"Yes, sir!" the team said in unison.
"Get out there and warm up."
Coach motioned for Jaide and Blaize to hang back while the rest of the boys jogged out of the locker room. "Are you up to this game? Are you back at 100 percent?"
Blaize nodded and Coach turned to Jaide for an answer also.
"Yes sir, he's at 100 percent."
Coach nodded, dismissing them. They jogged out to join the rest of the boys. During the warm ups, Jaide couldn't help but notice the other team and how big they all were. As soon as the start whistle blew, she could see that Coach had been right. They were very aggressive and didn't mind breaking the rules.
Thanks to all the free kicks due to the other team’s fouling, Jaide's team scored in the first five minutes. The longer the game went on, the more pissed the other team got. They truly didn't have much talent. They relied all on their muscles to plow their way down the field.
Jaide was in possession of the ball and was inside the penalty box. She made a move to pass the ball, but an illegal slide tackle from behind knocked her legs out from under her and she crashed to the ground.
She landed heavily on the other player and before she could get off, the boy shoved her off roughly, mumbling some obscenity. Jaide ignored his comment but didn't get up right away because of some pain in her shoulder. She had landed on it wrong. She looked up to see the other player standing over her.
"This ain't a bitch league, sweetheart. Let the boys play."
Grr, who was the only member of her team close enough to see the tackle and hear the comment, took some purposeful steps toward the boy. "What the fuck was that? That was illegal. You could have seriously hurt som ...”
Jaide had gotten to her feet and cut Grr off by grabbing his arm and walking in the opposite direction. "Don't even think about it. I'm fine and who gives a shit about that dumbass’s comment? It doesn't get to me. Don’t let it get to you."
Grr nodded and went back to his place on the field. The ref gave the other boy a yellow, and awarded Jaide a penalty kick since the offense was committed inside the penalty box.
Blaize jogged up to her quickly. "Are you ok? I saw you holding your shoulder."
"Just a little tweaked. No big deal."
Blaize nodded and cleared out of the penalty box with the rest of the boys so that she could take her kick. Jaide scored the point easily. She had been practicing her PKs with Bhrade after practice, and this goalie was nowhere near Bhrade's level.
By halftime, the score was 3-0 and the other team was getting more pissed off by the second. They were throwing elbows and talking trash non-stop. Jaide's team was doing a damn good job at ignoring them, she thought.
Halfway through the second half, Jaide and Grr were isolated in the far corner, working over a defender from the other team. Grr received her pass and made for the goal but out of nowhere, another defender arrived. The two opposing defenders crashed into Grr, taking him down.
Jaide gasped. They hadn't even tried to disguise the foul. It was downright malicious. The two defenders leapt off the ground but Grr rolled over onto his knees and coughed. He had gotten the wind knocked out of him.
Jaide rushed over in time to hear one of the boys make a comment. "Yeah, get on your knees. That’s where you belong, faggot."
Jaide's jaw dropped at what she had just heard. She gripped the boy who had spoken by the shoulder and whipped him around to face her. "Excuse me? What did you just say?"
The bigger boy laughed. "You gonna stand up for the queer? I said he belongs on his knees because he's a faggo -"
Jaide hauled back her fist and slugged him across the face as hard as she could. The boy’s head and shoulders snapped around from the force of the blow and he staggered, almost falling. A teammate caught him before he hit the ground.
"You bitch!" he shouted, putting a hand to his mouth. He lunged for her just as the rest of the players and refs on the field arrived.
A ref caught the boy before he reached her and a couple boys ran to Grr to help him up.
Jaide's blood was pounding in her ears. She had never been so pissed off in her life. Her knuckles hurt. She heard a whistle blowing somewhere close by. Matt appeared in front of her, a severe expression on his face. She didn't resist as he grabbed her arm and headed for the sidelines. They paused while the referee flashed a red card at her and instructed Matt, as her team captain, to escort her off the field.
Matt sat her down on the empty second bench, the one that was not occupied with the second stringers. Across the field, she could see the two boys both getting red cards, no doubt for the tackle. No one but she and Grr had heard the nasty comment they had made.
