[Brackets] (46 page)

“I have to go,” Casing said. “I’ll be back up soon after your father gets out. It’ll be nice to see him outside.” The older man moved
toward
the door.

“You know,” Williams said, standing, “I still don’t really know anything about you. I keep waiting for you to tell me.”

Casing laughed to himself. “It’s funny, I have a new hire that keeps reminding me of the same thing.
You college kids and your curiosity
.
” He hesitated as he considered the opportunity, but finally shook his head. “I’m really a story for another time. I’ll tell you as a graduation pres
ent, how about that?  In the mean
time, you have a season to prepare for.”

Casing patted Williams on the
shoulder
and
left the room.
A young couple was waiting
for him
outside,
and
Williams saw
the man give him a quick wave
before the door closed shut.

Williams sat there for a while, considering his Uncle Bryan’s words. He looked back up at the screen just in time to see the last painful five seconds of the game tick down and then automatically restart at the five-minute mark. With decisive movement, he turned the machine
off
and the screen went black. Then he looked around for a pen, found one, and began to fill out his bracket.

______________________________________
__

Abou
t the Author

David Sloan
is a neuroscientist currently living in West Virginia. [
Brackets
] is his debut novel. He has never had a perfect bracket. Not even close.