A Thief in the Devil’s Pit

“No worries, we’ll meet again, loser.” I could still hear the ominous echo of Mickey the bulldozer in my head.

I had locked myself in the boys’ bathroom at school and stared at the piece of paper in my hand. Barely legible, badly spelled handwriting threatened me:

Fear crept down my spine. What should I do? There wouldn’t always be a principal to show up at the right place at the right time to save us from the Unbeatables. And I sure couldn’t drag the Wild Soccer Bunch into this. This had nothing to do with soccer. They had their stadium, their Devil’s Pit, their real life floodlights and they were proud of them all. And tomorrow they’d have their first game. I couldn’t steal this from them.

But at the same time, I felt outside of it all, like I wasn’t a part of the team anymore. I felt outside of everything. I was alone. And all I could think about was my brother. I had to protect him. I had to keep Josh out of this. This was all my fault. I’m the one who went to the Graffiti Towers. I’m the one who made a pact with Mickey the bulldozer. My mom always said I have to keep my promises. Besides, what I was thinking and what I was about to do – maybe this was where I belonged now; maybe I was not being good enough to hang with the Wild Soccer Bunch any more. I went to the Graffiti Towers looking for my father. If he really lived there, then maybe that was where I belonged too.

The first bell rang. Class would start soon. I threw the note into the toilet, flushed it, and then ran out into the hallway as if nothing had happened.

In class I played good old Julian Fort Knox. But in reality I was looking for the slightest chance to escape from this life forever. I was thinking crazy, I knew it, but I didn’t see a way out.

Nothing was easy. When I was a little kid, everything was easy. So when did everything turn so hard? My friends took good care of me, especially Zoe, Tyler, and Fabio. I was never alone, not even for a second, and it was a miracle that I was able to hide my cleats under my desk without them noticing.

The final bell rang so loud in my head, I jumped a mile. Everyone grabbed their bags and ran into the playground. Practice time! This would be our last training at the Devil’s Pit before the big game. The bike racks were crowded when I got there.

“Oh shoot!” I said. “I left my cleats at home!” I said, desperately putting on my best performance.

The others looked at me as if I had left my head at home.

“I know, what a pain,” I said, pretending to be embarrassed. “I’ll just go home and get them. Meet you at the Devil’s Pit in 20 minutes. Promise!”

No one said a word.

“What?” I asked. “You know, I really should go.”

Danny spoke first.

“What’s your shoe size?”

“Who, me?”

“No, the other guy living in your clothes,” said Danny. “Of course you!”

“I wear a 5,” I confessed.

“Good. I have the same size,” Fabio smiled. “And I brought two pairs.”

“Wait, what?” I stammered. “I don’t think I got all of that.”

I stared into their faces, shocked. But they all smiled back at me.

“It’s a no-brainer, Julian. You can wear Fabio’s extra pair of shoes,” Zoe explained, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “So, can we go now? Julian, you lead.”

I froze. On the one hand, this was an incredible honor; to lead, I mean! The front of the Wild Soccer Bunch bike caravan was always Zoe’s spot. She was the best biker on the team, after all. She set the pace, and on top of the hill just before the stadium, she signaled the final sprint down the hill. We all knew she’d give up the top spot only if someone beat her … which would only happen if she rode with two broken legs. Even Kevin and Danny, who were our leads in different situations, had never been allowed to ride in the lead. They’d asked, but she had always turned them down, no ifs, ands, or buts.

They complained now, too, but nobody dared to criticize Zoe’s suggestion. As far as bike riding goes, she was top dog.

Without further ado, she shoved me toward my bike. I took the hint and a few seconds later, I raced out onto the street at the front of the Wild Soccer Bunch bike caravan. Honestly, I didn’t feel honored at all. In fact, I felt like a frog under a microscope, with its beating heart on display. I felt X-rayed and gamma rayed. I felt my friends’ eyes burn holes into the back of my head, and I feared they could see the dark secrets of my soul. In other words, I was a total mess. What else is new?

I tromped down on the pedals as if I was chased by wild killer bees. Why did they do this to me? I thought they were my friends, but it was clear that they didn’t trust me any more. They wanted me to ride up front so they could keep an eye on me; they were afraid I was going to run away with the money. Was I being paranoid? No, more like my conscience wouldn’t shut up. Money was the last thing on my mind. I was worried about my brother. How could I protect him? I heard my mom’s voice in my head again, so I raced like crazy up that hill ahead of the Wild Soccer Bunch, because my secrets were making me sick!

I sped up even more. I just wanted to get away from everything. I was ashamed. I was angry with everyone and everything. Not for a second did I consider that my friends wanted to help me. Even the extra pair of cleats was proof of their distrust. They wanted to make sure I didn’t go home. And the way they came to the rescue this morning? Did they really save me from Mickey? No! Oh no! You don’t believe that, do you? No, they just wanted to make sure he didn’t get our money. I mean their money. My anger grew. I pedaled even faster, and when I reached the top of the hill overlooking the stadium, I yelled as loud as I could:

“Sprint!”

The wooden fence around our soccer field shot towards me. Zoe and Tyler were in hot pursuit on my right and on my left. But they couldn’t pass me. I was too fast. I pulled both brakes so I wouldn’t crash into the fence. Dust whirled around me and engulfed me, pebbles flew through the air, my bike reared, and I did a 180. Then I just stood there, waiting until a nanosecond later. Zoe’s and Tyler’s bikes reared like ponies and came to a halt right next to me.

They looked at me and didn’t say a word until the rest of the Wild Soccer Bunch stopped their bikes next to us. Then Zoe whistled through her teeth and Tyler murmured: “Wow!”

