by Paul Langan
A wide smile spread across Amberlynn’s face. “Well, Darrell, I love to watch guys wrestling. Maybe I’ll see you at a match one day.”
Darrell’s heart fluttered. There was no way he would quit wrestling now. No way.
Just then, a group of students entered the classroom. Tyray and Rodney were among them. They stopped and glanced over at Darrell before moving to their seats. Darrell could tell that they noticed Mr. Mitchell’s absence. Tyray whispered something to Rodney, and the two strolled slowly towards their desks like hawks circling their prey.
“Hey, Amberlynn. You got a new boyfriend? Are you sweatin’ that midget from Philadelphia?” Tyray asked with a sneer as he pointed at Darrell. Nearly everyone in the class turned to watch what was happening. A few kids giggled, and Amberlynn turned away from Darrell. He could tell she was embarrassed.
Amberlynn’s friend Jamee glared back at Tyray. “Why don’t you shut up, Tyray? It’s none of your business what Amberlynn does,” she said.
“Hey, it must be true,” Tyray said. “Amberlynn, you like this little punk? He may be small, but he’s the biggest fool I know. Look at his sorry face. Can’t you do better than that?!” Rodney and a few other kids cackled out loud.
Darrell wanted to disappear, to hide under his desk. He was embarrassed for himself, but he also felt guilty that he was causing embarrassment for Amberlynn. He wished for her sake that they’d never met.
“I don’t like him or anyone right now,” Amberlynn answered.
“I heard this punk joined the wrestling team. You know, Amberlynn, if you want to watch your little man wrestle, you’re gonna have to go back to elementary school. He’s gonna have to wrestle fourth graders ’cause he’s so tiny.”
Again, some students chuckled.
Darrell could understand why kids laughed at him, but he could not see why they laughed at Amberlynn. What was so funny? he wondered. Maybe the other kids went along with Tyray because they were afraid of him. That would make thell cowards, Darrell thought bitterly. At least he wasn’t encouraging Tyray to hurt anyone. Everyone else who laughed along was.
“Tyray, leave me alone,” Amberlynn yelled. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Just shut your stupid mouth, Tyray,” Jamee added.
“Uh oh, now you’re sickin’ your ugly friend Jamee on me,” Tyray said. “Your wrestler boyfriend ain’t man enough to stand up for himself, so you gotta send your girl after me. Man, she’s almost as ugly as the little midget. She’s more of a man than he is too,” Tyray announced.
Then Rodney and about half of the class laughed even louder. Darrell squirmed in his seat. He did not want anyone to know that he had been paying Tyray to leave him alone. Then the whole class would think he was an even bigger fool than he seemed right now. He knew if he said anything, Tyray would jump all over him, showing no mercy. Darrell remained silent, hoping Mr. Mitchell would walk in. He wished he had never come to Bluford. He wanted to walk out of the high school and never return.
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Amberlynn screamed. “I don’t even like him! Do you hear me? I don’t even like him!”
Tyray smiled, and he and the rest of the class looked at Darrell.
Darrell got up from his desk and left the room. Never in his life was he so humiliated. He fought hard to keep tears from rolling down his face as he walked out. He did not want anyone to see him cry, but he could not stop himself. He ran to the nearest bathroom, went into a stall, sat down on the dirty floor and sobbed. A few kids were hurrying out of the bathroom when he arrived, but none of them seemed to notice him. The first bell soon sounded, signaling the start of classes. Mr. Mitchell must have arrived by now, but Darrell did not want to go back to class. He never wanted to go to that room again.
He looked at his rumpled backpack on the floor, still open from when he was in English. Inside he saw his copy of Hatchet. Quickly he yanked it out of the bag and threw it out of the stall. He heard it strike the metal trash can across the room.
“I hate this place!” he said out loud, tears running down the side of his face.
But then Darrell started to think of Hatchet. First he worried about what Mr. Mitchell would say if he lost his book. Then he remembered why the teacher had given it to him in the first place. To make me stronger on the inside, Darrell thought. He walked out of the stall and picked up the book.
