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They all nodded. We made it to the final lap and Coach Stevens called out, “6:20.”

Our target time was 6:45, so we were doing fine. I needed to get the guys around one more time, and if I pushed these three they wouldn’t make it. I had to get their breathing back under control.

“Okay, bring it down to a jog!

“Concentrate on slowing down your breathing. Just focus on putting one foot in front of another,” I told my three charges.

When we got halfway around, we had to get back up to pace.

“Fourth Quarter! Let’s push through this!” I yelled.

We crossed the finish line and Coach Stevens called out, “8:53. Good job!”

THE COACH’S PLAN HAD been that we would need to run the mile three or four times before people started to quit. Coaches Diamond and Stevens weren’t sure what to do next. None of the coaches believed they would get everyone to run the mile in the allotted time. Since today was about conditioning, Tim suggested we do sixty minutes of hell. Since Tim had suggested it, he had to lead us through it.

I found it funny that everyone survived the mile, but we lost eight freshmen and four sophomores doing exercises. When we were done, Coach Diamond made sure we had plenty of water and salt pills. We came back looking like we’d been worked to death. Coach Hope was all smiles when he saw us. The upperclassmen looked like hell.

“How many did you lose to the run?” Coach Hope asked Coach Diamond.

“None, they ran the mile in 8:53. Since we had some time, Tim led us in sixty minutes of hell. We lost twelve,” Coach Diamond reported.

“We’ve lost three so far. They’re not done running yet. Send your guys to the shower and have them back here at three o’clock.”

WHEN WE CAME BACK FOR the afternoon session, I knew the confrontation was coming. Brad and five of his ass-hats cornered me in the training room before practice. I was a little relieved it came sooner rather than later.

“Hey Brad, how’s it going?” I asked to try to defuse the situation.

Tami and I had talked about this very meeting. She’d told me to let him have his way. She predicted he would fold under the pressure of having to lead the team. Bringing five teammates told me he was already slipping. If it had been me delivering a message, I wouldn’t want any witnesses. He got into my personal space. I had to stop myself from reacting as Cassidy had trained me. From his breath, he had either tuna or cat food for lunch. I wrinkled my nose.

“Listen, because I’m only going to say this once,” Brad said, trying to be menacing as he looked up at me. “If we see you making an effort to take my position, we’ll hurt one of your friends.”

I sighed. I was betting that if I threw the first punch, they would all say I was the aggressor. Our school had a zero-tolerance policy about fighting. I would end up taking the brunt of the punishment in both the fight and then what the school doled out. This meant I had to take another approach. I tried to deflect.

“I’m sorry. I thought you were going out for quarterback. When did you decide to play fullback?” I asked.

He wasn’t amused. He gave me a shove and just muttered I’d been warned, and he and his buddies stomped out of the room. I had a grim expression on my face when Becky Grimes, one of the trainers, came out of her office.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine. I hope you didn’t hear anything,” I suggested.

She just shook her head and went back to her office. I was glad she was letting me deal with it. So far, it wasn’t so bad. Next time I would bring him a breath mint.

THE AFTERNOON WAS MORE running. Coach Hope was following the script from baseball. We lost another six in the afternoon. I was wondering when we’d start actually doing something football-related. Coach Stevens pulled me out of a run so he could talk to me.

He’d just graduated from State where he started out on a scholarship to play football. He was an offensive lineman who blew his knee out. He loved the game, so he got his teaching certificate. He would be one of our math teachers this year.

“Coach Hope tells me you’d be interested in playing some special teams this year,” he said.

“Yes, sir, I’d like to do whatever’s needed to make us a better team,” I said.

He looked at me skeptically. Then he just shrugged. I wasn’t sure what he was contemplating, but he seemed to come to a decision.

“I’d like to try you at kickoff returns. I think you might be okay in the open field,” Coach Stevens told me.

I wasn’t sure if he was taking a shot at me or was serious. They finally called for offense and defense. I decided to go with the defense to keep Brad appeased for now. Plus, I wanted a shot at playing defense. Moose saw me and pulled me out.

“Son, what are you doing? Coach Hope has you penciled in on offense.”

“I want a chance to go both ways, Moose. If you give me a shot, I think I can play just about anywhere you need me.”

There suddenly was a big commotion over on the offensive side. It looked like a fight was going on. How the hell do you have a fight the first day in shorts and t-shirts? I sprinted over because it didn’t look like the coaches were able to break it up. There were now several people fighting. When I got close, I saw it was my group and Brad’s going toe-to-toe.

Tommy Cox was just getting ready to sucker-punch Jim when I decided to join in. I ran through him like he wasn’t there. My left shoulder told me I’d hit him hard. He lifted off his feet and landed at Brad’s feet. Brad saw my look and started playing peacemaker. By now, Moose and Coach Stevens were there to help Coach Diamond and Coach Hope get everything under control.

I quickly got my guys out of the middle of everything. Tommy seemed to gather his senses and made a run at me.

“AAAAHHHHHHH!” he screamed as he charged me.

Coach Hope put his arm out and clotheslined him. He had done the same to me, and it hurt. Tommy decided he wasn’t done and tried to come after me again, but Coach Hope grabbed him.

“You’re dead, Dawson! I’ll kick your ass!” he yelled at me.

“Let him go, and let’s see if he’s man enough to do as he says!” I shot back.

Tommy suddenly did this Incredible Hulk move, shook off Coach Hope, and charged me. I did a simple hip-toss, but instead of sending him flying, I directed him to the turf. His feet went over his head and he slammed into the ground, taking the fight, and his breath, out of him. Cassidy had been overzealous one day and had done it to me, so I knew it really hurt. Tommy was turning blue because he couldn’t get his breath. I started to get worried until I heard a huge intake of air.

Coach Hope went insane. His face was almost purple as he screamed at us. Apparently, it all started when two of the ass-hat senior linemen had tried to hurt Jim. One went low and the other high. Mike said it looked like they were trying to blow his knee out. Thank goodness, Jim had been working out with us and had dated Cassidy. He knew how to fall, and when he felt the pressure on his knee, he knew what to do and just went down. He’d gotten up and shoved one of them, which set them off. I think Brad and his group were just looking for an excuse to do something.

I zoned out about halfway through Coach Hope’s motivational speech. Tami’s warning came rushing to the forefront of my brain. She had said they would try something and it wouldn’t be pretty. She told me to protect my friends. How was I going to do it? I decided we all needed to talk about this. I would get all the guys together tonight and figure something out.

The training staff finally got Coach Hope to stop yelling so they could work on the injured. Jim and Jeff ended up having to get stitches. Ed had a huge mouse over one eye, and Tim looked like he had a broken nose. Our guys were the ones who got the worst of it.