Kickin' It With Dad

by Christopher R. Ford

  And on top of all that, I still haven’t figured out if I wanna get good or just try and coast through the season. Ugh this is tough! Get it together Ronnie!

  Maybe tomorrow things will become clearer. At least that’s my hope.

  CHAPTER 4

  LET THE GAMES BEGIN

  I wake up before my alarm hoping I’ve magically figured everything out but…no luck, I’m still confused. I don’t feel as excited as I had about baseball and basketball opening days so maybe that’s a sign, but who knows?

  No traditional special breakfast either (could’ve gone for some French Toast). And since no one brings up the game I go ahead and tell my mother and brother they don’t have to come. And to my surprise, my mom isn’t having that.

  “Boy we’re going to your game!” She says emphatically which actually makes me feel a little bit better (that French Toast would’ve helped too).

  My dad is still mostly quiet though which is definitely not making me feel good about things.

  After I finish eating, I go back upstairs to put on my kit. I think getting fresh might get me more excited. I put on my shorts and socks and my long sleeve shirt (goalies have to wear long sleeves even if it’s a million degrees out which is a weird rule). I save the best for last and finally put my jersey on.

  I go to my mirror and check myself out. The jersey is still too baggy but overall, the look is fire! And guess what? I do feel more excited! But then I instantly remember I’ll be on the bench and I’m back to being bummed. That didn’t last long.

  I hear my dad calling me from downstairs, time to roll.

  The ride is quiet (surprise, surprise) which gives me some time to think. I’m just not feeling it, at least not right now, so I’m just gonna try and stay low key and see how that works out for me. Low key is THE key! That’s a good one (pats self on the back in my head).

  We pull up to the soccer complex. It’s crazy! We’ve been practicing at the park near my house so this is my first time seeing any of this. There are five separate fields, four small ones and one huge one (I guess that’s where the championship will be played). A couple of games are already underway and there are cars and people everywhere. What happened to the no hype?!?

  I’m starting to get kinda anxious, heart’s starting to beat fast, palms getting sweaty, breathing heavy…oh wait! What am I worried about? I’m not playing! I immediately start to calm down. Whew, that was a close call.

  My dad then turns to me before we get ready to get out of the car.

  “Good luck…just in case.”

  I know he means well so instead of bringing my plan back up I simply say “thanks.” I really hope I don’t wind up in a position where I need any luck though.

  I hop out of the car and start making my way towards our field. We’re not on the big field of course but we are in the one right next to it. It may be smaller but it’s no slouch. The grass is bright green and freshly cut while all the lines have been painted perfectly. I’m starting to get tempted to want to play again but I gotta chill.

  Remember, low key is THE key! “Ronnie!

  Over here!”

  It’s Billie and Adrian waving me over. They look super hyped up as I reach them.

  “Ronnie how you feelin’?” Adrian asks me bouncing up and down excitedly.

  “Pretty good.” I answer not so excitedly. “How you feeling?”

  “Great! Ready to bring out the Lethal Leg.”

  “The what?” Billie and I blurt out at the same time.

  Adrian looks down, points to his right leg and smiles.

  “This is my Lethal Leg, the leg that will terrorize goalies throughout the land and dominate every scoreboard.”

  Billie and I are both trying not to laugh (and failing).

  “Hey look Ronnie, you can have your Magic Williams Arm and Billie, you can just be great at everything, so I can have my Lethal Leg!”

  Well he has a point there. And even though he’s pretty out there sometimes, I gotta admit, he’s been a beast at soccer so far.

  “So do we call you Kid Messi or Lethal Leg now?” Billie asks him.

  It’s a good question but Adrian is quick with an answer.

  “Oh it’s Kid Messi for life! The

  Lethal Leg is just what I use to become Kid Messi.”

  “That’s an Adrian answer right there.” Billie responds as we all break out laughing.

  Coach then calls for the team to get together and start warming up. It’s almost game time.

