Apparently, it rained all night—not that I heard it—leaving the park a soggy mess. But, like Jerom said, perfect for mud football. My team huddled and Jerom looked at me. “Get open, it’s coming to you. And, Charlie, it might help if you turn out instead of in this time.”
“You worry about your technique, I’ll worry about mine,” I said.
“Just a suggestion.”
“I know how to play.”
“Yeah, Jerom. Charlie knows how to play,” Gage teased, bumping his shoulder into mine. “Don’t tell her what to do.”
“Gage.” Out of all my brothers, he was the closest to me, the only one I’d let get away with saying that. Mostly because he flashed me that cheesy smile of his and I couldn’t stay mad at him.
“Good, then let’s do this.” Jerom clapped his hands and we lined up. The score was tied at seven with five minutes left. My socks were soggy with mud and my hands slipped off my knees as I crouched down, but I was going to catch this ball. I took off after the snap and Jerom threw a perfect pass. I caught it and ran. Someone grabbed hold of the back of my shirt and I shook him free, nearly sliding across the slick grass.
When there were no defenders between me and the orange cones, I started calling out my own plays. “She hurdles a puddle and spins into the end zone. Touchdown!” I turned around and held the ball in the air like a trophy. “Oh yeah! We are the best!”
“Stop gloating,” Braden mumbled, picking himself up off the ground. “It’s annoying.”
“Sore loser,” I coughed under my breath. He was just like my brothers—he hated to lose.
He put me in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles across my scalp.
A whiff of wet grass, sweat, and dirt filled my nose. “Ugh. You smell. Get off me.”
“That’s the stench of victory.”
“More like the stink of failure.”
He let me go right above a mud puddle, making sure to throw me off balance. I landed on my hands, splattering mud all over my face.
“You are dead.” I jumped on him from behind, digging my knee in his lower back.
He let out a yell-laugh. When I slid off, I went to the sidelines, found his sweatshirt, then wiped my face clean with it. I headed back toward the field, where some guys were huddled together, including two of my brothers—Nathan and Jerom. “What are we all standing around for? Let’s finish this thing.”
Jerom and Nathan both shot me a warning look of silence. It wasn’t until I got closer that I realized one of the guys, Dave, was on the phone.
“No girlfriend emergencies right now. We’re in the middle of the game,” I said, and Dave looked up but his eyes didn’t focus on me.
“Charlie, shush,” Nathan said. “Something’s going on.”
Several more guys crowded in. “What’s up?” Braden asked from right behind me.
I shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve been shushed.” Over Braden’s shoulder I could see Gage by the starting line tossing the ball in the air over and over. He caught my eye and put his arms out in the “What’s taking so long?” gesture. I just shook my head.
Finally, Dave hung up the phone and said, “I have to go. It’s my grandma.”
“Did you explain to your grandma that we’re in the middle of a game?” I asked.
“She died.”
“Oh.”
A round of groans and apologies went around the group. Dave looked like he was in shock, his eyes glassed over.
“How old was she?” I asked.
He absently ran his hand along his shoulder. “Seventy-something. I’m not sure.”
“What happened?”
“She’s had cancer for about a year. We knew this was coming. We just weren’t sure when.”
“That sucks.” I rubbed my hands together and looked around. Everyone just stood there, not sure what to say. “Should we finish the game, then?”
Braden elbowed me in the side.
“What? It will get his mind off it. And we only have five minutes left. We can’t quit now.”
“Charlie,” Jerom said in his official big-brother scold, at the same time Nathan took one of my arms and Braden took the other, dragging me away from the group.
“What’s the big de—” I couldn’t finish my sentence because Braden clamped his hand over my mouth.
“We, of all people, should understand this,” Nathan said under his breath. “Show a little empathy.”
I bit down on Braden’s finger and he let go. Then I yanked free of their hold. “What should I understand about some lady dying of a disease she’d been fighting?”
Braden reached out, probably trying to cover my mouth again. I stepped out of his reach.
“Shhh!” Nathan hissed, looking over his shoulder. “You should understand that—”
“Fine. Whatever. Tell Dave I’m sorry.” With that, I turned and ran, taking the path around the park, then farther. Why should I understand what Dave was going through? Because someone in his life had died, like someone in my life had? Our situations were nothing alike. My mom had been thirty-one when she died. I hardly got to know her at all. I got a measly six years with her. Six years I didn’t even remember.
The tightness in my chest made it hard to breathe, which made it hard to run. And that made me angry. Running was never hard for me. I forced myself to run until I could breathe normally again. It took a while.
By the time I got home, the sun was high in the sky and I was covered in sweat. Braden stood in my front yard. His wet-from-a-shower auburn hair looked black. He was a little taller than my brothers, which made him lankier, yet his broad shoulders made it obvious he was an athlete. “Hey, feel better?” he asked.
“Smell better?” I said with a smile.
“So that’s a yes?”
“I’m fine. Apparently, I’m just a jerk, but we all knew that.”
Braden cringed. He hated the word jerk. It’s what we all called his dad—well, what Braden called him, and we all agreed. It was as if he felt that word belonged to his dad and was too big of an insult to assign to anyone else.
“So is Dave okay?”
“Jerom drove him home, so I’m sure he’s fine.”
“What’s up with Jerom? Two years in college and suddenly he’s all fatherly?”
“Your brother has always been a good listener.”
He has? And why would Braden know that? I pointed to his driveway and the white work truck parked there. “Your dad got off early today?”