Matt handed her a bag of ice and turned back to the field but she stopped him. "Matt."
He turned back, he still looked very disappointed in her and spoke sharply. "I don't want to hear it, Jaide. That was uncalled for. You can't pull shit like that."
She hesitated only a second before she stood to speak in his ear so only he could hear. "He called Grr a faggot and a queer."
"What?"
"That's why I punched him, not just because of the foul. Just ... well, just beat them ok? I really need to beat them."
Matt pulled back. His severe expression was replaced with a reassuring one. "Just take care of your hand. We got it covered. Our boys are pissed. You’ve never seen these boys play when they're pissed. It’s a sight."
Jaide nodded and sat back down. The situation on the field had cleared and they restarted play. Matt sat on the bench beside her. Without a word, he cleaned the blood off her hand and bandaged each knuckle quickly.
He gave her the hand back. "Ice."
She pressed the ice pack Matt had given her to her sore knuckles.
The assistant coach left and she sat on the bench, feeling very alone as she watched the game continue.
Coach Thacker came to stand near her on the lone bench. He didn't speak to her or look at her. He kept his eyes on the field with his arms crossed calmly over his chest. He was obviously very angry and disappointed at her.
"Coach, I'm really sorry."
"You should be. That was a mistake on your part."
"I know."
"What I don't get is your hypocrisy."
She was confused. "I'm not sure I know what you mean, sir."
"You get on Garret's case for trying to stand up for you and then you go and belt a guy for fouling him."
Jaide kept her mouth shut. She didn't know if Coach knew that Grr was gay and even if he did know the truth, it wasn't a valid excuse. She shouldn't have punched the guy. "He made a comment I wasn't ok with."
"I don't give a shit, Williams. I'm your coach. You know my rules. You owe me ten sets of suicides at practice. There is no excuse for that. You are lucky they don't suspend players for red cards in this league. You could have been out for the whole season with a stunt like that. I might even bench you for a few games myself. I can't have you pulling that shit in an important game. It would cost us the post-season."
Her heart fell into her stomach. "I'm really sorry, Coach."
"I'm not hearing what I want to hear from you."
She hesitated. "What do you want to hear?"
"I want to hear that you won't do it again."
Jaide couldn't say that because if she heard another comment like that, she would probably punch someone again, whether she wanted to or not.
"Well?"
"I'm sorry, Coach. I can't promise that."
"Why the hell not?"
"If I hear a comment like that again, I'll probably do the same thing. I can't control myself." She felt sick to her stomach as she said this. She wanted to be a part of this team so badly.
"Damn it, Williams, you better come up with a damn good reason why I shouldn't bench you or you're not even getting on the bus to Arlington. We play ‘em in a few weeks, after the break.”
"Yes, sir." Jaide wanted to puke, but swallowed hard and focused on the game.
Her teammates were kicking ass. She had never seen them play with so much aggression. They were getting fouled left and right but it didn't faze them. They just continued playing and the ref called numerous advantage calls in their favor.
Matt must have spread the word about the comment Grr had received. That was the only explanation for the new behavior. Her team looked downright furious.
The whistle finally blew to signal the end of the game. The score ended up being 7 - 0, and the opposing team made more lewd comments even as they were leaving the field.
The post-game locker room talk from Coach was short. He congratulated them but made it clear that Jaide's action was neither condoned nor acceptable.
Once he had left, she prayed the other boys weren't as mad at her as Coach was. She felt someone hug her tightly. Looking up, she saw that it was Grr. As it turned out, none of the boys were the slightest bit mad.
Blaize examined her injured hand and Leith and Bhrade congratulated her on her punch.
"That was amazing, Jaide!"
"You almost knocked him on his ass!"
"You guys aren't mad?" she asked.
"Mad? Why would we be mad?"
"I got a red card. I broke the rules."
"You were just throwin' down for our boy here. Nothing wrong with that." Chance grinned.
"But Coach is really mad at me."
Blaize shrugged. "He's not as mad as he's letting on. He’s the coach. He has to pretend to be really mad at a player when they break the rules."
