Nothing But Horses

by Shannon Kennedy

  Kanisha perked up enough to peek around Olivia at me. “How could she have more than one husband?”

  “Grandma said she collected boys like some people do coins or postage stamps. My mom meets them, marries ‘em and then discards them. During the last divorce proceedings, the judge told her that doing the same things and expecting different results each time was the definition of insanity. Mom decided to give up on her rodeo boys.”

  “All guys who do rodeo aren’t boys,” Olivia said.

  “The ones who date my mother are.”

  Cedar looked up at the grandstand and waved at my family. “The one with her tonight doesn’t look much like he does rodeo.”

  “No, he’s her latest flavor of the month. He’s pretty decent.” I shrugged. “He won’t last. I give it six months. She’ll dump him by March.”

  “That’s pretty cynical,” Olivia said. “Don’t you want your mom to be happy?”

  “I love my mom, but I know her.”

  “Like I know my dad.” Kanisha tossed a smile my way. “I’ll be okay now.”

  “You’ll do great,” I said. “I’m counting on you to hit the basket every time like you do during practice. I’ve never seen you miss a shot.”

  Her smile widened and she straightened. Olivia frowned, but before I could ask what was wrong now, the ref blew the whistle. The players circled for the tip-off. I expected Patricia to choose Zoey to represent us. She was taller than me, but no way. Patricia went up, lost the ball and Baker got possession.

  Game on and we were already behind. It didn’t get much better through the first quarter. Baker scored repeatedly. Their squad was in sync and ours was all over the floor. Patricia managed to get two baskets, but Baker was up by twenty at the end of the first quarter. Coach thought I was a diva. He should open his eyes and see what his princess was doing tonight.

  Second quarter, I ran out and took over for Zoey. She bumped my shoulder. “Good luck.”

  “I make my own.” I glanced at the rest of the group. Okay, it was me, Kanisha, Patricia and two other girls that I didn’t know very well, Didi, and Willow. We’d practiced together, so it was going to work.

  Baker had the ball when the ref blew the whistle, but that didn’t last long. I shadowed the tall brunette from the other school and stole the ball in mid-dribble. Time for a turn-around. Lincoln was winning tonight and I took the ball down the floor. Kanisha was by the basket, so I passed to her and she scored. All right! We’d catch up by half-time. I ignored the cheers and jogged partway down the court, ready to do it again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Marysville, Washington

  Thursday, January 9th, 7:40 pm

  Four minutes until half-time. I’d played the way our coach wanted, passing the ball to whoever was closest to the basket. I didn’t diss Patricia. She called the plays we’d practiced, using different numbers for each one. I tried to follow her directions, but my bottom line was keeping Baker from scoring while Lincoln narrowed the gap.

  Three minutes. I passed to Kanisha. I heard someone yelling her name from the stands. And she air-balled. How could she miss now? It didn’t matter. I caught the ball, dunked it. The crowd went wild. I heard them yelling my name and number thirteen. She ran beside me. “You okay?”

  “I’m sorry.” Kanisha took a breath. “Skip me next time.”

  “No. You’re the best out here.” I went for the ball.

  Patricia and I took turns dribbling it down to our basket. Willow was closest, so she scored the next time. One minute left. I stole from the Baker brunette who tried to keep the ball back at the start of the quarter. She failed. I headed down the court. Kanisha was in position, so I passed.

  Air-ball again. I didn’t freak out. I got the ball back and shot from the three-point line.

  Time!

  And we were ahead by two points!

  The ref blew his whistle and we were off the court.

  In the locker room, I chugged water and listened to Coach Norris. He praised the way we worked together. Kanisha told him she couldn’t play again and he asked if she was injured. When she admitted that she wasn’t, he told her to get it together by the last quarter and she’d be fine. He gave her the “winners never quit and quitters never win,” line. Olivia leaned in and whispered that Kanisha wouldn’t be an asset the last quarter. Once she fell apart, she never got back the magic.

  “Then, have everyone do assists at the end of the game,” I said softly.

