Double Fake (9 page)

Little Italy staved off the bombardment for several minutes, finally getting some breathing room when Julie cleared the ball with a booming kick and Angel chased it down. Jessie and Danielle put on a burst of speed to catch him as a Bauer Electric defender met him from the other side. The ball was booted out of bounds.

“Throw in, orange,” called the referee. Angel grabbed the ball at the sideline and looked around.

“Here,” shouted Calvin, who was open in the backfield. Angel made the throw and Calvin scanned the field.

All of the Bauer Electric players had hustled back on defense, so that end of the field was crowded. They were obviously ready to run—getting everybody up when they had the ball, then everybody back on defense.

“Gotta pick ’em apart!” Calvin yelled, making a short pass to Zero. He ran across the center line, searching for an open space.

The Bauer Electric defense seemed impenetrable. It would take all the skill Calvin’s teammates had just to get down near the goal. And as soon as Danielle, Jessie, or Johnny got the ball, the pressure was on again.

Here was Jessie, dribbling along the sideline, looking ahead to where two other black shirts were drifting in toward the goal. Calvin darted over to slow her down. She threw in a series of familiar moves.

Watch
the ball,
Calvin remembered. He moved closer and nudged the ball out of Jessie’s grasp, kicking it out of bounds.

Jessie turned her head as Calvin backed away. “Lucky,” she said with a grin.

Calvin shook his head. “No,” he said, not smiling. “I’m on to you.”

Jessie threw the ball in to Danielle, who had sneaked down the sideline, about ten yards in from the corner flag. She had an open path to the goal, and Zero and Julie came rushing over to slow her down.

Calvin’s instinct was to stop Danielle, but he knew better than to have three defenders on one player.
Stick with Jessie,
he told himself.

Danielle stopped short, pushed the ball to her left with the outside of her foot, and darted past Zero, who stumbled toward the end line. Zero caught his balance and lunged back toward Danielle, colliding instead with Julie, who’d been tricked by another move.

Peter, in as goaltender for Little Italy, rushed over to the post, trying to cut off Danielle’s angle. But she was moving fast, and Calvin saw that she would probably get off a shot. He took three quick steps toward her. He’d get to the ball before she could shoot.

But Danielle didn’t shoot. She deftly brought her right foot to the top of the ball, pulling it away from Calvin’s charge, and slid it across the goal mouth ahead of her sister.

It was no contest. Jessie took the pass and drove it into the wide-open goal. Peter hadn’t even had a chance to move away from the post.

Calvin smacked his fist into his palm. He’d left Jessie alone. Peter would have made that save if Danielle had taken the shot. “My fault,” he said.

Peter let out his breath and looked at the sky. “Mine, too,” he said. “Get it back. Tie this thing up.”

Calvin looked at the bleachers, then ahead to his opponents. Jessie had a huge grin and was slapping hands with her cousin. Calvin had to take over now.

“How much time?” he asked the official.

“Almost four minutes.”

Enough time to at least tie the game and send it into overtime. Calvin took a deep breath. Make the plays, run like a cheetah. Utilize his teammates but take over the game.

Zero kicked off and Orlando fielded it as Calvin ran full speed toward the Bauer Electric goal. He looped back toward the sideline, yelling for the ball and taking a long pass from Angel. He passed back to Zero and ran hard toward the goal again.

Mary had the ball now, directly in front of the goal but thirty yards away. Calvin darted toward her. “Right here,” he shouted.

The pass arrived. Calvin put his head down and charged forward. Jessie was in his path. Calvin stepped left, then took the ball to his right. He was too far from the goal but he shot anyway—a low, hard line drive that had a chance. The goalie dove for the ball and caught it, rolling to his feet and looking upfield.

“That’s my move,” Jessie said as she and Calvin ran side by side toward the corner.

Calvin was puffing hard. The pass came to Jessie. She shielded it from Calvin as she ran up the sideline, swerving left, then right, keeping him guessing.

As they approached the center line, Calvin stepped in front of her, knowing that would force her toward the middle of the field. He’d seen Zero shifting over to help out.

As he expected, Jessie moved to her right, then stopped the ball as she saw Zero approaching fast. Calvin had timed it perfectly, slipping his left foot to the ball, knocking it between Jessie’s legs, and leaving her flat-footed as he sprinted away with it.

The field was wide open—forty yards of grass between him and the goalie. He booted it ahead and chased it down, eating up ground in a hurry, looking at the goalie who was the only thing standing between Calvin and a tied-up game.

He could hear the cheers from the bleachers, and Coach Diaz shouting, “All the way, Calvin!” He could hear Jessie’s footsteps behind him.

