Game Changer

by Tommy Greenwald

  DAD

  The coach is here

  He’s waiting outside

  Sarah

  Please don’t start with him

  MOM

  Please don’t start what?

  I just want to hear it from his own mouth, in his own words

  I want him to tell us he didn’t know what was happening, he didn’t know that my son was in danger

  I want to hear that from him

  I want him to look me in the eye and say it to my face.

  INSIDE

  I hear you

  I hear all of you

  Too many

  Too much

  I am glad to be alive

  I am glad you’re here

  But I miss the silence

  This is loud

  Everyone trying to find someone to blame

  But sometimes no one is to blame

  Sometimes everyone is to blame

  Sometimes both

  COACH

  This will only take a minute, if I may

  My daughter and I just want to give Teddy a small gift

  It’s a game ball signed by all the guys

  Before the season even starts, the first game ball of the season

  We’ve never done this before

  But we wanted to do it for you

  We believe in you

  Camille, did you want to say something?

  CAMILLE

  Hey, Teddy

  Uh

  I know I look terrible

  And uh

  I need to know if it’s true

  What kids are saying

  COACH

  Oh

  Not now, honey

  Honey, please—

  CAMILLE

  Teddy, did someone really do this to you?

  Someone hurt you on purpose?

  It can’t be true, right?

  I know you can’t answer me right now, but I need to know

  People make stuff like this up all the time

  People just want to gossip and spread rumors

  Everyone says they want you to get better, and they do

  But also people want to make trouble

  They want to make stuff up

  That’s just—

  MOM

  Okay, uh yes, would you

  Thank you for the ball

  But that is not

  I agree with your daughter

  We just need to know the truth, Coach Bizetti

  I would like to hear the truth.

  COACH

  The truth

  The truth is I love these boys

  I’m starting to hear things that are making me sick to my stomach

  And I promise you as soon as this is over

  We will stop at nothing to find out exactly what happened

  MOM

  So you’re saying you still don’t know what happened?

  That’s what you’re saying?

  You don’t know?

  Isn’t this your camp?

  Your team?

  I find that—

  DAD

  Thank you, Coach, for stopping by

  It means a lot

  But we should probably

  It’s not a great time for visitors right now

  MOM

  Yes, everybody out

  Everybody out

  PLEASE

  Teddy, I didn’t

  This is

  I don’t mean to yell

  Oh no

  Please don’t cry, Camille

  It’s not

  It’s not your fault, sweetheart

  COACH

  Mrs. Youngblood, please

  We are here to support your son

  We are here because we care

  People are calling our sport and our program destructive

  Calling us animals

  Barbarians

  But I came to support my player

  Your son

  So please

  There is no need to raise your voice.

  DAD

  Okay

  Okay

  Please everyone stop

  We cannot have—

  Teddy?

  Teddy?

  What’s happening?

  What’s happening!

  Teddy?

  Teddy?

  Sarah

  I need to go get somebody

  Sarah

  We need to go get somebody now.

  INSIDE

  Where is the silence

  I need the silence

  NURSE RICKY

  Okay

  Okay now

  The doctor is on her way

  She’ll be right here

  I need to ask everyone to stop raising their voices

  Give Teddy some peace and quiet

  Please

  Thank you.

  INSIDE

  Eden

  Who is Eden?

  Where is Eden?

  Don’t be soft

  Don’t do it

  Do it

  Don’t

  MOM

  Where is the doctor?

  My son needs a doctor

  NURSE RICKY

  I know

  I understand, Ms. Youngblood

  I know you’re upset

  The doctor is on her way

  I’m going to have to clear the room

  Thank you all for understanding

  I’m going to have to clear the room

  Clear the room please.

  MOM

  I’m not going anywhere

  I’m not

  I’m not going anywhere until I see the doctor.

