by Jamie McEwan
Pretty soon, Rufus had a whole line of little girls wanting to be lifted.
At first it was easy, they were so light. But by the time his mother picked him up, Rufus’s arms were sore.
“See you Monday!” said Emily as they left.
From then on, Emily gave Rufus helpful hints at every class. Rufus was glad she did. It made him feel like he was learning something.
And at the end of every class, Rufus did lifts for all the girls in class, over and over.
The girls loved it. And Rufus had to admit, it was pretty fun for him, too. It made him feel like a giant, like Superman or something. Even though he wasn’t the one doing the flying.
CHAPTER 8
BIFF SCORES
The Bears lost the second game of the season, too. But this time, they only lost by one touchdown.
The third game was also close. They were losing seven to six at the half. In the third quarter, the Bears received the kickoff and started on a long march down the field.
Rufus was blocking a guy who was just as big as he was, but not any quicker. The guy couldn’t get around him. Nobody told Rufus he was doing a good job. But no one was yelling at him, either.
They were down on the ten-yard line when the quarterback, Gabe, called another play to Rufus’s side. “But, Rufus, listen,” said Gabe in the huddle, peering up from under his helmet. “I want you to let that defensive tackle in, okay? One of us will get him. Just get the linebacker, okay? Go for the linebacker.”
“Okay, Gabe. Got it.”
It worked. Rufus let the defensive tackle go by and caught the linebacker by surprise. Rufus got in one good hit before the linebacker dodged around him. By that time, the linebacker was too late.
Biff had gone by him and scored the touchdown.
After the play, almost the whole team mobbed Biff in the end zone, congratulating him. Everybody in the stands was cheering for him.
Rufus felt kind of let down.
He turned away and almost ran into Gabe. Gabe slapped Rufus on the back.
“Yeah,” was all Gabe said. Then Gabe went up to Biff, and they exchanged highfives.
CHAPTER 9
THE RAMBLING QUARTERBACK
The Bears won that game, and then they lost another. It kept going back and forth like that.
Willy and Dan were happy because they got to play a lot of defense. The coach wasn’t yelling at Rufus any more than at anybody else. It would have been a fun season, except that Coach Stone was so worried about it.
Before the final game, the team’s record was four wins and four losses. Four and four. The last game would decide whether the Bears had a winning or a losing season.
The players got to the locker room extra early. No one said much while they suited up. When they were ready, Coach Stone called, “Okay, guys, gather ’round.”
With a clattering of cleats on the concrete floor, the team crowded together on the benches.
“This is the last game I’m ever going to coach here,” said Coach Stone. His face wasn’t purple today. It wasn’t even red. It was almost white. His voice was low as he went on. “So we’re going to give it our all, right? We’re going to give it every last ounce of everything we’ve got, right?”
Coach Stone paused to look around.
Rufus tried to look really serious.
“The other team,” said Coach Stone, “the Falcons, aren’t that good. But they have one really good player. He’s what they call a rambling quarterback.”
Coach gave a worried frown as he went on.
“He can pass, and he can run the ball, too. He’ll ramble around until he finds an opening. If we can contain him, we’ll win. If we can’t . . . But I know we can. Right? Right. Okay, let’s go.”
Coach Stone was right about the rambling quarterback. Rufus felt he was spending the whole game running around the other team’s backfield, trying to tackle the guy.
Everybody was having the same problem. Some plays went on so long that Rufus got two or three tries at him before the quarterback finally threw a pass or decided to run the ball. The quarterback faked people out so badly they fell flat on their faces trying to change direction.
Sometimes they were completely sure they had him. They would close in on him from all sides—and then he’d squiggle right through their outstretched fingers.
Coach Stone screamed and turned purple, for a while. That didn’t seem to help. Then he quieted down and his face turned back to white again.
He tried everybody on defense. Willy and Dan got to play a lot. When Rufus missed a tackle, the coach took him out. But everybody was missing tackles, so he put Rufus in again and left him in.
At halftime the score was tied: 14–14. Coach Stone didn’t have much to say.
“The offense has got to keep scoring,” he said hoarsely. “And on defense—we’ve got to wear that guy out!”
Rufus sat in the shade and drank some water. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t the guy who wore out first.
CHAPTER 10
DANCING MAN
In the second half, everybody seemed worn out. Even the spectators seemed tired of cheering. Nobody scored in the third quarter. Then, finally, Gabe managed to break away and score a touchdown. The Bears missed the extra point, but still they were ahead, 20–14.