Carefully, he opened the cover and leafed through the pages. He stopped at the section where Brian was starving and his leg was full of sharp porcupine quills. For ten minutes, Darrell read over and over again how Brian cried about what had happened to him, but then realized self-pity would not solve his problems. Darrell flipped to the end scene and read his favorite part, when Brian survived and became a strong, confident young man.
Darrell realized he could not just give up. Like Brian, he hated what had happened, but crying in the bathroom didn’t solve anything. Darrell knew he had to get back to class. He knew he would be ashamed to walk back into the room in the middle of the lesson, that all the kids would turn and stare at him. Yet he also knew he would be more ashamed if he never went back. Darrell wondered if Mr. Mitchell would punish him for being late. Since it would be the first time he was late, Darrell hoped Mr. Mitchell would give him a break.
He put the copy of Hatchet back into his backpack and walked down the hallway towards the classroom. He could feel his heart pounding as he approached the door.
I wn’t look at Amberlynn ever again, he thought. Then he walked in and sat down. Mr. Mitchell glanced at him as he entered the room, but then quickly resumed his lesson. The rest of the class stared at him for a second, and then went back to their work. The only person who did not look at him was Amberlynn Bailey.
Chapter 9
For three weeks, Darrell spoke to no one about what happened that morning in English class, not even Harold. Each day, he avoided Amberlynn. He did not want to embarrass her again. He was sure she wanted to stay away from him too—she always avoided looking at him. Though sad that he could not talk to her again, he understood and accepted it.She needs to stay away from me, he thought. It’s best for both of us.
Since he joined the wrestling team, the days passed by in a blur. Each morning he got up and dragged himself to school. After classes, he forced himself to wrestling practice, and then he trudged home exhausted. At home, he would eat an enormous dinner, struggle to get through his homework, and then fall into a deep sleep.
The only thing that helped him mark the passing weeks was Tyray. Every Thursday, Tyray and Rodney warned him in gym class that he better be at the supermarket the next morning. And every Friday, Darrell would show up with his mother’s money. Darrell hated the routine, but he was afraid of what Tyray would do if the money stopped coming.
The only time Darrell did not think about Tyray was at wrestling practice. As soon as he went into the locker room after school, it was as though he entered another world, a world Tyray could not enter. Practices remained tough, but as the weeks passed, Darrell was slowly getting stronger. After two weeks, he managed to get within a few feet of the gymnasium ceiling on the ropes. The warm-up runs also stopped bothering him. He even improved on the steps, gaining enough strength to carry Craig with more speed and control.
But his biggest improvement was in his wrestling skills. After two weeks of steady practice, Darrell had learned five takedown moves, and he was able to demonstrate them to Coach Lewis using Craig as his opponent. His favorite move, the double leg takedown, involved lifting his opponent completely off the ground and then slamming him into the mat.
Coach Lewis also taught the team three different ways to pin people. With each move he explained, the coach would also teach the “counter-move”— the way to get away if someone used the move against you.
Darrell learned quickly that wrestling was like chess. To master it, you had to use strategy. Craig and Luis had taught him this too. Though Darrell had never beaten either of them in practice, he had learned how to avoid be
ing pinned, at least most of the time. He still lost constantly, but now it was because his opponents scored more points than he did. Each time they wrestled, Darrell watched what Craig or Luis did to defeat him, and slowly, he was becoming more of a challenge for them. Darrell hated losing in practice, but at least he was not being humiliated like he had been on the first day. Once, when Coach Lewis watched, Darrell escape being pinned by Craig. Coach yelled out, “Good job, Darrell! Never stop fighting, even if it looks like your opponent has you beat.” He smiled and patted Darrell on the back. “You’re gettin’ there. You just gotta keep pushing. Next time, you try and pin him.”
Darrell hoped he would be ready for Bluford’s first match against Lincoln High School in two weeks.
After practice one day, Darrell was changing back into his clothes when the kid with the shaved head walked by on his way to his locker. Darrell had learned from Luis that his name was Kevin and he was a junior at Bluford. Luis also told him that Kevin was one of the best wrestlers in the school and had gone to the city finals last year. When Kevin walked past him, Darrell pretended he did not notice. Then he heard a deep voice next to him. “Hey, Darrell.” Darrell turned to face Kevin. He was about Tyray’s size, maybe a little bigger.
