The thing about autumn in Tuscaloosa is that nothing ever seems to change. Would he be the starting running back at Alabama? Would he be playing college football at all? Let's say Eddie Lacy never has to pile into the back of a Crown Victoria with his sister, Brittany, and a week's worth of clothes, that they don't bounce to four homes before finally settling into a trailer in Geismar, La. LET'S SAY KATRINA never slams the Gulf Coast on the last days of August in 2005. "Mom," he said, "I'm going to go down the street and play." Eddie walked in, looked around the house and walked out. Looters took just about everything else - the DVD player, Eddie Sr.'s stereo, the kids' piggy banks. Mold ran up the walls, the foundation shifted and Eddie's coveted light-blue Allen Iverson shoes were drenched in muck. The house, which had taken in four feet of water, reeked of raw sewage. Then Hurricane Katrina hit, families fled and a neighborhood changed, and after three weeks Eddie did not understand why he couldn't go home. He'd run and spin they'd fall over trying to tackle him. Eddie loved to hang out with everybody on the block. Eddie Lacy went to bed each night staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars on his bedroom ceiling, thinking about very little but getting back outside to play. Now, when you're in eighth grade, you don't think much about change. Sometimes, when he ran with the football, people would stop and videotape him. Wanda's youngest son, Eddie, was one of the best on the playground. Kids played football until the sun slunk over the Crescent City Connection and it was time for supper. Gretna, La., is just across the river from New Orleans, but people felt safe here. If someone had a problem, neighbors hit their knees and prayed. If a kid fell out of line, Miss Louise, an elderly woman down the street, was fast on the phone with a parent. After her mama died, Wanda Lacy raised nine children here, some her own siblings and some her own kids, and Lord knows where they ever found room to breathe. There's always a big family dinner in the oven, a freshly cut green lawn and a game outside. HOME IS THE MEMORY of a one-story brick house on Bannerwood Drive. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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