by Alison Mello
“Apparently,” his mother says. “Have you seen my son’s face?” The boy has a nasty black eye.
“Ma’am, please let me finish.” She huffs but folds her hands and listens to what the principal has to say.
“Yesterday when the fight was broken up, your son and his friends told us that Ethan started the fight, but they lied.” His mother looks like she’s going to burst at the seams. “After we sent Ethan home for the day, we had a student tell us that she and a friend were running an errand for a teacher when they heard your son bullying Ethan in the hall. They began to shove him and say cruel things to him.” He looks at Patrick. “It was when Ethan finally defended himself verbally that Patrick hit him. Ethan defended himself even with Patrick’s friends egging the fight on.”
“It’s not my fault his mother’s a loser alcoholic.” Patrick sneers.
His father slaps him upside the back of the head. I can’t believe he actually hit him in front of two school officials. As proud as I am of him as a parent, that was risky. The principal could have called child services on him. “Where in God’s creation did you hear that?”
“Not here, Trent,” his mother says. “This is a matter that will be discussed in the privacy of our own home.” He looks at her furiously.
“It’s all over the news Dad. She was sent to some rehab.”
“So you think it’s okay to make fun of him instead of supporting him. Do you have any idea what it is like to be without one of your parents?” He actually looks embarrassed as he shakes his head. “Maybe I should go stay at your grandmother’s house for an undetermined amount of time, without seeing you so you can have an understanding of how it feels.”
Mr. Landers breaks up the conversation. “In light of the new evidence we have no choice but to suspend Patrick for two days. His suspension will take place today and tomorrow. He will not be given any work to take home but will be required to make up his work upon his return, even if that means staying after school to do it.”
“I promise you this will stop.” Trent stands from the table, grabbing his son by the arm.
“I hope so. The next incident he will be given a five-day suspension. After that, he can be expelled,” the principal warns. The three of them storm out of the office without so much as a word. No apology to Ethan or anything.
However, Mr. Evan’s apologizes. “Ethan, I’m really sorry this all happened the way it did. Your absence yesterday was changed to excused, so this will not affect your record.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that, sir. May I go to class now?”
“You may,” Mr. Landers tells him.
He grabs his backpack, gives me a hug, and tells me to have a good day. “You too, son.”
Once he’s gone, Mr. Landers says, “Is there anything we can do for him?”
I shake my head. “Believe it or not, he’s doing well. His grades are good, he’s still playing sports, and he got to visit with his mother last weekend.” I shrug. “But no kid wants to hear another kid call his parent a name, especially with what Ethan has been through with his mother. It’s a very sore subject for him.”
Mr. Landers nods. “I understand. Kids can be so cruel these days.”
“I’ll check on him tomorrow to see how he’s doing. Hopefully we can rebuild that trust, and he’ll come to me again,” Mr. Evan’s says.
“Sounds good. Thank you both for fixing this.” I shake their hands and head off to work so I can fill Amber in. She was furious when she got home yesterday.
We’ve all gathered at the gym for our last games of the season. We’ve only won one game so far this year, but the boys have all worked hard and have come a long way. Today is the tournament, so if we win, we will hang out to play another game. If we lose, we’re done for the season.
“Listen up, boys.” Vincent gathers them. “The game is about to start. I want you to go out there and have fun. Don’t worry about winning or losing, just have fun playing a sport you all love.”
He puts his hand in, and the boys join him. “On three, give me ‘rise up’.” They all bounce their hands, and on three they shout really loud. The mom squad is sitting in the stands shouting for the boys. Josh is even here with Lori and Kyle to cheer on his friends.
The buzzer sounds, and our team gets the ball. The ball is passed to Mason who takes the shot and makes it. This is the team we beat, so there’s a chance we can take a win today too, but we didn’t want them to get cocky despite beating them by a rather large margin.
There’s a lot of back and forth, but after the first four minutes we are up by eight, and the boys are thrilled. We remind them to keep their cool and just have fun playing. DJ gets a bit aggressive and fouls one of the other team members. Now at this point in the season they’re being a bit harder on the boys because they should know the rules and be more in control. They have the boy take the line. He sinks one and misses one. On the second miss, Ethan grabs the rebound and rushes down the other end to score two more.
This is turning out to be an amazing game. The boys are playing better than I’ve ever seen them play. The other team gets the ball, and we instantly steal it and run up the court. Part of me wants them to slow down because I feel bad for the other team, we’ve been there, but I’m so proud of their progress. DJ scores, and the buzzer rings. The first half is done, and we’re up by ten.
“You boys are playing amazing,” I encourage them.
“It feels good,” Mason says.
“I’m sure it does, but remember—don’t get cocky. If we keep this up and win, you’ll be playing a much stronger team,” I remind them and send them back out to keep warm by taking shots on the net. The mom squad is screaming with pride. They’re a fun group. I can’t wait for baseball season so I can actually sit with them.
The second half flies by. We win by twelve. Everyone is so proud that the boys pulled out a win on a “lose and go home” game. Now, we’ll play one more game this afternoon. Refs tell us we need to be ready to go at noon, which is not even two hours from now.
