Authors: Matt Christopher
Even by Theo’s normal standards, he played terribly. After a while, he was able to tune out all the nasty remarks of the other
guys. Only Paul refused to join in the fun of teasing Theo, but after a while even Paul stopped defending him. Finally, after
what seemed like many hours, the game ended.
As Theo and Paul trudged back to their bikes, Theo was too depressed to talk. Paul finally said, “You shouldn’t let that kind
of stuff get to you the
way it does. That only makes a guy like Van keep going.”
“What am I supposed to do? Get into a fight with him?” Theo demanded. “What do you mean, ‘shouldn’t let that kind of stuff
get to me’?”
Paul bent down to unlock his bike. “Of course you shouldn’t fight him. Just prove that he’s wrong. Show him up.”
Theo stood up from removing the chain from his bike. “How am I supposed to prove that he’s wrong if he happens to be right?
Because he is. I’m not an athlete, and I was dumb to pretend that I was one! Now, if I don’t do this race, they’ll be on my
back forever about it. I should have just…” He didn’t finish the sentence.
Paul waited a moment as they pedaled toward home. “You should have just what? You saying you’re sorry you started running?!”
“I don’t know!” Theo burst out. “I don’t know what I should do.”
“Then I’ll tell you,” said Paul. “You should keep it up. Then, when you run that race, they’re going to look dumb.… And I’m
going to make sure that Van pushes that peanut!”
“But I don’t think I can!” Theo insisted.
Paul waved a hand in disgust. “Because Van says so? You’re going to let
Van Sluman
decide what you can and can’t do? Tell me, yes or no: did you make real progress this week?”
“Well, sure,” admitted Theo. “But —”
“No buts. You got better. You can keep getting better, too — unless you quit.”
“Sure, I ran half a mile,” Theo said. “That’s a long way from five kilometers.”
“When you think of that day in gym class, running half a mile is a big step in the right direction,” Paul said. “But you can’t
get discouraged — especially not because of some dumb teasing. You owe it to your aunt Marj to keep going. And you owe it
to yourself, too. You get down on yourself way too easily. Some guy says you’re an awful athlete and you go, ‘Oh, okay, I
guess I am.’
No!
What you do is, you say, ‘Oh, yeah? I’ll show you you’re wrong!’ You think Van Sluman is a better athlete than you are? He’s
just more self-confident, period.”
Theo shook his head. “I don’t know.…”
“I know,” insisted Paul. “Listen, Gee, don’t let what happened today turn you around. You have to
use
it to give you another reason to keep working. If you need something else to think about while you work out, think of Van
Sluman pushing that peanut down Main Street. On a hot summer day. While you watch.”
Theo laughed. “Yeah, I’d love to see that. Okay, you’re right. I’ll keep going. I’ll be out here in the park tomorrow.”
“And the next day…,” Paul said.
“And the day after that,” Theo went on.
“All
right!”
Paul said, reaching out a clenched fist. “Want some company tomorrow?”
Theo smiled. “Absolutely.”
I
’m really going to push myself today,” said Theo. He and Paul were doing their warm-up stretches, before beginning their workout.
It was the morning after the disastrous softball game.
“What do you mean, ‘push yourself’?” asked Paul. “You’ve already been pushing yourself, you know. You don’t want to push yourself
too hard, especially today. It’s really hot, in case you didn’t notice.”
Theo
did
notice. Even though it was still pretty early, the thermometer outside the Gordimers’ kitchen window had read close to ninety
degrees when Theo and Paul had left for the park. It would certainly become hotter during the next hour or so.
“I think I can put more energy into these workouts,” Theo said. “I only had to stop once during the running part of my last
session. Well, I think I can
make it through without stopping at all, if I just refuse to quit. Anyway, that’s what I want to do today.”
Paul looked unconvinced. “Yesterday, you said that would be your goal for the end of the week. Now you want to do it today.
I think you should think again, maybe take it a little easier. Especially in this heat. You could —”
But Theo wasn’t ready to listen. “I’ve been taking it too easy on myself all my life. That’s going to stop. Today. I can do
it, I know I can.”
