CHAPTER 4
FAKE-OUT
As the week continued, so did Caleb’s fussiness. After bringing him to the doctor, Mom and Dad had decided he should stay in the hospital until his surgery the following week. That meant Dominic was spending much of his free time at his grandpa’s house.
On Friday afternoon, after Dominic had spent the past two afternoons watching TV in the living room, Grandpa came in from doing yard work and sat down beside him.
“Hey,” Grandpa said. “How ’bout helping me do some raking before it gets dark?”
Ugh, Dominic thought. I can’t really say no to Grandpa. Instead, he forced a smile and said, “Sure. I’ll meet you out there.”
* * *
Dominic trudged into the garage and picked out a rake. As he walked into the backyard, Grandpa called, “Look what I found!”
Before Dominic could reply, Grandpa kicked a soccer ball to him. The ball sailed right to Dominic’s feet.
“Grandpa,” Dominic said, surprised, “that was a good kick!”
“I played a little soccer in my day,” Grandpa said.
“I didn’t know that,” Dominic said. “Want to teach me some moves? My team has our first game in a week.”
“You bet I do!” Grandpa said, smiling. “Show me your dribbling.”
Dominic dribbled across the yard, but the ball kept getting out too far in front of him. When he managed to keep it closer to his feet, he almost tripped over it.
“Instead of kicking the ball so far ahead, try giving it some light taps,” Grandpa said. “It makes it harder for a defender to steal it. Kick the ball over, and I’ll show you.”
Dominic kicked the ball to his grandpa, who trapped the ball and dribbled across the yard, tapping the ball between his feet.
When he reached the edge of the yard, Grandpa ran at the ball like he was about to give it a hard kick. Instead, he put his foot on top of it, rolled it backward, and dribbled in the opposite direction.
“First, you have to get good at handling the ball,” Grandpa called, still dribbling. “The point of a fake, like the one I just did, is to help you break away from a defender.”
Grandpa paused, thinking for a minute. Then he said, “Wait here. I’ll show you the best way to practice dribbling.”
When Grandpa came back a couple minutes later, he was carrying a tennis ball. “Dribbling a tennis ball is like running with weights on your ankles,” he said. “When you take the weights off, you run faster. After you get used to dribbling a tennis ball, dribbling a soccer ball will feel easy.”
Dominic tried dribbling the tennis ball and tripped over his feet. He laughed. It was difficult, but he was having fun. And for once, he wasn’t worrying about Caleb.
After Dominic did one particularly good fake, Grandpa whistled. “Look at you! You’re getting good!” he shouted.
“Maybe someday I’ll get as good as Carlos,” Dominic said.
“Who’s Carlos?” asked Grandpa.
“A kid on my team,” Dom said. “I’ve never seen anyone play like he does before.”
“Have you ever seen a professional soccer game?” Grandpa asked.
Dominic shook his head.
Grandpa glanced at his watch. “Well, you’re in luck,” he said. “I think there’s a game on now. Come on.”
The two of them headed inside to watch the game, grabbing snacks on the way. As they settled onto the couch and turned on the TV, Dominic was impressed right away.
“These players are amazing. Even better than Carlos!” Dominic said as he watched the players passing, dodging, faking, and dribbling. “This is awesome!”
“Yes, it is,” Grandpa agreed, smiling.