The Comeback Challenge (7 page)

“Scatter!” Mark yelled as he crossed into Slicker territory.

This play called for the wings and midfielders nearest the sidelines to switch positions. The idea was to confuse the defense
long enough to set up a goal
attempt. Sometimes it worked. This time the play never got off the ground.

There were a few more hard-fought attempts by the Scorpions to take back control, but the Slickers held out. The play shifted
from one side of the field to the other. At one point, Mark made a move toward a ball that had rolled loose in his direction.
Three Slickers were all over him instantly.

He shot the ball over to Mel Duffy, who zipped it up to Vince. But the Slicker defense was just too strong. Vince tried to
pass it off, but a Slicker wing took the ball away. A few smart moves by that same wing brought him within scoring range.

Moments later, the ball zoomed into the net for the game’s first goal. Slickers 1, Scorpions 0.

Charlie Burns banged his fists on his knees. Mark knew the veteran goalie hated to miss the ball. Judging by what he’d seen,
Charlie would never have had a chance to stop it. The Slickers were just too good at finding holes in the Scorpions’ defense.

And their defense is having no trouble stealing it away from our offense, Mark thought dismally.

Neither side scored again that half, but the Slickers threatened more times than Mark liked to count.

During the halftime break, it was obvious that Coach Ryan was upset with the way his team was playing.

“What’s going on out there?” he asked. “Have you all forgotten how to pass the ball? Call for plays? Are you trying to play
one-on-eleven? Let me tell you, it doesn’t work that way! We’re very lucky that score-board shows only one goal for their
side.” He paused to look each of them in the eye.

“Okay,” he said finally. “You don’t need me to yammer at you like this. You’re a skilled team. You just need to use one another
more efficiently. Work the plays, and keep the ball moving in the right direction. I want to see Charlie Burns so bored that
he’s yawning.” That brought a smile to the boys’ grim faces. As always, Coach Ryan pointed out what was wrong with their playing
but never made them feel it was too late to correct it. When the ref’s whistle blew to signal the start of the second half,
it was a fired-up Scorpions team that took the field.

From the moment play started, it was apparent that the coach’s words had struck home. They moved the ball much more quickly.
In their very first attack, clean passes flew between all three members of the
forward line — Evan Andrews to Mark to Vince and back again. Gradually they brought the ball into firing range of the Slickers’
goal.

After breaking away from a couple of Slicker tacklers, Mark saw a chance to set up a play the team had practiced over and
over again. He called out, “Scorpion Red!” and faked to the left. Then, planting his left foot firmly on the ground, he booted
the ball over to Evan, on his left side. Evan got set right away and kicked the ball high into the air toward the goal. The
ball rose over the heads of the blocking Slickers and began to drop in front of the goal. The Slicker goalie positioned himself
for the catch.

That’s when Mark came zooming behind the blockers. With a powerful leap, he headed the ball into the corner of the net.

Goal!

The scoreboard now read Slickers 1, Scorpions 1.

Groups of Scorpions gathered around Mark and Evan to congratulate them on pulling off the play. Mark was all smiles.

“That worked great!” he exclaimed as he slapped Evan’s hand in a high five. “But hey, next time, why don’t you swoop in right
after me, just in case their
goalie blocks me out? If there are two of us right there, one should be able to get control of the ball, right?” Evan looked
thoughtful, then nodded in agreement and trotted back to his position.

Mark felt great — until he heard Vince mutter something to Eddie Chu that sounded like “
Oink, oink,
Mr. Know-It-All.”

Mark was stunned. Did Vince think he had been hogging the ball? But it had been their cooperative effort that had moved the
ball into position! It was just dumb luck that Mark had been the one to call the play.

And what does he mean by calling me Mr. Know-It-All? he thought angrily.

By now it was midway through the second half of the game. Both teams still had a lot of energy and were calling encouragement
to their teammates. Try as he might to shake loose of his anger, every time Mark heard Vince’s voice among the others, his
hackles rose.

