Hustle and Heart

by Alison Mello

  “Officer Burgess, what can we do for you?” I ask, trying to plaster a smile on my face.

  “Relax, Mrs. Morgan. I’m here with news.” He and his partner approach the steps.

  “I’m sorry, but the last time you were here you accused my son of committing a crime.” I take a defensive stance.

  “I understand.” He steps up onto the porch and lowers his voice. “And I’m sorry to tell you this, but I am here about your ex-husband.”

  “What about him?” I cross my arms over my chest. I really don’t want to hear more about him. He has put us through enough.

  “He’s dead,” he says flatly.

  My eyes go wide when we hear a gasp from above us. The boys are eavesdropping from the window upstairs. “How? When?” I’m shocked. My body trembles as I back up to take a seat on the porch swing.

  “We were dispatched to his home under a domestic dispute call. When we arrived, we found Mr. Morgan lying on the floor in a pool of blood. His girlfriend was beside him crying and panting. She claims it was self-defense. She also admitted to falsifying allegations from the first assault. He threatened to kill her if she didn’t say it was Jason. She is at the hospital being treated for her injuries, but he was pronounced dead on the scene.”

  “What happened?” Jesse asks.

  “She claims she fought him off and hit him over the head. The impact knocked him unconscious, and he bled out.”

  Jesse takes a seat and puts an arm around me. “I can’t believe she killed him.”

  Jason and Gabe come running outside. “Mom, are you okay?” the boys ask, taking a seat to the right of me. I grab the boys and wrap them in a hug.

  “It’s over, boys. We never have to fear him again.” I pull away and look at the detective. “He threatened us. We signed an agreement with fear he wouldn’t hold up his end of the deal and we would have to worry about him coming back for Jason. He told us he wanted out and he would leave us alone; however, he’s a changed man, and I didn’t trust him. Now we don’t have to look over our shoulders.”

  He smiles. “I’m happy for you.” He steps back. “I’m sorry to have bothered you folks on a Sunday, but I felt you would want to know.” He points to the boys in their uniforms. “It appears you have a game to get to, so we’ll let you go.” The two officers step down off the porch and head to their car.

  As soon as they’re gone, I turn to my son. “Jason, are you okay?” My eyes well with tears. Not for the man who is lying dead in a morgue somewhere, but for the boy who has just lost his father. His father was no longer the man I married, but with him alive there was a chance he would come to his senses and try to fix things with his son. Now that opportunity is gone.

  He shrugs. “I guess. I’m sad he’s dead.” A tear runs down his cheek. “But I’m glad we don’t have to worry anymore. He scared me.”

  “Now you can move on. Mom and Dad can get married, and you can officially be my brother.” Gabe wraps an arm around Jason. Gabe gives him a gentle smile that seems to make him happy.

  “True story.” Jason holds his fist out to Gabe who bumps with him.

  “Are you guys good? Do you still want to go to the field?”

  Jason smiles. “Yeah, I’m good. Let’s go win this game.”

  “Good.” The four of us hurry off to the field.

  When we pull up, the entire team is there, and fear is etched on everyone’s face. The coaches have the team huddled around the wall we always meet up at, and the mom squad is standing with them. Trystan, Blake, and Derek meet us as Jason and Gabe walk over to the team. “Everything okay?”

  I look at Jesse and then back at the guys. “It will be. Let’s get these boys to weigh-in.”

  Everyone makes weigh-in this week. Aiden looks sad that he made it. I feel bad for this boy who is being forced into this situation. “Aiden.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He looks up at me.

  “What’s wrong, buddy?” He shrugs. “Aiden, is your mom forcing you to play today?” He looks at the ground and starts picking his fingers. I know he wants to talk to me, but he’s struggling. “It’s okay. You can tell me.” He nods but doesn’t say anything. I sigh. “Why?”

  “She says it’s good for me. That I need a physical outlet to relieve my excess energy.”

  “Okay, is there another sport you’d rather play?”

  “It doesn’t matter. She says this is the only sport that practices enough for me to have physical energy release every night.”

  My eyes go wide. “That’s what she said?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Go stand with the team. I will take care of this.”