  We stretch and do some warmup drills and before I know it, Coach is giving the starters some final instructions and it’s time for me to hit the bench and chill.

  Over the loud speakers they announce the starters. That’s so cool! It would be kinda cool if my name was announced (chill Ronnie stay strong). When they call Adrian’s name he gets the biggest cheer of everyone. I guess he’s pretty popular around here. He’s really been hiding this secret soccer life from me and Billie!

  I take a quick look into the stands to try and spot my family. I’m looking and looking but I don’t see them, where are they? Oh there they are! At the very top of the stands. My dad gives me a quick head nod, cool as always. My brother just makes a funny face as he starts chomping on a slice of pizza (they serve pizza here? Hmm now I’m kinda hungry). And as soon as my mom sees that I see her she starts waving over-excitedly until I finally wave back. I hope she’s not expecting much.

  The whistle blows and the game starts. We win the coin flip and kickoff from the center circle. Our center passes it to Adrian who takes off (again, he’s a big kid but he’s got moves). He’s headed directly towards the other team’s goal on a mission. Is he really about to score just a few seconds into the game?

  “Goaaal!”

  Yes he is! 1 – 0 Panthers just like that!

  Adrian scores so quickly I think he surprised himself. He doesn’t even have a celebration ready. He’s just running around looking around eyes wide, shocked look on his face. Yeah we’re gonna have to work on that.

  About a minute later there’s another breakaway. This time it’s Billie racing towards the goal. It’s just her and the goalie one-on-one. Come on Billie you got this! She plants her left foot and winds up her right leg to strike the ball. The ball comes off her foot like a rocket (I’m glad that’s not me in goal). The ball blows by the goalie for another Panther score! We’re up 2 -0 and both goals are by my homies.

  My best friends are officially the best!

  After that initial burst of action, things settle down. The few shots the other team is even getting are being easily stopped by Rich The Rich Kid and I think this 2 – 0 lead is pretty safe. This might be a good time to start thinking about halftime. That’ll be my chance to tell Billie and Adrian about the celebration I came up with just in case either of them scores in the second half.

  Finally we get to halftime. We’re still up 2 – 0 so everyone is in a good mood as we huddle up on the bench.

  “Great job team! Just keep doing what you’re doing.” Coach G tells the team and that’s it. That’s whole halftime speech.

  With Coach G done so quickly I finally get a chance to talk to Billie and Adrian. The crazy thing about soccer is that there aren’t any real breaks. No timeouts, no nothing. Just a bunch of kicking and running (oh and they were doing A LOT of running by the way).

  “Y’all both killed it out there!” I tell them as soon as we get a free second to talk.

  “I tried to tell y’all I was good.” Adrian replies in a humblebrag kinda way (I’ll let him slide on that this time). “Hey I scored too ya know?” Billie interjects before turning to me. “And thanks Ronnie.”

  “We gotta work on those celebrations. In my defense though, I scored so quickly I even surprised myself. I mean I’m good but I didn’t know I was that good.” Adrian says while popping his imaginary collar.

  “Yeah right!” Billie quickly replies and we all laugh.

  “But
for real we do need Something.” Adrian says.

  This is my chance!

  “So I have an idea for the next goal celebration…” I start to explain excitedly.

  All of a sudden a horn goes off. Halftime is over. Already?!?

  “Well I guess you’ll have to tell us later.” Billie says.

  “I’ll try not to score anymore this game but…” Adrian starts to smile. “No promises.”

  We all share a quick laugh before they head back onto the field and me back to the bench. Telling them my celebration idea was pretty much the only thing I had left to look forward to the rest of this game. I guess I can watch Rich The Rich Kid and study what he does, but who wants to do that? Grrr…

  The second half goes just about as smoothly as the first. Rich (who has completely ignored me all day by the way) plays great. He stops every shot that comes his way. Adrian even scores another goal off a sweet corner kick (or should I say corner kick pass) from Billie. And no, he doesn’t have a celebration ready again. When it’s all over the final score is 5 – 0 us. Looks like my plan will work out just fine. I’ll be able to be low key all season with minimal running and minimal soccer balls flying at my face!

