The next afternoon Landon attacked the bag of equipment the league had given to all the players. He pulled it out onto the living room floor and began stuffing his pants and the girdle with pads. It was like a puzzle, figuring out which pad went in which pocket and then getting into everything, since the uniform also included rib pads, shoulder pads, elbow pads, and hand pads for the hogs.
“I think the rib pads are supposed to go on first.” Genevieve was paying more attention to her phone than him, but after struggling a bit, Landon knew she was right.
Landon figured it all out with Genevieve looking on while their dad flooded the house with the smell of roasting lamb chops and sautéed spinach. He was boiling potatoes that he’d mash to become delicious volcanoes filled with meat gravy.
Genevieve stuck out her tongue, tilted her head, and snapped a selfie with Landon in the background.
“Don’t post that!” Landon scolded her.
“Why?” she said. “You look cute.”
“I’m not supposed to be cute, Genevieve. It’s football.” Landon gritted his teeth.
Genevieve laughed and put her phone down. “Okay, already. Grumpy.”
In truth, Landon wasn’t grumpy. He was excited because if what the coaches and players had been saying for the last few days was true, then today everything changed. When the pads went on, the real players were supposed to rise to the top like cream.
“Football is not a contact sport. Football is a collision sport, so you better be ready to hit.”
Landon heard the coach’s words in his mind on a closed loop as he stood in front of the full-length hallway mirror, dressed in full uniform, with Genevieve beside him. He bent down in a sort of frog-like, upright three-point stance so she could reach him but he could still see her face. “Go ahead. Hit my shoulders.”
Genevieve slapped the pad on his right shoulder.
“Ha-ha. Harder than that,” he said.
She made a fist and bopped him.
“Harder!” Landon was feeling bold and unbreakable. “Seriously, hit me with everything you’ve got.”
Genevieve tightened her lips, reared back with a fist, and slammed his shoulder.
POP.
Landon smiled wide. “This is so cool. I can’t even feel that.”
With the pads and helmet and his huge size, Landon felt certain that everything—not just with the football team, but his whole life—was about to change.