Leo, where do you live?” Ella asked me in ISS when we had our lunch break.
I could not stop staring at the hamburger on her plate. I gobbled mine up so fast. It was hard not having any dinner to eat.
“Did you hear me? Hello!” she repeated.
Ella was a really cute girl. Beautiful teeth, precious smile, curves that went on for days, and unlike her sister, Eva, I probably didn’t notice her because Ella never flaunted what she had. However, being locked in a small room with her, I could not help but notice she was extremely attractive.
When she kept asking me nosy questions, I got irritated. “Aren’t we supposed to be concentrating on our work?”
“It’s lunch time, dude,” the other person in ISS said to me.
It was this guy named Carlen. He was in the eleventh grade also, but he did not roll in the circles Ella and I shared. He was interesting, to say the least. He was flaming and proud of it. He did not make me uncomfortable, but I did not like a know-it-all.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know asking you where you lived was a touchy subject,” Ella replied.
“You know where I live,” I responded. She had been to parties around my way.
We’d known of each other since middle school. We hung out with the same folks. I knew Ella kept looking at me, studying me, reading me, and questioning me because she was definitely the one who saw me Saturday in the locker room. As I thought back to more than what was going on in my own world, I remembered when I was in the parking lot talking to my mom that the cheerleaders were assembling for some trip.
Two of my defensive teammates, Amir and Brenton, were dating two of the cheerleaders. Watching film, they had been talking about going to see them perform at a competition, so it made sense.
It was Ella. Knowing Eva like I did, because I had more classes with Eva over the years, she would have just come out and asked me. Ella was not shy, but she was not rude or brash either. She was trying to beat around the bush to get out the information she wanted. Obviously she cared, because she kept looking and seemed to want to make sure I was okay. I could not risk confirming her suspicions until I found somewhere else to go.
Broaching the subject gingerly, Ella said, “I don’t really feel good. I’m not going to eat all this. Don’t want to waste it. Either of you guys want it?”
Carlen’s little skinny self said, “Nah, I’m watching my figure. You ought to understand that, girlfriend.”
“How ’bout you, Leo?” Ella offered.
When I saw her cut her burger in half and not eat her fries, I let my pride go. I guess I was salivating. I was hungry, but I could not appear too pitiful.
“If you are not gonna eat it.”
“Boy, you better take that food. And quit looking at her like you wanna gobble her up with the plate. I’m just as fine,” Carlen teasingly sulked.
I did not even want to play with him. Carlen was a cool guy. Word was out he helped a few people dress for the prom last year. However, I did not swing that way, and I had enough friends. I did not want to send wrong messages. After lunch I went back over to my little corner and stared at my work.
The next day was more of the same. The three of us in ISS were buried under piles of paper. Dr. Sapp sat at the front desk and lectured.
Our principal said, “You know when students make dumb choices, they land themselves in here. I hope they get it and understand fighting, stealing, and cheating will lead them down the wrong path that they may never recover from. I’ve always told you guys, I used to cut up in school. So I understand you may want to make a little extra money, so you steal. Or you don’t want your manhood threatened, so you fight. Or you don’t want to let down friends, so you cheat. Stealing, fighting and cheating are stupid. Matter of fact, I want you all to write me a paper about why what you did was dumb. Persuade me that you’ll never do it again.”
“But, Dr. Sapp! C’mon, man, you see all these papers and work we gotta do. Cut us a break, sir,” Carlen lobbied.
Dr. Sapp said, “Don’t try to change my mind. I need you all to learn that what you did was wrong. I’m going out to the hallway. Get to it.”
I could not believe Ella had cheated. I had heard about her sister, Eva, selling the answers to the US History test for five dollars. Knowing that I needed to pull up my grade in that class, I probably would have paid. I thought Eva was getting the answers from the teacher’s desk, not from her sister. Even if that was the case, Ella was not the mastermind behind it all. Why was she the one who ended up in here? However, of all people, I understood that family was a trip.
When Carlen went to the restroom and it was just Ella and me in ISS, I said, “You should not let anybody use you.”
“You shouldn’t let anybody provoke you to fight,” she snapped back.
“Yeah, but I hit somebody who deserved it. If people don’t study, they don’t deserve to get the answers. Or were you getting some of the money from the sale?” I asked. Ella looked at me and gritted her teeth.
