LEN BIAS: CROSSOVER
A novel
By: Michael D. McClellan | September 19, 2010
Flowers start to arrive at our house. Condolences from Michael Jordan. Always Jordan. The next arrangement comes from Larry Bird. Another pulse, and I'm looking into a strange house that I don't recognize. A nice house. The phone rings. Bird himself walks around the corner and picks it up. He has his eyes glued to the TV, where an ESPN segment on the tragedy is being broadcast live from Landover. He jams the phone to his ear. The reporter on the other end of the line asks about the death of Len Bias.
"It's the cruelest thing I've ever heard," he replies.
Another pulse in the night sky. Cole Field House is packed. There's a memorial service underway, and there are 11,000 people in attendance. Eleven thousand. Jesse Jackson and Red Auerbach both speak, and Auerbach finishes his eulogy by giving my mother a jersey - number 30, with CELTICS on the front and BIAS on the back.
~ ~ ~
Another pulse, and now a funeral service is underway. My funeral service. I watch with Alyssa and cry with my parents, begging for their forgiveness. I feel absolute emptiness. I scream out but it does no good. I stand up, shaking, tears running down my face. I take a step toward them and drop to my knees. I beg God for His forgiveness. I ask Him for a second chance. I ask Him to let me live, to let me see my family again. Just one more chance. Please, God...