“I did my part! Now you’ve got to hold them!” Gabe yelled as the defense came out.
“You’ve got to stop them!” shouted Coach Stone. His voice was cracking.
“Hold them!” screamed the crowd.
“Get him, Rufus!” yelled Rufus’s mom and dad.
Rufus tried. They all tried. But the Falcon quarterback was so hard to catch. He passed, he ran the ball, and the Falcons marched down the field. Soon they were on the ten-yard line. First and goal to go.
“We can’t let them score,” said Willy.
“We’ll stop them,” said Dan.
Rufus didn’t say anything. He was breathing too hard.
On the first play, the Falcons gave the ball to their fullback, who got tripped up and only gained two yards.
On the second play the quarterback took the ball and ran around the far end. Rufus ran after him. Rufus knew he was too slow to catch him, but sometimes—
Yes! The defensive end had come up, so the quarterback had to cut back. He ran— BOOM! —right into Rufus. They both fell down.
Rufus had never heard the crowd cheer so loudly. The Falcons didn’t gain anything. They still had eight yards to go.
The third play was endless. The quarterback went back to pass. Willy and Dan and two other guys were running around in the backfield trying to catch him. At the same time, the Falcons’ fullback and halfback tried to block them.
Rufus hung back a little, trying to make sure their quarterback couldn’t run the ball past the line of scrimmage. Finally, the rambling quarterback tried to run. Rufus barely touched him with his fingertips as he scooted past.
Luckily, the linebackers had come up. Willy and Dan were chasing the quarterback from behind. Together, they dragged him down.
He’d gained five yards. Three yards to go. The fans were yelling and screaming from both sides now, making one big wave of noise.
On the last play, the Falcons lined up as close together as possible. As soon as the ball was snapped, they formed a tight wedge. They all moved forward together.
Rufus side-stepped around the Falcons’ front line and ran in behind the wedge. The fullback was there to block him. Rufus ran straight into the fullback—and then Rufus spun around. He did a pirouette right around the fullback!
And there was the quarterback—with the ball. Rufus grabbed him from behind, picked him right off the ground, and tossed him back, away from the goal line.
That was it. They had stopped the Falcons! Final score, 20–14. The Bears had a winning season!
“Great game, Rufus!” everybody said.
“Way to get that guy.”
“It was so cool when you spun around.”
&
nbsp; “How’d you get strong enough to pick him up like that?”
Coach Stone was so hoarse he couldn’t say anything. He just went around patting everyone on the back. He even gave Rufus a hug.
Back in the locker room, even Biff couldn’t think of anything particularly nasty to say. “For a few seconds there,” said Biff, “it actually looked like you knew how to play football.”
“That wasn’t football,” said Rufus. “That was ballet.”
CHAPTER 11
TOO TRUE
At lunch on Monday, people were still talking about the football game.
“I’m glad I got to see the last quarter,” said Clara. “You guys all played well. And maybe I’ll have to take up ballet or something. You did a great job, Rufus.”
“I bet it won’t help for wrestling,” said Dan.
“It might,” said Rufus. “Remember last year when I lost a takedown by tripping over my own feet?”
“So, are you going to keep taking ballet this winter?” asked Willy.
“Nah, I don’t think I will,” said Rufus.
“Maybe it was good that you took ballet,” said Dan. “But I’m sure glad to hear you’re going to quit. I’m tired of all those ‘tutu’ jokes.”
“That’s right, no more ballet,” said Rufus. “Ms. Farine suggested I sign up for tap dance instead.” Rufus started tapping his feet under the table.
“Tap dance!” said Dan, shaking his head. “Man, can’t you do something besides dance? Why don’t you come rock climbing with me?”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” asked Willy.
“Nah, it’s almost too safe,” said Dan. “We always have a rope from the top. If you fall, the rope catches you. Like my instructor says, ‘Fall seven times, stand up eight!’”
“I’m not sure I’m brave enough to fall even once,” said Rufus.
“Are you kidding?” said Dan. “You’ve got more guts than all of us put together. You didn’t see any of us taking ballet, did you?”
“That’s true,” said Willy. “It takes a brave scrub to wear tights in public.”
“Yes,” agreed Rufus. “That’s ‘tutu’ true to argue with.”