Gang Tackle (2 page)

“I’m not interested,” Jamal said, shaking his head.

“You sure, kid?”

“I’m sure.”

“If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me.” He smiled for the first time, revealing a shiny gold tooth. “Just look for the car. It’s one of a kind.” The man climbed back into the lowrider. “Let’s roll, Martinez.”

Ice Cube started rapping again. The driver bounced the car up. He stepped on the gas and the engine growled. Jamal watched the Chevy pull out of the parking lot. He checked the license plate—
SS CREW1
.

Jamal stretched out his long legs. He slouched at a desk in the back of his Language Arts class. Mrs. Cooper stood at the front. She held a small paperback in her hand and scowled at the students.

“Who’s done their homework?”

The class was silent.

“Who’s read the first chapter I assigned?

No one raised a hand.

“Who’s even opened the book?”

Still no answer.

Mrs. Cooper marched down the aisle. She came to a stop and crossed her arms. “Darnell, you look like a strong guy. Were you able to pick up the book? Or was it too heavy?” She waved the thin paperback around to show how light it was.

“I must have hurt my arm playing football.” He smiled. “I wasn’t able to lift it.”

The teacher looked around the room. “Carlos…Eli…Jamal, how about you?”

Only Carlos spoke. “We all got injured playing ball as well.”

“I didn’t think we had a football team,” Mrs. Cooper said, eyeing Carlos suspiciously.

“We don’t.” He raised an eyebrow and grinned. “But you know how rough touch football can be.”

“And what about Rico? Isn’t he supposed to be in this class?”

“Aah…I think he’s sick,” Jamal said.

Eli nodded. “Yeah, sick of school.” Jamal, Carlos and the rest of the class all snickered.

Mrs. Cooper put her hands on her hips. “Well, if you’re not going to read at home,
then I’m going to make you read in class. Everybody get out your copy of
The Catcher in the Rye
and start reading. And I don’t want any talking.”

Jamal could hear the teacher muttering to herself as she retreated to her desk. He pulled the book from his backpack and turned to page one. He glanced to his right, where Carlos was sitting. He wasn’t reading. He was too busy scribbling a note.

Carlos folded the paper and tossed it onto Jamal’s desk. Jamal hid the note behind his book so Mrs. Cooper’s hawk eyes couldn’t see it. He opened the paper.

Big meeting in the gym after school.

Something about football. Pass it on
.

Jamal folded up the note and tossed it over to Darnell. Then he went back to reading his book. Not much was sinking in though. His mind was on football. He wondered what the message meant.

Jamal cruised down the hall with Carlos and Darnell. The other kids moved out
of their way. Stayed close to their lockers. They were three strong guys with reputations. No one wanted to mess with them, not even the teachers. Jamal knew most of the stories weren’t true, but he wasn’t going to destroy his street cred by correcting them. He just let people believe what they wanted.

The three rounded the corner and walked into the gym. They bumped fists with Billy and Eli, who were already there. About twenty other players from last year’s team were packed together in a big huddle. They were standing against the wall under the
GO SAINTS GO!
sign left over from last year when there was still a football team.

“Any news, Eli?” Jamal asked.

“Negative. They haven’t started the meeting yet.”

“There’s a rumor the team’s getting back together,” Billy said excitedly.

How can that be? Jamal wondered.

The principal of Southside and the Saints head coach from the year before walked toward them. Principal Campbell and Coach Kemp had been meeting in a
small office at the side of the gym. The principal was new to the school and still trying to make her mark. She was no nonsense and all business. Coach Kemp had run the Southside team for years. He was easygoing and knew football inside out. Jamal and his teammates loved to play for him.

“Listen up,” Coach Kemp said, adjusting his ballcap. Jamal and his teammates put a lid on their conversation and moved a few steps closer. “As you all know, the Saints football program was canceled last year. We just didn’t have the money in our school budget.”

The players cupped their hands around their mouths and booed.

“But Principal Campbell has an exciting announcement to make.”

“That’s right, Coach.” She held up her hands for quiet. “Yesterday I received a call from the president of Fort Sporting Goods.”

