Caines thought of maybe not playing. For a half-second, at most.
"I had to stick with what I'd always told my teammates," he said. "I knew my aunt would want it that way."
As the Firebirds' team bus traveled to the South Philly Super Site, it passed the hospital. Caines' emotions bubbled, and did not stop there.
"As we passed the hospital, I put a towel over my face and started crying," Caines said. "Because that's where she was. Right in there. Lifeless.
"When we got to the field, I went off by myself in the locker room and just thought about all the good times we shared. That was so emotional. Heartbreaking. When we came out on the field for warmups, you could hear the pain in my voice [while he barked out instructions]. Then the rain started coming down a little. I took that to mean she was crying, but telling me she was in a better place and not to worry."
Future dropped that game, 20-14, falling to 1-7 on the season. But yesterday brought a nonleague contest against another fellow lesser light, host Thomas Edison, and Caines and his buddies got to experience unabashed football joy.
With the 6-3, 250-pound Caines, a senior two-way tackle, starring on both sides of the ball, the Firebirds triumphed, 14-12.
Though Future led at halftime, 14-0, Edison roared back and, ultimately, drew within 14-12 on a 7-yard pass from Marcos Mercado to Wilfredo Santiago with 4:26 remaining.
Offensive coordinator Don Stockton, Future's former coach, opted for a sneak. Mercado gained a half-yard, at most. Caines was first among the tacklers.
"The sneak didn't surprise me," Caines said. "When [Mercado] came up to the line, he was smiling. It was like he was thinking, 'I'm gonna take this into the end zone.' My thought? He was not going to do it. No way. We were winning this game."
With 1:51 left, Jorge Quinones made a leaping, end-zone interception and Edison had one more chance.