“You can get heat exhaustion, too,” Paul pointed out. “Dad told me what can happen when you make yourself work too hard in
really hot weather. It sounds pretty awful. You get weak and dizzy and you can just collapse. This is the first really hot
day since you started running. I think it’d be a good idea to work up to it little by little, like you planned to at first.
“Dad says that if you set your goals so high that you can’t make them, you just risk getting hurt. The least that’ll happen
is that you’ll be discouraged. If I were you, I’d go a little easy today. If it was cooler, it might make more sense to push
like that.”
Theo shook his head. “Uh-uh, today I’m going to
walk ten minutes, run ten minutes, and then walk ten minutes. That’s it. See, you don’t get it, Paul. You’re a good athlete.
You always have been. Someone like me, who never was any good at sports, I have to work harder at it if I’m going to get anywhere.
That’s what I have to do, so that’s what I’m
going
to do. All right?”
Paul didn’t look like he was convinced, but he saw that Theo was not going to change his mind. “All right,” he said. “Let’s
go.”
As they started walking, Paul let Theo set the pace, which was fast — faster than Theo had been walking. Even Paul, who
was
a better natural athlete, thought that this was a high speed to begin a workout on a hot day, but he said nothing, not wanting
to get into an argument with his friend.
Suddenly, Paul looked at Theo and said, “Yo, Gee, didn’t you bring anything to drink?”
Theo realized that he’d forgotten the bottle of sports drink that he usually brought with him and kept in a little canvas
bag on a belt. “That’s all right,” he said, not wanting to stop the session. “I’ll be okay without it.”
“It’s a bad idea not to drink anything when you
work out on a hot day,” said Paul. “Look, we can just start again after you get that bottle.”
Theo shook his head. “Next time, I’ll remember to bring it with me. This time, I’m going to manage without it. I have to toughen
up, right? Well, doing without a drink for a half hour is going to help me toughen up. Those guys aren’t going to get on my
case anymore. Come on!”
So they walked on. Every so often, Paul cast worried glances at Theo. As the walk continued, Theo realized that he had begun
to sweat heavily, more so than he usually did at this early stage of a workout. Also, his face felt hot. Well, of course he
felt hot, and he was sweating. It was a hot day. It figured that he’d sweat. Good, he’d lose more weight.
“Gee? Yo, Gee! You want a drink?” Theo turned to find Paul holding out a bottle toward him.
Theo shook his head. “No, I’m okay. I don’t need it.” He kept walking, staring at the path in front of him. Unlike other days
when he and Paul were together, Theo didn’t feel at all like talking. He realized that he was beginning to breathe harder
than he usually did. Well, that was to be expected. It was getting hotter.
Theo had lost all sense of passing time when he heard Paul’s watch beep. Ten minutes had gone by, and it was time to start
running.
“Here we go,” Theo said, trying not to show that he was beginning to pant, and broke into a run. Paul stood motionless, watching
him, and then ran to catch up. Theo felt his friend’s eyes on him and knew that Paul was getting more and more concerned.
“Listen, Theo, you better slow down and take a drink,” Paul said at last.
Theo didn’t say anything but waved off Paul’s bottle and kept running. His face now felt like it was on fire, and his mouth
was very dry. He had no idea how long they’d been running, or how fast they were going. He just knew that he was going to
keep running, that he
had
to keep running until he heard Paul’s watch beep again and he could finally slow down.
Except he
had
slowed down… hadn’t he? It was hard to tell. It was so hot, and his mouth was so dry, and he thought he heard Paul calling
his name but it sounded very far away, as if Paul were miles and miles away.…
“Gee?
Gee!
Hey man, do you hear me?”
Theo blinked. For a moment he didn’t know where he was. Only that he felt really awful — sick, hot, and very, very thirsty.
Then he realized that he was lying facedown on the ground.
“Gee?” Paul said, kneeling next to Theo. “Talk to me, dude!”
“Umph,” Theo said obediently. He tried to move but found that it was hard to do.
Finally, with Paul’s help, Theo was able to turn over and get into a sitting position. Paul spilled a little of the liquid
from his bottle onto a handkerchief and put it on Theo’s forehead. It felt wonderful. He put the bottle in Theo’s hand.
“Take a drink. Just a sip. Do it!”
Theo nodded and swallowed a little of the sports drink. He’d never tasted anything better in his whole life and wanted to
gulp it all down, but Paul pulled the bottle away.
