Shamrock Stable, Washington

Wednesday, February 5^th, 10:45 pm

 

Exhaustion swept over me when I parked the Subaru and headed for the house. Queenie and Charlie met me at the back gate. I watched out for puppy land mines as they escorted me to the door. I let them inside. We found Mom and Dave in the kitchen.

“Twaziem made it.” I put my sports bag and backpack in the corner of the room and found doggie treats. Homework could wait until tomorrow. “I’m wiped. I’m going to bed.”

“What kind of colic was it?” Dave got up and sauntered over to the microwave. “What caused it?”

“All we can think is that he rushed through his food again.” I watched him zap something. “What’s that?”

“Your dinner,” Dave said. “If you don’t eat, Sierra, you won’t sleep tonight.”

“I had a couple slices of pizza at the Gibson’s.”

“And now, you’ll have chicken-broccoli-casserole and a glass of milk.” Mom stood and went after silverware. “Then, you can hit the sack. I’ll do chores in the morning so you can get an extra hour of sleep.”

“You may change your mind when you hear that I blew the Saint Sierra act.” I pulled out a chair and sat down. “Coach probably called and ratted me out for bailing on practice today.”

“He did.” Dave put the plate in front of me. “Eat. I told him that if you were the kind of person who let a horse suffer and die when you could save it, you wouldn’t be a credit to your mom’s raising.”

I picked up the fork. “I wasn’t very nice or tolerant or patient with him. I basically told him if he wanted me to placate him or manipulate him to find somebody else to cater to his ego.”

“We heard when he phoned.” Mom brought a glass of milk to the table. “I understand why you did what you felt had to be done.”

I dug into the cheese covered casserole. “I can hear the “but” in your voice, Mom. You’re glad I jumped in and saved Twaziem, but you still want Saint Sierra in your house.”

Mom winced. “I never said you have to be perfect. I only want what’s best for you, honey. Fighting with everyone that you think is stupid won’t help you in the long run.”

“Right.” I forked up the last of my dinner, drank the milk. “So, here’s the deal. I’ll do my best to be a Stepford teen and go along to get along. However, when it comes down to “life or death” like it did tonight, I reserve the right to flip the switch and be the human in charge, instead of a robot.”

“I don’t think you understand my point,” Mom said. “Are you going to help me out here, Dave?”

“Nope. I have no idea what’s going on between the two of you. I’m opting for my old man’s advice and not getting involved in an argument between two women.” Dave collected my empty plate and carried it over to the counter. “Good night, Sierra.”

He was a smart guy. He obviously knew that in this kind of fight, we’d both turn on him and stick together. I didn’t share that with my mom. Instead, I picked up Charlie and started for my room, Queenie behind us. She knew I’d let her in with my sister. “Good night.”

* * * *

Marysville, Washington

Thursday, February 6^th, 3:00 pm

 

Mom let me sleep in so I arrived at school at lunch-time. She’d obviously had time to think about what I’d told her when I arrived home the night before. Either that or she talked it over with Dave. She repeated that I needed to cut people slack and not expect perfection from them because I didn’t want anyone expecting it from me. Yes, standing up to people was important, but there was a time and a place. As long as I continued to practice what she called, the wisdom to know that difference, I didn’t need to tell them when they were totally too stupid to live.

It was good advice and I might even end up using it today. I changed to my white and blue jersey for the game. Okay, so I’d missed practice yesterday, but Coach might relent and let me sub in occasionally if he didn’t kick me off the squad. Today, there was only one game, just us against the Crusader girls. The guys would play tomorrow.

I went into the gym and sat down on the bleachers. Olivia and Patricia began warm-up drills with the other players. I didn’t jump up and join them. Why push my luck?

Coach Norris saw me. He came over and sat down next to me. “What’s going on, Sierra?”

“I need to apologize for yesterday. I said some nasty things and I’m sorry.”

“All right.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry too.”

“For what? You didn’t do anything wrong, Coach.”

“Actually, I did. I made a mistake. I forgot to treat you like an individual. I should have made sure that you knew you could talk to me. I should have listened and believed what you told me unless you showed me that you weren’t trustworthy.”

“Maybe, you aren’t perfect.”

He chuckled. “No, I’m not. How about you?”

“Oh, I’m not either. I just freaked about the horse. He has a predisposition to colic because he’s a rescue. I didn’t want Robin to lose him.”

“She didn’t because you stepped up.” Coach Norris rubbed his jaw ruefully. “That’s what I want to teach you girls to do, to make decisions and then follow through. I don’t know why it bothered me so much that you already know how to step up.”

“I didn’t have to be snarky about it.”

“You’re not perfect either, Sierra. You’re allowed to make mistakes.”

I remembered what he’d told me before. “But, when I make them, I have to own up to it and accept responsibility for my choices as well as any of my mistakes.”

“That’s right. You’re doing it right now. And what else did I say?”

“After I own my mistakes, I need to try again.” I looked at him, hope rising in my heart. “I get to play?”

He nodded, smiling. “You get to play. It took guts to come in here, to admit there was wrong on your side as well as mine. Now, go warm up. Your team is counting on you and so am I.”

“You got it, Coach.” I jumped up and ran out to the court.

It might be a basketball game, but inside I felt like I was dancing. People had started to filter in and fill the grandstand. I spotted my mom, Autumn and Dave. Olivia passed me the ball. I whirled, dribbled down and shot a basket from mid-court. Coach waved to me, and I jogged over to him. “I had to do it at least once.”

“Really?” A smile tugged at his mouth. “I’m sure you have a good reason. What is it?”

I waved to Tom who’d walked in the doors just in time to see me score. He approached us. “My guy likes a hero.”

“I’ve found one.” Tom grinned, tugged my braid. “Play ball. I’ll catch you later.”

“I’m counting on it.” Laughing, I spun and raced back to my squad. I was ready for the game of life as well as the one we’d play tonight.

 

THE END