Between Heaven and Earth

by Michele Paige Holmes

  “I appreciate that. I’ll let you know when the bill comes.” On her limited income, she was more than grateful for the help.

  “If there’s anything else I can do, please let me know,” Mr. Kramer said, unknowingly providing the perfect segue into her wild hair idea.

  “Actually, there might be.” She took a deep breath. “Noah— my son— is afraid to play soccer now. He wasn’t particularly bold before this happened. Saturday was the first game in which he actually tried to get the ball and participate.” Only because she’d promised him a dollar a goal. She wasn’t ready to admit that to anyone yet, especially not the father of the child she was hoping to borrow. “Now Noah doesn’t want to play anymore. He’s afraid of getting hurt again.”

  “That’s understandable,” Mr. Kramer said.

  Cassie nodded, though he couldn’t see her, then continued on with her mad idea. “I have a proposal that might help both of our boys. I was thinking they might be able to play soccer together during the week. I practice with Noah, but it isn’t the same for him as playing with other kids. I was thinking that if your son were the one to play with him, that might really help Noah overcome his fear.”

  “You want Austin to practice soccer with your son, even after what happened?” Mr. Kramer’s voice held a definite note of incredulity, causing Cassie to wonder if she’d just made a mistake. Maybe there was something about the boy she didn’t know.

  “Crazy, right?” She gave an awkward little laugh. “But if Noah can play with the boy who hurt him, then it would seem he might have the courage to play with his team again.” What remained unsaid was that Mr. Kramer’s son would have a chance to practice being kind to another child, something it sounded like he needed pretty badly. How to suggest that without being too pushy?

  “And maybe it might be a good way for your son to— I don’t know— make a new friend and sort of— make up for pushing another player.”

  Mr. Kramer chuckled. “Let the punishment fit the crime. I like it.”

  “I wouldn’t say punishment exactly.” There wasn’t anything wrong with Noah that Austin shouldn’t want to play with him.

  “I didn’t mean it that way,” Mr. Kramer said. “I actually think it’s a great idea. I’ll spend some time talking with Austin beforehand.”

  Cassie let out a silent sigh of relief and found herself smiling into the phone. Maybe she wasn’t crazy. Maybe this was simple parental instinct and not her inner obsession to fix children coming through.

  “All right?” Mr. Kramer asked, sounding uncertain when she hadn’t spoken for a few seconds. “I’m game if you are. Where and when would you like the boys to meet?”

  “How about a park?” Cassie didn’t have a yard of her own, and she didn’t want to bring virtual strangers to her mother’s house, but a park after school ought to be safe enough. “We could meet at Sugar Pine Ridge Wednesday afternoon. There’s a great soccer field there.” It was Monday night now, so that gave him a day or so to talk with his wife and make arrangements.

  “I’m sorry. Wednesday afternoons won’t work for me. I don’t usually get home until around seven.

  Could your wife bring your son? Cassie was on the verge of asking, but didn’t, not wanting to poke her nose into Mr. Kramer’s business. Just into his son’s, her conscience noted. Everyone was dealing with something, and maybe Mr. Kramer and his wife were having problems. Maybe he was even divorced. That could explain the depth of sorrow she’d glimpsed in Austin’s eyes. Cassie suddenly wanted this to work out more than ever— for both boys.

  “Is there another afternoon that’s better?” she asked. “I’m good most days after four.”

  “Tuesdays and Thursdays I work from home. We could meet tomorrow.”

  Cassie hesitated. She wanted to try this, but Tuesday was too soon. Noah’s mouth needed a couple more days to heal, and even more important than that, she needed a day or so to prepare him.

  “Or this Friday I could get Austin there around 4:30,” Mr. Kramer said.

  Date night. She couldn’t let even this situation disrupt that. “Thursday afternoon will be fine. Is four o’clock okay?”

  “Yep. We’ll be there.”

  “Great,” Cassie said. “I’ll bring a ball and cones. Thank you for being willing to try this.”

  “I hope it works,” Mr. Kramer said. “I hope your son can feel confident again.”