  I call Jesse over and inform him of my conversation with Aiden. He’s furious that Brianne would put her son through this. He pulls Aiden aside to have a conversation with him. I can’t hear what they’re saying but Aiden smiles, they fist bump, and Aiden gets in line with the rest of the team. Trystan winks at me, and we make our way back up to the field.

  Once the boys are done with their huddle, Trystan yells, “Green offense. Green offense.”

  I guess we have the ball first. The entire green offense runs onto the field, including Aiden. The whistle blows, Gabe yells hike, and they run the play moving the ball a few yards. Aiden is on the line. He is knocked to the ground and slow to get up, but he shakes it off. “Are you good, Aiden?” He nods quite dramatically and gives Jesse a thumbs-up.

  They set up to run the next play. Gabe yells hike, and the ball is tossed to him. He’s about to get taken down when Aiden jumps to tackle the kid. Gabe manages to get rid of the ball in time. Jason catches it but gets tackled at the forty-yard line. “Nice play, boys. Way to protect the quarterback, Aiden.”

  The boys huddle quick and then break up. I’ve learned that Jesse gives them the first four plays of the game and they run out to the field and run them unless something isn’t working, then he will call them back and run something else.

  They run the play, and Brady takes off running with the ball. The boys run behind him trying to protect him from getting tackled, but he is brought down at the ten-yard line. When the play is done, Aiden limps off the field. “Aiden, what’s wrong?” Jesse asks.

  “I think I twisted my ankle.” He hobbles over to the bench. Jesse and I hurry to make sure he’s okay.

  Brianne shouts from the other side of the field, “Shake it off, Aiden.” Jesse turns and waves her over as Aiden takes his helmet off. Aiden has pulled off his cleat. His ankle is swollen, he is done for the game.

  “Is he okay?” She’s actually concerned.

  The three of us take a moment to talk with him. I try to move his ankle, but he flinches. “I think it’s just a minor sprain, but it’s definitely swollen. He’s done for the game.”

  I pop an icepack and wrap it around his ankle with one of the ace bandages from our first aid kit. Brianne kneels in front of him when Jesse tells the ref that Aiden is done so they can get the game going again. “Do you want to stay, or do you want me to take you to get your ankle looked at?” she asks him.

  “Stay,” he says flatly.

  “Okay.” She narrows her eyes, leery over what she should do.

  “Brianne.” Jesse calls her over. “Are you going to finish the MPRs?” She looks at Aiden and then back to Jesse.

  “Go, he’ll be fine.”

  She walks over to Jesse and says, “Sure.” She jogs across the field to take her spot. The opposing team has pulled themselves together and given us a battle. It’s now the fourth quarter, and we’ve gone back and forth the entire game. We’re now up by six and if they score here it’ll tie the game at twenty-one with only three minutes left in the game. Considering this isn’t the pros, that’s not a lot of time.

  “White Defense. White Defense,” Blake shouts out.

  Jason, Mason, DJ, Sam, Josh and Noah run onto the field to swap places with some of the boys who are getting tired. The boys huddle for a second and take their places on the field. The quarterback yells hike and st
eps back. He throws the ball, but DJ is in the backfield watching the receivers. He lines himself up, steps in front of the boy who is intended to catch it, and intercepts the ball running toward the end zone, but is tackled before he gets too far. DJ jumps up with the ball in his hand, and the team cheers. He may have just saved the game.

  Jesse calms them down and calls the offense onto the field. The boys are tired. They manage to run six plays before the ball is fumbled and the other team gets it back with a minute to play.

  The stands are silent as we watch the final minute of the game unfold. The other team runs the ball, fearing another interception, and they take it a few yards at a time, but the clock is running down. There are ten seconds left in the game and they’re on the five-yard line with two downs left to go. We hear hike, the ball is handed off, and Mason tackles the kid hard. He loses the ball, and Jason jumps on top of it. The whistle is blown, and Jason shows he has the ball. They look up at the clock, four seconds left.

  With a huge grin, Jesse yells for white offense to take the field. Gabe takes a knee, and the game is over. Dartmouth has won the game and is off to the playoffs.