I could tell her answer was no. She probably had no idea what her sister was even doing. That was crazy to me.
“I’m not trying to get in your business,” I said, making sure I didn’t give her a door to walk into my world. “I’m just saying once things happen, you can really see who has your back and who doesn’t. You can’t pick your family, but you surely can pick whether you let them use you or not. And you just shouldn’t let anybody walk over you; that’s all.”
I did not mean to make her tear up, but obviously what I was saying cut close to her heart. I could not have imagined what it was like having a twin, but if I had one, they would be the last person I would think who would sell me out.
For some reason I had a mental block when it came to doing my work. I did not know if it was that I could not understand the material in the first place or if a couple of days with no dinner was taking its toll on me. Either way, when Dr. Sapp came in and demanded our work, I looked stupid not having it. I did not want more days extended to my stay in ISS. I certainly did not want him to suspend me. I could have kicked myself for not maximizing my time. He was a calm guy; it took a lot to ruffle him, but everyone had their limits. I did not know if he would go for days spent in ISS without any work being done.
After Ella and Carlen turned in their assignments, he looked at me. I stared back. He glared harder, like I needed to produce something or I would not like the consequences.
“What’s going on, Steele? You want to play the rest of the season? I need to see some work. What’s up?”
“We did ours together,” Ella cut in.
Dr. Sapp looked at her in a strange way. Ella wasn’t backing down. I knew I did not work with her. She knew I did not work with her, but there she was, helping me anyway. I was shocked she would save me like that.
“We have the same classes,” Ella said with a matter-of-fact tone. “I know why it’s such a surprise. You weren’t in here a lot, so you didn’t see us working together. You told us to get it done. You didn’t say we couldn’t work together. Since there were things both of us helped each other with, we just did it together. So there you go.”
“His name is not on this paper.” Dr. Sapp tried catching her.
“My name isn’t either,” she replied.
“Why is it all in your handwriting?” he asked.
“ ’Cause I write better than him.”
“Carlen, is this true?” Dr. Sapp asked.
“Yes, sir,” Carlen agreed with a wink my way when Dr. Sapp looked at the papers.
I had too much pride built up in me to tell Ella thank you. All I had been going through for the last couple of days, I surely did need help. She came through for me and that meant a lot.
At the end of the day, I thought the coaches would never leave. We had an important season; they wanted to be prepared. However, they were going all out. It was nine, and I was tired.
Also, I had another problem. Landon was getting very suspicious because he used to drive me home. For the last two days when he asked if I was ready, I made up something that even I did not believe.
Thankfully, I had my shower out of the way. When I came off the field, I immediately got in the shower. Coach had already fussed at the team for not putting the towels up to get washed. I realized it was me because as soon as everyone took showers, the managers loaded up the washing machine. The washer was so high-tech I did not know how to use it, and to wash one towel did not make sense. I also had not figured out how to eat when there was no food around. I was starving. My stomach was growling. Coach had removed his snacks since he thought other coaches were stealing them, and there was absolutely nothing to grub on laying around.
I was a little paranoid being in the school alone. I heard squealing. I made sure I got my foot off the floor thinking that rats crawled around at night. Then I heard a different noise, and I got up to investigate. Pebbles were hitting the window in Coach’s office. I went over to the window, lifted up the blind, and saw a taped-up note with an arrow pointing down.
If I were a little child, I would have thought an elf helped Santa bring just the right thing for Christmas. It was like a holiday. I bypassed the alarm, put a brick in the door, ran outside, and grabbed the fluorescent pink wicker basket covered with a kitchen towel.
I looked around to see if I could find anybody, but I did not see a soul. When I got inside, it took me no time to tear into the fried chicken, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, and cornbread. The delicious meal saved me.
The next day in ISS, I did not want to be so near Ella. I did not want to put her on the spot. I wanted to tell her that I knew what she was doing, but I also did not want to be embarrassed.
When she went to the restroom, Carlen said, “It doesn’t take a lot of smarts to figure out the girl likes you. First I was jealous ’cause I wanted you to have eyes for me, but as slowly as you move, I’m glad you are looking at her too. If you don’t intervene, I got time to turn straight and put the moves on her myself.”
