Now to buckle down and take it.
CHAPTER 8
DIVE
“Hey, Paul!” I cringed and tried to breathe a little deeper while trying to keep my voice from sounding weird over the phone.
“Wassup, Malone?”
“Let’s scrimmage,” I said. “Get a few guys together—play over at the school field?”
“Yeah, sure,” Paul replied. “What time?”
“I can be there anytime,” I told him. I swallowed hard. “Half hour?”
“Sure, I can get people together by then.”
“Cool—see ya there!”
I dropped the phone on the floor and tried to lie back against the pillow. I couldn’t breathe deeply enough, and I was having a hard time trying to keep myself from hyperventilating. I ran my hand over my ribs and winced even though I had taken a half dozen Motrin tablets. I tried taking a deeper breath, but sharp pain rippled through the left side of my body.
I need to get to the field quickly.
I told Dad I was going to go practice, but he ignored me. He usually did for a while afterward. I would be seeing him again soon enough, no doubt. I drove over to the school, but there wasn’t anyone else there yet. Bending over to lace up my cleats was difficult, to say the least, and took forever. By the time I was done, other cars started showing up, and we started playing six-v-six.
Paul wasn’t nearly as good a player as he thought he was, but he was a damn big guy with a temper that just wouldn’t quit. He was exactly what I needed on the opposing team. I stood up as straight as I could and didn’t pant, no matter how tempted I was. It didn’t take long for Paul to come barreling down the field at me. His ball control was all right, but he didn’t play smart—always going for the goal instead of making it harder on me with a quick pass to a teammate.
It didn‘t matter now. I didn’t care if he scored or not; I just needed his temper.
As soon as he got to the top of the box, I ran u
p, dropped shoulder and rammed him—taking the ball at the same time. He dropped to the ground right at the top of the box.
“What the fuck, Malone?”
“Get off your ass, you pussy!” I screamed at him. “You were offside anyway! If you can’t take a hit, I hear we need a new water bitch.”
I tossed the ball over to Paul, who started running in the opposite direction, passing to Jeremy and then to Klosav. I tried to breathe again, but it just wasn’t working. I was only going to be able to take one more hit. I had to make it look good. It didn’t take long for Paul to get another breakaway and start heading for me. His eyes found mine, and I knew I had gotten to him. He didn’t care about the goal anymore, either. He just slammed right into me.
Perfect angle.
I flew into the air and landed on my back inside the goal. I rolled quickly to the left and cried out as my breath left me.
“Malone! You okay?”
“Hey, man!”
“Shit, is he hurt?”
“Fuck,” I groaned. “Can’t breathe.”
“Shit—I’m sorry, man!”
“Call 911!”
“No, let’s just get him to the hospital,” Jeremy said, his voice calm. “Tom, can you walk?”
“Dunno,” I said. “Maybe.”