  The boys shake hands with the other team telling them good game, but as soon as we’re done they jump up and down thrilled that their season isn’t over.

  Jesse pulls the boys to the side. “Awesome game, boys. I’m so proud of each and every one of you.” He looks down at Aiden who actually played his best downs of the season. He winks at him and in that moment, I know when they spoke at weigh-in they made a deal. “Now to celebrate. Hot dogs are on me at Gary’s Best.”

  “Yeah!” The boys cheer with excitement.

  “Let’s get out of here.” We find Josephine standing by the gate waiting for us, and we take off to enjoy our hot dogs and celebrate.

  When we pull up to Gary’s Best, the boys jump from the car with joy written all over their faces. Jesse directs them all to the picnic tables and pulls a small notebook from his pocket. “Listen up. I’m ordering everyone two hot dogs with chips and a milk. I’m going to ask you one at a time what you want and then I will bring the order over to the window.” The boys are already thanking him as he approaches them one at a time taking their order. This is going to take a while, thank God he let Gary know that we were coming and roughly how many to expect. As usual, some of the team doesn’t join in because they have other commitments after the game, but there’s a good portion of us here.

  I truly enjoy seeing the smile on his face as he messes around with the boys when I find myself surrounded by the mom squad. I look at them with total confusion when Misty says, “Spill.”

  “Spill what?”

  “What happened? You guys are never late to the field,” Stella says with concern.

  I pull them over to the side so no one hears our conversation. They surround me like we’re in a huddle, and I look at each one of them. I lower my voice and say, “Brian is dead.” My tone is flat and expressionless because I’m still quite shocked. The game was a mere distraction from the tragedy. Their jaws drop, and not one of them knows what to say.

  Stella is the first one to speak. “How is Jason?”

  “I’m not sure it’s hit him yet. The detectives showed up at our house as we were leaving and gave us the news. Jesse asked him if he still wanted to play, and he said yes.”

  They glance over at the boys. Jason has a huge smile on his face as he interacts with his friends, discussing today’s win. “He appears to be taking it well,” Arien says.

  “Yeah, for now anyway. Right now, his father is lying in a morgue. I have no idea what Melinda is going to plan if anything. They weren’t married and apparently he was beating her.”

  “Shit…” Misty crosses her arms over her chest. “I wouldn’t want to deal with his ass either. You put your hands on me and we’re done.” Misty gives her typical sass.

  I chuckle. “Girl, you’re crazy.” We all burst into laughter at the face she makes.

  Shouting pulls our attention from the huddle. Gabe shouts, “Who are we?”

  The boys yell, “Dartmouth.”

  “Who are we?”

  “Dartmouth” They continue shouting the remainder of their chant with so much love and heart for their team.

  “Let’s go eat. We have lots to celebrate today. My family no longer has to live in fear, and our boys are onto the playoffs.”

  “Of course, they are,” Arien says as we join them. “They play with hustle and heart, just like their coach taught them.”

  One month later

  The last few weeks have been absolutely insane. I got a phone call from the morgue the Wednesday after we won our final game of the season. Melinda discovered that Brian never changed his life insurance policy into her name, so she refused to move the body and set up the burial service for him. It’s funny how things like that work out. He cheated on me, left my son and I high and dry for a woman he supposedly loved, yet he left his life insurance in mine and Jason’s name.

  After a much-needed conversation with both Jesse and Jason, the three of us went to the morgue, claimed the body, and set up a service for him. Given the circumstances, we left everything private. The obituary simply stated who he was and where he would be buried. We asked that his friends pay their respects after we had our time with him. The only people who were to show up to the service were Josephine, Jesse, and the kids. Jason didn’t want anyone else there. We did have a small get together with some friends afterward at the house, but it was only our closest friends. On top of all of that the boys have been busting their tails through the playoff season and made it all the way to the Super Bowl. It was a close game and went into overtime, but they won, and we are so proud of them.

  Today they not only get to celebrate their win at the banquet, but those who have good grades will be getting their scholar trophies.

  “Babe, are you ready?” Jesse asks from the door of our bathroom.

  “I am. Are the kids ready to go?”