“I’m not trying to get a girlfriend right now,” I said, trying not to laugh at his joke.
“Oh yeah, you just stare at her half the day.”
“I was trying to steal something out of her purse, but every time I want to go for it, I catch you looking dead over in her direction. See, I got jokes too,” I said to Carlen.
“Yeah, I learned my lesson for trying to get my hustle on. But I’m just saying, man, if you gonna look that hard, try to touch.”
“Whatever.”
“I got your ‘whatever,’ ” Carlen said, wanting to make me own up to the feeling I could not deny.
I figured I was going to be ready for Ella later in the evening. I suspected that she was going to bring me a basket of food. While it could have been a baloney sandwich or just two pieces of bread, I was ready to eat. I knew she was not going to let me down. My plan was to go out there and thank her. Sure enough, around nine there was a knock on Coach’s window. I did not even have to go and see what it was. I immediately went outside. I saw Ella fly around the corner. I was about to follow her, but my attention was grabbed as three cars came speeding into the school parking lot. As the cars appeared to be racing uncontrollably, I froze.
Everybody knew the Axes had initiation every fall. If you were driving and saw a carload of teens going really slow, you shouldn’t beep at them because they might shoot you. If you were a girl, you shouldn’t walk alone because they might rape you. If you had issues with them, you shouldn’t get in their way because they might kill you. However, I didn’t see Ella get in a car, and I had to stay out there to make sure she was safe.
After the race, Shameek got out of the winning car. He was screaming and yelling that he was the man. I was not even in their little group, and I knew they let him win since he was their so-called leader.
Where was Ella? Certainly she did not walk here. I did not think she had a car, but I did not see another car leave. Again, I had to make sure she was okay now that Shameek had won. I was just waiting for him to get back in his car.
Hopefully, Ella noticed that they were out there too and stayed hidden.
Problem was, Shameek didn’t leave. He and his crew pulled out spray cans from the trunks of their cars and started painting on the school bricks. Without even thinking of the consequences, I yelled out.
“Who’s there?” Shameek’s sidekick, a thug named Bruno, called out.
I did not want to lead them toward the door because if they found out how to get into the place, it would be trashed.
Hoping Shameek would not try to show out, I walked toward him and said, “It’s Leo, just waiting on my ride.”
“What? It’s Steele! Must be my lucky night,” Shameek taunted.
“I don’t want no trouble with you, Shameek,” I said. “My mom will be here any minute.”
“Oh, I got boys right here who would love to meet your pretty mom. As a matter of fact, we been looking at your crib, but ain’t nobody came to your place. You scared of me?”
I took a few steps closer. I did not want to antagonize him; however, I was not a punk. So when he kept talking about my mama, I shut him up by giving him two upper cuts. Problem was, I was outnumbered. It was just me and about eleven of them. Kicks, punches, jabs, hits, and licks came from all directions.
I didn’t know how long the beating went on. I do believe, however, that if the sirens I vaguely heard had not come screaming into the parking lot, the gang would have stuck around and beaten me to a pulp. In all the mayhem, I passed out.
“Do I hear crying? Is that a female voice? Is my mom here?” I wondered, trying to open my eyes.
When I did try to see, it was painful and blurry. As I reached up to touch my face, I could tell it was swollen. I also saw I was in a gown in a hospital room. Ella was standing over me, turning to leave. Just as she was about to walk away, I touched her arm.
“Stay, please.”
She paused and a few tears fell. “Oh, Leo, this is horrible. I couldn’t let them do this to you.”
Now it was coming back to me. I had taken a few pain pills that the nurse had given me; therefore, I was a little out of it. Whatever Ella was saying, I did not fully understand. Clearly, I could see she cared. It totally surprised me. I was trying to tell her that I cared too. I was out there because I did not want anything to happen to her in that parking lot.
“I’m not supposed to be in here. Amir and Hallie distracted the nurse, and I snuck in. I just wanted to make sure you were going to be okay. You are gonna be okay, right?” she asked. She leaned down by me and gently stroked my brow.
Though the touch of her skin felt really good, I cringed because any movement to my bruised face hurt. Of course, I tried to be tough. Ella had to know I was not a wimp.
