An Football Bond

Read it. It's pretty good.

The house was quiet and dark, rays of sunshine started to creep in from the window right above PJ's bed. He laid there letting the rays slide across his face as he day dreamed about what his first high school football tryout would be like. He imagined himself walking right up to coach Davis, shaking his hand and letting him know exactly who he was. Coach Davis would be so impressed that he wouldn't be able to keep his eye off PJ but that's just what PJ wanted, he wanted coach Davis to stare at him so he could show off that arm that could launch the football a whopping 85 yards down the field and hit a receiver right in the hands. "PJ it's almost 8 o clock if you don't get out of bed you sure as hell ain't gone be impressing no one on the football field today" came his mothers voice shattering the perfect dream he was having. He opened his eyes to see what was a innocent day dream had turned into a full fledged snooze fest. He darted out of bed running straight to the bathroom to freshen up, he was a great multi-tasker and anyone could see that. Brushing his teeth with his right hand while applying deodorant with his left. Then he darted out of the bathroom leaving his toothbrush in the face basin and the deodorant on the floor, it broke into tiny pieces as it hit the floor. "I'm coming mom don't leave without me" he screamed. PJ hustled into his room his eyes darting left and right looking for his cleats, found them. They darted again looking for his helmet, found them. Again they darted looking for his socks, FOUND THEM. He rushed down the steps and through the door slamming it and quickly putting the key in the door and turning it sideways to make sure it was locked. He was in such a hurry that he didn't even bother to open the front gate, coming from the house at full speed PJ jumped over the gate displaying that natural athleticism that he was born with and then coolly walked over to the car where his momma was at. "One more minute and I would of left you to walk to your football tryout mister superstar" his momma jokingly said. He hopped in the front seat and threw his things in the back of the car and they were off, in a few minutes his dream would become a reality. He was going to impress coach Davis.

Derrick walked on the main road just as his mom had begged him to. He hated walking on the main road because he didn't like for the people in their cars to see him. He always felt that they were judging him, making fun of him and the way he looked or maybe they were making fun of the way he walked. He hated it with every bone in his body but he had to do it. It was the only way his mom would let him go to football tryouts alone that early in the morning. He didn't mind though because he knew it would be worth it when he got the chance to put on a helmet and be a member  of East Wisconsin Bearcats. With every step he took his cleats moved in his back pack, it made him even more excited, to him every time the cleats would move he felt that it was their way of saying we're excited too. The cool morning breeze tickled his face and hair lightly as he continued to walk it would only be a few more minutes before he was at the school. He was only a freshman so he had to be their early so the Varsity and JV coaches could get their looks at him. It was the first day of tryouts which meant that they only needed cleats since there wouldn't be any hitting. The excitement continued to boil up in his stomach as he got closer to school, he couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take the seditious tease of having to walk a few more minutes before reaching the school, he couldn't take his cleats tapping him with every step he took reminding him that he was going to play football soon. No it was all too much for him to handle, so he ran he ran as fast as he could to get to the tryouts, he ran to get away from all the cars driving up and down the road that morning and he ran and ran and ran. Ran right down the main road, through the the gas station and up the hill and finally he was there. It was time to tryout. 

The car turned into the already packed parking lot. Cars where all over looking for a place to parking spot. "I'll get off here mom, no need to park see you in a couple of hours". PJ got out of the car grabbed his bag from the back and headed for field. He was a freshman but he had no plans to play for the freshman team. He was gunning for a varsity spot, Chet Green was the starting quarterback for varsity but he was a senior and he could only throw the ball 55 yards down the field, add the fact that the Bearcats finished dead last in the league last year and you got a very confident PJ who couldn't help but feel good about his chances. He walked through the parking lot carefully avoiding the cars that were coming and going. It was chaotic seen and that's just putting it nicely. The band was trying to unload their instruments from the van which happened to be parked right in the middle of the parking lot, children were getting out of their parents cars to get onto the football field accompanied by mothers screaming and chasing down their kids to say  "Baby you forgot your bag" or "Try your best honey and stay safe". "Get out of the way you idiot" a woman was screaming at a kid who had jumped right in front of her car as she was getting ready to hit the gas, he didn't even look at her to let her know that he was sorry he just kept on running. PJ headed up to the field and found himself a nice spot on the bleachers. The coaches hadn't arrived yet but there were already kids on the field trying to show everyone their skills. There was a group having a small sided game as they waited for the coach to show up. Peewee green was playing quarterback, there was nothing peewee about him. In fact he was 6'3 and an absolute freak of nature. The guy could run as fast as anyone on the field and jump 3 times higher then anyone too. PJ had no doubt in his mind that he would be throwing him passes on varsity later on in the year. He laced his cleats on, they weren't anything special a pair of all black Reebok cleats that his mother had bought for him at the end of his 8th grade year. He really liked them though because on the bottom of them the Reebok sign was colored a neon red and had the phrase CATCH UP on the bottom.

