Zoe the Fearless

by Joachim Masannek

  I put all my eggs in one basket and, what do you know – I was right! I triumphantly fisted the ball out into the field.

  Kevin was frozen. He couldn’t believe it. Nobody could believe it. Even Grandma was speechless. No, wait a minute, no wonder she was so quiet. She wasn’t there anymore. Where did she go? Did she give up on me? I kept telling myself to get out of my head and into the game. Come on, I thought to myself, I had held the penalty kick and now everything was in my hands. I could win the tournament all by myself, the way Tyler had planned. I looked over at him and he nodded back to me. I could see he was nervous too. He wasn’t just biting his lip – he was chewing it!

  Nervous and insecure, I placed the ball on the penalty spot. I trembled. I stepped back to charge, and that’s when the memory of everything you shouldn’t remember, came flooding back into my brain. I remembered the practice and lived through it one more time, blow-by-blow. I slipped in the mud. Kevin appeared above me and grinned, contempt written all over his face. Once again, he made his snide and hurtful comment, “What do you think, Phooey? Did you pass the test?”

  I couldn’t see the goal any more. All I saw was a gigantic version of Kevin, guarding it. How would I ever get a ball past him?

  I was just about to charge, every muscle in my body locked into place, when suddenly my Grandma came loping in front of me. “You should wear these for the winning kick.” She was holding the pink high heels. “So you’ll remember who you are. Remember? Isn’t that what he said? Go for it, tiger, show him what you got.”

  I thought about it. My mind boggled. Everyone was staring at me waiting to do something. Kevin wasn’t sure what was going on. I made my decision, then plopped down where I stood, tore off my cleats, and quickly pulled on the pink high heels. They were two sizes too big.

  I wobbled in the heels over to the penalty spot, put the ball exactly where I wanted it, and took aim. Kevin tried to look cool, but I saw in his eyes that the sight of those pink high heels freaked him out as he got ready for my shot.

  I knew exactly what I was doing. I charged, feinted to the left and with the outside of my heels, now covered in glorious hardened mud, I kicked … and the ball sailed … and sailed … and seemed to soar forever. Kevin dove left and I nailed it into the right corner. SCORE!

  I did it! I must have jumped three feet in the air and screamed for joy. I won my birthday soccer tournament in pink high heels! How delicious was that! I had shown the Wild Soccer Bunch who I really was! I ran over to Grandma and grabbed her hands and danced around in the rain until we were dizzy. Then I hugged my father and kissed him on the cheek. And then I stood right in front of Tyler, who took a few steps back, just in case my enthusiasm got the best of me. “Thank you!” I said, beaming at him.

  But there was something about Tyler’s face. He didn’t look like a winner at all. He took another step back. “No problem,” he said hesitantly. “I gotta go.”

  And that’s when I realized that he was the only one left. The rest of the Wild Soccer Bunch was gone. It was as if the ground had swallowed them up.

  Revenge May Be Sweet, But It’s Lonely

  I watched as Tyler picked up his bike and disappeared from the yard. Then I helped my father and Grandma clean up. Quietly we cleaned up the yard and the kitchen, and when we were done, everyone went looking for a place to be by themselves. Every one of us had to think about what had just happened. Grandma was tortured by her conscience because she felt she ruined my birthday party. My father knew that he had to keep his promise and talk about going back to Somerville. And I went to my room to mope.

  “It’s lonely at the top,” I thought to myself. Sure, I had shown Kevin and the Wild Soccer Bunch. I had beaten them and I had proved I was as good a player as they were. So why did I feel so lousy? What good did it do me? Vengeance was sweet, but I was all alone. I had won the tournament and lost the team. Did I go too far with the pink high heels? Maybe that had been just too humiliating for the Wild Soccer Bunch to take. My dream to be one of them had popped like a soap bubble. Then I realized, oh no – summer break was over tomorrow and I’d see them again at school. In fact, I’d see them every day. How was I going to face them? Even though I was a pretty grown up nine-year-old, it felt too much for me. The only thing I could do was move back to Somerville, preferably tonight and in a hurry. My father promised, more or less. But as much as I wanted to go back, I didn’t feel right about that either.