  Olivia nodded. She had a strategy now and both of us could sit and listen to the coach’s pep talk. He signaled for me to walk out beside him when we headed back to the game.

  “Did you hear the crowd tonight? They think you’re the new star. I don’t like heroes.”

  “Actually, Coach, when I’m playing, I ignore them.” That got me a long, disbelieving look and I shrugged.

  I’d always considered my mom’s husbands and boyfriends, her “scout troop,” and they usually wanted to impress her by telling me what to do on the court or soccer field. A couple managed to distract me when I played in middle school. My coach back then told me that if I focused on the game, we’d win. If I let a bunch of losers influence me, we’d lose. Since I didn’t like losing, I quit listening to the audience.

  I headed to the bench and sat next to Kanisha. A pony-tailed, short guy in faded blue jeans and a plaid shirt that stretched over his beer gut was behind us. He started telling her everything she’d done wrong in the last quarter. I turned and looked him up and down. “She doesn’t need you nagging her right now. She has a coach and he’s happy with her.”

  “What? How can he be? She’s a failure.”

  “Yeah, right. You couldn’t run from one end of the court to the other without having a heart attack. Go harass Coach.” That silenced the moron for a moment. I leaned forward and caught Zoey’s eye. The tall blonde stood and came to me. “What?”

  “Trade places with Kanisha.”

  “Then, I can’t tell her how to play next time.” The middle-aged wanta-be player in the stands protested.

  I glanced at Zoey and Kanisha before I eyed her father again. “That’s the idea, jerk-brain.” I elbowed Kanisha. “Move down.”

  She did and Zoey sat beside me. We ignored the idiot behind us. He squawked and muttered for a while because there wasn’t any room behind Kanisha. Soon, he was back to watching the game and hollering whenever our team scored. So, he wasn’t all bad.

  I flicked a glance at Zoey. “Thanks.”

  “No. Thank you. I can’t believe you got us ahead after that dismal first quarter.”

  “Yeah, well Olivia’s keeping us there.”

  We sat and watched while Lincoln piled up the points. As point guard, Olivia had a different style than Patricia. The plays might be the same, but Olivia knew the squad’s strengths. She was better than I had ever been. She alternated passing to the wings and forwards. Baker never figured out who would have the ball or be scoring for us. At the end of third quarter, we were ahead by nineteen points.

  Zoey, Kanisha and I went in for the last quarter. Cedar stayed and so did Olivia. We had a rhythm. Dribbling, passing and scoring. Anytime, it looked like Kanisha would have the ball, one of the other three was there to assist. I stayed to the side and saved the day, either dunking or shooting a three-point whenever she missed a shot. The little Junior Varsity cheerleaders spent more time dancing than sitting and the audience was yelling. Grandpa and Autumn were the loudest of them all.

  Two minutes left and Didi ran up to me. “Coach wants you out and me in.”

  “You’re kidding.” I glanced at him, saw the fierce frown and sighed. “Crap. Okay, help Kanisha as much as you can.” I ran off the court and sat down between him and Patricia. “This majorly sucks. We’re winning.”

  “Because you’re showing off.” Anger showed in his tense body. “I told you when you arrived, you could either be good or great. Tonight, you’re good. But, you’re not a team player.”

  Tears burned
. I bit my lip. I never cried. I wouldn’t do it here. I grabbed Patricia’s towel and buried my face for a moment. I knew everyone would think I was wiping away sweat. She elbowed me and I handed back the towel. “Thanks.”

  “No worries.” She passed me a bottle of water. When the coach turned back to face the ref, Patricia leaned in close and whispered. “He’s wrong. We are a team.”

  The clock dinged, the buzzer sounded, the ref blew his whistle, cheers and more yelling from the crowd. Game over and we won by thirty points. If I’d been in during the last two minutes, the margin would have been greater. That was a fact. I knew it even if nobody else admitted it. Everyone gathered around Patricia and Olivia telling them what a great job they’d done.

  When I came out of the locker room, I saw Mom talking to Coach Norris. “Was Sierra hurt? Is that why you had her stop playing?”