  Yours, too.

  Matt pocketed his phone and refolded the paper with Cassandra Webb’s number on it that he’d pulled from his jeans. The phone call had gone a whole lot differently— and better— than he’d anticipated, and he felt suddenly grateful to the stranger who’d given him Coach Webb’s number at the game.

  She’d already left by then, and he’d been folding up his chairs, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible, what with the parents on both teams staring him down, or so it seemed. He’d been imagining the things they were thinking, and feeling he deserved every one of them. He was a bad parent, unable to get Austin’s moods and behaviors under control. Completely inept—

  At everything. Matt pulled a pair of superhero underwear, tinted pink, from the washing machine. What was it this time? He supposed he should have looked a little more carefully before just dropping everything into the washer, but after a long day, sorting laundry wasn’t top on his list.

  He continued pulling pink-tinted clothing, including his new white dress shirts, from the barrel. At the bottom he found the culprit— a red permanent marker with the lid off. Told you, he imagined Austin taunting him.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Matt muttered as he tossed the pen in the trash. Like everything else, this was his fault. Yesterday Asher had wanted to color, and Matt had given him the red marker.

  “Mom didn’t let us use those,” Austin had piped up, ever too pleased to make life miserable for his little brother.

  Mom’s not here. Matt had barely held his tongue. “I don’t know where the crayons are, so Asher can use the marker instead.”

  And now I can buy new dress shirts again. This time he’d be sure to figure out where a dry cleaners was between home and work.

  With a disgruntled sigh, Matt tossed the whole load into the dryer, hoping that somehow the heat would miraculously return at least the Incredible Hulk briefs back to their original green and white. If not… well, Asher would still wear them. He’d do just about anything for Matt these days, whereas Austin did all in his power to disobey him.

  So how was he supposed to get Austin to play soccer, to play nice, with Mrs. Webb’s kid? For a second, Matt regretted calling her. Why had that lady at the soccer game given him the number anyway? The well-dressed Asian woman had looked as out of place at the soccer game as he felt, but her words and tone had been kind when she’d handed him the team roster with Coach Webb’s phone number and suggested that Mrs. Webb might appreciate a call from him, to check on her son. That call just might have gotten him, what? More trouble? Or maybe this could work for Austin. Maybe this was the miracle he’d been praying for. Maybe.

  Something about Cassie Webb’s voice had reassured him. There’d been no censure in it, he was certain. If nothing else, he was grateful for that. It was one positive he could note for the day. Better than most of the days he’d had recently.

  Cassie parked the car, took her soccer bag from the trunk, and coaxed a reluctant Noah from the back seat. “Remember, you play with Austin, and then we go get ice cream afterward.” It seemed she was becoming all about bribery lately. She’d always felt like she was on top of the parenting thing, but this was twice in one week— first she’d promised a dollar for a goal, and now she was offering an ice cream for playing with another kid. What’s happening here?

  It really wasn’t about soccer. She didn’t feel any particular affinity for the sport. It was just the first one Noah had tried, and she wanted him to have fun with it— and some measure of success, if she were being honest with herself. And if he doesn’t? Not all kids were good at sports, but she wan
ted him to be. Cassie frowned, displeased with this self-assessment. She told herself she would do better this summer when it was time for swim lessons again. Then it would be Noah who was willing to do anything for a trip to the pool.

  He shuffled his feet across the parking lot to the field. “What if he pushes me again?”

  “He won’t,” Cassie said.

  “But what if he does?” Noah’s eyes were large and frightened as he looked up at her.

  Cassie stopped at the edge of the field and knelt down in front of him. “Austin’s dad promised me that Austin would be nice.” Sort of. “So, if for some reason he isn’t—” She shrugged. “I guess I’ll just have to take down his dad.” She punched her fist into her other palm.

  Noah rewarded her with that goofy, toothless grin she’d come to love the past few days. His lip wasn’t nearly as swollen as it had been, and the cut was scabbing over. Even his speech seemed to be adapting to a couple less teeth. Kids were resilient. Or at least her kid had to be, going through life without a dad around to show him the ropes of boyhood.