Stella and Misty come over. “We’re going to grab the kids some food so they can keep their energy up. We’ll be back.”
“Thank you so much. I didn’t think about food for between the games, and you’re right, there’s no way they’ll keep their energy going without it.”
They tell me they’ll be back as soon as possible. We keep the boys together down the hall so they can relax for a bit. Most of them have chugged their drinks and are now using the fountain to refill them.
“How’s it feel, boys?” Vincent asks them.
“Good,” they shout, full of excitement.
“You all played well. We’re working on getting you boys some food so you can keep it going for the next game. If you win this one, you will have to come back tomorrow to play another one. If we lose, we’re done.” Vincent paces the hall. “Either way, I want you boys to know that I’m damn proud of you. You worked hard and overcame some challenges. That to me is the best win of all.”
They’re all thanking him. It’s sweet to see.
Misty and Stella come back about twenty minutes later with a bunch of sandwiches and drinks. “Eat slow,” Misty tells them. “You don’t want to get sick out there.”
“What’s in that other bag?” Trystan, asks taking it from Stella.
“Drinks for their next game.” She winks at Trystan.
“You are the best.” He kisses her, and the boys all start grossing out.
“Ewww…” They’re all making pretend gag faces.
“Oh, be quiet and eat.” Stella rolls her eyes as we all burst into laughter.
The boys finish their lunch while we wait for the other games to end. Ethan collects their trash in one of the bags and tosses it.
“I want you boys to take some time to stretch. You were all warmed up, and now you’re going to be stiff again,” Trystan tells them. They spread out in the hall and begin doing as they're told.
One of the boys from the league walks down the hall. “Don�
��t sweat it, boys. You won’t be playing past this game anyway.”
“Hey, how about you mind your business and keep walking,” Vincent says to him.
“It is my business. You’re playing us.” He winks at him like the cocky little shit he is.
“Come on, son,” his father calls him over, pretending he didn’t hear what he said.
Vincent clutches his fists. “Ignore him,” I warn.
“I’ve never wanted to lay a hand on a child like I do him. That kid is such a little shit,” he growls.
“Hey Dad.” Vincent looks over at his son. “Rise up. We got this.” He holds his fist out. Vincent taps it with a smile that beams pride.
The buzzer sounds meaning it’s our turn to take the court again. “Let’s do this, boys.” They all hurry onto the court and start the process of warming up all again.
Their shots look good, and they’re in a great frame of mind. The ref calls them over. He gives each team a pep talk and then tells the boys to take their positions. The whistle blows, and this time we lose the jump. DJ tries to steal it but isn’t successful, and they start the game off down by two. The boys manage to get the ball down to our end but miss their shot. Jack gets the rebound and misses again. This time it’s recovered by the other team.
They are a good team, but from what I hear they’ve been playing together for years. This is the type of thing that is supposed to be avoided. They’ve stacked their team with players who know how to play together. They score again, and we’re down by four. This time when we get the ball back, we manage to score. It’s an intense game. There are a lot of minor mistakes happening on both teams, causing a lot of throw-ins.
The first four minutes is over, and the score is eight to four, but the boys haven’t given up. They’re putting their all into this. The cocky kid from the hall takes the court. The boys are already giving him the evil eye as he runs up the court with a cocky grin. They make sure not to come close to touching him as they attempt to take the ball. He misses his shot but stays on his feet.
There are a lot of close fouls on both teams but nothing called yet. Mason throws the ball in to DJ who’s dribbling it down the court. He’s about to pass it off to Ethan when he’s tripped. The whistle blows, and the ref issues a warning to the kid. They give DJ the ball, and he throws it in to Mason who shoots and scores.
There’s less than one minute left in the half and we’re trailing by four. The boys are getting tired, and I can’t blame them. They’ve already played one full game, and now they’re halfway through the second, and we’re down two kids who couldn’t stay for the second game.
We pull Mason and DJ to give them a break so they can start the second half, but the two boys we put in are weak on defense. Ethan knows he’s going to have to pick up some slack. The timer is running down when the other team manages to score one more time.
“You boys are doing a great job,” Vincent encourages them. “I’m willing to bet they thought they’d be leading by much more than six by now.”
“That kid is tough.” Ethan pants.
“I know, son. Keep your heads up. You have one half left, and you’re done for the day.” Vincent puts his hand out. The boys join him, and on three they shout, ‘Rise Up!’ I think it’s awesome he’s got them saying that. I hope it sticks with them for years to come.
We win the jump ball in the second half. Ethan gets it, dribbles, shoots and scores. The parents erupt into a loud roar to keep the boys encouraged. The other team throws the ball in, and we’re ready for them. They bounce pass it, but Mason runs in front of it, steals the ball, and dribbles it down the court to score once again. The little cocky kid is now screaming at his team because we’re catching up. He’s so angry he is pulling at his hair. I’d love to see us win for no other reason than to teach him a lesson.
There’s three minutes left in the third when he yells, “Put me in!” to his father. His father tells him he has to wait, and he storms off to a chair pissed, but the father caves when Ethan manages to score once more putting us down by two. Now there’s only a minute left in the third.