“Yeah?” Darrell asked nervously.
“Good job today,” Kevin said and walked out.
On Saturday after wrestling practice, Darrell ran into Jamee at the supermarket. He had gone to the store to buy more bread for his sandwiches. His mother still did not notice that he was making his own lunch each day. All she knew was that bread in her house seemed to disappear overnight. “You must be growin’ now, baby,” she said to him when she gave him the money for bread, “ ’cause I can’t keep food in this house more than a day or two before it’s gone.”
When he saw Jamee, Darrell wanted to leave, but he was stuck in the middle of a long line with nowhere to go.
“Hey, Darrell,” Jamee said as she walked over to him.
“Hi, Jamee. What’s up?” he asked. Darrell had not ever said more than three words to her at any one time. Jamee must think I am a fool, too, he thought.
“Darrell, I just want you to know Amberlynn feels real bad about what happened in class that day with Tyray. She didn’t mean anything she said. She was just actin’ that way because everyone was starin’ at her and she was embarrassed.”
“Yeah, right,” Darrell replied.
“Really, it’s true. Amberlynn likes you. She told me she thought you were a really nice guy, and she doesn’t like how things have been between you two. But she’s afraid to talk to you ’cause she thinks you hate her because of what she did,” Jamee insisted.
“She thinks I hate her? I thought she hated me.”
“Listen, Darrell. Amberlynn thinks you’re a nice guy, and if you’d talk to her, you’d find out. Then both of you can stop feeling bad about what happened. But if I were you, I wouldn’t talk to her in class. I think Tyray kinda likes Amberlynn, and if he sees you talking to her, he’s gonna start trouble all over again.” Jamee rolled her eyes as she mentioned Tyray.
“So what am I supposed to do? Pretend I don’t know her?” Darrell asked angrily.
“You gotta find a way to see her where you can talk.” She paused for a minute. “Why don’t you go to the Freshman Dance? It’s the Friday before Christmas break. I’ll make sure she’s there.” Just then Jamee glanced at her watch. “I have to go now to meet my sister. Just make sure you come to the dance,” she instructed and walked out.
Watching Jamee leave, Darrell thought about what she said. Could it be true that Amberlynn really liked him? Part of him wondered if Jamee was lying. But another part of him was full of hope. He had not been to a dance since eighth grade. Back then Malik, Reggie, and Mark were with him. They’d sit around and talk more than anything else. This dance would be different. Darrell would not have his old friends. But Amberlynn would be there. He pictured himself dancing with her, and his heart raced. He had to go to the dance. He just had to.
But what if Tyray came to the dance? Darrell knew he could not be seen with Amberlynn if Tyray showed up.
As he paid for the bread, Darrell wondered what he would do about the dance. He realized he still had a week to think about it, while his first wrestling match was less than a week away. For, he would put the dance out of his mind.
The night before his first match, Darrell dreamed he was wrestling Tyray in front of a crowd of Bluford students. Tyray, with incredible speed, easily tossed Darrell around the mat and pinned him right in front of Amberlynn, who laughed loudly as he was pinned. Darrell woke up struggling to free himself from his blanket. He was relieved he had only been dreaming. But he dreaded the match to come.
Yet Darrell had been getting better in each practice. Three days before the match, he had managed to climb to the top of the ropes for the first time. Though still unable to beat Craig or Luis, he did manage to flip Luis onto his back for a second. Even Luis seemed surprised when it happened. Also, Darrell and Coach Lewis had recently discovered that Darrell was fast. Although he was not as strong as the other kids on the team, he was quicker. The coach told him speed could make him hard to beat. Darrell liked to think he had something other kids did not have. It was the first time he felt that his size was not hindering him.
What made Darrell even happier was his weight. All wrestlers had to weigh themselves before the match with Lincoln to make sure they were in the right weight group. When Darrell stepped on the scale, he discovered he had gained several pounds since he joined the team four weeks ago. He now weighed nearly 115 pounds. Mom’s right, he thought when he looked at the scale. I’m finally growing. And there was no fat anywhere on his body.
