The Red Runners

Thirteen-year-old Shawn has been training for the annual Kentucky Marathon for weeks now. He's desperate for his chance to win and buy a new pair of shoes for himself with the winning money, but fate

“Bet you can’t beat me in a race from here to that tree,” I smirked at my best friend Reece. He frowned, eyeing the distant tree at the end of the block with his glittery dark eyes. “Bet I can.”

“Yeah right,” I shrugged off my backpack and dropped it on the strip of grass beside the sidewalk. “You’re gonna lose. You always do.”

“Maybe not this time,” he argued and dropped his backpack next to mine. He was three years older than me at sixteen, but a lot of the time I felt like I was older than him. We were tight friends�" he treated me like a younger brother, and I treated him like an older brother.

“I’m gonna tell mama you always be dumping your backpack on the ground like that.” Elsie, his nine-year-old sister called out as she walked behind us.

“You go ahead and tell mama, ugly. I’ll tell her how you were the one who broke her good cup.”

I glanced back at her and she was glaring at him.

“I’m not ugly. You’re the one who’s ugly.”

“If I’m ugly, then you’re uglier,” he retorted, then readied himself and looked over at me. “Ready?”

“Hold on.” I bent down and tied up my shoelaces. Mama was always telling me to tie my laces before I trip up, but no matter how many times I tie them, they stay untied. I’ve got to say though, I’ve never actually tripped up on them. Guess my feet are just too fast for my shoes.

“You need a new pair of shoes,” Reece commented as he watched me. He was right. One had lost its sole, the seams at the bottom of both of them were ripped, now held together with dirty duct tape, and my laces were turning a dark brown instead of the milky white they were when I got them three years ago.

“When I win that marathon and a hundred bucks,” I paused to straighten up. “I’m going to buy myself a new pair of those red Nike runners they’re selling at the mall. Then I’ll be able to run so fast, not even the wind will keep up with me.”

“Mhm,” Reece nodded in agreement. “Give me a headstart will you?”

“Sure.”

Elsie began counting. “On your marks, get set�" Reece back up for Lord’s sake! Get set, go!”

I gave him a good ten seconds before I started off, legs blurring, the sun-baked sidewalk rushing beneath my feet.

“Go beat him, Shawn! You gonna beat him good!” Elsie squealed as her cheers became distant behind me.

Reece was doing his best, but his slender legs didn’t have the speed mine had. I got to the end of the block before he did, jogging backwards slowly at the end to see if he would catch up. It took him forever before he finally nearly crashed against the tree, chest heaving with gasping breaths. In the distance behind us, I could hear Elsie cheering loudly.

“That’s another nickel you own me, man.” I punched his shoulder playfully. “How much you owe me now? Thirteen dollars? By this rate, I’ll have myself a new pair of those wicked shoes before the marathon even starts.”

He was doubled over, hands on his knees. “Twelve dollars… and five cents.” He panted.

***

Head down, my legs were pumping away like the iron parts of machinery. My jaw was clenched hard as the salty sweat ran down my nose. I was on my twentieth lap and was coming down really slow. I could hear Elsie yelling at me to hurry up. I took in a long breath and let it out hard as I completed my last lap before collapsing on my knees and hands, staring hard at the gritty ground of the track field. I rolled over on my back and groaned as Reece and Elsie approached. On the far side of the track field, I could see homeless Old Mark sitting on one of the benches, watching me. He was a harmless, spending most of his time feeding the squirrels and birds at the park, and I could see that he was looking my way, a distant smile on his face.

"You broke your record again, man." Reece came up to me and prodded my shoulder with his shoe, a grin splitting his features in two.

"Yeah?” I panted. “How much...did I make?"

"Twelve minutes and sixteen seconds." He glanced at the cracked glass of his wristwatch.

“Hey...That’s actually pretty good timing, you know.” An easy smile touched my lips.

He passed me  my water bottle from the bench. The water was warm as it soaked my dry throat, but I was too thirsty to care. It was several seconds before I could speak again.

"You know," I wiped the sweat from my face with my shirt. "When I win that marathon, I'm also planning on buying myself one of those water bottles that always keep the water inside them cool, you know? So my water ain't always getting hot in the sun."

Reece nodded. "You sure you’re training enough to win this thing? I saw that Jacob dude the other day running on the school track. Man, that guy sure knows how to fly on his feet."

A sick feeling twisted and wrenched itself in my gut. I knew Jacob was good. He was a foot higher than me and he came in second last year. I came in seventh. I couldn't let that happen again.

"Shawn is fast, Reece. That Jacob doesn't stand a chance against him." Elsie glared at her brother.

"Thanks, Elsie." I managed a smile, sitting up on my elbows. Elsie was right, but so was Reece. I needed to practice harder.