  “All right then. Let’s have fun.” She ruffled the top of his hair, then went to set up the cones sideways on the field, since little legs weren’t ready to run the full length yet.

  She’d just finished marking the goals when a newer model Chevy truck pulled into the parking lot. Next to the shiny silver truck, her 2000 Nissan looked particularly pathetic.

  No worries about having Mr. Kramer pay the dental bill. She pulled a couple of balls from the bag and stood beside Noah as they watched Mr. Kramer and two boys climb out of the truck. One she recognized as the pusher from Saturday’s game. The other resembled him enough that he had to be a younger brother. Even better.

  “Look, Noah,” she said. “Austin’s brought his brother to play, too.” Playing with someone smaller than he was would surely increase Noah’s confidence.

  “Two of them to beat up on me.” Noah tilted his head back to look up at her, worry lines furrowing his brow once more.

  Again Cassie asked herself how this had happened. How was she raising a child who was suddenly less than confident? She hoped her mom was right and it was just a phase he was going through.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I brought my other son,” Mr. Kramer said as he walked up to them.

  “Not at all.” Cassie smiled at the younger boy. “What’s your name?”

  “Asher.” From beneath the hair covering his eyes, he looked up at her and returned her smile in a bashful way that melted her heart. She quickly took in both boys’ appearances and felt her heart soften even more. Hair badly in need of a cut, jeans too short and with holes in the knees, shirts that looked like they’d seen better days. For someone who drove such a nice truck, and looked pretty good himself in jeans that looked new and an untucked, collared shirt, Mr. Kramer didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to his kids’ attire.

  “Pleased to meet you, Asher.” She stuck out her hand, and he shook it without hesitation. “This is Noah. He’s five.”

  Mr. Kramer’s gaze swept over Noah’s face, and Cassie caught his wince. She wondered if it was because of the yellowish purple bruise still making its appearance on Noah’s chin, or if it was the thought of what those missing teeth were going to cost.

  “I’m almost five,” Asher said. “Austin is six.”

  “How lucky you are to have a brother,” Cassie said, feeling one of her many familiar regrets— that Noah had no siblings. “It just happens that I have three balls, so you can all play. Should we do some warm ups?” Asher nodded enthusiastically, Noah continued to look at the ground, and Austin glared at his father.

  Off to a great start.

  “First, Austin has something he’d like to say.” Mr. Kramer placed his hand in the small of Austin’s back and nudged him forward. A long, awkward moment of silence passed during which Austin said absolutely nothing. Mr. Kramer cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes at his son.

  “Sorry I pushed you,” Austin mumbled at last while staring at Noah’s feet.

  Noah glanced up at Cassie, and she read the question in his gaze. How do I respond?

  “Thank you, Austin. It takes a really great person to be able to apologize like that.”

  Following her lead, Noah mumbled something that might have been thanks. Cassie exchanged a look with Mr. Kramer in which they each acknowledged this was likely as good as it was going to get.

  “All right then.” Cassie passed out the balls and instructed the boys to run across the field weaving in and out of the cones she’d set up. “It’s not a race,” she admonished as Austin pushed his little brother aside to get out in front.

  Behind her, Mr. Kramer sighed loudly. She took her eyes from the field long enough to glance back at him and note the discouragement in his eyes. Something was definitely going on between father and son, but Asher seemed like a happy little boy, so maybe it wasn’t as all-encompassing as the divorce she’d imagined.

  Mr. Kramer walked forward to stand beside her, and from the corner of her eye Cassie noted the absence of a ring on his left hand.

  “I’m sorry Austin’s not more cooperative,” he said.

  “We’ve only just started.” Cassie wasn’t about to lose hope in her experiment yet. “Give them some time to warm up to each other.”

  “If you say so.”

  She didn’t care for the skepticism in his voice and became more determined than ever that this would work. The boys finished going around the cones once, and she blew her whistle and beckoned them.