"He says I need to come up with a good reason why I should get to play next game or he's not letting me go to Arlington at all."
"What?"
"Even after you told him what he said to Grr?" Alex asked.
"Well, no I didn't tell him that. I didn't think I should."
All the boys groaned and Matt spoke up. "Jaide, I'm really sorry for being so severe with you at first, but that is a valid reason, maybe not in the rule book but I accepted it. Coach will too. You just need to tell him."
She looked at Grr and Alex for reassurance. "If you guys don't want me to, I won't."
Grr smiled reassuringly. "Tell him, Jaide. Just tell him the truth. If he doesn't believe you, I can back you up."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, of course. I don't care whether he knows if I'm gay, he might already. He can't keep you from playing. That’s not fair."
"Ok, thanks. I'll go to his office in a few minutes."
Bhrade laughed. "And if that doesn't work, just beat him up!"
The boys all laughed and she blushed. "I didn't hit him that hard."
"You split your knuckles open and knocked one of his teeth out."
"I did?"
The boys all laughed again, and Bhrade nodded. "Hell yeah, you little Ultimate Fighter, you."
Grr hugged her again. "Thanks for what you did, even though you really shouldn't have. I'm really sorry Coach yelled at you. I'll walk you to his office in case he wants to talk to me."
"Thanks."
In the end, Blaize, Grr and Alex all ended up walking with her to the coach's office. She knocked and when he admitted her, the boys all waited outside, still able to see her through the large windows of the office.
"Have you come up with a reason so soon?" Coach asked, sitting down behind his desk and motioning her into a chair opposite him.
"I came here to tell you the full reason why I punched him."
"Ok, let's hear it." He leaned back in his chair, waiting.
She took a deep breath. "After the two boys knocked Grr down and he was on his knees trying to catch his breath, one of the boys said something like 'he belonged on his knees because he was a faggot'. I got pissed and asked him what he said, and when he turned to me, he asked me if I was going to stand up for the 'queer' and he repeated the faggot thing. That’s when I punched him. I didn't really think about it. It just kind of happened. I would probably do it again."
Coach stayed silent for a few moments. She couldn't read his face. Finally, he spoke. "Why didn't you tell me this before I yelled at you?"
"I wasn't sure if you knew that Grr was gay or not, and if not, it wasn't my place to say anything."
"And now?"
"I talked to him about it and he said he wanted me to tell you the truth."
Coach nodded. "And he's out their waiting for you because?"
"He wanted to back up my story if he needed to."
"I see. Well, I have to follow the rules, and there is nothing about this kind of thing in the rule book."
Jaide tried to cut him off but he held up a finger to silence her.
"However, I have known Garret is gay for some time now and I do not in any way condone hate acts against gays, nor those types of comments."
"You've known that Grr is gay?"
"Yes, I also know that Alex is gay and I know that they have a relationship. I know you and Blaize are having a thing also. I'm a coach and it's my job to be good at reading people. I don't care what or who you guys do, as long as you don't bring it to practice or games."
Jaide nodded.
"I wish you would have told me this to begin with, Jaide. I wouldn't have gotten so mad at you."
"I'm sorry, Coach."
"You can play in the Arlington game but you're not off the hook. You still broke the rules, no exceptions. You still owe me ten suicides at practice."
She was ecstatic. "Yes sir!"
"Get outta here."
She leapt up from the chair. "Thanks, Coach!"
She left the office, excited that the issue was over.
The four of them headed upstairs. "So, how'd it go?"
"I'm off the hook!"
"Nice!"
"I still have to run the suicides but I don't really care. I get to play at Arlington!"
"I can't believe he's still making you run."
"Who cares? I'm just glad I get to play."
"He said he knew about you two, and me and Blaize, like our relationships or whatever."
"Really? Weird. I guess we shouldn't be surprised. He is really perceptive."
Grr and Alex split from Blaize and Jaide when they arrived at their rooms. "Hey, get changed. We’re meeting in the lounge down the hall for pizza. Matt ordered."