Page 42 of Overtime
It was the manifestation of my cojones, but I don’t say squat.
He delivers a few choice words. None of them are profane or insult my mother, but they’re annoying, nonetheless. Something about responsibility and being the leader of a team that doesn’t have anIin it. I sit at my bench and watch him in silence. Tomorrow, he’ll tell me in more muted terms how it was a good game but one that shouldn’t be replicated. We know the drill.
After he leaves, Archie starts chuckling next to me. “Coach Green is gonna Coach Green, huh?”
“I’m convinced the man just doesn’t know how to be happy,” says Jamal from Archie’s other side.
That’s a good point. He screams at us just the same whether we lose or win. But we can’t all have a Coach Young like the Strikes do. She’s level-headed even when she’s tough.
“Anyway, it’s Saturday night and we just won a big game. Guess what that means?” Archie pauses in the middle of removing his pads to wag his eyebrows at me, then at our other assistant captain.
“O’Malley’s?”
“I’ll pass,” I say.
“What?”
Half the room turns my way.
They can stare all they want, but I focus on removing my leg pads between grunts.
After spluttering, Archie says, “You pass? What do you mean you pass? This is the perfect opportunity for you to find Kelsey’s replacement.”
“After that last play you pulled off, I’m sure at least half of the arena is salivating over you, man,” adds Jamal.
I doubt most of the audience even understood the nuance of that play. Forget about salivating.
Pulling off my jersey, I dump it on my growing pile by my feet. I decide to give them a morsel in the hopes that they’ll leave me alone. “I’m busy.”
“With what?”
“Oh, do you already have someone? You lucky dog.”
Yeah, I have someone. A useless essay to finish. A quiz to prep for. A guide to read through.
None of those responses would be acceptable to these horndogs. Granted, I’m one of them. If the roles were reversed,I’d mock the tar out of them. If Coach weren’t keeping his laser beams on me, I’d be hitting up O’Malley’s and maybe a bar downtown too until I found someone to let off some steam with. That’s how I’ve been living my college life. And that’s how I’ve been getting in trouble so consistently that Coach intervened.
I already pissed the man off during the game. It wouldn’t be a good idea for him to find out I’ve picked up a new distraction. Not when Edwards is also watching my every move.
Speaking of, he glares at me from across the room. Acknowledging his existence was a mistake, because he takes it as an invitation to speak.
“Don’t be so cocky. Next time you pull that shit, someone’s going to bust your teeth, and I’ll be right there, ready to replace you.”
“Must suck to suit up for every game and only get to trash talk in the locker room, huh?”
“Guys, guys.” Archie raises his hands as if Edwards and I had been about to come to blows. “Why can’t we all just get along?”
“Piss off, Bracken.”
I roll my eyes at Edwards’s overt attempt at showing his testosterone.
“Let the record show that I tried.” Archie turns back to me. “Anyway, are you sure you don’t wanna score tonight?”
I wanna score, all right. I think about scoring every waking moment. My dreams are turning even more explicit than usual. But no girl is worth letting Edwards take my spot.
“Already busy.” My tone is cutting enough that Archie finally drops it.
Instead, he turns to Jamal. “Whatever. Let’s invite Maddie instead. She’s way more fun than this grouch.”