 He laced them up and made sure they were tied then he hopped up off the bleachers and headed to where they were playing the game. "Peewee, how about I play qb for a couple plays to show these boys what a great receiver we got in you this year" he said in smooth slick voice as he jogged over to the guys. "Sure let's see if you've really got a cannon or if it was just a bunch of baloney I've been hearing about you", he tossed PJ the ball and shifted over to the side to line up as a wide receiver. PJ held the ball in his hands, he loved the way the football felt in his hands. He loved gripping stitching of on the top of the ball and letting his thumb hang right under the ball. It was an unorthodox way to hold the football but it certainly worked for him. "Alright, we'll run a simple fly route so you just do your thing Peewee and I'll put it right in your pretty little fingers. " Instantly PJ was in a game, he was wearing the purple and gold of his 8th grade team the Beverly Lions, he was the quarterback and the game had come down to this final play. He looked over at Peewee to let him know that the ball was going to come to him. 

"Set, set hut, the ball was snapped and he had dropped back, the crowd was cheering him on and he could feel the intensity of the game pounding on his shoulders. His eyes darted to the right just in time for him to see that his offensive line had broken down and he had to get a move on, he scrambled to the right but there was no lane, he cut back scrambling to the left but there was no lane. Nowhere to go and Peewee still wasn't open, two line men came full speed at him, they jumped simultaneously at him looking to bring him down. PJ ducked for his life, he was sure it was over and that he had been sacked, they missed the line men flew right over him. He popped back up and saw that Peewee was open now and streaking to the end zone, with all his might he threw the ball 20...30...40...50.....60 yards down the field and right into Peewee's hands. "TOUCHDOWNNNN" he screamed repeatedly with such vigor.The game was over and they had won. "Great throw" Peewee said as he did a celebratory dance in the end zone. PJ hadn't noticed as he was so into the little game they were playing but Coach Davis had seen the entire play. Finally PJ turned around and saw coach Davis, he was about to head over and shake his hand and make his dream a reality when out of the blue an un-welcomed hand reached out to coach Davis. He couldn't hear what was said but he didn't care, that kid had stolen his spotlight. He stared at them boiling with rage, who did that kid think he was anyway. The coaches weren't here for them they were here for him and he was going to show just how much he meant to coach Davis. He started to head over to coach Davis's direction and finally he could make out what they were saying. " I've heard a lot about, I don't know what they taught you in Philadelphia but anyone who rushes for 2,000 yards in a year is definitely the kind of guy I want on my team.

 Good to meet you son what's your name" he asked, "It's Derrick sir, Derrick James". After that they shook hands and Derrick started to walk away from the coach Davis, PJ couldn't help but notice that it was the same kid who almost got ran over in the parking lot a few minutes ago. He was mesmerized in truth, he stared at the kid as he walked back to the bleachers. He didn't look like no 2,000 yard rusher, he didn't even look like he could rush for a 100 yards, what made him so special that coach Davis wanted to talk to him before talking to him. When he turned around to speak to coach Davis he was no longer there. PJ didn't care how good of a rusher this Derrick kid was he had already stolen his moment with coach Davis. PJ walked back to his spot on the bleachers, he stared hard at Derrick and in his heart he hoped that he would get another chance to gain back the thunder the that was stolen from him. 

Author's Note

This is a fist of many more to come of this story. I would really appreciate if you all told me what you think. I hope you all enjoyed it. I would really appreciate all the feed back so please comment when you're done reading thanks!!