“Give me your mom’s number, and I’ll call her. I will be sure to tell her you are okay. It would not be great for a parent to get a phone call that their kid is in the emergency room,” Ella stated.
I turned away. That’s when I realized I really needed to get out of the hospital. I could not talk to the police about why I was at the school.
Then I got frightened because the gym door was still propped open.
“Okay. Thanks for coming. I don’t feel good,” I responded to Ella, hoping she got the point to leave. I didn’t want her to go. She could have stayed all night making sure I was okay, but spending time with her would have to wait. I had to figure out a plan. Just as she had snuck in, I was going to have to sneak out.
I was not feeling one hundred percent. However, I was football player. I could take a little pounding. Shameek and his thugs were not going to be able to hold me down.
“If you need anything, call me,” Ella said.
“Are my clothes over there?”
“You don’t need any clothes. You just need to rest.”
“No, I was going to tell you to put your phone number in my phone,” I replied, thinking quickly, because as soon as she was gone I needed to go too.
Ella found my phone and put in her number. Watching her leave, I knew I definitely had to do what Carlen said. It was time I stepped up and let her know how much I appreciated her. Every day she was doing something amazing for me.
I was struggling to get dressed. I realized I had a bruised chest. My ribs weren’t sore, but someone must have given me a good whack right in the center of my breastbone.
“Uh, where do you think you’re going?” Coach Strong said as he came in the room. “We need to talk, Leo, and I need the truth.”
At that moment I laid back down on the bed. I needed a big break. It was not good.
“Son, sit up. I need you to talk to me,” Coach said. “Where have you been staying?”
“Coach, I got it under control.”
“That is not an answer to my question, Steele, and you know it. I think you lied to me, young man. Of all the young men in my program, you’ve always owned up to your stuff. Saturday, when you asked to stay after to watch film, you said your mom was going to get you. Was that the truth?”
He got no response. I felt bad that I had lied to him. I had no choice now but to come clean. He knew something was up. The best thing I had going for me was being on his football team.
I had to come clean so I would not lose that. I turned toward him with tears in my eyes.
Completely vulnerable, I said, “My mom came to the school earlier to tell me good-bye. She moved to New York. Basically, told me I gotta find a way to make it on my own. She gave me a few dollars and was out.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, son? We could have figured something out.”
“Tell you what, Coach? You’re going through so much yourself. Your wife was just diagnosed with cancer. You are knee-deep in trying to win the state title. You don’t have time to baby-sit me. So I stayed in your office.”
“You’ve been the one eating all my food, huh? I should have known something else was going on. You clean up my office a lil’ bit nicer than I leave it,” he joked.
Where was this conversation going? Why was he softening when I thought he should be biting my head off? Was he serious when he said I should have told him? Would he have helped me?
“I was outside and saw trouble when I went to thank a cheerleader for bringing me food,” I said, getting back to why things had escalated.
Going into “parent mode,” Coach Strong asked, “You haven’t been eating, son?”
“When you took away the snacks? No, sir, not at night. My only meals were during breakfast and lunch.”
Shaking his head, he got back to the big blow up. “So you went out to get the food; that’s when you saw the guys?”
“Yeah, I wanted to make sure they wouldn’t hurt her. And I didn’t know where she went. So I stayed out there. They were drag racing. Next thing I knew, they were spray painting on the school property. You taught us, Coach, to stand for stuff. I knew if they saw me go into the school, they’d try to get in too.”
“And they would tear it up,” Coach said, completely feeling me.
“Exactly, so I paid the price.”
“Leo, you saved the building,” Coach declared with pride.
“But now that you know, I have nowhere to go, Coach. My mom says I’m eighteen, and I can make it on my own. I ain’t got nowhere to go, Coach. What am I gonna do? Please, don’t throw me off the team, Coach. I’m sorry I lied.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just rest up so you can be able to play.”
“These lil’ nicks can’t get me down, Coach. Please, don’t throw me off the team.”
He paced around the room. He put his hands on his hips, and then he sat down in the chair on the other side of the room. I didn’t know if he was thinking, praying, or screaming in his head. Finally, he said, “You are gonna come stay with me and my family.”
When I heard that, I could have gone out and made three sacks for him! He words encouraged me. I was truly saved.