I pressed my head against the window and closed my eyes. My mind went back to Stop ’n Save. I was pushing the cart around the produce section, grabbing the strawberries and onions, listening to Mom.
Coach Acevedo wasn’t able to secure a third chaperone. This was the only solution.
“Cannonball contest!” Diego shouted. His words jolted me back.
“Chicken fights!” Zoe said.
“Yo, even better!” Diego said. “Chicken fights! I’m with Super-Size!”
“I’m with Mimi,” Speedy called.
“I’m with Maya Wade!” Red said.
The bus was big enough for everyone to have their own seat, but most of the kids were in the last two rows. Coach Acevedo had just walked back to tell everyone there would be time for a team swim before dinner.
“The pool has a basketball hoop,” Hudson said.
“How do you know?” Zoe asked.
“My dad and I checked the hotel website last night,” he said.
“Ballin’,” Maya said.
I wasn’t sitting with the others. I was toward the front of the bus. Like I had been the whole ride. We’d been on the road for about an hour.
I closed my eyes again. My brain went right back to the supermarket: Mom placing her hands on top of mine, holding my fingers, squeezing my fingers, telling me that my father—who I hadn’t seen in two years and who I had no interest in ever seeing again—was chaperoning my basketball team’s trip.
“Yo, you joining us?” Diego knocked on my head. He stood on the seat next to me. “It’s mad fun back there. You’re missing out.”
I blinked hard. “In a little bit,” I said.
“C’mon, Rip. It’s the Showdown.” Diego swatted my shoulder. “Whatever this thing with your father is, forget about it. Come back there.”
“I will. Just give me a—”
“Yo, you two should be a team for chicken fights,” Diego said, cutting me off. He elbow-pointed to Mega-Man diagonally across the aisle.
“Okay,” I said softly.
“I will destroy you in a chicken fight, puny man!” Diego said in a weird accent. He knocked my head again, jumped off the seat, and raced back.
I looked over at Mega-Man. He was plugged in and sitting by himself. Just like he had been ever since Red finished introducing him to everyone, which took all of about three minutes because Red’s not exactly the greatest conversation starter and Mega-Man wasn’t exactly talkative.
I flipped up my hood, lay across both seats, and curled into a ball. I should have helped Red with the intros. Coach Acevedo and Ms. Yvonne wanted me to. They both kept looking over at me when Red was taking Mega-Man around, but I only wanted to sleep.
“Our team bus needs a name,” Maya said.
“The United Mobile,” Hudson said.
“The Showdown Express,” Super-Size said.
“The United Express!” Diego said.
“Ballin’,” Maya said. “The United Express.”
“The United Express!” Red said.
I could hear his basketball smile. I don’t have to be looking at Red to know when he’s basketball-smiling.
My brain went back to my bedroom. I was on the floor, chewing on purple teddy’s ear, staring at the journal in my lap.
How do you choose your job over your family? How do you just leave your family? You didn’t have to go. No one made you go. You went on your own.
I shot up. I reached across the aisle and tapped Mega-Man’s armrest. “What are you listening to?” I asked.
He pulled out a bud. “What?”
I pointed to his screen. “What are you listening to?”
“Just some music.”
No, I thought you were listening to barking dogs and mooing cows. I gripped my neck.
“What type?”
“Just a playlist I made.”
What’s it like having Coach Crazy for a father? Does he act like that at home? Did that ref press charges?
“Have you ever played in a tournament?” I asked instead.
“What?” Mega-Man pulled out the earbud he’d already put back in.
“Have you ever gone on a trip like this?”
“I go camping every summer.”
“That’s a good book.” I motioned to Unidentified Suburban Object on the seat next to him.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“What do you think…? Never mind.” I slid back over to my seat and pressed my head against the window.
* * *
“You coming?” Diego knocked my head.
“Huh?”
“Wake up, man,” Diego said. “We’re here.”
“Whoa.”
He pointed to the front of my sweatshirt and laughed. “Yo, you drooled in your sleep!”
I’d slept. The whole rest of the way, I’d slept. I smacked the side of my head and looked around. Everyone else had gotten off the bus already. Except for Coach Acevedo, who stood in the aisle up front. He gave Diego a pound as he leaped around the front seat and down the stairs. Then he waved me forward.
I wiped the front of my hoodie with my palm and shuffled up.
“Good nap?” he said.
“I think so,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “I didn’t think I’d fall asleep like that.”
Coach Acevedo tapped his iPad. “Losing Elbows is a tough blow.”
“Why isn’t he allowed to play?”
“His mother said he didn’t do his schoolwork.”
“Was there…? Did you try talking to her?”
“I talked to Elbows,” Coach Acevedo said. “He knows he let everyone down.” He touched my arm. “I’m looking forward to meeting your father tomorrow. He’ll be waiting for us at Hoops Haven in the morning.”
I dipped my hands into my hoodie pouch and nodded.
“We Skyped for a while on Wednesday,” Coach Acevedo said. “He seems like a fascinating guy.”
“Okay.”
“He’s saving Clifton United, that’s for sure.” Coach Acevedo adjusted a hoop in the top of his ear. “The district insisted we have three adults present at the games. Your father’s coming through big-time for us.”
“Big-time,” I said softly. I clenched my hidden fists.
“When we’re at the pool now, try to get Mega-Man involved. Really make him feel like he’s part of Clifton United.”
“I will.”
“I’m counting on you, Rip. You know that.”
“I know.”
“I did speak to your mom.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “She told me a little about the situation with your father. Not a lot, but enough to—”
“It’s fine,” I interrupted.
“Good,” he said. “That’s what I want to hear. That’s what leadership’s all about. Clifton United needs you focused.”
Inside my pouch pocket, I pressed my knuckles together.
“We come committed,” Coach Acevedo said. “No distractions. Time to rise to the occasion.”