Just a Hat by Just a Hat (epub)

Author:Just a Hat (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-10T21:56:49+00:00

26

HARD HAT

Baba and Maman came to watch Joseph’s first home game as a starter. Baba was working out of the local office that week, and he talked her into it. Maman heard Joseph try to explain the football games to Baba, and she’d shake her head. Joseph reassured her that it wasn’t as violent as it sounded. After a bit of negotiation, she agreed to go. The Hawks were playing the first-place team in their division Thursday night.

Joseph kept searching the stands during the pregame warm-ups. He finally spotted his parents in the visitors bleachers. They must have been attracted to the extra room. On the home side, the band, pep squad, and spectators packed the stands. It took several tries, but Joseph finally got his parents’ attention. He pointed them to the home bleachers. For the next five minutes, each time he looked their way, he could see them discussing the problem. It was Maman who kept pointing to the Hawks’ black-and-gold jerseys, the black-and-gold band uniforms, pep squad uniforms, and cheerleaders’ uniforms. She was trying to get Baba to see that they should sit where all the colors matched.

The teams finished warm-ups and gathered at the ends of the field for their pep talks. Joseph continued glancing around to see where Baba and Maman were. They disappeared from the visitors side, so maybe Maman’s common sense prevailed over Baba’s engineering for extra space. He finally spotted them in the home bleachers. In the cool weather, Maman’s head scarf didn’t stand out so much.

From time to time, Joseph checked the stands. Baba and Maman sat stoically amid the screaming, pom-pom waving, stomping, and groaning going on around them. Baba was trying to look anywhere to avoid the cheerleaders’ barelegged prancing and bobbing. Joseph knew from experience that it wasn’t easy to do, but then again, he’d never tried not to. Maman periodically pointed at Joseph, probably trying to connect the number on the black jersey to her son. Baba nodded solemnly.

The game was still tied at 3–3 with only three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Even Juan was unable to penetrate the offensive line so that the Hawks’ running backs could gain much yardage. The two sacks in the first quarter proved that Larry wouldn’t find much in the way of passing. Joseph did well tackling. He especially liked it when he heard his name over the PA for making or assisting on a tackle. The guy calling the game mispronounced Nissan, but that was okay.

Joseph was standing on the sideline squirting Gatorade into his mouth when he heard his name. “Nissan!”

This time the man saying his name pronounced it correctly. It was Coach Meeks. “Yes, sir,” said Joseph, shouldering his way through the other boys on the sideline. Yo front and center.

“You remember your blocking assignments at tight end?”

“Yes, sir.”

The coach inclined his head to the opposing defensive back who had just stuffed the Hawks’ running back at the line of scrimmage . . . again. It was number forty-six, the defensive back who’d been wrecking Larry’s offense the whole game.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.