  I go up and congratulate Billie and Adrian on an awesomely well-played game. Even though I complain a lot about me playing (or not playing) I’m genuinely happy that my friends are playing and playing great.

  “So now y’all believe me about being the Kid Messi right?” Adrian asks.

  Billie and I look at each other and think for a moment.

  “Ehhh…” Billie replies first.

  “Maybe…” I follow and then we both laugh.

  “The shade is real! It’s cool though. Y’all gonna put some respect on my name eventually.”

  “But your name’s Adrian.” Billie hits him with the quick comeback.

  Adrian just nods and smiles like

  “ok, ok.”

  We continue to talk (and by talk I mean crack jokes on each other) for a while after the game. And before I know it, I hear my dad calling for me.

  “I guess we won’t hear about this celebration you came up with.” Adrian says.

  Oh yeah, I totally forgot! I blew it again! My first instinct is to pout but hey I’m 11 years old now so I gotta play it cool.

  “We can always FaceTime it tonight and do it.” Billie suggests.

  “Nah.” I say reluctantly. “It’s something we have to do in person.”

  “Ohhh fancy!” Adrian says jokingly.

  “We’ll see you at school on Monday so it’s all good.” Billie states.

  Yeah, if I can remember, I think to myself.

  But anyway, we do our special handshake and I gotta roll. I go up to my family. My mom tells me “good game” for some reason (she’s way too nice and supportive). My dad on the other hand, doesn’t really say anything at all (and yes it’s still weird).

  Despite my dad’s silent treatment, overall I think today was a success. Sure I didn’t play but the team won, my friends played great, and I didn’t embarrass myself. Right now I feel ok with that.

  Just nine more games to go.

  Monday at school is just another day. Like on Friday when no one cared about our soccer game, today, no one cares that we won. No worries though because that’s all part of the plan. Say it with me; Low key is the key!

  At lunch I make it my mission to finally teach Billie and Adrian my celebration. It’s literally the first thing I say to them as we sit down at our table.

  “Ok y’all ready to see this celebration?”

  “Can we eat first?” Adrian asks laughing.

  “Oh…yeah…I guess…” I reply reluctantly.

  I scarf down my sandwich and wait for Billie and Adrian to finish their food. And for some reason, the more I wait, the more nervous I’m starting to get. What if I mess it up? What if they don’t like it?

  “Ok Ronnie what you got?” Adrian says as he finishes his pizza.

  Both he and Billie are staring at me, waiting. I start to look around. There are so many kids around, I’m turning red. “Well…” I start while trying to come up with something to say or do.

  “You know what we should do?” Billie says interrupting (and saving me for at least a couple seconds) “Just wait till the next game. That way it’ll be fresh in our minds so we don’t mess it up.”

  When she says that last part she looks over at Adrian.

  “Hey!” He replies light heartedly.

  Billie you’re a life saver! She got me out of that so smoothly I gotta think she knew I was struggling and she did it on purpose. I look over at her and she winks and smiles. Yeah, she knew what she was doing. Good looking out Billie!

  The rest of the week goes pretty smoothly. Even practice isn’t terrible. I have to do a little running but Rich handles all the goalie-ing (is that a real word?) so I can’t really complain. I’ve even been practicing (alone) how to teach Billie and Adrian the celebration dance (well it’s not a dance more of a series of moves). I’m ready for game day!

  Gameday morning two is a lot like gameday morning one. No hype and no French Toast. It’s cool though, I just gotta get to the game, show Billie and Adrian my moves, then chill and watch the game. And after that we’ll be one more game closer to the end of the season.