  “She’s not a team player,” Coach Norris said. “She needs to work with others.”

  “It looked to me like she was covering for their mistakes,” Grandpa said. “Lincoln won.”

  “There’s more to playing basketball than winning,” Coach Norris told him. “Sierra will learn to be one of the girls, not try to be the star.”

  “It’s never worked before. I wish you luck.” Mom gave him a sweet smile and he glazed over.

  Great, Mom. Really great. Sign him up for your scout troop. I appreciate the support! Not!

  We stopped for pizza on the way home. Grandpa waited for our order and Mom took Autumn to the restroom. Grandma chose a booth. I sat down and Dave eyed me. “What do you think, Sierra? Does your coach have a valid concern?”

  “About what?” I sipped my cola. “We won. If he cared about the team, he should have listened to Kanisha when she freaked because her old man hassled her. She ought to have been allowed to sit out the last quarter like she wanted.”

  “Then, what happens the next time she faces a harsh critic?” Grandma asked. “Will she try or just bail?”

  She had a point, but I wasn’t saying that in front of Dave. He changed the subject to work and one of the new cops calling him in to look at some horses who wore blankets when they were out in the weather. Three officers later, they’d talked to the owners and discovered that these were show champions, not regular backyard mounts who had fuzzy winter coats. This was my kind of conversation. I was glad that the new guy hadn’t been allowed to seize the animals and Dave had stepped up to keep the situation sane.

  I still felt bad when I walked into the house. When I opened his crate, Charlie bounced out to greet me with puppy kisses. I snuggled him close and carried him out to the yard to take care of his doggie business. Queenie came along. The two of them didn’t know anything about basketball, so they loved me no matter what happened tonight.

  As soon as Charlie piddled, he pounced on one of his toys, a soft plastic ring. He brought it to me so we could play fetch. I gave it a gentle throw and he pelted after it. He dragged it back to me, tail in full wagging motion. I was his favorite person and I didn’t have to hear another lecture about teamwork. Alone with the dogs, I cried.

  * * * *

  Marysville, Washington

  Friday, January 10th, 2:55pm

  Despite hearing tons of praise all day about the game, I dreaded practice that afternoon. I was the first one out of the locker room. I wouldn’t let Coach Norris know how vulnerable I felt. He nodded at me. “Lines, Sierra.”

  “What?”

  “Run lines.”

  “How long?”

  “Until I tell you to stop.”

  “You’re the boss.” I hoped it didn’t sound as snarky as I felt.

  I stretched and then started with the short runs from the base-line to the end of the key. I gradually added more length until I was running back and forth from one end of the gym to the other. Kanisha and Cedar were the next two people who arrived. They saw me, shared a look and then jumped in to run lines too.

  I didn’t think it was what Coach had in mind. He came out of the storage closet at the same time that Didi and Willow showed up. They stretched and then began the first set of runs. As the rest of the team trickled in, they joined us.

  Coach Norris watched us for a few minutes, then blew his whistle. We stopped and moved toward him. “Keep-Away today. Sierra, run lines.”

  “Why?” Kanisha asked.

  “What?” Coach Norris glanced at her. “You’re playing Keep-Away for fun because you had a good game yesterday. Sierra is running lines to learn that she’s on a team and there’s no room for showing off.”

  Whatever, I thought. He couldn’t make me quit, so I went back to running back and forth, from one end of the gym to the other. He’d get tired before I did. Kanisha paced me. “What are you doing?” I hissed, barely above a whisper. “I’m in trouble. You’re not.”

  “You’re in trouble because of me,” Kanisha said, in a normal voice. “I’ll run with you.”

  I glanced toward the group of eight girls clustered around the coach. He walked off to talk to Olivia and Patricia. Then, he blew his stupid whistle and waved at me. I ran over to him. “Yes, Coach.”

  “Line up for Keep-Away.” He eyed me, obviously still annoyed. “Next week, if you play the hero and show off at the game, you’ll run lines for an entire practice. Understand me?”

