Courage to Soar (with Bonus Content) by Simone Biles & Michelle Burford

Author:Simone Biles & Michelle Burford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2016-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

Redemption

“The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do.”

—AMELIA EARHART, AUTHOR AND ADVENTURER

Aimee was waiting for me over by the balance beam. I strolled to where she was and dropped my grip bag onto the mat. “What’s my next assignment?” I asked. I was late getting back from my mid-morning break, and we both knew it. But I was acting all casual, like it didn’t even matter.

“Ten routines on beam,” Aimee said, adjusting a foam mat at one end of the padded, four-inch-wide plank of suede-covered wood.

“Ten routines? That’s too many!” I protested.

Aimee didn’t even look in my direction. She was clearly not happy with me. My bratty behavior had been on full display earlier that morning, when I’d resisted my conditioning workout every step of the way, muttering under my breath or talking back about why I didn’t think I needed to do extra stair runs. It was true that I had a slight cold and felt a little under the weather, but Aimee wasn’t cutting me any slack.

“Simone, I’m not playing around,” she said now. “You have to make every connection in order for the routine to count.”

“Fine!” I said, my displeasure clear in my tone.

I straightened my back, lifted my chin, and held my hands above the beam, fingers together like dance hands. I took a deep breath, mounted the beam, and launched into my first routine. Toward the end, I paused a beat too long between two back handsprings that were supposed to flow smoothly together.

“Doesn’t count,” Aimee said. “Start again.”

All through beam practice, Aimee kept repeating that.

“No, doesn’t count. You missed the connection. Start over.”

I was getting aggravated because sometimes Aimee stopped me when I was sure I’d made the connection, and other times, she let a repetition go when it seemed to me that I’d been a little bit off. Finally, when I’d managed to put together seven routines that counted, I burst out, “Oh my gosh! How am I still on beam routines?”

“Well, you’re making two out of three connections,” Aimee told me. “You need to make all three.”

“Not fair,” I shot back. “The third one’s a bonus connection.”

“You still have to connect it,” Aimee said, her voice firm. We both knew that most days she allowed the routine to count even when the bonus skill wasn’t flawlessly bridged, but not today. I was confused and frustrated; I hated hearing Aimee say no to me over and over, and I also had a runny nose.

“I need to blow my nose,” I said.

“Go,” Aimee said, waving me off. “But then you get back on that beam and finish your routines.”

“But I already did seven,” I argued. That was highest number Aimee usually assigned. Most days, it was only five.

“Do three more,” she said. “And connect those skills.”

I felt so angry and powerless that I started crying and couldn’t seem to stop. So after every dismount from a routine, whether it counted or not, I’d go off to the bathroom to blow my nose.

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