When I finally do come out of the locker room, every one has already gone. No sobbing Aaron, no fuming Mr. Rutledge, there is just a cozy Coach Parker and my mom. She isn't crying or upset but you'd think she is, by the way he's touching her arm and stuff.

I walk over to them and look at her as I point to the door. I want her to know I'm ready to go home. After she nods her head and tosses me the keys, I get to the door, look back and see she's not following me. Coach Parker is still touching her arm and talking to her. I stop by the double doors that lead out into the corridor, and give them both a meaningful look.

Finally, she starts walking towards me. "Thanks, Gus," she says.

"Just call me if you need anything," he says. "I mean it, Deirdre."

I roll my eyes. There he goes with that Deirdre crap again.

But instead of going back to his office, he stands there and watches her walking away. It has got to be the grossest thing I have ever seen anyone do.

"Geez, take a picture, why don't ya?" I mutter.

My mom swats playfully at me as she catches up. She is quiet until we get in the car.

"Well, that was a fun practice," she says as she puts the key in the ignition. "Good to know I have such a supportive group of parents."

"You do realize Aaron is our best player?"

She gets ready to put the car in gear but changes her mind. Instead, she turns to look at me. "I'm not going to be a puppet. Do you think those men are really interested in helping me? Hell no. Mr. Rutledge thinks that because I'm a woman, he can tell me what to do."

Here we go with the woman thing. I know better than to address that, so I come back with all I have. "But Aaron is the best player."

"Jack, I didn't kick him off the team. I just said he had to show up for practice and put in a good effort."

"He doesn't need to practice, though."

She laughs and shakes her head. "Jack, everybody needs to practice, not just to get good, but to stay good. Aaron is no exception."

I know she's right about that, but if he gets kicked off the team, we're sunk. Because no matter how much we practice we'll never be as good as we would be with him.




The following day Billy Snelling catches up to me in the cafeteria. "Your mom is awesome, Jack. Did she really tell Aaron's dad off? That's what I heard. Is it true? Did she kick Aaron off the team?"

"No. She didn't tell him off. She just told him that Aaron had to practice with us if he wanted to play."

Billy sighs. His tray is usually over loaded with junk food or double helpings. But today, he has a salad, a bag of apple slices and two skim milks.

"What's this? You sick or something?"

"Your mom said to eat healthy. She said that the body has more energy when it gets the things it needs. The less it has to break down processed food, the better."

Billy is starting to get on my last nerve with the petition for sainthood for Dee Weston. Then I discover something even worse, he gets all red in the face when he mentions her or when she calls on him to do something. I think he may have a crush on her.

EEEWWWW!!

"She also told me that if I exercise more, the weight will come off faster."

"Great."

"It must be really cool to have a mom who's so smart."

"Yeah, it's great," I say, putting as much boredom in my voice as possible. Hopefully, he'll get the hint that I don't want to talk about her anymore. "Man, I hope Aaron shows up today."

Billy makes a face. "Why?"

"Because I don't want to be on a losing team."

"Well, you'll still get to play if he's on the team. I won't. Or if I do, he sure won't pass the ball to me."

"But we'll lose without him."

I can't figure out why no one can understand this. I can't be the only person who doesn't want to be on a losing team. Winning is why people play sports. It's why they enter races, play games, compete for anything. The whole point is to win.

"Maybe not," Billy offers weakly. "I think we can do fine without him."

"If you think that, then you're dumber than you look." I say as I leave him to eat his lunch.






Aaron doesn't show up for practice. Everyone else does, even Mac Kenny. So we practice, go through the motions like it's a normal practice. Even I pretend we might have a chance without him. But I'm pretty sure everybody, with the exception of Billy Snelling, knows we're doomed without him.