His irritation started to show up in his playing. He was so determined to prove he wasn’t a ball hog that he overdid it. When
a pass came to him, he moved it too quickly to someone else, often catching that person
off guard. Once he tripped over the ball because he tried to get rid of it before he had control.

Up until then, Mark had been the most reliable member of the team. Everyone counted on him to be where he was supposed to
be. Now he was hanging back, trying to let others have a chance. Confused, the rest of the Scorpions started to misread his
intentions. Chances for another goal by the Scorpions began to grow dim.

Then the Knightstown team got a lucky break. A Slicker halfback made a mistake and passed the ball, in the wrong direction.
It landed smack in the perfect spot for a goal attempt by the Scorpions. Evan Andrews was right there and went for it.

But the Slicker goalie caught the ball and sent it flying back into the middle of the field.

Mark had moved toward center field when he saw Dick making the kick. So when the goalie returned the ball, Mark was in a good
position to capture it. But instead, he stood frozen, uncertain if he should move toward it. At the last moment, he decided
to go for it.

Unfortunately Eddie Chu had begun to move forward as well. It was too late for Eddie to put on the
brakes. He and Mark collided, and the ball bounced right by them both.

The impact sent Mark sprawling to the ground, dazed for a moment. He lay there staring up at the sky.

The referee blew his whistle. Play stopped as Coach Ryan ran onto the field. By the time he reached Mark, Eddie Chu had helped
him to his feet. Mark shook his head to try to get rid of the woozy feeling that had come over him. He felt fine a moment
later and was relieved to see that Eddie looked no worse for the wear, either.

But Coach Ryan decided Mark could use some time on the bench anyhow. Willie Stubbs came in as Mark left the field.

Mark had been taken out of games before. But usually it was because his team was ahead and the coach wanted to give the substitutes
a chance to get in some playing time. But this game was close, and the team they were playing was their toughest competition
yet. Mark knew Coach Ryan had replaced him because he wasn’t playing his best.

It’s all because of Vince, he fumed. If Vince hadn’t made that crack, I’d still be in the game. And what
did he mean by that, anyway? I was just trying to help Evan see how a good play could be made even better — for the good of
the team, for Pete’s sake!

Mark was so busy with his thoughts he hadn’t realized the game had restarted. With the score tied 1-1 and only minutes remaining
in the game, Willie Stubbs sprained his ankle. Coach Ryan had no choice but to ask the ref’s permission to send Mark back
into the game.

The Scorpions reacted well to his return. Many of the plays depended on a strong center forward, and although Willie was a
fine substitute, his skills didn’t match Mark’s. And since Mark had had some time to cool down — both physically and mentally
— he was ready to step back into his role and help his team to victory.

But it didn’t look like a victory was going to happen. The Slickers had the ball and were passing it in circles around the
defending Scorpions. They came closer and closer to setting up a goal attempt.

And then Harvey Kahn blocked a Slicker wing’s pass to another player. The ball slammed into his kneecap and ricocheted across
the field at a weird angle. Evan Andrews caught it with his right leg.

He dribbled it across the midfield line. Then he passed it up to Mark.

At first, Mark thought he was in the clear and could take a shot at the goal. But there were just too many players from both
teams in his way. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a Scorpion streaking downfield with no one else near him.

It was Craig. Somehow or other, the redheaded backfielder had just dropped out of the picture, and no one was covering him.

Mark protected the ball long enough for Craig to get into position. Then he booted it to him.

Craig controlled it and aimed a kick toward the goal.

It just cleared the underside of the crossbar and sailed into the net.

Goal!

The Scorpions went ahead on the scoreboard and, with only seconds left, closed out the game with a win.

When the Scorpions came off the field, Craig drifted over to the end of the bench, where Mark was knocking the mud off of
his soccer shoes.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Mark said, surprised.

“You sure didn’t look it earlier,” said Craig. “Half the time you were all over the ball. The other half, you wouldn’t get
near it! Were you trying out a new strategy to confuse the defense or something? Because if you were, you should have let
the rest of us in on it!”

