Split Decision Read Online Free PDF Page B

out on me!”
    Drew cocked his head suspiciously. “You two haven’t talked about this? That’s hard to understand. He’s your best friend!”
    Cody exhaled impatiently. “We’ve had more important stuff to talk about—especially lately, okay? I thought about double-checking with him a couple of times, but he’s always been more into baseball than track. And all that’s beside the point anyway—Now, you know something, so spill it!”
    Drew dipped his head. “You better hear it from Chop, directly,” he half-whispered.

    After Drew departed for the locker room, Cody ran home in his street clothes and old basketball shoes. Even in this sorry gear, I bet I’m running a five-minute mile now , he thought. I’m such a bonehead. If Phelps is right about Chop … awww! I don’t even want to think about it! How could I not have made sure we were in synch about this?!
    Sweaty from the exertion and the stress, Cody charged through the front door of the Martin home and marched purposefully toward the phone in the kitchen. He sighed as he heard Mr. Porter’s bass growl on the answering machine. “Chop,” he said, after the beep, “you gotta call me tonight—as soon as you get this message, okay? I don’t care how late it is. It’s really important!”
    He started to cradle the receiver, then froze. He returned the phone to his face. “And, uh, I don’t mean somebody’s dead or maimed—it’s not that kind of important. And Dad and Beth aren’t getting a divorce or anything. It’s all still newlywed bliss for them. But, still, this is pretty crucial. Oh … and it’s not about Robyn either. I didn’t ask her to—”
    Cody heard a sharp click in his ear. “Great,” he muttered, “I just bored Chop’s answering machine to death!”
    He sat down in a kitchen table chair and felt his sweat-soaked T-shirt sticking to his back. “And to top it all off,” he mumbled, “I just wasted a perfectly good shower.”

    Luke and Beth Martin returned from their dinner date up in Denver to find Cody slumped across the living room couch, staring glassy-eyed at the TV, which was turned off.
    “You okay, dude?” Beth asked. Her voice was cheery, but also concerned.
    Sandwiching his face in his hands, Cody began to relate the track versus baseball saga. He told his father and new bride how Chop had returned his call, confirming that he was indeed going to throw the shot put and discus, rather than man first base for the Grant frosh and/or JV baseball squads.
    “That rather surprises me,” Mr. Martin said, steepling his slender fingers in front of his face. “Deke has been a fixture on all your baseball teams. Your mom used to say, uh …” Mr. Martin paused, casting a nervous glance at Beth. “Anyway, I guess that’s neither here nor there. The point is—”
    “So,” Beth said, rescuing her husband from his apparent embarrassment, “what made Chop choose track over baseball anyway?”
    Cody slowly pulled himself to a more posture-friendly sitting position. “I guess it was a lot of things,” he sighed. “I think he was feelin’ kinda beat-up after football and basketball. He told me, ‘Dawg, think about it—at a track meet, I heave the shot and hurl the disc a few times in the morning. Then I get to spend the rest of the day chillin’ in the infield, soaking up the sun and watching all the fly honeys running around the track in singlets and short-shorts. Beats the tar outta standing on first base all day— then getting up to bat and having those no-guts pitchers pitch around me to get to the next hitter.’”
    “Well,” Mr. Martin said, stroking his chin, “he does have a point.”
    Beth giggled. “You better mean he has a point about the baseball stuff, not about ogling track girls,” she mock-scolded.
    Mr. Martin offered an exaggerated shrug. “I plead the Fifth Amendment,” he said.
    Beth dug her fingers into her husband’s ribs. He giggled and pulled away, stumbling into the coffee table in