On the way home, I passed by Old Mark.

Mama says he’s got some kind of mental health issue because sometimes he does weird things like start singing in the middle of a conversation or start crying out of nowhere, but everyone who knows him is nice to him. For the most part, he’s just an unlucky harmless old man.

“Hey Shawn, your laces are untied.” He spoke, greeting me. I bent down to tie my shoelaces again and stick on the duct tape harder. If I wanted a new pair of shoes, I need to win this marathon.

“I saw you training hard at the track.” He spoke in the gritty voice of his, touched by a soft smile. I straightened up and noticed that he didn’t have any shoes on his feet.

“Yeah, I’m trying, you know?” I glanced at his feet again. “What happened to your shoes?”

A sad smile edged on his lips. “Guess they fell off at some point. I don’t have enough money to get any new ones.”

I emptied my pockets of change and gave that to him, but there was hardly any money in them.

“Thanks, Shawn.” He grinned widely through his crooked teeth. “You’re a good boy.”

***

The rest of the week was rainy, grey clouds hanging heavily in the sky, peppering down stinging droplets whenever they could.

Halfway through running my laps, I called over to Reece for the time and realized that Jacob and a few of his friends were standing beside him. Jacob was talking to Reece in a low voice, and Reece looked mighty steamed. When I jogged over to them, my shoes slipped on a patch of wet grass. I saw Jacob look over at me just in time to see me slip and land hard on my knees, staining my running shorts. I was going to get it from mama.

Jacob’s laughter reached my ears as I steadied myself and rose back to my feet, trying to smear off the mud and messy grass stains.

“Nice skills, loser,” Jacob commented with a smirk as he watched me. Reece was quiet, dark eyes hard like steel.

“You want to see a loser?” I shot back at him acridly. “Go look yourself in the nearest mirror.”

“Shawn’s got no class.” One of his friends joked. I felt my insides go hot.

“Shawn’s got class,” Reece spoke up harshly, glaring at Jacob’s friend. “None of you can beat him in a race.”

“Bet!” Jacob snapped.

“Sure. I’ll bet a dollar.” Reece looked over at me, his eyes hard in the misty rain.

“I’ll bet two,” Jacob answered, then shot me a dark look. “You ready to lose?”

“You’re ready to lose,” I muttered, and walked back towards the track. Reece called us out to ready ourselves and then shouted go.

Jacob was right beside me as we took off, shoes pounding against the wet ground. My breaths came in protesting gasps, the stitch in my side springing to painful life once more, but I was already ahead of Jacob.

“C’mon Shawn!” I heard Reece shout as my weary legs started losing their pace. The gloomy rain seemed to hold me back. Jacob was suddenly a stride ahead of me and I was falling behind those long legs of his. My chest burned as I tucked my chin down and pushed harder. I didn’t know I had slipped until the ground rushed up to meet me hard. I think I cried out, but Jacob just kept going. I lay there unmoving, trying hard to ignore the pain that screamed up my scraped elbows and my foot. My backside hurt a lot, and I don’t think my clothes could get any muddier.

I closed my eyes and refused to get up. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Jacob should have been the one to slip. I waited until Reece was standing over me before I sat up on my elbows. My foot screamed in protesting pain as I tried to sit up.

“You alright man? I saw you fall down pretty hard.”

Gritting my teeth, I unlaced my shoe with trembling fingers and tugged it off. Caked in slippery mud and grass, my shoes were beyond hope.

“I’ll be okay.” My voice wobbled as I tried to lift my foot. I could hardly feel my toes. My ankle was swelling fast in a purple lump.

“Man, Reece.” My voice cracked. “It hurts.”

The tears tickled the corners of my eyes, warm and salty, mixed by the peppering perspiration falling from the heavens. I didn’t want to cry in front of Reece, but my foot throbbed heavily. My shoulders shuddered as my grip over my ankle tightened. It was fast turning blue. I inhaled slowly and exhaled hard.

“You'll be okay, it doesn’t look too bad.”

“It hurts.” I sniffed hard, trying hard to keep my gaze off of the pain.

I looked up at my friend and took another slow breath. “You think I’d still be able to run?”

His jawline was set hard, eyes not meeting my gaze. “Shawn, I doubt you can even walk like this.” He tried to help me to my feet gently. “C’mon, let’s get you home.”

I picked up my shoe and slung my arm over Reece’s shoulder for support. My first step sent pain shooting up my leg so hard I nearly cried out.

Just as we were leaving the park, I heard a familiar voice call from behind us. When I jerked my head around, nearly losing balance, I saw Old Mark calling after us. His clothes were heavy with rain, his greying hair frizzy and tangled. I guess he’d lost the cap that he usually wore.

“Hey Shawn, you okay?” He asked, wiping the rain splattering on his face.