  “We’re all downstairs waiting on you, babe.” He grins.

  “Okay, okay. I’m coming.”

  “No, you’re not, but you will be later tonight.” He winks at me.

  “You are insatiable.” I laugh.

  “Can you blame me?” He steps up behind me. Looking into my eyes through the mirror he says, “You are the most beautiful woman in the world and you taste like heaven.” He leans in planting his lips on my neck.

  “Stop. We have to go.” I laugh at his flirting.

  He spins me around. “You’re right we do, but tonight you’re mine.” He places a chaste kiss on my lips and pulls me from the room.

  “Come on, Mom and Dad.” Grace shouts from downstairs. I laugh. I love hearing her say that. She’s started calling me Mom, and it melts my heart.

  The ride to the banquet hall is a short one and when we walk into the building we’re greeted by a round of congratulations. Jesse winks at me and we sign in, heading into the room that’s dedicated to our group. There are a few tables that say ‘Reserved Super Bowl Champs’. There are two for the boys and three for the parents. The boys are instantly surrounded by friends from around the league who are excited to congratulate them. They are the only team allowed to wear their jerseys to the banquet. Everyone else has to wear a polo and khaki pants.

  Unfortunately, not everyone could make it today. No one has heard from Aiden since the last game of the season and some of the other team members had other commitments. As soon as we have everyone here, we take a few team photos with the trophy.

  Mike, the MC of the event, announces that dinner is served and tells us we’re welcome to the buffet first. We all make our plates and take a seat. Once everyone has food, he continues talking about the season and the amazing job the different divisions did, and he announces their accomplishments. After a bit of a long-winded speech, Mike hands the mic over to Michelle who starts calling the boys up for their trophies. There are multiple boys on our team who are being recognized today, Gabe and Jason
included. The scholars program recognizes the kids who have been able to maintain a ninety-six grade average while still playing sports and being involved in their other activities.

  Jesse fidgets at the table as they come to the end of the alphabet. He was asked to give a speech about his team once the scholars are done, and he has openly admitted he is quite nervous.

  Stella, who is sitting on the side of me, taps my arm and whispers in my ear, “Is he nervous about his speech?” I nod just as he is called to the podium.

  “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. For those of you who do not know me, I’m Coach Jesse Townson, head coach of the Junior Pee Wee division. I have been playing ball in this same town since I was my son’s age, and I consider it a privilege to have coached these boys this season.” He pauses. “When my son asked me to coach, I was a bit nervous. I hadn’t played the game in a few years, and coaching is quite different from actually playing. You have to lead by example and teach them. Talk to them, not down to them, but then I realized I had some pretty awesome coaches in my day, and I thought about what they had taught me. They taught me that hard work and dedication will get you far.” He pauses for a second. “I will never forget my first practice. We were so excited to play. We wanted to hit the field, tackle and learn plays, all the fun stuff that comes with football; instead, he sat us down and had a talk with us. He told us there two things we needed to win football games. The first was hustle. He told us we needed to move quick and play hard. The second was heart. You have to love this game to be dedicated enough to be out there practicing four nights a week and play a game on Sunday.” He looks over at his boys. I can see he’s a tad choked up. “I have to say, you boys made me proud. You played with both those qualities. Week after week you showed you had both hustle and heart, and that’s why you won the Super Bowl.” The room erupts into clapping and whistling as they cheer them on. He takes a breath. “Congratulations, boys.” He then looks back out to the crowd. “I don’t want to be too long winded, but I also want to congratulate my wife, Mrs. Townson.” The room gasps, and a huge grin spreads across my face. We hadn’t told anyone what we had done. “Since we consider you all family, we found it appropriate to tell you that Karen and I got married two weeks ago at the courthouse.” Everyone claps, and the girls give me the evil eye for not telling them. “But wait, there’s more.” He laughs. “I have also adopted Jason and she has adopted Grace and Gabe, so we are officially the Townson family and we’re looking forward to another season in this amazing league next year.” I’m now crying once again because I’m so thrilled we have made this final step in completing our family, and I’ve been dying to tell everyone. “Thank you all so much for your time.”