Page 89 of Worth the Trip

The boy straightened. “For what?”

“Disrespecting faculty.”

“You not faculty.”

“Ten.”

“Coach!”

“Twelve. Inflation.”

I shook my head while the team dropped to the grass. There was room for laughter in discipline. There just wasn’t room for laziness.

My phone vibrated again.

Malik noticed, of course.

He rose from his last push-up and wiped his palms against his shorts. “Coach, that Hershey lady text you?”

Twelve heads turned toward me with enough synchronization to make me question why none of them could manage it during drills.

Malcolm’s head turned too.

Slower.

Much more disrespectful.

I pulled out my phone.

Hershey:

If you show up hungry, I’m charging you double.

The smile got me before I could stop it.

Malik slapped Caleb’s shoulder. “I told you.”

Malcolm made a low sound from across the field.

I locked the screen. “Run the play.”

Malik backed toward the line. “That ain’t a no.”

“And them extra laps ain’t a threat. Keep investigating.”

The boys erupted, half laughing and half protesting Malik’s refusal to preserve their conditioning.

“My fault, team.”

Caleb shook his head. “You always making your curiosity everybody’s cardio.”

“That’s leadership.”

“That’s why nobody pass you the ball.”

I raised the whistle. “Y’all finished producing a podcast, or are we practicing football?”

Malcolm walked backward toward his secondary. “I’d subscribe.”