  INSIDE

  Loud

  Why

  Please

  Not

  DAD

  Sarah

  MOM

  No

  No

  This is your fault, Jim

  This is your fault for letting him play

  Not just letting him play, but encouraging him

  Loving every second of it

  Even though I said no, your mother said no

  You loved it

  You loved watching him play this violent stupid game

  DAD

  I’m not even going to dignify that with a response

  Who walked out on this family?

  Who left because she couldn’t handle it anymore?

  Who left because the pressure was too much?

  Who walked out?

  DR. SPARKS

  Everyone, please

  That is not helping to say the least

  Let’s all take a deep breath

  Teddy’s heart rate is accelerating but he is stable

  Teddy is okay

  He is trying to tell you something

  His body is doing what his brain is not quite ready to do

  He is telling you to stop

  The yelling

  The fighting

  The blaming

  This is what he is reacting to

  There is plenty of time for everything

  To find out what happened

  But not now

  So please, everyone, let’s calm down

  Let’s calm down so he can calm down.

  MOM

  I want something done

  I want Teddy moved to another hospital

  I don’t think he’s getting the care he needs here

  I appreciate what you’re doing, Doctor, but I’m not convinced this is the best place for him

  DAD

  Sarah, please

  Be reasonable

  We can’t have this discussion in front of Teddy

  We need to go outside

  Let’s go

  MOM

  I want to speak to someone else

  I want to speak with a different doctor

  I want to find out about moving to a hospital in the city

  DAD

  This isn’t how you make up for lost time, Sarah

  That’s no
t how it works

  MOM

  How dare you

  DR. SPARKS

  Please

  Both of you, please

  Fine, Ms. Youngblood

  If that’s what you want, you can come to my office

  I will make some calls

  We all want to do the right thing here

  We all want your son to get better

  I need to ask everyone to step outside

  Please step outside

  Thank you

  CAMILLE

  Dad

  Dad let’s go

  I don’t want to be here

  I’ll come back, Teddy

  I’ll be back to see you

  I promise

  INSIDE

  Don’t be soft

  Hit someone

  Hit someone

  COACH

  Perhaps we shouldn’t have come today

  My daughter is friends with your son

  They’re friends

  But I’m not sure what the right thing to do is anymore

  MOM

  This isn’t about you doing the right thing

  This is about our son

  DAD

  Sarah

  MOM

  I want to leave this hospital

  I want better care

  JANEY

  Everyone please stop

  Please stop

  DAD

  I can’t

  MOM

  I don’t

  DR. SPARKS

  Can we all please step outside

  Let’s go outside

  DAD

  I’m trying

  I’m trying to—

  CAMILLE

  Ethan?

  MOM

  Who is this?

  Who are you?

  CAMILLE

  Ethan

  What are you doing here?

  DAD

  What’s going on

  Who are you

  Is this

  COACH

  Young man, are you sure you want to—

  MOM

  Wait

  Oh

  Oh my God

  INSIDE

  What

  What is happening

  MRS. METZGER

  Hello

  I’m Ann Metzger

  Ethan’s mom

  I

  This is incredibly difficult

  I’ve been praying for your son

  Ethan is

  He’s been suffering

  I know, it’s nothing compared to what you and your son are going through

  But he wanted to come here to be with you

  To help everyone understand

  To help everyone heal.

  MOM

  Is your son the one?

  The one responsible?

  And now you’re here to help everyone heal?

  My son is lying unconscious in a hospital bed

  And your son needs to heal?

