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North curled his finger at her, and she scuttled up beside him in her flip-flops. North redirected her toward Dr. Green.
Dr. Green reached out his hand and the little girl joined him. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear, making her smile and nod as she looked up at him.
Mr. Blackbourne put a smooth hand to my back, drawing my attention from them. “Don’t let them fool you. North’s looking for sympathy. He doesn’t think you or Kota will want to take the win from a little princess coach.”
I studied the girl, who seemed oblivious to what was actually going on, more interested in Dr. Green who was obviously making a big deal out of her dress, and the thumbs-up approval from North. It was a warming moment to see the boys acting so sweet to a little girl.
I leaned in to whisper to Mr. Blackbourne, “Shouldn’t we let them win?”
“We don’t play to lose,” he said. “Otherwise North will request an immediate rematch.”
So he wants a true victory, I thought. Kota tries to give advantages but still plays fairly. So what was I supposed to do?
“Okay,” Kota said loudly, getting everyone’s attention again. “Given we won last year...”
“Don’t rub it in,” North said with a grumble, making everyone laugh.
Kota went on. “North’s team gets to begin choosing players first. Everyone who isn’t going to play needs to go ahead and get on the sidelines.”
There was a great movement of people then. Some moved out of the way and grabbed chairs to set up around the grassy play area, either on the porches of the homes, or along the road, creating a far sideline.
While everyone who wasn’t playing moved away, I was left with Mr. Blackbourne to pick a team. The goal was to lose to North without letting him know we were trying to, so I started looking for players who I thought might not be good.
But how could I know who was good, especially when the little kids changed the rules?
Dr. Green encouraged the little girl to pick teammates. At first she started with her friend, another little girl in a yellow fairy costume. At least she was wearing tennis shoes on her feet and not flip-flops. Would it still be okay for her to play in a costume?
North smirked, amused by her selection. Was he pleased? Maybe his plan was to pile on the little kids.
“Now it’s our turn,” Mr. Blackbourne said.
“Right,” Kota said. “Who wants to be on my team?”
Many hands went up, including from some of the parents.
“I want to be on the winning team,” one of the adults said.
“I said don’t rub it in,” North grumbled.
The little yellow fairy, who was standing next to him, reached up for his hand, tugging at it. He frowned, bent down. She whispered in his ear.
He sighed, and stood upright. “Don’t rub it in, please.”
Everyone laughed again and then turned back to us, waiting for our pick.
I checked in with Mr. Blackbourne, who leaned in to whisper. “We start with the younger ones, so they aren’t left at the end to get picked last. The grownups are aware and will wait.”
I didn’t know who to pick, so I pointed toward the smaller children in the crowd, singling out a little boy who stood alone, looking anxious.
He jumped up and clapped his hands as he zoomed over. Without warning, he crashed into my knees, hugging around my thighs, nearly knocking me over. “Yes!” he cried out. “I never get picked first.”
I grinned, unable to help feeling good at my choice. He was a cute little kid. I patted him on the head and looked up at Mr. Blackbourne.
Mr. Blackbourne smiled and then his expression changed. One of his perfect eyebrows went up. “Send him on to Kota,” he said.
I took the hands of the little boy, and gently squeezed them to get his attention. His bright eyes focused. “Do a good job,” I said. “Help Kota.”
He nodded in such a fierce way, that I was sure his head would rock off of his neck. He released me, running to Kota, crashing into his legs. Kota laughed, grabbing the boy’s hand and tugging him to stand beside him.
Dr. Green and the blue princess picked a bigger boy this time, one of the teenagers.
This time, I picked a girl. She had to be at least ten, and was composed. She wore glasses and her long hair fell along her back. She walked over to join Kota, but waved quickly to me, a quiet thank you for picking her.
This time, the princess pointed right at Silas.
“Oh no,” Dr. Green said with a roll of his eyes, although his smile betrayed his amusement. “Not him. He’s the worst player here.”
I didn’t understand how Silas, the biggest and probably more experienced at football—thanks to his time playing with the football team—could possibly be the worst player.
Silas pulled away from the rest of the crowd and sheepishly moved in behind North and the other players.
“May I pick this time?” Mr. Blackbourne asked.
I nodded eagerly, relieved. If I’d wanted to really win, Silas would have been my first choice. With Dr. Green saying he was the worst, it simply confirmed that this couldn’t be any ordinary game of touch football. Did our choices matter?
While Mr. Blackbourne scanned his eyes over the group of kids, some of them jumped up and down shouting, “Please!” or “Pick me!”
He picked one of the smaller ones, a girl perhaps six. She cried out in eagerness and raced at us, slamming into both of our legs in an odd hug.
I laughed, wondering if all this crashing into our legs was going to wear us out, and we weren’t even in the game. “Save it for the field,” I said, giving her a pat on the head.
The little girl giggled a lot. She still had a bit of pumpkin or something else on her lip. She peeled herself away from us and started heading toward Kota, who held out his hand for her. She took it and stood beside him, opposite the little boy, who was still holding on to Kota’s other hand.
“Interesting,” I heard Mr. Blackbourne say.
When I turned to look at him, he was looking at me with a curious expression on his face. His lips and facial features didn’t give any hint as to what he was thinking. But his steel eyes had turned a shade of silver in the light.
He held my gaze for a short while, and then broke away to look into the crowd. The moment was gone, but I was wondering what he was thinking.
In the end, Kota’s team ended up with Nathan, Victor and Luke. Gabriel joined Silas and North. There was an even mix of little kids, teenagers at first.
When the final adults were selected, the last one getting put on our team winked at us and got really pumped up, like he was e
njoying getting put on a team at all and not worried about being picked last. I got the feeling he was doing this as an example for the kids. “Best for last,” he said.
The teams split up, one on each of the driveways at the ends of the playing field—the designated winning zones. Our team gathered on the right-hand driveway, waiting for instructions.
Mr. Blackbourne had them all circle around so he could talk. “For the benefit of new players, I’m going to quickly explain the rules.”
“No biting!” said one of the adults, causing the rest of the grownups to laugh.
“Right,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “This is touch football. There’s no need to bite, pull hair or tackle.” He gave a stern look to the group, especially the eager little boys. “If you get caught in unnecessary violence, you’ll have to sit out of the rest of the game. Understood?”
All the little kids bobbed their heads.
“The game has four quarters of time. Only ten of you get to be on the field at a time. We’ll try to equalize your time playing.”
“He means we have to take turns,” Kota said plainly, with a small smile. “We can’t all pile up on North.”
“If you get hurt, come back and sit down. We’ll send in a replacement,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “The goal is simple, if someone on our team has the ball, get out of his way so he can race to the end zones.”
“The driveways,” Kota said as he pointed to the opposite driveway from where we were standing. “If you have the ball, run for that driveway as fast as you can.”
“If someone from the other team has the ball, try to touch him on the back or arms. For you smaller kids, try not to get in front and get tripped over.”
Mr. Blackbourne went through the rules and how points were counted. I had a feeling they simplified it a lot for the little kids.
After the explanation, ten people were selected to be on the field for the initial kick off: five children, Kota, Luke and Nathan, one adult and one teenage boy.
North started with mostly all children plus Silas, one adult, and himself.