“I think I sprained my ankle pretty badly.” I looked down at my foot.

“I thought that’s what I saw happen.”

I saw Reece glance at Old Mark feet, which were still bare and splattered with mud.

“Your feet ain’t cold like that, Mark?” Reece asked gently, his words followed by a heavy a boom of thunder cracking the air.

Old Mark shook his head. “They feel fine.”

“It’s no good, you being out here in the rain with no shoes. You’re going to catch a bad cold.” Reece put in, then glanced at the muddy shoe in my hand. I knew what he was thinking. If I gave it to him, he would at least have something to cover his feet from the cold and mud. I had another pair of shoes at home, although they were in even worse condition than the ones I wore.

I didn’t want to part with those shoes. They were the only better of the two that I had. I couldn’t go to school with those other shoes I had. Those belonged in the trash. But I gave it to Old Mark in the end, who was grinning so hard I could see his missing molar teeth.

“They fit a bit tight, but they’ll do me good.” He smiled widely, then did a little dance in them. Reece laughed, and I nearly fell.

“Thanks Shawn!” He called as he marched off. “God bless you, boy!”

***

“Maybe if it’s better enough by tomorrow, I’ll still be able to ru-”

“You will not be running with your foot sprained like this, Shawn.” Mama spoke firmly, shifting the ice pack on my swollen ankle. I bit down hard, eyes focused on the ice pack.

“It’s not going to be completely better for another two weeks or so.” She looked up at me. “I’m sorry, Shawn. I know you’ve been training really hard, but it’s not going to happen this time.”

I let out a hard breath through my teeth. “But…” My throat felt tight. “That’s not right...”

“A lot of things in life aren’t going to feel right.” Mama spoke kindly, reaching out to touch my cheek, but I moved away.

“I’ve been training so hard for this marathon! And right before it, I had to sprain my foot like that!” I pulled down my foot from the chair it had been on but then it started throbbing painfully and I had to quickly put it back on the chair.

“Shawn, some things are gonna happen in life. And getting angry over it isn’t going to change anything, you know.”

There was a lump growing in my throat. I couldn’t believe it. Why, out of all days, out of all people, did I have to be the one to sprain my ankle right before the marathon? And to add to that, I wouldn’t be able to get a new pair of shoes for a long time.

Three days passed and Reece came to see me several times, but I told mama I didn’t want to speak to anyone. I knew Reece meant well, but it was his fault that I had raced against Jacob. If we hadn’t raced, I wouldn’t have sprained my ankle.

Mama tried to get me to go to school on the fourth day, since my ankle was feeling a lot better and the swelling was nearly gone. I had a pair of crutches to get me around easily, so walking was no longer a problem.

I was getting ready for school that morning when the doorbell rang. Mama went to go get the door and I took my time finishing dressing, not wanted to go downstairs and face Reece waiting for me.  When I did go downstairs, mama was sitting at the dinner table, her hands folded together on her lap, praying.

“Mama?” I called, righting my crutches as I made my way over to her. “Who was at the door?”

“Oh Shawn, honey,” She looked up and I was stunned to see tears in her eyes.

“What’s wrong? Did...” Fear froze my words halfway out of my throat.

“Old Mark...he just died last night,” She stood up and gave me a tight hug, sobbing for a long time. I didn’t go to school that day.

***

Once my foot was completely healed, I went to the park every day with Reece to stop by the bench that Old Mark used to sit at and scatter a few pieces of bread for the birds and squirrels, just like he used to. One time when we stopped by the bench and the sky was sunny, a slight breeze waving in the air, I spoke up for the first time about Old Mark.

“You know, Reece, I’m glad I sprained my ankle that day.” I tore another piece of bread and threw it next to the smallest bird in the bunch.

His eyes went a bit wide. “Man, you’re glad that you never got to run that marathon?”

I was shaking my head, throwing another piece of bread. “No, I’m glad that I sprained my ankle, because if I hadn’t, Old Mark would have passed away with nothing on his feet and that makes me feel terrible thinking about it.” I paused to look down at the squirrel who’d come to join us. “Now looking back, if I had run that marathon, Old Mark wouldn’t have shoes. I just didn’t see it coming until now.”

His lips turned up in a slight smile, eyes almost sad. “You’re a good kid, Shawn.”  

I dusted off the last of the crumbs. “Hey, bet you can’t beat me in a race from here to that tree over there,” I smirked at him. He frowned, eyeing the distant tree at the end of the sidewalk from beneath those curly eyelashes of his. “Bet I can.”

Author's Note

What theme does it describe?
Does it flow well?
Was the ending weak? Can it be more satisfying?
Grammar mistakes?
What parts moved too slow or too fast?
General feedback?

Thanks in advance!