Benched (3 page)

The teams battled back and forth for the rest of the half, but neither team scored.

“Let’s settle down,” Coach said as the players huddled around her. “We seem to have forgotten a lot of what we’ve learned. Pass the ball, then move to an open space. Stop swarming around the ball so much. And talk to each other out there. If you’re open, let your teammates know it.”

Ben sat on the bench. Loop walked over and sat next to him. “You guys looked sloppy out there,” he said.

Ben stared at the field. He certainly didn’t want any advice from Loop. “We’ll be fine,” he said.

Loop jutted his chin toward the Tigers. “We beat them five–nothing a week ago, and we went easy on them in the second half. They’re pretty weak.”

Ben checked his shin guards, then stood up and started walking away.

“Then again,” Loop said, “they seem to be as good as your team.” He laughed.

Ben didn’t look back.

Coach put Ben and Erin on defense for the start of the second half, with Mark, Kim, and Jordan up front and Shayna in goal. Ben knew that his first responsibility as a defender was to keep the ball away from the Bobcats’ goal, but he planned to be part of the offense, too. He was a fast runner; he could cover the whole field.

Even though the Tigers had possession on their end of the field, Ben ran down to try to steal the ball. An opponent made a nice fake and passed the ball ahead. Two quick passes and a long run moved the Tigers toward the Bobcats’ goal.

Ben hustled down the field, but he was lucky that Erin knocked the ball out-of-bounds. He was able to get in position before the throw-in.

Shayna made a save and kicked the ball to Ben. He fielded it on the run and sprinted
along the sideline. Two defenders closed in on him and he tried to race past them, but he lost the ball and it bounced to another Tiger.

“Get in control, Ben!” Erin called. “You’re playing like a madman.”

Ben scowled at Erin and darted toward the ball. He needed to take control all right. Control of the game. It was time for somebody on this team to make something happen.

Ben raised his elbow and pushed an opponent out of the way, then blocked the path of the player with the ball.
I’m taking it
, he thought, smashing into the player with his shoulder and kicking the ball away.
See you later
.

But before Ben could take a single step with the ball, he heard the whistle blast again. The referee was waving a red card at him. “You’re out,” he said.

“Out?”

The referee pointed toward the sideline. “Out of the game.”

Ben put his hands on his hips and looked at his coach. She pointed to the bench. Ben shook his head and walked off the field.

He headed straight for the bench and picked up his water bottle, taking a long drink. The game had restarted, and Jordan had intercepted a pass and was dribbling up the field.

Ben walked over to the coach. “When can I go back in?” he asked.

Coach gave him a slight smile. “Not today.”

“Why not?”

“A red card means you’re kicked out of the game, Ben. We have to play without you.”

Ben’s jaw dropped and he looked at the field with his mouth open.

Coach put her hand on Ben’s shoulder. “It’s great to play hard. But you can’t hurt other players. You made two dangerous moves today.”

Ben kicked gently at the turf. “I didn’t mean to.”

“The referee thought you did. That’s why he flashed the red card.”

Instead of hurting the Bobcats, though, the red card seemed to pump them up. Jordan and Kim made some sharp passes as they moved the ball up the field, and Mark dribbled past two defenders before feeding it back to Jordan in front of the goal. Jordan feinted left, then drove the ball deep into the net. The Bobcats had the lead!

Ben let out his breath. He hadn’t even realized he was holding it. He felt horrible that he’d been kicked out of the game, but if his team could win anyway, then maybe they wouldn’t be too angry at him.

The Bobcats were playing much better now—passing the ball and playing patient defense. A one-goal lead could disappear in a
second, but the Tigers were definitely being outplayed. Jordan had emerged as a very good player over the past few weeks, and every one of the Bobcats had improved. They weren’t able to score again, but they did manage to hold on to the lead.

When it ended, Ben stood to the side as his teammates came running off the field. He’d let them down. They were jumping and laughing, having won their third game in a row.

“Play-offs, here we come,” said Jordan.

“Watch out, Rabbits,” said Erin.

Ben took a seat on the bench and stayed there until all of the players had left except him and Erin.

Then he remembered that his father had driven him to the game. Where was he?

Ben looked around and saw his dad talking to Coach Patty in the parking lot.

“Think they’re talking about you?” Erin asked.

“Who else?” Ben replied. He slowly walked over to his father.

“Tough game, huh?” Dad asked.

“It was tough watching instead of playing. I hated that. But at least we won.”

