Line Up by Alex Kuskowski

Author:Alex Kuskowski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Saddleback Educational Publishing
Published: 2014-08-03T15:01:58+00:00

6

Daniel thought. Was his Grandpa right? Jamal was his friend. He never asked for anything. He wanted to hang, that was it. Tyrese had been that way, but now?

Daniel went back to the track every day. It made Jamal happy. Simone said hi in the hallways too!

Daniel worked on his hurdles alone. He practiced after school. In secret he used old trash cans. He didn’t want to get in trouble.

One day Daniel was sprinting with Simone. He wasn’t fast enough to beat her. Yet.

Jamal appeared. He was with a man. Daniel had seen the man before. He was the track coach.

Jamal called, “Hey, Daniel! This is Coach Simmons.”

“Nice to meet you, son.” Coach Simmons shook Daniel’s hand. Daniel knew Coach Simmons. He was the math teacher at Northeast. Simmons’s class was supposed to be hard. Jamal was in the class. He said it was fun too. Hard and fun didn’t go together for Daniel. But that was before track.

“I heard about you. You ran hurdles the other day. Mind showing me?”

Daniel swallowed and nodded. This was a test. What if he failed? Could he stay?

He was sweating a lot. He wiped his hands on his shorts. Then he started to sprint. The hurdles came up fast. Line up. Jump. Clear. He went faster. He was doing better than ever. He smiled. He was on the last hurdle. Then he felt his foot snag. He stumbled and fell.

Daniel was humiliated. He wanted to cry. He had done so much better before. He brushed himself off. The coach came up. He waited to be kicked off the team.

The coach patted him on the back. “Good job, son! It was great except for the last one there. I’ll give you some pointers. I want you to compete in the next meet. It’s on Friday. Think you can do that?”

“Yes, Coach!” Daniel was really happy. He wasn’t getting kicked off! He’d get to compete!

Daniel walked home. He was over the moon. He couldn’t wait for Friday. He thought of what he learned. Coach Simmons gave him a lot of tips. He was thinking hard. He didn’t see Tyrese coming.

“Yo, punk! Where you been? I told you to get back to me.” Tyrese looked really angry. Daniel didn’t answer.

“That track stuff is for losers. You should quit that. Doesn’t change the fact you owe me.”

“What?” Daniel was confused. “I thought it was a favor!”

“Not anymore. Worried about Grandpa? Or little Kiara? She walks home all alone now. Want them happy? Bring me that gun tomorrow night. 11 p.m. at the parking lot near the store. Got it?”

Tyrese gave a hard look. Daniel swallowed. Then he nodded.

What was he going to do now? Tyrese was clearly up to no good. But Daniel was afraid for his family.

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