Jamal knew all about Fort Sports. They were the biggest sports-equipment company in Canada and had stores all over Toronto. He often stopped by to check out
all the cool football gear. Gear he could never afford.

“Mr. Fort is a big supporter of high school football, and he made me an offer. But before I said yes or no, I wanted to ask what you all thought.”

“Lay it on us,” Carlos said.

The principal cleared her throat. “Mr. Fort wants to donate twenty thousand dollars to Southside High to get the Saints football team going again.”

The gym exploded with cheers and whistles.

“He’s willing to give us all the equipment and uniforms the team needs.”

“So what are we waiting for?” Darnell asked.

“There’s a catch,” Principal Campbell said, glancing around at all the players. “Mr. Fort also wants to be head coach.”

“What about Coach Kemp?” Billy Chang asked. “He’d be the assistant coach, right?”

“I’m afraid not,” Coach Kemp said, shaking his head. “Mr. Fort wants to
coach alone. He says he has his own way of doing things.”

The players groaned at the news Coach Kemp wouldn’t be allowed on the team. But the players were still pumped by the news.

“Is there still time to play this year?” Jamal asked.

“I called the league and told them about our situation,” Coach Kemp explained. “They said that if the team started practice right away, you could still play this season. The Saints’ first game would be in two weeks.”

“So, that’s the deal,” Principal Campbell said. “But like I said, I wanted to ask all you players first. I thought we could take a vote.”

Jamal felt bad that Coach Kemp wouldn’t be part of the team. But he would do almost anything to play on a real football team again. Playing pickup with his friends after school just wasn’t the same. He knew Carlos, Darnell and the other guys felt the same way. If that meant letting some rich guy be coach, well, that was just
the price they had to pay.
How bad could he be anyway?

Principal Campbell raised her arm. “All those in favor of playing football this year?” Every hand in the gym shot up. “Wonderful! I’ll call Mr. Fort and give him the good news.”

Just at that moment the gym door swung open. In walked Rico.

“Looks like someone has made an amazing recovery from being sick,” Carlos joked.

“When I heard there was a football meeting, I suddenly felt cured,” Rico said with a smile. “Did I miss anything?”

“The Saints are back,” Jamal said. “I’ll fill you in.”

“Check out the new unis, man!” Rico’s huge grin curved up like goalposts. He stuck out his arms to show off the new team colors. The uniforms were royal blue with white-and-gold numbers on the front and back. “With threads like these, I’m definitely coming back to school.”

Jamal stood next to Rico in the locker room. He pulled his own jersey over his brand-new shoulder pads. He had never had new equipment before. For years
Southside had made do with gear left over from previous seasons. Jerseys that were ripped from too many tackles, helmets that were missing chin straps, pads that were so thin they wouldn’t protect anyone. Last year Carlos had been hurt because his shoulder pads were too small. Wearing a new helmet, shoulder pads, pants and cleats made Jamal feel like he was in the big leagues. That he played on a school team that cared about football, like all the other school teams did.

“What’s this?” Darnell asked, pointing to a colorful cartoon fort on his shoulder.

“It’s the Fort Sports logo,” Eli said. “You know, like the store.”

Billy grimaced. “It looks like one of those blow-up bouncy castles at a kid’s birthday party.”

“We’re the Saints, not the Bouncy Castles,” Darnell said.

It didn’t seem to bother Carlos. “If a bouncy castle gets us new jerseys and equipment, then I’m cool with it.”

“Me too,” Eli agreed.

The other heads in the locker room nodded. Still, Jamal wasn’t so sure.

Suddenly the door to the locker room swung open. Jamal looked over and was almost blinded. Bright
TV
lights and camera flashes followed a crowd of people. It was a crazy scene. Reporters were shouting questions. Photographers were jumping over each other trying to get in the best position to cover all the action. Principal Campbell led the media crush into the middle of the room. Microphones were thrust in front of her as she began to speak.

