Promise Kept. Stephanie Perry Moore
Чтение книги онлайн.
Читать онлайн книгу Promise Kept - Stephanie Perry Moore страница 4
Название: Promise Kept
Автор: Stephanie Perry Moore
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Учебная литература
Серия: Perry Skky Jr
isbn: 9780758232588
isbn:
“Move, Perry, now move,” Deuce said, as he tried unsuccessfully to push me aside.
“Naw, now for real you guys are going to hear me out,” I said boldly to the three of them. “Quit being hotheads for a second and listen to me. Saxon, I’ve been watching you in practice lately and boy, you are a heck of a football player. You know I never wanted to admit that with me and you being rivals in high school and all, but you the man! With me on the bench you’re going to get a chance to play. You can show out and show ’em the threat and presence of what’s coming next year. Aight?”
“I hear you, man,” Saxon said, and he came and gave me dap.
“And Deuce and Lance, though the loyalty chokes me up inside,” I said facetiously.
Lance grabbed a pillow and tossed it my way. I ducked. We all laughed.
I continued, “I’m serious. I appreciate y’all caring, but what good is it going to do with none of us in the game? Somebody has to represent the freshman class and help us win this thing. I’ma get back in there. What I want y’all to get is that we got to live by rules, and when you break them you got to step up, be a man, and take what’s coming to you. I don’t need y’all to take my medicine for me. I know what I did and I know why I did it. I just need the three of y’all out there. And light up the scoreboard, so when I get in I won’t have to show y’all up.”
They charged me. The next thing you know the four of us were play wrestling. It was cool to know I wanted the best for them and that they had my back.
The next couple of days were chaos. All the sportswriters were clamoring outside the hotel to make the story even bigger than it was. Coach protected Lenard, Markus, and myself through a lot of the public functions that the team went to—team meet-and-greets, pep rallies, Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast—so we were able to chill.
I was also avoiding my folks. I knew they had driven down to Miami. I was successful in not seeing them until my dad banged on the hotel room door and yelled that Coach told him I was in there.
“Alright Dad, but I got a game in the morning,” I said, sounding real tired.
“Whatever, son, open the door. I need to talk to you now.”
I couldn’t even look his way. Feeling bad was an understatement. I hated letting my parents down. What could I say?
“I know, Dad. I made a bad decision.”
“I hear you, son, but you can’t just run away from us when you get in some trouble. Besides, this year you have had one incident after another and we have always been there for you.”
“I shouldn’t have embarrassed you guys, Dad. Truthfully, you couldn’t be more bummed out with me than I am with myself.”
He went on anyway, lecturing me for another thirty minutes, then told me to rest up for the game. I appreciated that at the end of the day he brought our conversation back to a positive place.
As he prepared to leave, he touched my shoulder and said, “Listen. All this talk now is that you’re coming off of the bench and you won’t be able to help the game. Shut the media and the fans up; do your thing tomorrow, aight?”
“Aight, I’ma try,” I laughed, trippin’ that my pops was down.
Eyeing me to make sure I took him seriously, he said, “Naw, you gon’ do it. You hurting this team on the bench. You get in that game and make up the difference.”
He had no idea how right he was. In the first quarter we were down 28-0. Saxon was dropping passes. Deuce was getting blocked turn after turn, and Lance was getting sacked every snap. It was a massacre!
In the second quarter Lenard and I were able to join the game. We gave Lance confidence and the O line started blocking better. Deuce was able to run and he scored a touchdown. With Markus back as a leader on defense, we held them, and I caught some crazy balls and scored two touchdowns.
Even with all that battling, when the end of the fourth quarter came we were still behind 28-21. Though we did our best, USC did not come up short. I wanted to beat the Trojans so bad. After all, we lost the first game of the season to them. I played a big part in that loss. My absence in the first quarter of this game will always be in the back of my mind. Once again, I let my teammates down. As we walked to the middle of the field to shake hands with the victorious Trojans, Coach Red didn’t even look my way. I know he was pissed at me. Though we played a hard-fought game, in the end it just wasn’t enough simply trying to win!
2
Dealing with Trouble
The mood in the locker room was somber at best; some young men were crying, and rightfully so. For the seniors they’d never get another chance for that ring.
Coach Red said, “Men, we only lost two games all year, we have to take our hats off to the Trojans. I know you’re mad at me about the decisions that I made and maybe you’re equally upset at some of your teammates for not thinking on this bowl trip. But guys, we have to put this behind us. We had a heck of a season. Nobody gave us anything. We were always ranked in the ugliest spots. Most games we were favored to lose. You guys are champions in my book. Every single one of you is a winner. You may cause me a lot of pain, but one thing for sure, we came together as a team. You need to know wherever you go in life you’re someone special.”
A few guys cheered, even more clapped. His speech was moving, but it didn’t move me. I said to myself I was never going to be depressed again. I wanted to keep my self-esteem intact. However, even with two of the longest catches of my football career, a 97-yarder and a 98-yarder, maybe if I had been in the game sooner I could have done more. I sat down on the bench, placed my head between my knees and let the tears mix in with my sweat.
Then I heard Calvin’s voice yell out, “OFFENSE, man, y’all were terrible out there. Y’all didn’t block nobody!” I looked up and he was in the face of two of our linemen.
“You need to get out of my face,” our center said to him. “That’s the problem with you now, Calvin, you can’t keep your emotions in check; starting some fight at the bar, getting some of our players suspended because they’re trying to support your stupid ways.”
“Oh, you calling me stupid?” Calvin said to him as he pushed him into another guy.
Bilboa jumped into the scene and pushed Calvin into another corner. “Naw, he’s trying to blame me for him playing poorly.” I heard more arguing but I put my head back down.
“You can’t blame yourself for this,” Deuce came over and said to me.
“Nice try, buddy, but that one don’t fly.”
“I’m serious man; I choked up in the beginning. You told me it was going to be my time to shine and all I had to do СКАЧАТЬ