  There was a knock on my door and Grandma came in. “Oh, what a day!” She sighed and sat down on the mattress next to me. “Had I known, I would have stayed at home. I’m too old for this!” She gave me a glance and when she saw how desperate I was, she flashed me a smile.

  I’d never seen that kind of a smile from her before. “Why are you smiling?” I asked.

  She nodded. “I learned this smile from you, Zoe.”

  “Me?” I said.

  “I saw it today out there on the field.”

  I was confused. Her smile was bright and wonderful. How could I have given her a bright and wonderful smile when everything was sad and desperate?

  “I hope you don’t think this means I’m going to suddenly start liking pink and acting like a little girl,” I said.

  “I did yesterday, but not today,” she said.

  “I’m always going to be me, Grandma,” I said. “I am who I am.”

  “And I suppose you won’t even consider a different sport.”

  I shrugged and shook my head.

  “Oh dear, dear, dear, soccer is such a tough game. If I had known, I would have gotten thicker armor!”

  The smile crept onto her face again and she took me gently into her arms. “And about those pink high heels, don’t even think about them. Payback is a pain and now those boys know exactly who you are. You’re not just a soccer girl who plays as well as they do.”

  “I’m not?”

  “You’re also. wild.”

  I fought a smile. Grandma hugged me hard and for the first time, I knew just how wonderful she was. When I closed my eyes, my mom was hugging me, too. I started feeling normal again. She smiled once more, and this time it was contagious. I couldn’t resist and gave her my bright and wonderful smile. And we were both smiling like Cheshire cats when my father stormed into the room.

  He didn’t even knock and he had a dark expression on his face. He marched in and started throwing my stuff into a big suitcase.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Packing!” he grumbled.

  “Packing? What on earth for?” Grandma asked and winked at me.

  “We’re going back to Somerville. Tonight,” he grumbled on.

  “Somerville? Why?” I said, winking back at Grandma.

  “You’re kidding me, right?” My father said, stopping. “You want to go back. I’ve already found a realtor for the house.”

  “Um, dad?” I murmured.

  “Yes, tiger, I’m really busy, what is it?” he asked, continuing to throw stuff into the suitcase.

  “I thought we were going to talk about it first.”

  “Well, yes, but I assumed it was settled so I made a decision for the both of us.”

  “I don’t want to go back,” I blurted out.

  My father stopped packing. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but when he looked at me, I knew immediately. It was that look he always gave me to let me know we were a team. “Mom knew this move would be good for us,” I continued. “Well, guess what? She was right. This is our home now.”

  Grandma looked at us with teary eyes.

  Then my father got all mushy-eyed too. “That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard in a long time, tiger,” he said.

  “Dad, we make a great team and besides, I don’t even remember where Somerville is.”

  My father pushed the suitcase aside, sat down beside me, put his arm around me, and squeezed me tight. “What about tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow,” I said. “I’m getting up bright and early and I’m going to
my new school. I hear it is going to be a beautiful day.”

  My dad smiled. “I heard the same thing.”

  I Am Who I Am

  The next day I rode my bike to school. I was right. It was a beautiful fall day, all nice and warm, but I still pulled my hoodie up and hid deep inside it, because that’s what I do when I’m determined and insecure at the same time. That’s probably why I didn’t see the slob until he was right in front of me. I had just locked my bike to a bike rack and was on my way to the school yard, when he suddenly appeared right in front of me and there was another guy right behind him. The front guy was mighty and fat, and his tiny beady eyes sat like black coals between his beefy cheeks. He wore a Darth Vader t-shirt, and his breath rattled like an elephant seal just coming up for air. Or did the rattle come from the bicycle chain the moron behind him was swinging in his hands?

  Oh no, I thought. And I thought the Wild Soccer Bunch was mean.

