Page 59 of The Kid Sister

Tenn jumped off his bed and we bro hugged and tapped elbows and double slapped hands in our signature Chargers greeting.

“Tomorrow,” I said.

“Tomorrow,” he repeated. “It’s ours to win.”

“Believe,” I affirmed. But I think I was referring more to his words about Sawyer. Tenn thought everything would work out, that it would be okay. I hoped for that as much as the championship title.

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Dad paced around thetables of the Country Club restaurant as we ate our early lunch. The day had been planned like a military operation, every minute being accounted for. Just as the food had been prepared to specific requirements, choices of pasta, rice, potatoes, chicken, vegetables and fruit. No cheesy, sticky sauces or fried foods, all clean eating for maximum performance.

Dad and Coach Amer and the other assistants tried to keep conversations going, keep things normal, but we all knew that there was nothing normal about the day. It was the feeling of do or die, everything on the line. And even though I sat with Tennessee, Skyler and Nico, the chatter was quieter than usual. For me, I was trying to keep my focus narrow, no distractions, my mind on the job. And that’s why I was quite pleased that Sawyer was sitting over by Flynn and Danny. Sawyer liked to listen to music before a game, it helped him get into the zone. I could see he had his ear pods in.

Dad had been full of motivation right from the get-go at breakfast. With no gym session, the day was already out of kilter, Mom preparing my breakfast of oatmeal and blueberries. Dad had paced back and forth with his last minute instructions, which would be superseded by last second instructions. Every piece of advice had to be reinforced.

“You play with your brain, today,” he said, stalking the room like a lion hunting its prey. “The quarterback plays with his mind, not his arm. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“You go hard every play,” he said, his voice getting louder. “Every play!”

“Yep.”

“Talent alone isn’t going to win this game. You need grit. The team with the most grit will win. Grit is the ability to finish, no matter what.”

“Absolutely.”

As we waited in the locker room, applying strapping tape to our ankles, knees, elbows and shoulders, smearing eye black on our faces, cleats tied, then retied, Dad kept going with the self belief. Our time was now. We’d taken the journey and this was our destiny. Every player on the field wanted the state championship title. The difference would come down to which team wanted it more. Covington Chargers had to be that team.

When we assembled at the door ready to run out, Dad had one more thing to say. “When you go out there, remember you’ve got a job to do. Get the job done. Do the best you can.”

“Yes, Coach!” we shouted back.

“Don’t settle for second place!”

“No Coach!”

And with that, I led our team out, bursting through the flag in the biggest moment of my life. I was here—at the destination.

My time was now, and my job was to lead the Chargers to their first championship title. It had been drilled into me for years, this is what I had to do.

The music, the band, the crowd, the announcer blared out through the speakers, a cacophony that ignited every nerve in my body. Suddenly it all seemed too big, too hard, too momentous. I couldn’t do this, I wasn’t good enough, I didn’t have the skills to do this. The Oakwood Warriors knew how to win, they’d done it before—we hadn’t. The Covington Chargers didn’t know how to win a state championship title.

A shudder ran through me. I was out of my depth. My eyes scoured the stands, my grandparents and my whole school here to support us, depending on me to lead the team to victory. I adjusted my helmet, suddenly feeling too heavy, and I had a moment of panic that I must have grabbed the wrong one, that I was wearing someone else’s.

My gaze flitted around, wondering which of my boys had my helmet. And then a flash of fluorescent green came into view and there on the sideline was Sierra, looking in my direction.

Our eyes connected and she waved, her face lighting up with a beautiful smile. And amongst the chaos of my mind, things suddenly stilled. My cluttered mind cleared because I saw her mouth open and through the racket, it’s like I heard her call out to me. One word.

Believe.

And right then, I did.

I believed.

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