The League by Thatcher Heldring Read Free Book Online Page B

Roy, and Kenny. Kenny explained the rules while Roy and Fish argued over who was going to get the ball first. “It’s pretty simple,” said Kenny, brushing back the mop of hair hanging over his eyes. He was wearing cargo shorts and sneakers with no socks. “We play two-hand touch, two completions, ten Mississippi, no tackling.”
    I wasn’t sure what all that meant, but I pretended I did by nodding. “What position should I play?” I asked Caleb when we huddled up for the first time.
    “We kind of rotate,” Caleb explained. “I’m going to start at quarterback. You’re fast, so why don’t you go deep? Morelli, you run a fifteen-step post route with a buttonhook.”
    “Make it twenty steps,” said Roy. “I’m feelin’ it.”
    I made a note to watch Roy run so I’d know what a post route with a buttonhook was.
    “What about me?” Kenny asked.
    “You line up on the right. But go in motion left after Khalil snaps the ball. I’ll fake the hand-off.”
    “I guess that means I’m fake running,” said Kenny, shaking his head.
    “And I’m fake blocking,” Khalil added.
    Caleb held out his hand. “On two,” he whispered to Khalil.
    We put our hands on Caleb’s and broke the huddle. He lined up behind Khalil, who bent over with the ball between his hands. Roy lined up to his right with Kenny a little farther over. I wasn’t sure where to go, so I stood on Caleb’s left.
    Raj lined up across from me. He was about my size, so it made sense that he was guarding me. “Don’t plan on getting open,” he said with a smile.
    I was glad Raj was defending me. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t make fun of me if I didn’t know what to do. “Hey,” I asked him as Khalil got ready to snap the ball. “How far is deep?”
    “What?”
    “Caleb told me to go deep. How far is deep?”
    “See that tree behind me with the bike leaning against it?”
    “Yeah,” I said, spotting a maple tree about a hundred feet away.
    “Run past that and you’ll be deep.” Raj looked over at Caleb. “But in the future, don’t tell the defense where the quarterback told you to run.”
    A second later, the play began. Caleb stood rightbehind Khalil. “Green thirty-six!” he barked. “Green thirty-six! On two. Hut-hut … hike!” He took the ball from Khalil, then dropped back five steps as Kenny ran behind him.
    “One Mississippi,” I heard McKlusky say.
    I didn’t see what happened next, though, because I was running downfield as fast as I could with Raj right beside me. I kept my head down for speed and didn’t look back until I’d passed the maple tree. When I was sure I was deep, I came to a stop and got ready to catch the ball if Caleb threw it to me. Except by then, Roy had the football and was running full speed on the other side of the field. Everyone, including Raj, was chasing him. Before I figured out what I was supposed to do, Roy was in the end zone, where he spiked the ball and held out his arms in triumph.
    “Seven–nothing, losers!” he shouted.
    Then it was our turn on defense. While the other team huddled, Roy came up to me. “You’re going to rush the QB,” he said.
    “Um, okay.”
    “You have no idea what that means, do you?” he asked.
    I didn’t answer.
    Roy pointed to Fish, who was playing quarterback for the other team. “As soon as Fish gets the footballin his hands, count out loud to ten like this: one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi. When you get to ten Mississippi, blitz him.”
    “Blitz him?”
    “Yeah, blitz him,” Roy said again. “Run after him as fast as you can and try to tag him. Got it?”
    “Got it,” I said, excited to finally have something to do. I didn’t want to mess it up.
    “Oh, one more thing,” said Roy. “Fish can’t cross the line of scrimmage until you get to ten.”
    “That’s the imaginary line between us and them when the play starts,” Roy whispered.
    The play started. McKlusky snapped the ball to Fish and I started counting.