“A little at a time,” he said. “Now, take a little more, then just rest for a bit.”
After another drink, Theo looked around. They
were in a wooded part of the park, and there was nobody else around. Theo sat there, not saying anything, just breathing slowly
and trying to clear his head.
A few minutes later, Theo said, “I’m feeling a little better, I think.”
“Good,” said Paul. “Think you can stand up if I give you a hand?”
“I guess,” Theo replied. Slowly, with Paul’s help, Theo managed to get to his feet. He swayed a little but stayed upright.
“Wow,” he whispered, blinking. “That was…
wow.
What happened?”
Paul said, “You were running, sort of. I mean, your arms and legs were moving, but not, like, together. Then you folded. It
was like your legs turned into cooked spaghetti. You went down and stayed down. Man, I was scared!”
“But why?” Theo asked.
“It must have been the heat. Plus, you wouldn’t take a drink. Call it heat exhaustion or dehydration or both. And you passed
out.”
Theo licked his lips. “Could I have a little more to drink?”
Paul handed him the bottle. “Take it easy. Just a little, or you could get sick.”
Theo drank slowly. He still felt rubbery, but he was beginning to recover.
“There’s a bench over there,” Paul said, pointing. The bench was under a tree, fifty yards away. “Think you can get there
and sit down?”
Theo stared at the bench. It seemed very far away. “Yeah, I think. Let’s go.”
After what seemed like an endless walk, they got to the bench. Theo sat down heavily and closed his eyes. Paul sat next to
him.
“Thanks,” Theo said after a few minutes. “You didn’t say, ‘I told you so.’”
Paul shrugged. “I figured you didn’t need me to tell you. I bet you don’t forget to bring liquid along again. And that you
won’t push too hard — especially on a hot day.”
Theo laughed weakly. “You win both bets. I was really dumb.”
“I won’t argue,” Paul agreed. “Listen, when you think you’re ready, we’ll walk back to where we left our bikes. Then we can
call and get a lift from there. I think you’re better off not trying to ride home.”
Theo frowned. “I was sort of hoping not to tell my parents about this. They’d only get worried and upset.”
“You sure about that?” Paul asked. “You didn’t do anything that was so terrible. You just made a mistake, and it looks like
you’ll be all right, so why hide it? Then, if they ever do find out, it’ll look even worse. I’d call them for a ride, and
I’d tell them what happened and that you learned an important lesson.”
Theo sighed. “I guess you’re right. Let’s go back. I think I can make it.”
“We’ll take it real easy,” Paul said.
Theo grinned. “Excellent idea.”
It took a lot more time to walk back than it had to get to the place where Theo had collapsed. Theo didn’t think he would
faint or fall over again, but he still felt sick and feverish.
As they got back to the bikes, Theo saw a public phone and called his house. Mrs. Gordimer answered, and Theo asked for a
lift. He gave his mother a short version of what had happened to him and assured her that he was feeling better.
“Well, if you say you’re all right, I’ll take the van so you can fit your bikes in.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
When Mrs. Gordimer drove up, she looked concerned, but she brightened when she saw that her son was on his feet. The boys
loaded their bikes into the back of the van.
“Maybe it’s not a good idea to be too active when the weather’s this hot,” Mrs. Gordimer said.
“It’s usually okay,” Paul replied, “as long as you’re careful.”
“Which I wasn’t,” added Theo. “But now I know better.” He settled back and closed his eyes.
“You learned a valuable lesson, then,” Mrs. Gordimer said.
“I sure did,” said Theo softly, not opening his eyes. He wasn’t sure what the lesson was. Maybe it was that some people aren’t
meant to be athletes.
T
he next morning, Theo woke up and felt better — but not completely. He was still a little shaky and his face felt hot. Mr.
Baskin had called the previous evening and advised Theo not to work out the next day.
“Take it easy and you can probably go back to your regular routine the day after. And, even though you already know this,
I’ll say it again:
never
go without drinking, especially on a hot day.”
“Never again,” Theo said. “I was really, really dumb yesterday.”
“Don’t let it get to you,” said Paul’s father. “You’re not the first person to ever make a mistake. And you can just pick
right up where you left off.”