Long Shot - Mike Lupica [39]
Luis Morales began to play with the ball now, one foot and then the other, the ball bouncing straight up off one knee, then the other knee, then off his head.
“The only thing I’m sorry about,” Pedro said, “is that you didn’t get to hear my speech.”
His dad caught the ball out of the air now, put it on his hip, and said to Pedro, “So let me hear it now.”
“Here?” Pedro said.
“Right here and right now,” his dad said. “Think about all the times when you listened to your papa give his speech about America. It’s about time I listened to you.”
Pedro talked to his dad then the way he had talked to his classmates. Talked about doing what was best for everybody, talked about trust, talked about looking for the best in each other.
He remembered every single word.
By heart.
When he finished, his dad hugged him again, then picked him up like he wanted to lift him to the sky. This time he didn’t make Pedro shout out “President Morales” the way he had at the start of it all. He just whispered these two words into his ear:
“My son.”
Then Luis Morales placed his soccer ball on the ground and kicked it as far as he could, as if trying to kick it all the way to the front door of Casa Luis, and told Pedro he’d race him to it.
Father and son took off then, running and laughing at the same time, as if chasing their dreams together, as if you could no longer tell their dreams apart.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Lupica, over the span of his successful career as a sports columnist, has proven that he can write for sports fans of all ages and stripes. Now, as the author of multiple hit novels for young readers, including Travel Team and Heat, both of which went to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, Mr. Lupica has carved out a niche as the sporting world’s finest storyteller. Mr. Lupica’s column for New York’s Daily News is syndicated nationally, and he can be seen weekly on ESPN’s The Sports Reporters. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and their four children.