  “Well, well, well, what have we here?” The guy in the Darth Vader t-shirt snorted. “Looks like a sheep in wolf’s clothing.”

  “I don’t see any sheep,” the boy with the bicycle chain behind him said and the Darth Vader t-shirt smacked him one on the back of his head. “A girl dressed up like a boy,” he said.

  “Oh yeah,” said bicycle chain boy.

  “A kitty cat playing a tiger,” Darth Vader t-shirt continued. “Boo!” He pushed the hoodie off my head. “Not only a new cat, she’s cute too.”

  “I’m cute enough if you’re ugly enough,” I countered as calmly and icily as possible.

  “You need glasses, girlfriend!” he spat onto the cobblestones and got some of it on his shoe. He quickly tried to hide it, but I was looking at it and he was looking at it and when we both looked up at the same time, our eyes met and he knew I’d seen the whole thing. So he cleared his throat to move on with his little drama but I interrupted him.

  “What do you want, I gotta get to class,” I said and tried to leave and they blocked my path again.

  “We usually ask for a contribution from all the new students. You know,” Darth Vader t-shirt said.

  “Cash,” bicycle chain guy said, trying to be ominous.

  “But this is your lucky day,” Darth Vader t-shirt continued. “I’m going to make an exception with you.”

  “Gee, what did I do to deserve this?” I asked.

  “I’m Robin Hood. And I’ll let you pass. For a kiss.”

  “A kiss,” I repeated, dripping with sarcasm, shaking my head, chuckling to myself. “How about I just say ‘good boy’ and pet you. And I’ll bet your pal with the oversized doggie tags wants one too, dontcha boy?!”

  “That’s a bicycle chain!” Darth Vader t-shirt threatened and snapped his fingers, and in no time more morons appeared at his side like flies on a day-old cheeseburger. There were at least seven of them now, and each one of them would fit perfectly into a bad horror movie. I was totally outnumbered.

  As I expected, Darth Vader t-shirt made his move and like a monster, stomped towards me, his merry band of morons following right behind. I had only one defense left: empty threats and hope against hope that their collective IQ wasn’t high enough to figure me out. I wasn’t worried about Darth Vader t-shirt’s big brain. But how was I going to come up with an effective counter-threat when my life and limb were in danger? Besides, no one survives a kiss from Darth Vader.

  “Dude, I’m warning you!” I hissed. “Don’t touch me.” Lame, I thought instantly. I braced for the worst, balled my hands into fists of fury and repeated, “This is your last warning, dude. Touch me – and I turn you into a girl!” While they were busy realizing I had just threatened them with a fate worse than detention, a miracle occurred.

  Darth Vader t-shirt and his merry band of morons saw something behind me that I didn’t and started backing away like old men, yelling, “This is not over, girlfriend! We’ll meet again. Bet on it.” Then they turned and stomped away.

  I stared at my hands in disbelief. “Impossible!”

  “No, it’s totally possible,” a voice behind me said matter of factly. “Welcome to school. I see you already met Mickey the bulldozer and the Unbeatables.“

  I turned around and there was Kevin, standing steadfast behind me, along with the rest of the Wild Soccer Bunch.

  No wonder they turned and ran like a band of fat bunny rabbits.

  “Thanks,” I said, relieved, but Kevin didn’t say another word. He just shyly nodded; so Tyler kicked him in the shin.

  “Ah, don’t mention it!” Kevin blurted out in pain. “No need to thank us! Now you know there are worse things than the Wild Soccer Bunch.“

  That said, he wanted to turn around and leave, but Danny stopped him. “Kevin, aren’t you forgetting something?”

  “Am I? Oh, yeah, right. Well, I don’t know,” he stammered, and Tyler kicked him in the shin again.

  “Ouch! Are you nuts, that’s my kicking foot! Okay, okay, let me talk, will you?!” he complained and pulled a white package from his black backpack.

  “Here,” he said and held it under my nose. “I guess this evens the score.”

