Sudden Impact - Lesley Choyce [1]
He made the team and was really excited. So was I—at first. But then I was kind of mad at him. Now it was all about soccer. No more running after school with me. Kurt started hanging out with this older guy on the team named Jason. He’d known Jason from way back, but I don’t think they’d had much in common before. Now they were both on the team. Jason didn’t like me, but I tried not to let it bother me.
Jason could be mean to Kurt too. Jason was sixteen, two years older than Kurt and me, and he had this way of putting people down. In the halls he’d make fun of Kurt for having a girl for a best friend as if there was something wrong with it. I’d just snap back something like, “Why don’t you clean the grunge out from under your toenails and eat it for breakfast?” Jason would fake like he was hurt and slink off down the hall.
I think Jason was angry that Kurt played soccer as well as he did, even though Kurt was younger. Kurt and Jason both played halfback. They could both run five miles without getting winded, and they both had legs like lighting when it came to kicking the ball into the net.
But every time Kurt passed the ball because he had three players all over him, Jason was on him like maggots on dead meat. “What’s wrong, Kurtie, legs turn to mush again?” Or, “C’mon, dude, you can’t wimp out like that.” And Jason’s theme song on the field, the phrase he said over and over to Kurt was, “You’ll never do anything great unless you take a few chances. Go for it, man. Don’t always play it safe.” Maybe that philosophy worked for Jason.
chapter two
It was the first official game of the year. Memorial was playing Fairview in what was predicted to be one very serious game of soccer. I’d been to practices before to watch Kurt, but this was different.
The Memorial coach was sending the first string out onto the field. Kurt had been playing against Jason up until now—red team against the blue. But this was the real thing.
Two halfbacks were to go out on the field to play, and the coach had already sent out Jason. That meant he had to pick between Kurt and Dennis Rankin, one of his personal favorites. The whistle blew. The field was full except for one halfback slot on our team. Coach Kenner couldn’t seem to make up his mind. He was standing there, his bald head gleaming in the sunshine, looking at the annoyed referee and shaking his head. Finally he pointed a finger at Kurt. “Go,” he said.
Kurt ran for the field, and the whistle blew. The game began and players were running back and forth like angry animals.
Fairview had the stronger team. They were faster and had better control of the ball. They scored almost as soon as the game began. Jason yelled at Kurt to get the lead out. That’s when I noticed that Kurt was holding his side like he had a cramp or something. When the whistle blew again, though, he took off like lightning.
The ball was passed to Kurt and he worked it downfield, his teammates trying to keep up with him. Just as he was about to get crowded out by his opponents, he kicked the ball across the field to Jason. Jason let out a hoot and moved deeper into Fairview territory as Kurt slipped back, slowing down and clutching his side again.
That was the funny thing about Kurt and Jason. At school, they were mortal enemies. Even during practice, Jason gave Kurt a hard time. But once they were on the field together they were like brothers. Jason set Kurt up for a good shot on goal, and then there was Kurt, setting Jason up for what should have been an easy goal.
But something went wrong. Just as Jason was about to kick the ball into the net, a Fairview player sneaked up behind him with a burst of speed and tapped the ball away to one of his own players. In an instant, the ball was headed back down the field, and the whole game shifted.
Jason tripped over the Fairview