CHAPTER 7

TIME-OUT

At halftime, the Rockets were still down by two. The players were all sitting on the bench when Dom glanced up and saw his parents walking over from the parking lot.

Dominic was shocked. What are they doing here? he wondered.

His first thought was that something had gone wrong with Caleb. But then he saw that his mother was carrying Caleb, who was asleep on her shoulder, and he could tell how relieved they all were. Dominic ran over to them, eager to see his little brother.

“The doctor said Caleb is going to be fine,” Mom said, handing Caleb to Dad and giving Dominic a tight hug.

Dominic’s stomach did flips. “Hey, buddy!” he said to his little brother, pulling gently on his foot. “You excited to see me play some soccer?” Caleb responded with a sleepy smile.

“How’s the game going?” Dad asked.

“Not good,” Dominic said. “The score is 0–2.”

“Well, there’s still time,” said Grandpa. “Let’s see what you can do out there.”

As his family went to sit by the other fans, Dominic joined his teammates, who were gathered around Coach in a huddle.

Dom tapped his coach on the shoulder. “Coach,” he said, “can I go in soon?”

Coach nodded. “Can you promise me you’ll focus on the game?”

Dominic nodded eagerly. “You got it, Coach.”

“Okay, how about you take Dylan’s place at center forward,” Coach said. “On the next break in play, you can go in.”

Dominic was nervous and excited as he got ready to sub in for Dylan. He could hear Johnny and Nathan sitting on the bench and making gross noises by blowing into the crooks of their elbows. The noise was so distracting that Coach called a time-out after a couple minutes and pulled Dominic aside.

“Dom, I really need your help,” Coach said. “Your friends are distracting the team. I’ve tried everything. Could you talk to them before you go in?”

“I’ll try,” Dominic said.

As the ball was put in play again, Dominic went over to Nathan and Johnny. “Come on, guys,” he said. “My parents are here, and I really want to play. Can you knock it off for a while?”

“Nah, I don’t feel like it,” Nathan said. He and Johnny both laughed.

“You guys,” Dominic said, “the team is in trouble, but I think we can help! Maybe it will be fun.”

“Fun would be if my parents stopped making me come here,” Nathan said.

“Look,” Dominic said, “My family is here and I —”

“Okay, okay. Just leave us alone,” Johnny said. “We’ll be quiet.”

As Dominic turned back toward the field, he heard the spectators cheer. The Rockets had scored their first goal. The score was 1–2.

Dominic ran over to Coach Everett. “They promised to stay quiet,” he said. “Can I go in please?”

Coach smiled. “All right,” he said. “You’re in. Tell Dylan to take a breather.”

Dominic ran onto the field as quickly as he could.