Darius & Twig by Walter Dean Myers Page A

mouth,” Herb said. “What my man here is saying is, what’s in it for me? That’s right, isn’t it?”
    â€œSomething like that,” I said.
    â€œHe’s working for Fernandez!” Coach Day came in again, this time sounding irritated.
    â€œNo, I’m working for both these kids, but I’m also building up my reputation as a person who can spot young talent. If Willie comes through, the football coaches are going to say, ‘Oh, yeah, this is the young stud that Herb told us about. He was right.’ And when they want somebody to fly to California or Red Neck, Georgia, or Perugia, Italy, they’re going to call me and ask me to go for them and scout the kid they’ve heard about because they’ll trust my judgment.
    â€œAnd if Fernandez comes through, they’ll call me up and ask me if he’s really as good as that and I’ll say—‘Hey, he was running against the best young guys in the country and he did okay.’ What more do they want? And they got to respect my judgment.”
    â€œYou get paid?” Willie’s mom asked.
    â€œI’m glad I’m riding with some savvy people,” Herb said.

chapter twenty-two
    We got to Delaware and took a cab to the Holiday Inn. Me and Twig were in one room; Herb and Coach Day were in another room; Willie and a kid from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who was already there were in another room. Willie’s mom had her own room. Herb gave us each twenty dollars to eat with.
    â€œYou can eat out or bring food back to your room,” he said. “But don’t order nothing from room service.”
    We checked out the room, and it was cool. There was a cabinet that had sodas and liquor, but that was locked. We turned on the television and ran through the channels until we found one we liked.
    â€œMaybe this won’t be so bad,” Twig said.
    I told myself three times not to ask Twig how he thought he was going to do in the morning.
    Then I asked him.
    â€œHerb told me I had to try harder in the 3000 than in the 1500, which sucks. He said I could run trials for the 1500, but he thinks I have a better chance in the 3000 open because the field is light. Sixteen guys running on a 400-meter track. That’s not bad.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œHe still wants me to finish fourth,” Twig said. “Don’t take any chances. Just make sure I know where I am so I can work fourth place. The first four guys are listed in the reports they send to colleges. He thinks he can work a deal if I make fourth.”
    â€œYou going to go for more?” I asked. “I don’t see a risk.”
    â€œIf I go for too much, I could get tired and fade bad at the end,” Twig said. “I have to see how the race feels and what the pace is. What do you think?”
    â€œIf you come in fourth, then people like Herb take out their watches and notebooks to decide just how good you are, right?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œYou want that?”
    â€œMy head is in a fight with my heart, man,” Twig said. “My head is talking about being cool and doing what the man says. My heart is saying, ‘Bust a move!’ What you think I should do?”
    â€œCould something else happen?” I asked. “Like, if you’re cruising in fourth and some guy makes a move on you? Or, like, if everybody has somebody like Herb telling them to hang back for fourth?”
    â€œAnd the guys out front are kicking it for one-two-three and the rest of them need to jump bad at the end for fourth?”
    â€œYeah, you could find yourself sweating for fourth.”
    â€œYou know what else I was thinking? Maybe it’s not even about me, man. Maybe all he wants to do is to show off Willie,” Twig said. “And he’s dancing around Coach by bringing me along.”
    â€œLet’s go get Willie and find something to eat,” I said.
    We called Willie’s room, but there was no