Raised up down Yonder by Howell Angela McMillan;

Author:Howell, Angela McMillan;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Published: 2013-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Phase Four: Reintegration

Ironically, despite his frustrations and his distrust of the community, Fireman got just what he wanted. And the end of the football season Jay Ellis had won more games than ever before and made it to the play-offs for the first time in school history. There was a slight joy in the team’s “victory.” But exhaustion and mess overshadowed the achievement, even for Coach Fireman:

How did you feel at the end of the football season? I felt great. We made the play-offs for the first time … It wasn’t as gratifying to tell you the truth, ’cause we could have did a whole lot better. If they would have listened to me from the beginning, instead of fighting …

By the time I left the field, I had discovered one hidden truth about how mess works, an explanation for why virtually everyone was messy: the only way to remain non-messy is to resist accusing others of mess. When I asked Darnel, who was at that point the football captain, and Mr. JEH about the mess, he proved that at least one non-messy person did exist:

What about Coach Fireman and Coach Remarcke? What are the differences between them? There’s not really a difference, but Remarcke was more experienced than Fireman was. You could learn more from him. But we also can learn from Fireman if we pay attention. But [there’s] a little controversy between the team and the coach. The team and Coach Fireman? Cause he left, or …? Some think it’s because he left and came back. Say that he should respect us more. Some of the things he does just. It’s not really a big difference. Take me through—how did you feel as the season was going along? You were there when Coach Fireman was there the first time. Where was the team at that point? The first year we was just … losing. The second year or two we was gradually going up, but we was going up. Pretty good, pretty good coach. Why do you think the team was going up? What was changing? Attitude. Being dedicated, taking responsibility for what they had to do … So last year…the whole drama, the controversy with the games being taken away and stuff… what did you think when you heard about that? Angry, mad. Who do you blame for it? No one. I blame no one for it. It just happened. Probably wasn’t meant for us then. Things just happen. That’s it.

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