  DAD

  Sarah, that’s not—

  MRS. METZGER

  I know

  I understand

  Truly

  I can’t even imagine

  I really can’t

  I—

  ETHAN

  Mom

  It’s okay, I can talk

  I

  Mr. and Mrs. Youngblood

  I wanted to see how Teddy was doing

  I was talking to Mr. Rashad

  And together we decided I should come

  I wasn’t sure

  The police have been to our house

  The truth is going to come out eventually

  It’s already happening

  People are starting to say things

  Kids are saying stuff online

  Stuff that’s not true

  It’s crazy

  But no one knows the full

  The real truth

  Mr. Rashad told me you can’t go back in time

  You can’t relive the past

  But you can’t run from it either

  So I wanted to come here and tell everyone the truth

  The truth about what happened

  Because it was

  Yes

  I did it

  I hurt Teddy

  But it was

  It’s complicated

  It wasn’t anyone’s fault

  It was something that just

  It just happened

  Something that went wrong

  Really wrong

  I wanted to come see Teddy

  I wanted to tell him it was okay

  I wanted to make sure he knew what happened was okay

  It wasn’t his fault either.

  MOM

  What

  Let me get this straight

  You wanted to tell Teddy it was okay?

  That it wasn’t his fault?

  You hurt him

  You’re the one that put him in the hospital

  You nearly killed him

  But you wanted to tell him it wasn’t his fault?

  DAD

  I have to say

  I don’t understand that either

  I don’t understand that at all

  Why did you come here?

  MRS. METZGER

  Mr. and Mrs. Youngblood, please

  ETHAN

  I don’t

  Mr. and Mrs. Youngblood

  You don’t know

  DAD

  What don’t we know?

  What is it we don’t know?

  MOM

  Hold on

  Fine

  I want to hear this

  Jim

  It’s okay

  Let’s hear what he has to say.

  ETHAN

  Hey, Teddy

  It’s me

  Ethan

  So

  I wanted to

  I want to talk to you about what happened

  I just need a sip of

  I guess I’m nervous

  So anyway

  Uh

  Yeah

  MRS. METZGER

  Take your time, honey

  Take your time.

  ETHAN

  Okay

  Okay

  So

  Everyone kept talking about how it was too hot for football. The sun was pounding and everyone was dripping sweat and cursing that we were out there, but it wasn’t a choice. If you were an incoming freshman and wanted to play football in high school, you had to go, everyone had to go to preseason camp. We were in full pads and helmets, and a couple of times I thought I was going to throw up. At first it wasn’t that bad, but later in the week it got so hot that even the coaches said we could take breaks if we needed to. But no one listened to them because we knew they didn’t mean it. If you took a break, the coaches and the other kids would think you were soft. You can’t be soft in football because then no one will respect you and you might not get to play. Everybody knows that.

  INSIDE

  Show me you can hit somebody

  ETHAN

  So even if you didn’t feel good or you felt like you were going to totally lose it, you had to suck it up and keep going. The older kids kept telling us it builds character. They thought it was funny when we complained about being hot or tired or sore. They tried to scare us by saying that in high school, it gets really intense. I guess that’s true because the high school coaches are really tough. Like hyper and scary and a little crazy to tell you the truth. Not Coach Bizetti but all the other coaches, the assistant coaches. Coach Bizetti seemed like the nicest one but he never told the other coaches to knock it off. And they would curse and say gross things sometimes and call us names and things and some words that I never heard before but the high school kids didn’t even seem to care. They thought it was funny. I guess they were used to it and had heard it all before.

  Then on Wednesday, I got hit really hard and my arm killed, so I skipped a tackling drill while the trainer gave me some ice. One of the assistan
t coaches noticed and asked what I was doing. When I told him my arm hurt, he yelled at me and said that smaller kids like me need to be tougher than everyone else. I said I would go back in as soon as it stopped stinging, and then the same coach called me a girl and asked if I wanted to wear a dress to camp the next day. A lot of people thought that was hilarious and started laughing and I almost lost it but somehow made myself not. I wanted to play so bad, and even though my arm really hurt I needed to stay on the field, because if I left the field then people would think I was soft or a quitter, which is the total worst thing you can be. And I was scared people would think I was a baby. So I went back in but it hurt like crazy.

  INSIDE

  I love the game

  I love running to daylight

  I love getting hit

  It hurts so bad

  And it’s the greatest feeling in the world