The day of the match, Darrell walked in and out of classrooms like a zombie. His mother promised him she would come to see him wrestle, and Darrell knew she would bring Uncle Jason. Besides them, dozens of Bluford students would be there watching him. Maybe even Amberlynn. He was so nervous that he could barely eat the sandwiches he had packed that morning.
At the end of his last class, Darrell walked to his locker and then to the gym to prepare for the match. One thought kept replaying itself in his mind: I’m gonna lose. Not only was he going to lose, he thought, but he was going to humiliate himself. As he changed into his blue and gold wrestling uniform, Darrell wanted to go home and crawl into his bed. He did not want to go out and wrestle. As he sat on the bench, he felt someone nudge his shoulder.
“You okay?” a voice said.
Darrell turned around to see Kevin looking at him.
“Nervous?” Kevin asked.
Darrell nodded.
“I remember my first match,” Kevin said. “I was so scared I wanted to throw up. But as soon as I got started, I was fine. You’ll be all right. Just remember one thing. It’s your first match, so no one is going to expect you to be an expert. Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Darrell replied. It was good to hear Kevin’s advice, but Darrell did not think he had anything in common with a champion wrestler.
It was time for the matches to begin. They were divided into three parts. First the inexperienced wrestlers from both high schools would have their matches. After that, the junior varsity and varsity teams would wrestle. Since Darrell was so light, his match would be among the first ones. Coach Lewis came over to talk to him just before his match.
“Listen, Darrell. You’ve come a long way in the past month. You work hard, and I’m impressed with your progress. Now, I know you’re nervous. It’s normal. The kid you’re wrestling is as new and as nervous as you. Use your speed, and remember the moves we practiced, and you’ll be fine. If he starts overpowering you, don’t give up. Sometimes you can beat a stronger guy by just waiting for him to make a mistakest go out and do your best,” Coach Lewis advised.
The coach slapped Darrell’s back. Darrell slowly walked onto the mat. The Bluford crowd cheered as Darrell walked out. He could see his uncle and mother sitting next to each other in the b
leachers.
“What am I doing?” Darrell mumbled to himself as he walked to the center of the mat. His opponent came out to meet him. The boy was slightly shorter than Darrell but a bit more muscular. Each boy put a foot on the starting marker. Darrell thought he was going to pass out.
“Come on, Darrell!” his mother cheered in the distance.
Then the whistle blew.
In a flash, the boy from Lincoln locked arms with Darrell. Alternately, each boy tried to throw the other to the mat. When Darrell tried to muscle his opponent aside, the boy barely budged. He’s much stronger than me, Darrell thought. The boy tried to sweep in underneath Darrell to lift him up, but Darrell figured out what he was doing and escaped. Then Darrell tried his favorite move, the double-leg takedown. Quickly, he darted beneath the shorter boy, grabbed his legs and lifted him. The Bluford fans cheered as Darrell hoisted his opponent off the ground and rolled him into the mat. Darrell knew the move scored him two points. He was winning. Just then the whistle sounded. The first two-minute round was over. Only two more rounds to go, Darrell thought.
The referee waited for the boys to get in the starting position and blew the whistle. Instantly, the two wrestlers grappled with each other. Darrell struggled to find a way to flip his opponent onto his back, but the shorter boy’s strength made it impossible for him to do anything. As Darrell fought to put the boy in a headlock, he escaped and flipped Darrell onto his side.
“That’s one point for Lincoln,” the referee said.
Before he knew what was happening, Darrell found himself crushed under his opponent, who was desperately trying to put him into a move of his own. Darrell rolled onto his stomach to avoid being flipped over.
“Don’t get trapped, Darrell!” Coach Lewis yelled. The boy from Lincoln was fast. He wrapped his legs around Darrell in a move the coach called a “grapevine.” The move took away Darrell’s leverage so he had no way to stop himself from being rolled to his back. Each second they wrestled, the boy seemed to lock up another one of Darrell’s limbs. Darrell felt himself being tilted over.