A few more strides and he was close enough to shoot. He could see the fear in the goalie’s eyes, sense the tension as he crouched, ready to spring toward the ball when Calvin finally shot.

Now! Calvin was inside the goal box, the defense was closing in from behind. With all the power he had, Calvin booted the ball high and hard. The goalie leaped.

Thunk! The ball bounded off the crossbar and back onto the field. Calvin’s momentum kept him stumbling toward the goal. By the time he’d caught himself, the ball was in Johnny’s possession, halfway up the field and moving quickly away.

Calvin had nothing left but he raced straight toward the ball. The Little Italy defense slowed down the charge, but Danielle had the ball near the goal box by the time Calvin had run up.

A quick pass to Jessie. A juke, a shot, another goal. Calvin sunk to his knees and put his hands on the grass. His arms were shaking and his chest was heaving. He stared at the ground.

Orlando and Zero pulled him to his feet. The Bauer Electric players were locked in a huge embrace near midfield.

“One minute left,” the official said.

Calvin felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Victor Alvarez.

“I’m in for you,” Victor said.

Calvin nodded and trotted off the field. There was some clapping as he reached the sideline. Coach Diaz put his arm around him and squeezed. “Great job,” Coach said. “Great job all season.”

Calvin dropped to his knees again and stared at the field for the final minute. He watched as the Bauer Electric players danced and leaped after the whistle. His teammates walked dejectedly off the field.

“We got thrashed,” Calvin said as he caught up to Zero.

“We were in it until the final minute,” Zero said.

“That’s no thrashing. We could have won it.”

The teams met at midfield to shake hands. Jessie gave Calvin the warmest smile she’d ever managed. “You were awesome,” she said.

“You, too.”

“Tough break hitting that crossbar.”

Calvin shook his head gently. “Got too far under the ball,” he said. “Gotta learn how to shoot.”

“I’ll help you,” she said. “It’s not so hard if you practice.”

Calvin smiled for the first time in a while.

Danielle squeezed Calvin’s arm. “You all right?” she asked. “Thought you were gonna collapse out there.”

Calvin rolled his eyes and nodded.

“You were tough,” Danielle said. “That game could have gone either way.”

Yes,
it could have,
Calvin thought. That’s what he loved about sports. If you made the effort, gave everything you had, then at least you’d be in a position to win. You wouldn’t always come out ahead, but you wouldn’t always be on the losing end, either.

He held his head higher as he walked off the field. His parents were smiling and clapping for him. Coach Diaz was shaking hands with Dr. Rosado, and Angel and Orlando were laughing as they squirted water at each other from their drink bottles.

Zero came up and punched Calvin lightly on the shoulder. “Three down, one up,” he said.

Calvin took off his jersey and wiped his face. They’d lost. There wasn’t much to say about it. But there were lots of seasons ahead. Basketball, baseball, track. Football practice would start in less than a week.

There were plenty of chances to come out a winner. Plenty more chances to even the score.

J
ason lined up in the shotgun. He took the snap and drifted toward Calvin’s side of the field, watching for just the right second to unload the pass. But Anthony was already in pursuit, and line-backer Anderson Otero was circling toward him as well. Calvin was tightly covered. This wasn’t going to work.

Jason pivoted and ran wide around Anthony, scrambling toward the other side of the field. He was twelve yards behind the line of scrimmage, in danger of a huge loss if he was caught. But his speed carried him past the on-rushing linemen, and suddenly he was heading up field, going wide around the end and cutting along the sideline.

The field was clear ahead of him, but Willie Shaw was racing over from his cornerback position, and the angle between them was to Willie’s advantage. Jason upped his speed another notch, tucking in the ball and sprinting. Willie dove and Jason leaped, feeling Willie’s hand slip off his calf. Jason landed hard, caught his balance, and ran unchallenged into the end zone.

Jason trotted back. Coach had called all of the players together, and they were standing near him or kneeling with their helmets off.

“That’s what I was looking for,” Coach said.

“Without Vinnie in there, we need to adjust in a big way. Jason hasn’t got the experience, but he’s certainly got the athleticism.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” came Wade’s voice. Everyone turned to look at him.

“I’m
the quarterback,” Wade said. “You said he was just the emergency guy.”

“That’s right,” Coach replied.

“Sounds like you’re planning to switch to him.”

“I haven’t made that decision yet,” Coach said.

“But Jason’s got the talent we need. Your status hasn’t changed, Wade. We need you. But we need to explore all the options. We’ve got a championship to win.”