  The ride to the complex is quiet again too but that’s also cool because I’m concentrating. Not on the game, I won’t be playing of course, but on the celebration. This will be my contribution to the team for the season so Billie and Adrian gotta like it. I think they will…I hope they will…

  We’re here! Ok show time (and by showtime I mean time to show Billie and Adrian FINALLY). But first, my dad actually speaks to me.

  “Good luck…just in case.”

  That’ exactly what he said last time. And like last time I simply say “thanks.” Nothing happened last game so I should be good this time too. I reach for the door.

  “Oh and one more thing.” He starts and I pause. “Be confident.”

  Huh? I think.

  “Huh?” I say.

  He smiles knowingly.

  “When you show Billie and Adrian your celebration dance, be confident.

  They’ll like it, they’re your friends.”

  Wait, how did he know about that? Has he seen me practicing in the mirror at home? Is he reading my mind?? Now he’s thrown me all off!

  “Uhh ok…” I struggle to reply.

  He gives me another smile as I exit the car and start making my way towards our field. My emotions shift from confusion to nervousness the closer I get (but hey, my dad is talking to me again so that’s pretty cool).

  We’re on a different field today, the smallest one at the very end of the complex. There are only two small sets of stands, one on each side of the pitch so this is super low key. Perfect!

  I spot Billie and Adrian off to the side. No one is around them so this is my chance! I rush over and greet them.

  “Hey what’s up guys?”

  “Yo we were just talking about you!” Adrian says as he daps me up.

  “Oh…really?” I wonder. “What were you talking about?” I ask nervously (I hope it was nothing bad).

  “Waiting on you to finally show us this celebration!” Billie answers.

  “Duh.” Adrian adds jokingly.

  “The way you been hyping it up I’m thinking this is gonna be the most lit celebration of all-time. We might go viral!”

  Oh great, now I have extra pressure. I mean, I think it’s good but it’s not the most lit thing ever and it’s definitely not going viral.

  I take a deep breath and get myself together. Here goes nothing…

  “Panthers! Gather up!” Coach G calls out of the blue.

  Seriously?!? I look over at Billie and Adrian, they just smile and shrug. This is really never gonna happen. Ugh!

  We join up with the rest of the team. We do the normal stretching, warming, up and pregam
e speech. I pretty much zone out. I’m thinking more about not getting a chance to do my celebration than the game. I’m not playing so that was gonna be the only thing I got to do today.

  Oh well, the game’s about to start now. I take my spot at the end of the bench (where I have two saved spots for Billie and Adrian to sit next to me at halftime).

  The game kicks off and at least I can say the first half is entertaining. Both Billie and Adrian score goals again which is cool. What’s not-so-cool is after they score, they both look to me wishing they had a celebration to do. Thanks coach. At the half, the score is

  4 – 0 Panthers (oh yeah Rich The Rich Kid is also playing great as much as I don’t like to actually say that).

  I’m hoping since we’re doing so well (and by we I mean the kids actually playing) that Coach will skip the halftime speech and I’ll have time to get with Billie and Adrian. But…I’m wrong. Coach actually spends the ENTIRE break talking strategy like we’re losing or something. Why is he so intense? I think a simple, “keep doing what you’re doing” would’ve gotten the job done.

  So you guessed it, no chance for me to talk to Billie and Adrian. Ok, seriously, no matter what happens, I’m showing Billie and Adrian this celebration as soon as the game is over! No matter what! So let’s get this game over with.

  I chill and patiently watch. We score another goal, then another. Now it’s 6 – 0 as I look to the scoreboard. 5 minutes to go. Looks like another dominant win is on deck. Time for the team to put the game on cruise control and coast to this W.

  Even Coach seems to be chilling out finally. He hasn’t taken his eyes off the pitch for one second all game until now. He calls a timeout. I didn’t even know there were timeouts in soccer.

  Wait, why is he looking down here at me?

  “Williams!” He calls to me.

  Uh-oh.

  “You’re in!”

  Wait, what?

  “What?” One of the other players on the bench says.