They sub their players as do we. We have the ball, so DJ throws it in to Mason, who passes it off to Ethan. The cocky kid charges Ethan and shoves him to the floor. He runs the ball up court to take a shot before the quarter is over, but he’s the only one paying attention because everyone is tending to Ethan who hit his head on the floor when he was shoved.
“Flagrant foul! You’re out of the game,” the second ref tells the kid.
“You can’t do that!” he yells at the ref.
“I can, and I just did. You’ve had a few fouls already, and now you deliberately shoved another player to the floor. You’re out.” His father comes over yelling that the push wasn’t deliberate. He’s trying to spin it that his son is just an aggressive player.
“He is too aggressive, and it’s clear he is out of control. He’s done for the game.” The father storms over to the sideline without so much as an apology toward Vincent or Ethan.
Ethan shakes it off and takes a seat on the bench. They have to perform a concussion check since he recently recovered from one. He passes the check, but Vincent takes him out. He wants to be sure he’s okay.
DJ starts the final quarter taking his free throw shots, scoring both times. The game is now tied, and the coach is pissed, but we’re jumping up and down for our boys. They’re holding their own against one of the toughest teams in the league.
The two teams are working so hard to get the ball and score, but they’re both struggling. There are missed passes, missed shots, and a lot of missed rebounds. We finally manage a rebound, get it up the court, and we score. Unfortunately, they score right after us. The game is neck and neck. “Time out!” Vincent calls with a little over a minute left in the game.
“Listen, boys, there’s about a minute and a half left. I want you to know that I’m so proud of you. You’ve worked hard and kept your heads up. This is your time to shine, so do your thing out there.” They take a drink and nod. “Now get out there and finish this.”
They get into their positions. The other team has the ball, and they dribble it up the court. The kid is about to take the shot when they call a foul on DJ. The kid gets to take two. He sinks them both, putting them up, but we get the ball.
“Take your time, Mason.” He dribbles it up and takes the shot, tying the game once again. There’s forty-five seconds left on the clock, and the other team has the ball. They’re running the clock down and with fifteen seconds left they take the shot, but they miss. One of their team members gets the rebound and scores with five seconds left on the clock.
DJ throws it in to Mason who hurries up the court. He releases the ball just as the clock runs out. The ball hits the rim, rolls around it, and falls. Mason drops to the floor with disappointment. He almost tied the game, but the other team won by two.
The boys congratulate the other team and then we take them into the hallway. “Boys, that was the most amazing game I’ve seen you play all season. I don’t care that you didn’t win. I’m so proud of you. Now, I’ve already spoken to your folks, and we’re all off to celebrate an amazing season with ice cream sundaes!” The boys are over their loss and ready to feed their faces. They cheer as we all hurry out the door.
We’re the first to arrive at the ice cream parlor. I go in and give my name. I called ahead and told them we were coming because of our size. She escorts us over to a huge section that’s all ours. Ethan takes a seat and patiently waits for his friends to get here.
Families start arriving within minutes. The boys all sit at one end, and the adults at the other.
The waitress brings us all over some glasses of water, which the boys start drinking immediately. I ask her to give us about fifteen minutes and then we’ll be ready. “Okay listen up, boys.” The boys quickly quiet down. “I know I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say it again. I’m proud of you.” He pauses. “For the last two seasons of sports, those of you who p
layed together were on winning teams. It can be hard to go from winning most of your games to losing most of your games, but you took it well. You encouraged one another instead of beating one another up, and you played like a team. As your coach, I couldn’t ask for anything more.” The parents all clap proud of their players.
“That said. You each have a two-scoop sundae on me.” They all cheer even harder. Who needs a win when you have an ice cream sundae. The boys quickly discuss their toppings and what flavor ice cream they’re going to have.
The parents congratulate us on a great season and thank us for coaching. “You guys did a great job.” Stella rubs her growling belly.
“I think someone is hungry.” Trystan rubs it with her.
“Oh yeah and I plan on having me one of those massive sundaes as well.” She laughs.
“How are you feeling?” Amber asks her.
She sighs. “I’m getting tired and he is giving me heartburn, but you know, it is what it is.”
Misty is sitting on the other side of her. “It doesn’t help that she eats whatever she wants regardless of how it affects her.” Stella sticks her tongue out at her.
“Mature,” Misty says, “real mature.”
“I think it’s time for me to move to a safer area. There’s too much estrogen over here.” Trystan gets up and changes seats so he’s next to us guys.
Amber gets along nicely with the other woman. She’s smiling ear to ear. It makes me so happy.
“Dude, will Ethan be at tryouts in two weeks?” Trystan asks. Baseball is a bit different than basketball, though. Trystan will pretty much have the same team he had last year. There’s no evaluation and dividing kids up. They’ll try out for his team, and he picks his boys. Now that they improved last year, he’ll probably have more kids to pick from too.
“Of course, he will. Why would he give me a break from sports?” We all laugh.
“You can count Josh in too,” Kyle says.
“And Mason,” Briggs adds.
“And the mom squad,” Stella adds jokingly.
