7:01 P.M. Home And Away

By Timothy Roche

Just home from football practice, Bobby Granderson perches on a stool in his family's kitchen. Normally he shaves his own head, but tonight his dad Bobby Sr. is running the electric razor. It's an awkward moment; this is the most the two of them have spoken in weeks without throwing a gibe. His father compliments Bobby's handling of the clippers. He's been trying to talk his son into going to trade school or perhaps opening a barbershop with him. The remark hits a nerve, but Bobby hides it. Will his dad ever understand him?

At 18, Bobby is at an inflection point that will largely determine the course of his life. Right now he's got athletic talent and fame, and everyone wishes him well. But will he build on that, or will he peak as a senior in high school? He has applied to join the Navy, but still hopes for a football scholarship to college. One problem: his GPA is 1.6, and he has only seven months to pull that up to a 2.0 to be eligible for college sports and, more important, to get enough English credits to graduate. Another is that until this year, no one gave him knowledgeable advice on how to go about winning an athletic scholarship.

Bobby gets a lot of tough love at home. As suave and polite as he seems to outsiders, he has "two personalities," says his stepmother Willie. "He's a con artist." His parents kicked him out of the house in August, trying to scare him after he came home drunk at 5 a.m. Later his father told him to do something, and Bobby refused. "I got tired of hearing what he wasn't going to do," says Bobby Sr., who smacked him with a stick, hurting his feelings more than anything. Bobby walked to a gas station and called police, who sided with his dad.

His parents lock their bedroom because Bobby "borrows" money, CDs--even shoes. He ignores his 1 a.m. curfew and regularly loses keys, coats and wallets. He goes to school mostly to see the girls and skips class as he pleases. Last year he had 109 tardies.

When Bobby was in elementary and middle school, his grades were above average. But even in kindergarten, his teacher wrote in his report card, "Bobby is an energetic and social child... He wants to have friends and does have them, but it's something that causes him to worry." Now his friends worry his parents. He seldom introduces them to his friends, many of whom are white and come from affluent families. "He thinks we're country bumpkins," says Bobby Sr. "This young man lives in a fantasy world. He wants to be rich."

His parents are so concerned that they recently fell on their knees and prayed, "Good Lord, show us something." Their answer came in the mail. The Navy sent a letter saying Bobby had failed his physical; urine tests detected marijuana. Bobby wanted the test kept secret, but Coach Ice found out anyway. Ice tried to talk to him, and Bobby walked out. When he went back to apologize yesterday, the coach shut the door, telling him he knew and reminding him that the team depends on him as a leader. "He's a walking time bomb," says Mark Eason, who runs a youth basketball program and has watched Bobby grow up. "When I see him, he's so polite. He's so nice. But inside, he's crying."

Sweeping the kitchen floor after his haircut, Bobby pays no attention to the clock. It's almost time for a meeting for players and parents at school on the complicated rules for NCAA eligibility. Bobby has got half a dozen introductory letters from college coaches, but it's too early for offers. Will he attend tonight's meeting? "Nah," he says.

He's betting he can impress college recruiters on the football field. A tight end, he prides himself on making the blocks that lead to touchdowns, but Coach Ice wants him to catch the ball. His big hands are made of glass, and he has yet to catch a touchdown pass. But this Friday night, he hopes to get his chance to dance in the end zone.

--T.R.