“I’d like to have everyone’s attention. This is a big day for Southside football. And none of it would be possible without the gentleman standing to my left.” Principal Campbell nodded at the man beaming next to her. He was big, almost fat. Dark, stubbly hair topped a face that was red and round. Sweat beaded on his forehead. The black suit he wore had to be left unbuttoned at the front. It just wasn’t big enough to cover his paunchy stomach. “I’d like everyone to
meet the president of Fort Sports and the new head coach of the Southside Saints, Mr. Roland Fort.”

Hoots, whistles and applause filled the locker room. Jamal and his teammates knew they wouldn’t be getting to play real football if it wasn’t for Mr. Fort.

“This is a great day for the Southside Saints and a great day for Fort Sports,” Mr. Fort said, holding up a new jersey. He flashed the Fort logo in front of the cameras. “First of all, we can get rid of all that
president
and
Mr. Fort
stuff. From now on, just call me Coach.”

Jamal liked that. Any coach should just be called Coach. But he did wonder why he only showed off the logo for Fort Sports and not the Saints.

“At Fort Sports we want to make sure every high school can have a football team. Even a school like this one.” Coach Fort smiled for the cameras again. “That’s why Fort Sports has donated twenty thousand dollars to get the Southside team going again.” The crowd
hooted and clapped again. “Now, if there are any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.”

Jamal could see some of the reporters had questions, but so did he. A big one. He was nervous in front of all the
TV
cameras, but he asked anyway. “What do you mean,
a school like this one
?”

Coach Fort looked uneasy. He dabbed the sweat from his forehead. “You know, for kids and a school that are…disadvantaged.”

Jamal had never heard anyone describe him as disadvantaged before. Poor, maybe. Having to work hard to get ahead, maybe. But disadvantaged? That sounded like he was beat before he started. He had never felt that way—on or off the football field.

“Let me explain,” Coach Fort said. “I look around the room and I see kids with skin of all different colors. Kids that may not have a bright future because of that. Kids who may want to quit going to class. Who may be wondering
what’s school going to do for me
?”

Jamal glanced at Rico. He was nodding. He hadn’t gone to class the whole first week.
He didn’t think school was going to get him a better job. Jamal thought Rico must be the kind of kid Coach Fort was talking about. But his other friends weren’t like that. Darnell, Carlos, Billy and Eli might not like doing homework, but they all thought school would help them. They all had plans.

“Football is a great reason to come to school,” Coach Fort said, grinning into the cameras. “Maybe it’s the only reason you come to school. And you never know. If the Fort Saints—I mean, the Southside Saints do well, these kids might even get to play college or pro. Now that would be something!”

Jamal’s eyes darted over to Principal Campbell. He saw her jaw drop. He could tell she wasn’t happy with what Coach Fort was saying about their school, but it was too late. She had wanted a football team just like the players had. Saying yes to Roland Fort and his money was the only way to get one. All she could do for now was bite her tongue.

“Principal Campbell,” a reporter said, pointing his microphone at her, “do you
think football is a good reason for kids to come to school?”

“Playing football,” she said, gritting her teeth, “is just one of many good reasons to come to Southside.”

Jamal rolled Coach’s words around in his head. What did he mean? That football was the only reason Jamal went to school? That he had no future because of his skin color? That he wasn’t smart enough? Jamal wasn’t sure he believed any of that. All he knew was that he liked to play football. And Coach Fort was giving him that chance. He couldn’t wait to hit the field.

“Now, who wants to play some football?” Coach Fort asked, pointing to the door.

The locker room exploded with cheers.

“All right!” Carlos shouted.

Billy punched the air. “Let’s do this!”

“Go, Saints, go!” Rico cried.

Coach Fort marched the team outside like he was leading a parade. He talked into the microphones as the
TV
cameras followed beside him. “This is what I’m talking about, people. Look how excited
the players are. Does going to class get them this excited? No way.”

Jamal felt proud wearing his blue-and-gold jersey. But his uniform wasn’t the only new thing at Southside. Thanks to the money from Fort Sports, the field had undergone a makeover too. Grass had been cut, bumps smoothed out, white lines marked every ten yards and stands painted. The Saints gridiron was ready for the first game of the season.