Read Online The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock - Free Book Online
Authors: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
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country, Amber getting so harassed just for having a girlfriend, even the milk house roof collapsing and Dad so freaked about moneyânone of this was good. Not one bit. It seemed like after that nice quiet spell, a whole herd of trouble was coming my way.
8. Bad News on All Fronts
F RIDAY AFTERNOON , classes were canceled for a huge pep rally for the big Hawley game, and all the football players had to come out including me, which totally sucked because some of the kids booed. Although it was hard to tell whether they booed because I was a girl or because I got benched or because I shouldn't have been. I noticed that Donny Donovan was booing pretty loudly, and I decided if I ever met him in a dark alley he would end up one sorry little sausage.
The game was a complete disaster. Jeff Peterson made me put on my uniform again, and go out as an example of Why We Shouldn't Fight, even though if people were so concerned about fighting they should never have invented football. Hawley ended up winning by eighteen points, which is an awful lot different than us winning by seven like we did in the scrimmage back in August. Which I had played in, which only about four hundred people reminded me of just in case that little fact had slipped my mind, in case I didn't feel bad enough already. A bunch of Hawley scumbag players spent every moment they weren't playing just rubbing in their victory, which made the experience about that much worse. So the fact that Brian ignored me the whole game didn't bother me all that much.
Dad made Curtis get up for breakfast with us on Saturday morning, which was weird. Usually they let him sleep in. I'd sleep in too, but most of the time I can't. I guess my farmer ancestors have me hard-wired to wake up at the crack of dawn.
"So what'd you think of the game?" Dad asked Curtis, serving up a mess of scrambled eggs with cheese and little chopped peppers.
Curtis shrugged. "It was disappointing."
"What'd you think of that third interception on Kyle?"
My head came up at this. I noticed Mom watching too.
Curtis shoveled in a big forkful of eggs. "Not good," he said around the eggs.
"There were only two interceptions," I couldn't help pointing out.
Curtis stopped chewing. He sat there staring at his plate.
Dad set his fork down. "I ran into Bill Heil after the game." Bill Heil is the middle school football coach. "He told me you missed two practices this week."
Curtis didn't move. It was like he was thinking that if he stayed perfectly still, maybe we'd forget about him and leave. Like birds do sometimes with dogs.
Mom leaned forward. "Curt, honey, what's going on?"
"Nothing," he answered, which seemed like a bit of a stretch to me.
"Where were you during the game?"
"Nowhere. I justâI went over to Sarah's uncle's, okay? He lives right near there."
"Were there any grownups around?" Mom asked, and I nearly choked. Curtis's ears turned bright red so I guess he also figured out what she was saying. Jeez, Curtis? I mean, Mom wouldn't have trusted Bill mailing a letter, but I had a hard time picturing Curtis fooling around. Although I never would have pictured him missing practice, or lying about going to the game either.
"Herâher uncle was in the living room," he whispered.
"And where were you?"
"In the kitchen," he said miserably.
Mom blinked a bit at that one. Me too.
"We wereâwe were working at the table," he continued.
"On schoolwork?" Mom asked. She sounded suspicious.
Curtis nodded. You'd think he'd been caught selling drugs or something.
Dad and Mom shared one of their looks. This wasn't going the way they'd expected.
"If you need more time for homework, we can do that here," Mom said. "But you can't lie to us like this."
"Or miss practice," Dad added.
Curtis nodded. There was a long silence while Curtis didn't look at any of us, and then I guess he figured his torture was over because he cleared his plate and went back up to his room, and wouldn't even come down
8. Bad News on All Fronts
F RIDAY AFTERNOON , classes were canceled for a huge pep rally for the big Hawley game, and all the football players had to come out including me, which totally sucked because some of the kids booed. Although it was hard to tell whether they booed because I was a girl or because I got benched or because I shouldn't have been. I noticed that Donny Donovan was booing pretty loudly, and I decided if I ever met him in a dark alley he would end up one sorry little sausage.
The game was a complete disaster. Jeff Peterson made me put on my uniform again, and go out as an example of Why We Shouldn't Fight, even though if people were so concerned about fighting they should never have invented football. Hawley ended up winning by eighteen points, which is an awful lot different than us winning by seven like we did in the scrimmage back in August. Which I had played in, which only about four hundred people reminded me of just in case that little fact had slipped my mind, in case I didn't feel bad enough already. A bunch of Hawley scumbag players spent every moment they weren't playing just rubbing in their victory, which made the experience about that much worse. So the fact that Brian ignored me the whole game didn't bother me all that much.
Dad made Curtis get up for breakfast with us on Saturday morning, which was weird. Usually they let him sleep in. I'd sleep in too, but most of the time I can't. I guess my farmer ancestors have me hard-wired to wake up at the crack of dawn.
"So what'd you think of the game?" Dad asked Curtis, serving up a mess of scrambled eggs with cheese and little chopped peppers.
Curtis shrugged. "It was disappointing."
"What'd you think of that third interception on Kyle?"
My head came up at this. I noticed Mom watching too.
Curtis shoveled in a big forkful of eggs. "Not good," he said around the eggs.
"There were only two interceptions," I couldn't help pointing out.
Curtis stopped chewing. He sat there staring at his plate.
Dad set his fork down. "I ran into Bill Heil after the game." Bill Heil is the middle school football coach. "He told me you missed two practices this week."
Curtis didn't move. It was like he was thinking that if he stayed perfectly still, maybe we'd forget about him and leave. Like birds do sometimes with dogs.
Mom leaned forward. "Curt, honey, what's going on?"
"Nothing," he answered, which seemed like a bit of a stretch to me.
"Where were you during the game?"
"Nowhere. I justâI went over to Sarah's uncle's, okay? He lives right near there."
"Were there any grownups around?" Mom asked, and I nearly choked. Curtis's ears turned bright red so I guess he also figured out what she was saying. Jeez, Curtis? I mean, Mom wouldn't have trusted Bill mailing a letter, but I had a hard time picturing Curtis fooling around. Although I never would have pictured him missing practice, or lying about going to the game either.
"Herâher uncle was in the living room," he whispered.
"And where were you?"
"In the kitchen," he said miserably.
Mom blinked a bit at that one. Me too.
"We wereâwe were working at the table," he continued.
"On schoolwork?" Mom asked. She sounded suspicious.
Curtis nodded. You'd think he'd been caught selling drugs or something.
Dad and Mom shared one of their looks. This wasn't going the way they'd expected.
"If you need more time for homework, we can do that here," Mom said. "But you can't lie to us like this."
"Or miss practice," Dad added.
Curtis nodded. There was a long silence while Curtis didn't look at any of us, and then I guess he figured his torture was over because he cleared his plate and went back up to his room, and wouldn't even come down
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