  I nodded. “Yes, Coach. You’re the boss.”

  I walked away with Olivia and Patricia to get a drink of water before we played ball. “What did you two do?”

  “I told him that you did what I told you to do last night,” Olivia said. “You helped out Kanisha. If he was going to be on your case for it, I’d have to run lines too.”

  “And me,” Patricia said. “If we did, the rest of the team would.”

  “It was my idea to help her,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah, but I should have thought of how to do it,” Olivia said. “I was the point guard.”

  “And we won the game,” Patricia said. “I’m on the team to win. I want the girls to beat the guys this season. That would teach our V.P., Mr. Schuesser a serious lesson. He told me that we did all right, but we don’t do real sports, not like the boys do.”

  “He’s an idiot,” Olivia said. “You’d think he’d have learned better when the cross-country team won District after he challenged Robin.”

  “Maybe, that’s why he said it.”

  Patricia and Olivia looked at each other, then me.

  “No way,” Patricia said. “He doesn’t have the brains for that.”

  * * * *

  I had my first puppy obedience class that afternoon. Charlie and I arrived at Salmon Pond Stable about the same time everyone else did. I put on his new harness and followed the other people with their young dogs. When Charlie fell down, I scooped him up and carried him to the indoor arena. It was my fault. We hadn’t done a lot on his new leash. A tall redhead stood in the middle of the ring. She nodded and then came across to me.

  “Hi,” I said, “I’m Sierra McElroy.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m Aspen Watson.” She swept me up and down with cold blue eyes. “You’re the basketball player. Six rebounds, five assists, and eighteen points last night.”

  “Interesting.” I held Charlie tight against my chest. “Do you keep track of everyone’s stats?”

  “No. I’m the point guard for Centennial Mid-High.”

  “Really?” I shrugged one shoulder. “Why should I care?”

  “Don’t you remember me from last year?”

  I pasted on what I hoped was an innocent, sweet look. “There were so many losers back then.”

  “M.P. only beat us by one point, that last three-pointer you shot.” A faint smile edged her mouth. “We’ll see who the loser is this year.”

  “Bring it!”

  “Oh, I will.” She watched Charlie swipe my cheek with his raspy tongue. “He won’t learn anything unless you let him walk on his own paws.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Shamrock Stable, Washington

 
Saturday, January 11th, 6:15 pm

  Grandma and I spent the day together. We did the movie, shopping and lunch thing, our tradition before she and Grandpa left on the road trip back to Arizona. She didn’t have much to say beyond talking to me about school and Tom. It wasn’t her style. Generally, she told me stories about my mom or the family or her teaching experiences. If that failed, Grandma always had opinions about what improvements local and national politicians should make, but they probably wouldn’t. Who actually listens to teachers?

  While the rest of the family finished the barn chores, Grandma and I put our last dinner together. I sliced tomatoes for the salad and glanced at her. “What’s bugging you? I said I’d be nice to Tom. I’m not taking Nevada into pony club so I won’t break my neck going over a jump.”

  “Oh, I’m just stressing about your mom,” Grandma forked the baked potatoes into a bowl. “I’m afraid she’s rushing into this relationship with Dave.”

  “He’s a decent guy.” I began cleaning the green pepper. “Totally different from her previous cowboys. I can’t see any of them standing by a woman with cancer, or raising their three kids to be decent adults after his wife passed away. He tries to make the world a better place. They never did. Talk about guys who were a total waste of time, space and oxygen. I don’t know why Mom chose them.”

  Grandma gave me a long look, and then said, “You’re old enough to know. When she was about your age, she snuck around to see a boy who was exciting and encouraged her to disobey our rules. Your grandpa and I warned her that he was bad news which only made him more attractive.”

  “What happened?” I asked. “Did she marry him?”

  “No, she broke up with him during her senior year. We didn’t know why. We were just glad she started seeing your dad when she got to college.”

  I rinsed out the pepper, put it on the cutting board and began to slice it into green strips. “So, did you ever find out why she dumped the high school guy?”