  Surprised, I took the package, and Kevin limped away, miffed. Three steps later he turned around and said: “Oh, and just so you know. Even though you’re just a girl, I have to admit … you are … really wild!” And for the first time in a long time, he grinned. I could hardly believe it. Then he limped off. It was the nicest thing he’d ever said to me.

  The others stayed and formed a circle around me. Slowly, I opened the white wrapping paper and took out something black and soft. I unfolded it and stared at it in disbelief. It was a new Wild Soccer Bunch jersey, with the number 5 on it, and the words Wild Soccer Bunch underneath. And above that, it said:

  Zoe the fearless.

  The Wild Soccer Bunch

  Well folks, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I finally made it. Imagine this: I, Zoe the fearless, was now part of the Wild Soccer Bunch. I felt like I’d just been knighted by King Arthur. Camelot was not just a place I read about in fairy tales, it was a tree house where the Wild Soccer Bunch meets. And plans things. Together. It was where they decided to let me join the team. I knew at that precise moment, as sure as I’d ever been, that I’d play for the U.S. National Soccer Team and considering how well the women’s’ team is doing, I just might play for them. I mean, a girls’ team is only as good as its players, right?

  Well, Grandma told me that I could be the one who could bring greatness to any team, so why not? And because that’s how it went down, I have some time for you now. But what is it you wanted again? Oh, right, I was supposed to tell you about the Wild Soccer Bunch. Well, now that I know them a little bit better, I don’t really know where to start.

  Let’s see … sure why not. So, one of them is called Danny.

  He is the world’s fastest right forward and the wildest of the bunch. And that’s the truth. I’ll tell you, he’s already interested in girls. A little bit. But if you ask me, he knows about as much about girls as a rhino knows about fly fishing.

  Kevin and Tyler are different.

  They are cool, really cool. They are like lonely wolves in the tundra, like knights who fall in love with their armor, which makes it kind of hard to notice the beauty all around them, especially flowers.

  When Kevin and Tyler see a field of flowers the only thing they see is whether it is a decent soccer field. Forget the flowers.

  Diego the tornado is really serious and really funny. I’ve never met anyone who can think of so many funny things to say and do just to make life interesting.

  His rule in life is to not take ourselves too seriously, and I really like and respect him.

  Joey, too. He plays soccer as if he put a spell on the ball.

  He’s a good friend already, even though he may not know it yet. I know it. I can see it in his eyes. I know I can rely on him completely.

  That goes for Roger the hero too. His heart is too big for him, just like his eyes behind those
coke bottle glasses. That’s why he is such a braggart, and that’s why he allows the neighborhood girls to torture him. Once a week he has to let those preschool stylists fuss over his hair.

  But I think I can save him.

  The only way to get rid of a curse is with a counter curse. Just imagine what’ll happen when Roger and I grab those poodle-haired girls and explain the advantages of a David Beckham hairstyle.

  Maybe it’ll convince Roger that girls aren’t really poisonous. Not all of us, anyway. And maybe I should have a word with Kyle’s father, too, and ask why he wants to turn the best goalie in the world into a golf pro?

  There are so many things I dream about, so many things I want to do in my life.

  I would love to go on a secret outing with Julian Fort Knox.

  And I’m curious to hear what it’s like to spend an entire evening discussing the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team with Alex the cannon, the man with the strongest kick in the world, the man who is silent even on the phone.

  And I want to dance the samba with Fabio, the Brazilian soccer magician, and I want to sit on the grass with the Wild Soccer Bunch, sipping lemonade, and listening to Larry’s stories.

  Larry is the best coach in the world. I know he is. And if you ask me, the best coach in the world coaches the best team in the world.

  I don’t want to play with anyone else, and I’ll tell you right here and now and forever; as long as the Wild Soccer Bunch exists, the U.S. National Soccer Team will have to wait.

  JOACHIM MASANNEK

  Joachim was born in 1960 and studied German and Philosophy in college. He also studied at the University of Film and Television and worked as a camera operator, set designer, and screenwriter in films and television.