The Late Hit by K. R. Coleman

Author:K. R. Coleman [Coleman, K.R. ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Athlete, Athletes, Darby Creek, Football, Football Game, Football player, Football Players, Football Team, Football Teams, Gridiron, Hi/Lo, High Interest, High School, High School Athlete, High School Athletes, High School Football, High School Football Player, High School Football Players, High School Life, High School Sports, High School Struggles, High School Student, High School Students, High/Low, low reading level, Reluctant Reader, School, Sport, Sports, Struggling Reader, Teens, Touchdown, Concussion, Concussions, Concussions and Football's Make-or-Break Moment, Football Injuries, Football Injury, K. R. Coleman, Late Hit, The Late Hit
ISBN: 9781512482195
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Published: 2017-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

In the locker room Anton looks pale, but he’s smiling.

“How are you feeling?” I ask.

“Like I got run over by a truck.”

He lies down on the bench, but the other guys from our team pull him back up. They make him celebrate. They jostle him around. He’s usually the one leading the celebration party in the locker room, but now he’s flopping around like a rag doll, trying to break loose so he can sit back down.

“Playoffs! Playoffs!” the team starts to chant.

“The pack is back!” someone else yells.

Anton sits back down on the bench. He drinks from his water bottle.

“You’re acting like we lost!” Junior scowls at him.

“Just worn out,” Anton says. “Celebrating inside.”

He puts a fist against his heart.

Junior laughs.

We keep celebrating and Coach doesn’t even try to give a speech; he just writes across the white board in bright red letters: playoffs. be ready. next friday night. this is our year. Anton tries to smile and howl with the rest of us, but I can see he’s in pain. I find him some more aspirin and get him some water. I take a couple of pills too—my shoulder is killing me.

The shower makes me feel a little bit better, but when I get out, I find Anton still in his uniform, sitting on the bench. Most of our team is already changed and heading out to Pizza Barn.

“You want me to bring you home?” I ask Anton.

“Nah,” he says. “Free pizza tonight.”

Herb Cozzette, the owner of Pizza Barn, promised to feed our team and fans for free if we made it into the playoffs this year.

“Hurry up, then,” I say to Anton.

By the time he’s finally showered and dressed, we are the last ones out of the locker room, and Coach is waiting outside to lock up.

“Boys,” he says to us. “You made me proud tonight. You worked hard. You didn’t give up.” Then he looks at Anton. “How are you feeling? I’ve been told you took a hit right at the end. Nothing we can do about it now, but I want to make sure you are okay.”

“I’ll be good in the morning,” Anton says, forcing a smile. “No big deal.”

“You rest up. Take it easy this weekend.”

Anton nods at this.

When we get to his truck, he hands me his keys again and crawls into the passenger side. As he closes his eyes he mumbles, “Just when the headache was finally gone, I get smacked in the head again. Ellison Green is lucky he graduates this year. He’d get taken out by our team if we ever played him again.”

I feel bad for not stopping Green, and I can tell this second hit was a hard one. Anton’s face is a dull gray color. His words are slightly slurred. I’m a little worried about him.

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.