Even though Mark knew Craig was just joking around, he felt a flash of anger. He couldn’t help retorting, “Well, I helped
make our two goals, didn’t I? Made you look pretty good, too!”

“Whoa!” said Craig, holding up his hands. “I knew it. There is something eating at you! Don’t deny it. Spill it.”

“Why?” Mark shot back. “Talking about it won’t do any good!”

“Talking about
what?
” Craig pressed.

“About what Vince pulls out there every time we’re on the field together!” Mark said finally. “I’m — I’m — I’m just so bugged
by that guy! He acts like I’m not even on the team most of the time. But that wouldn’t bother me if it weren’t for the wisecracks
he makes about me. He doesn’t — he — he —”

Craig stared at Mark. Then he shook his head and said, “Man, you’ve got a chip on your shoulder the size of Rhode Island!
Did it ever occur to you to confront Vince with this stuff? Just
talk
to the guy, Mark. If you don’t let him know where you’re coming from, the whole team is going to suffer.” He stood up and
finished his cup of water. “It’s like I tried to tell you before: It’s better to talk about it than to keep it all bottled
up. I’m gonna get a refill. See you on the bus.”

Mark watched him walk away.

Just like that, Mark thought. Just tell someone you have a problem. But what if that someone doesn’t hear what you have to
say? What then?

For some reason, the image of his parents arguing at the last soccer game flashed through his head.

What then? he thought again.

W
hen his grandparents picked him up outside the locker room that night, they had already heard about the game.

“Craig’s mother called. She was so excited about him having made a goal,” Grandma Conway said. “She said you had a bad fall
during the game. Are you okay?”

“It was no big deal,” Mark said. He preferred not to remember that that collision with Eddie had mostly been his fault.

“Really? Well, she sounded concerned. In fact, didn’t Coach Ryan have you sit out for a while because of the injury?”

Mark squirmed. He wasn’t convinced that was why the coach had taken him out of the game. But he didn’t want to say as much
to his grandparents.
He didn’t want to lie, either, though. So he just sat silent for the rest of the ride home and hoped his grandparents would
let the matter drop.

They didn’t. The minute they walked into the house, Grandpa Conway said, “Young man, you sit down here. Mother, you come sit,
too.” There was a tone in his voice that told Mark not to argue. He flopped back into his chair and folded his hands.

Grandpa Conway had never acted this way before. There hadn’t been one serious talk, the kind his parents used to have with
him, since he’d moved back to Knightstown to live with them. Hearing him talk this way reminded Mark that his grandfather
was
a father,
too. Mark suddenly wondered what it had been like for his own father growing up here. Somehow, he had a feeling he had been
given a much looser rein than his father had had — but that that rein was about to be tightened.

Grandpa Conway cleared his throat. “Now, I’m sure not an expert on what it’s like to be a teenager these days,” he began,
“but I’ll bet they’re every bit as moody now as they were when your father was growing up. One minute everything’s fine; the
next
it’s like the world is about to come crashing down around you. And it’s my opinion that most of the time what seems like a
mountain to a teenager is really just a molehill.”

Grandma Conway nodded. Mark sat silent, not looking at either of them.

Grandpa Conway continued: “However, in your case, I think you’re doing just the opposite.” Mark’s head shot up. His grandfather
nodded. “Yes, that’s right. Mark, you’ve got a mountain of turmoil you should be dealing with — but you’re trying to pretend
it’s just a molehill.”

“We don’t know exactly what happened out on the soccer field today,” his grandmother said. “But Mrs. Crandall seemed to think
you were about ready to blow your stack at one point. I suppose getting hurt on the field could have been part of the problem.
I mean, in the game against the Tigers you fell pretty hard — and neither your grandfather nor I could believe the change
that came over you! It was like watching something just boil over.”

“But we think something else entirely has been adding fuel to that fire,” his grandfather added. “We
hoped that you might come to us to talk about it. But you haven’t. So now we’re going to do what we can to force you to let
off some steam.”

Mark sat there frozen. He couldn’t look at either of his grandparents. His insides were all churned up, and he felt like he
was going to break into a million pieces.