| Time for a Story |
This story first appeared in our writing group’s third anthology, A Little Off the Page
Bennett and Kingsleigh
..sometimes the younger you are, the more you know about love.
Installment 7
At the next practice, things were different. Friendlier, Michelle thought, and she breathed easier. In the intervening days she had picked up Bennett for DeeDee, and vice versa, with no incident. The second time, DeeDee even came in for coffee and shared the news that she was indeed pregnant. The two women had a celebratory moment—superficial though it was, with each weighed down by their own private thoughts about the potential ramifications. DeeDee and Bennett left a little earlier than they used to, but there were no incidents.
This time, Michelle brought cookies to practice. They brought a blanket and cooler and spread things out under the tree. Kingsleigh walked down to the bleachers to tell Mrs. Kussler they were there.
“Mom made cookies today, Mrs. Kussler. You want some? There’s enough for you, us, and the team—if they want some.”
A couple other mothers sat on the bleachers a few feet away. One mom with red hair and a flowery orange scarf leaned forward. “Who is this little cutie, DeeDee? A friend of Bennett’s?”
“Yes. She lives next door to us. She and Bennett have gone to school together since kindergarten. Kingsleigh, you might know her son, he’s in Mrs. Sumner’s class too.”
Kingsleigh wrinkled her nose and shaded her eyes from the sun. “He is? Who?”
“Kyle. Kyle Jensen.” She gestured toward the field. “He’s over there right now talking to Bennett.”
Kingsleigh studied the scene, then gave a small wave to Bennett, much like she had the last time. Today, however, he didn’t return the wave. It looked like he scowled, then he ducked his head and tapped Kyle’s arm and gestured for them to move onto the field.
“Mrs. Jensen, do you know who that tall boy is, the one who’s always standing with Mr. Kussler?”
“Oh, honey,” the woman answered, “That’s Doug’s right-hand man. His name is Marcus Boyer. He’s only 10, but he knows as much about football as my husband. And can he play! He loves the sport so much that he hangs out with Doug to talk play strategy. He and his buddies–that’s them over there, Jessup and Sam–help Doug coach by showing the other boys what to do. Marcus likes palling around with the boys too. He’s an only child, and he treats them all like they’re kid brothers.”
“Hmm. Is he nice? Do you know him, Mrs. Kussler?”
Mrs. Jensen gave a short laugh then covered her mouth. Even DeeDee smiled. “He’s been a very good friend to Bennett and the other new players, Kingsleigh. They all have. And I’m sure the whole team will enjoy your cookies. We’ll send them over when practice is done.” It was the kindest thing DeeDee had said since the other day.
Now Kingsleigh was on pins and needles. To Michelle’s amusement—and honestly, relief—she watched practice like a hawk, asking questions about the game and what the boys were doing. It was a far cry from her impatient indifference the first day.
“Why are you asking all these questions?” Michelle asked after answering why the boys had to run stepping in and out of tire rings.
“I want to understand what they’re doing so I can talk to Bennett about it without sounding dumb.”
Michelle gave her a hug. “I don’t think you could ever sound dumb. I think it’s very considerate of you to work so hard to relate to your friends.”
“Oh, Mom.” Kingsleigh wriggled away from the hug.
Just then a whistle blew and the boys headed off the field. DeeDee had apparently spread the word, because as soon as their players reached them, parents sent them up to where Michelle and Kingsleigh had set up their goodies.
Bennett jogged up with his friend, Kyle. Kingsleigh recognized him now that he was closer. He was the one who always forgot to put the books back that he borrowed from the classroom library. He could make fart noises without moving his lips, too, a talent much appreciated by her and her classmates.
She handed them each a couple cookies, and they started talking about how hard practice was and whether or not there was time for a player to get dinner and homework done in time on practice nights.
“My mom won’t let me stay up late, no matter what,” Kyle complained. “She said she’d even make me quit football if I couldn’t get my work done before bedtime.”
Kingsleigh snuck a look at Bennett’s face to see what he thought of such a threat. The sympathy of his expression startled her. She hadn’t thought he cared that much about football. He just started playing. She’d thought it was only because his dad wanted him to.
The team continued to crowd around the blanket. Michelle hung back chatting with Kyle’s mother so the kids could socialize. Kingsleigh would talk with the boys as they ate, breaking off every time another player came up and held out a hand for a cookie.
“Kingsleigh,” called out her mother. “I’m going up to Mrs. Jensen’s car with her. She has some clothes that might fit you. I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Sure, Mom. I’m fine.” Kingsleigh handed out another cookie.
Marcus and his buddies Jessup and Sam were the last to come up. Doug stood at the bleachers, talking to DeeDee, glancing periodically at the cluster of boys around the blanket. Marcus grabbed a handful of cookies off the tray and passed a couple to his friends, keeping three for himself.
