two nearest witnesses were impressed, almost shocked. The rest of the football players loped up to the fight scene chattering excitedly about what they had missed. As Tadd, the former best fighter in Cipher, Arizona, began to come to, nauseated and puling, the boys described and rehashed the spectacular fight to each other.

Garven left the field with the rest of the boys fully integrated.

“Welcome to Cipher,” Lyle said respectfully.

The intrepid red hawk perched on the cross-tree of the telephone pole was oblivious to the boys intent on the jackrabbit she was eyeing. But the old coyote watching from behind a creosote bush was well aware of the boys and the cacophony they created. Garven caught the predator’s cruel eye in a moment’s glance, and it seemed that the creature gave him a quick wink.

The boys hollered and swore without prejudice from old boys to newcomer. He even taught them a sketchy song he had learned in Phoenix.