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“Is the troublesome kid here already?” Janessa asked, her shoulder pressing against his arm as she leaned close.
“Yep. His dad is down there in the front row.”
“Hmmm. I hope he behaves himself.”
“I hope so too, though I’m not holding my breath.”
Misha appeared a few minutes later with Peyton in tow, and the Halverson parents showed up with Skylar. The teen wore her cheerleader outfit and immediately went to where the other cheerleaders were grouped on the lowest bleacher of the section farthest from the door.
“Number 23 is the new kid,” Will said. “His name is Donny.”
“Is he starting the game?”
“I’m not sure. If Jay wants to be fair, probably not. If he wants to save himself a headache, probably.”
“Knowing Jay, I’m going to say that he’s going to be fair.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Will said.
The other team had arrived and were on the court, warming up with Serenity’s boys. The noise in the gym had steadily increased, and when the buzzer sounded to end the warmup, cheers and yells erupted. The bleachers were full for the first game of the season, with fans from both teams in attendance.
The other coach and Jay shook hands, smiling as they spoke briefly before returning to their respective benches to talk with their teams before the ref blew the whistle to start the game. Coach was also there, but he let Jay do all the talking with the players.
When the teams lined up for the starting jump ball, the fans shouted out encouragement, and then the game was underway.
For the first few minutes, the game went well. The teams seemed about equal, with both scoring a basket. The trouble started when Jay subbed out some of the players, but left Donny on the bench. His father immediately objected, jumping to his feet to yell at Jay to put his son in the game.
The man’s yelling prompted people to turn and stare at him. They had never experienced problems with parents being super aggressive with Jay or any other coach or the refs. To have someone shouting at Jay the way Donny’s dad was, was alarming.
“That guy…” Janessa muttered.
“He is a piece of work.”
“Jay asked me to pray that he’d have patience in dealing with him and his son,” Misha said.
Jay was a pretty even-tempered person, and it usually took a lot to upset him. But this man and his son might manage to push all of Jay’s buttons.
The man sat back down as the game continued, but every time Jay subbed in a player who wasn’t Donny, he let Jay know what he thought of the decision. Finally, Jay put the kid in, but that didn’t stop the man’s yelling. He switched his verbal attacks from Jay to his son and the refs.
One of the refs even went to speak to the dad, but it didn’t seem to help much. In fact, things got worse when Jay pulled Donny from the game.
The man got more irate, and his ire was once again centered on Jay. By the time half-time arrived, Donny’s dad was well and truly incensed. When he started across the court, Will felt Janessa tense beside him, and he knew what she was going to do.
He turned slightly and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She turned to frown at him, bringing their faces into close proximity. So close that he could see the black flecks in her light—but very angry—brown eyes, which were framed by thick, dark lashes.
“Don’t,” he whispered, giving a shake of his head. “You’re going to make things worse.”
“But he’s being mean to Jay,” she protested, but she didn’t pull away from him.
“I know, but Jay can handle himself.”
Janessa slumped against him, her head resting on his shoulder as she stared across the court to where the man was now standing in front of Jay, gesturing wildly. “What is wrong with people like him? It’s just agame.”
Will knew that to Donny and his father, it was more than just a game. They were viewing these games as a steppingstone to Donny playing professionally.
The man’s voice rose so loud in the gym that it interrupted the cheerleaders’ half-time routine. Jay gestured to the changing room where the team had gone when half-time began, then pointed to the bleachers. He turned and walked away, with the man hot on his heels.
At the same time, another man headed across the court, breaking into a jog to reach Jay and Donny’s dad.