“It’s worse than you think, Ben,” Dad said. “A red card means you have to sit out the next game, too.”

“A whole game?”

“A whole game. I wasn’t sure if they’d enforce that in this league, but your coach said they do. Red cards are a
big
penalty.”

At home, Ben went to his room and took out the standings sheet. He knew the results of all four games from today, so he updated the standings with a pencil. A win over the
Rabbits next week would be a huge step toward the play-offs, but that didn’t seem likely since Ben wouldn’t be allowed to play.

On the other hand, he hadn’t contributed at all today and the Bobcats had won anyway.

Maybe they didn’t need him so badly after all.

—————

Ben stayed in his room for the entire afternoon. He was mad about getting kicked out of the game, and he was hungry. He’d had hardly any breakfast and only a small bit of lunch. But it was already four o’clock, so he decided to just wait until dinner. They’d be making their monthly trip to the Chinese restaurant in town tonight.

Ben looked at the list of soccer tips that was
taped to his wall. He’d been writing them down after games and practices. He’d underlined the one that Coach Patty said was the most important:
Always have fun!

Today hadn’t been any fun at all. Ben stretched out on his bed and shut his eyes. He fell asleep.

He dreamed that he was on the soccer field, playing in the championship game. The Bobcats had continued their winning streak, beating the Rabbits and the Sharks and winning their first play-off game. Now they were facing the Falcons for the league title.

The game was tied and Ben had the ball. He was racing toward the goal, and Loop was trying to stop him. The Falcons were throwing red rubber balls at Ben, and Ben was jumping in and out of four-square blocks as he dribbled the soccer ball.

He dribbled through the principal’s office and past a referee who was holding a giant red card. Then he broke into the clear and shot the ball, scoring the winning goal.

He woke up starving. He looked at the clock. It was nearly six.

So he put on his sneakers and headed downstairs.

“Are we leaving soon?” he asked his mom.

“For what?”

“For the Ming Castle.”

“Sorry,” Mom said. “We decided to eat at home tonight.”

“But I wanted sweet-and-sour chicken,” Ben said. “I thought that was tonight.”

“Usually it would be, but … we’re making hamburgers instead.”

“Oh. How soon? I’m starving.”

“We’ll eat in about a half hour.”

So Ben sat on the couch and watched a
college football game on TV while his stomach growled.

Larry came in and sat next to him. He looked as if he was holding back a smile. “Heard you got booted out of the soccer game,” he said.

Ben folded his arms and stared at the TV. “It was a bad call.”

“Dad said it looked like you were trying to wipe the guy out.”

“I was just going for the ball.” Ben sank lower into the couch. The TV screen was focused on a quarterback who’d just fumbled the ball away. He had his helmet off and was looking around as if he was trying to find someone else to blame.

“You’re having quite a week,” Larry said, and this time he did smile. “Kicked out of recess. Kicked out of soccer. What’s next?”

Ben glared at his brother. “It isn’t funny.”

Larry smacked Ben on the knee. “Hang in there, knucklehead. Things aren’t so bad. I went through stuff like that when I was your age, too.”

“Why aren’t we going out for dinner?” Ben grumbled. “I deserve some wonton soup.”

Larry shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I guess they’re still mad at each other.”

Larry raised his eyebrows. They could hear both parents in the kitchen, talking and laughing. “Doesn’t sound like it.”

“Then why are we stuck here eating hamburgers again?” Ben asked, raising his voice. “We had them on Thursday.”

“Maybe because it’s cheaper to eat at home.”

“I wanted an egg roll.”

“You’ll survive.”

Ben didn’t say a word when he got to the
dinner table. Dad had made hand-cut french fries and a big salad, and Mom had broiled a platter of hamburgers. “This’ll be nice,” she said. “Eating at home can be just as much fun as going to a restaurant.”

Ben frowned. He took a hamburger and a big heap of fries. The food was fine, but he liked going out sometimes. This had been a terrible week; he thought he deserved a reward to make up for it.

“Halloween is next Saturday,” Mom said. “Have you thought about a costume, Ben?”

He hadn’t thought about it at all. Next Saturday was also the day of the game against the Rabbits. The game he’d be sitting out.

“Maybe you can go as a giant red card,” Larry said. He and Dad cracked up.

Ben took a bite of the hamburger and looked down at his plate.

“I don’t get it,” Mom said.

“It’s a soccer penalty,” Larry said. “Like he got today.”

“Oh.… Quite a week you’ve had, Ben.”