Chapter 19

The next day, we walk around campus. I point to the foothills and tell Calvin how my dad and his teammates used to run them to get in shape. I tell him a story my dad told me about how one time, while they were running, one of the guys got bitten by a rattlesnake, and they had to carry him all the way down to the nearest road and wave down help.

“Was the guy okay?” Calvin asks.

“My dad said he played the next Saturday and swore the venom gave him a boost.”

Calvin seems to be only half-listening to me. He keeps checking his phone and sending texts. “Coach Kainoa is freaking out that we both got a verbal offer at UCC. He wants to take us out to celebrate. A nice dinner at that restaurant right on the beach, he said. I told him we could go next Saturday.”

“Yeah,” I say. “That would be fun.”

We make our way to the football stadium. Coach Lewis meets us outside the gate and takes us inside.

We head down to the locker rooms and he shows us some pictures of my dad. They even mounted one on the wall. Beneath his picture, in bronze are the words: “It isn’t over until the clock says zero.”

“He always said that,” I tell Coach Lewis. “All the time.”

“He never gave up,” Coach Lewis said.

“No, he didn’t,” I agree.

The team is already out on the field to practice, and Coach brings us down there to watch. I’m impressed with the drills he has them run and with how focused each player seems to be.

Unlike at UCC, we don’t get called out on the field to do anything. We’re just spectators. It feels good to watch the team work without the added pressure of having to play alongside them.

“Can you imagine being out there?” I ask.

“You will be when we play Branford the next four years,” Calvin says. He’s looking down at his phone again. It makes me angry. He isn’t watching the team, and I know he isn’t making a good impression.

“You don’t have to be here,” I snap.

He looks up at me. “No, we don’t. We accepted verbal offers at UCC. I don’t even know what we’re doing here.”

I falter. I don’t know why, but I can’t bring myself to tell Calvin the full truth. So I settle with most of the truth. “I just wanted to see the campus again,” I say. “I wanted a chance to talk to Coach Lewis. I wanted to pay some respect to my dad.”

“I’m sorry,” Calvin sighs, sliding his phone into his back pocket. “You’re right.” He looks down at the field, and I can tell he really means it.

After a short pause Calvin asks me, “Did you ever get to see any footage of your dad’s games?”

“A little,” I say.

“You should ask someone if they have more tapes.”

I nod at this.

“I want to see him play,” Calvin says. “I want to see if you play like him.”