“That was really wild!” Danny whispered and Tyler looked at me. “Nobody’s ever done that before.”

“Outstanding, dude, you beat Zoe!” Roger shouted. I couldn’t believe it.

Zoe nodded respectfully at me. She was too exhausted to do anything else. Tyler was just as exhausted. “Julian, that was a monumental sprint! All the way from school to the Devil’s Pit. Nobody has ever done that before.”

I grinned. Maybe life wasn’t so bad after all.

“Is that true?” I could barely believe it.

“Yeah, unfortunately,” Zoe laughed at me. “But it’s a loss I’m willing to take because I have never seen anybody ride that fast before.”

I blushed. My face was like a lighthouse in the fog, but I didn’t care. None of my friends seemed to care either, and together we pushed our bikes into the Devil’s Pit, the one and only stadium the Wild Soccer Bunch ever wants to play in.

Larry was waiting for us, and our joyous mood was contagious. Usually cranky and with a face as withered as his jacket, he greeted us with a suggestion that never ever had crossed his mind before, let alone his lips: “Let’s just scrimmage today!” he shouted and kicked the ball in the air. “Defenders against forwards! Julian, Alexander, Tyler, Josh, Kyle, and Zoe play Joey, Kevin, Danny, Diego, Fabio, and Roger.”

No one moved. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

“What are you waiting for?”

What were we waiting for? Absolutely nothing!

We dropped our bikes to the ground, piled our pants, jackets, shoes, and sweaters into the mix and minutes later, we stood on the field in full uniform. Except me. I wore my street pants, obviously. The Larry birthday present money bank vault was staying with me.

Then we started the game.

Diego just tipped the ball and Kevin stopped it. I thought he’d play it back to Fabio who on his turn would send Danny, our fastest mid-fielder dangerously close to our goal. So I ran towards Danny to cover him, and Tyler ran past Kevin to stop Fabio’s pass. But Tyler walked into nothing. The pass never happened. Kevin hadn’t even stopped the ball. He just caressed the ball with the tip of his cleats, and then he accelerated.

Kevin was fast, and before Tyler realized what his brother was planning, Kevin had passed Zoe. Alex, too, slid into nothing as Kevin slalom-dribbled past him. I had no choice but to run back into the penalty area.

Fire on my heels, I raced over the field. Could I prevent the goal? Kyle the invincible came too far out of the goal and threw himself into Kevin. But Kevin just lifted the ball over Kyle’s fists, jumped over him, and won it back. I knew we were doomed. Kevin could score easily, but for whatever reason, decided not to kick the ball into the empty goal where Josh was on guard like a furious watchdog, covering for our missing goalie. This gave me time to approach from the right. Kevin glared at me, but didn’t hesitate a second, not even for one-hundredth of a heartbeat.

He prepared the very best lightning passes; everyone knew that. And that’s why he heeled the ball back and to the left, because he knew where every one of his teammates were by pure instinct. Joey, who was always behind him and slightly to the left, intercepted the perfect pass, moved the ball to the left, and was about to shoot off toward the goal.

But not so fast! I, Julian Fort Knox, the all-in-one defender, made a clean and perfect slide towards Joey’s legs and made it impossible for him to shoot. But he was quick enough to release the ball to Fabio, who was trying to steal it. Fabio didn’t like things easy, and a direct shot to the goal was too easy. He stopped the ball first with his chest and lifted it above his head with his knee. He was about to bid the ball farewell and send it into the net, when I crashed his party. The all-in-one defender stole the ball from his shoe, played around Danny, forced the ball forward a few more feet, and then passed a deadly shot to Tyler. He was lurking at the halfway line, took off with the ball, and no matter how much Kevin, Fabio, Joey, and Danny yelled, they couldn’t catch him. All our hopes rested on Diego and Roger. They were in Tyler’s way. But Zoe came from the left. Since her birthday tournament, she and Tyler were a team as if they were born to play together.

Without any trouble, Tyler passed the ball to her. She passed back to him and they continued passing to each other four times while Diego and Roger practiced zigzagging after the two of them. Finally, Zoe, who got the last pass from Tyler, just hit the ball hard from close range and the ball slammed into the far corner of the net!

Oh, I will tell you, life was beautiful! The Graffiti Towers and Mickey the bulldozer had ceased to exist. All that mattered was the Devil’s Pit, my friends, the Wild Soccer Bunch, and tomorrow’s game.

After practice, we gathered at the kiosk for our ritual lemonade. Danny whispered into my ear: “Tonight, midnight, surprise birthday party for Larry.”

For a split second I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Pass it on!” he whispered again.

That’s when I woke up and reality hit me like a sledgehammer: Larry’s birthday present; the second-hand shop we’d go to in a few minutes; the money in my pants that would be gone forever. There were no easy-popping balloons after all; no, the Unbeatables were real. Mickey’s bullying words burned into me and I could see his note even though I had flushed it down the toilet back at school. Who would protect Josh? Only the money could save him and I was his big brother and I couldn’t let anything happen to him. I couldn’t let them spend the money. I had to prevent the trip to the store at any cost.

“Come on, pass it on!” Danny hissed again, but instead of passing it on, I jumped up, ran to my bike, and raced off.

Danny looked at Tyler and Tyler looked at Zoe. She looked at Kevin and he nodded.

“Yes, but don’t go too fast!” he said. “If he sees you, it’s all over.”

Larry raised an eyebrow. He had no clue what they were talking about. After all, he knew nothing about Mickey the bulldozer or the birthday money in my pocket. But Larry never treated us like children. He understood that we had to solve some of our problems ourselves, and this seemed to be one of them. He respected that. And so he just watched as Zoe took off, following me. Even if Larry had known what lay ahead, he would never stop us.