  “All right. We’re going to have a scrimmage now. That means a mini game because we don’t have a full team. Austin, Noah, Asher, you’re going to be on one team. You’ll have to work together passing the ball back and forth if you’re going to make any goals and win. Not just one person can do all the work. Do you understand?”

  All three boys nodded, and Austin actually raised his hand to ask a question.

  “Who are we playing against?”

  “Me.” Cassie planted her hands on her hips and tried to look tough. “Your dad is going to be the ref. Three boys against one girl— think you can do it?”

  “Yeah,” Austin and Asher said together, but Noah shook his head.

  “She’s good,” he whispered loud enough that everyone could hear.

  Cassie tossed a ball to Mr. Kramer and caught him actually smiling.

  “Center circle, everyone.” She picked up the extra cones as they walked to the middle of the half field she’d created. “Ladies first, so I kickoff.”

  “That’s not fair. We didn’t flip a coin like they do at the game. Dad?” Austin grabbed his father’s arm as they stopped at midfield.

  “If the ref would like it changed, I will concede,” Cassie said. “Mr. Kramer?”

  “Matt.” A corner of his mouth quirked as he set the ball down. “Ladies first is a good rule. Let’s see what you boys can do against her.”

  Cassie removed the lanyard from around her neck and handed him her whistle. He stepped back, blew it, and the scrimmage began. She kicked the ball hard, straight between Austin and Noah. “You should have worked together to block that,” she called as she squeezed into the gap between them and ran downfield.

  In a matter of seconds, she’d reached the ball and kicked it between the cones. “One for me.” She raised her fists above her head.

  “Our turn.” Austin snatched the ball and marched back to center field. Matt blew the whistle again, and Austin gave the ball a pretty good kick. Cassie turned and ran toward it, reaching it before any of the boys did. She faced them, dribbling the ball in a sideways pattern. Austin came near, stuck his foot out and kicked it behind her.

  “Good move,” Cassie praised, “Now what are you going to do? Noah, Asher, you should be on the other side of me, ready to get his pass.”

  “I got it,” Noah shouted a second later and raced toward the goal. Cassie beat him to it. “I’m ready for you, so you’d better have another plan.”

&nbs
p; Noah kicked it to Asher, and Asher kicked it straight at her. She blocked it and sent the ball downfield. Austin got to it first and started it back her direction. Cassie advanced on him, moving back and forth in front, so he had nowhere to go.

  His hands clenched into fists at his sides, and she could see his frustration mounting and knew she was on thin ice, but for this to work— to get the boys to actually play together— she had to make this hard for them.

  “Can’t get it past me, can you?” She jumped side to side, her face in his.

  “No fair. You’re bigger and can run faster.”

  “Yes, fair,” Cassie said. “There are three of you, but you’re playing like there’s only one.”

  He scowled and let out a grunt of frustration just as Cassie moved forward and stole the ball. She started running it downfield when the whistle blew. She stopped then looked back.

  Matt still held the whistle between his teeth as he marched toward Austin. “Unsportsmanlike conduct from the boy’s team. Penalty kick for Noah’s mom.” He took a rock from Austin’s hand and tossed it off to the side of the field. “No using your hands to pick up the ball or rocks, especially not to throw them at people. If I see you do that again, you will spend the rest of this week and the next with no iPad privileges. Got it?”

  Austin’s scowl deepened, but he nodded.

  Cassie picked up the ball and moved it into place. Technically in the K-1 soccer leagues there were no penalty kicks, but throwing rocks was a serious offense, and since part of today’s exercise was to help Austin behave and play more appropriately, she took the kick. The ball rolled easily between the cones, and Matt shouted out the score.

  “Two zip. You boys better get it together with your teamwork.”

  “Told you she was good,” Noah muttered, his head still hung low.

  “Noah’s turn to kick off,” Matt said, and this seemed to perk him up a bit.

  When everyone was in place, Cassie with her legs spread wide and arms stretched, doing her best to look comically dangerous, Noah gave the ball a good kick and sent it sailing straight between her legs. Austin ran past her to get it, while Asher trailed behind. Noah just stood there.