“Hey,” he said. “You live next door to Bennett Kussler? Coach’s kid?”
She nodded. “Do you like the cookies? My mom made them.”
“Yeah, they’re good.” He stuffed another in his mouth. “Bennett talks about you a lot.” It wasn’t a question, but Kingsleigh felt she needed to answer it anyway. Besides, he was looking at her funny.
“We live next door to each other and our moms carpool us to school, so we spend a lot of time at each other’s houses and stuff.”
“You play football?”
“Me?” Kingsleigh was surprised by the question, especially after Bennett’s dad kept insisting football was supposed to be for boys. “No.”
Marcus shrugged. “Yeah, it’s probably too hard for you.”
Kingsleigh bristled. There were some girls who played football. She could learn how, if she wanted to. “Is Bennett a good player?”
Marcus drew himself up taller, puffing out his chest a little. “Coach says he is, but he’s his dad. I’m way better. That’s why Coach has me helping out. Bennett’s pretty good. If we practiced a lot, I bet we’d be a great quarterback/receiver combo.” He danced backwards a few steps and positioned his arm as if he were about to throw.
Kingsleigh cocked her head to one side. “You really like football, huh?”
“It’s the best.”
Worry lines appeared between her eyebrows. “Do you think Bennett feels that way?”
“He will. Guys always like football. It’s what we do. That reminds me. Hey, Bennett!” Marcus jostled other players aside to stand near Bennett, but he kept his eye on Kingsleigh as he talked. “Some of the guys are comin’ over to my house after school tomorrow for some two-hand touch. You should come too. We can work on that throw your dad showed us.”
“Gee, I don’t know, Marcus.”
“Hey, you want to be first-string, right?”
“Well—”
“You know what Coach said. And he’s your dad.”
“I don’t know. I’ll have homework.”
“Hey, you can do that later. Football comes first, right? That’s what I tell the guys.” Marcus moved closer and reached his arm across Bennett’s shoulders. “If we practice and play all we can, we can be great. It’s all about focus.”
“I guess,” said Bennett slowly.
“You know it is. Listen, you and me–we’re gonna make the Redhawks the best football team our Pee Wee league has ever seen. You’ll see.”
Bennett broke into a grin. “Yeah. Yeah!”
Kingsleigh smiled at him. At least he was looking happy again. She watched the boys head back towards the field, jostling each other around, back and forth, Jessup and Sam feigning a tug of war over the last cookie. Suddenly Marcus veered away from the group and came back up the hill.
“Hey. Got any cookies left? I want to take some for later.”
“Sure. Mom put some bags in here.” Kingsleigh rooted around and pulled a bag out from under the cooler. She gathered up the few remaining cookies and dropped them in and sealed the bag. Marcus took it from her.
“Thanks.” He hefted the bag in his hand. “Listen, kid, I don’t know what Ben has been tellin’ you, but you need to quit hangin’ around. Ben’s one of us now. And he doesn’t have time for half-pints like you.”
“Don’t call me that. Only Kevin and Daddy can call me that.”
“Ooh. Daddy’s little girl, huh? Half-pint!” Marcus jeered, poking at Kingsleigh’s side.
“Don’t do that!”
“What’s the matter? Can’t take a little teasing?” He circled the blanket where the spread of cookies had turned into scatters of crumbs. “I thought you were too grown-up to be scared.”
“I’m not scared.” Kingsleigh said, tilting up her head to point her chin. “You’re being a bully. I don’t know why, but that’s what you’re doing.”
“It’s not being a bully to protect my team. Coach wants Ben to focus. The team needs Ben to focus. And if you’re hangin’ around, he can’t do that. You need to get out of his way! You want to ruin things for him?”
Tears sprung up in Kingsleigh’s eyes. “I don’t keep Bennett from focusing. I am not a distraction! He likes it when I come to his practices!”
“That’s not what Coach says. And Coach is always right. Ben’ll be a lot happier with us, you’ll see. ‘Cuz he’s on the team, and he’s gonna stay on the team. You have to go, little girl.” Without giving Kingsleigh a chance to say anything else, Marcus ran off down the hill.
Kingsleigh wanted to cry, but she didn’t want to be crying when Michelle found her. Marcus was scary, and so was Mr. Kussler. She had to think about this before letting her mother know what had happened. Because, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how scary it was, she had to do the right thing.
Bennett looked happy right now. Did she have to let go of him, stop being his friend? Was he happier playing football than being with her? She thought about the cookies and how he smiled when she handed them to him. She thought about how happy he acted when Marcus talked about them helping the team win.
Then she thought about how him being happy was all she ever wanted.