Page 18 of Love on the Sidelines

Stu's mom finally arrives and I don't think I've ever been so grateful for an interruption.

"I'm so sorry. I got going on things and didn't look at the time. Let's go, Stu." She waves for him to get into the vehicle, but he doesn't move.

“I can understand that. But in the future, I’d advise you to stay at the park. This is just a short clinic for the kids to learn skills. We aren’t a babysitting service.” It’s the best I can do without raising my voice.

Susan looks like I just slapped her. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. I had some errands to run.”

Nodding, I say, “I get that, but next time he isn’t picked up on time, we’ll have to call the police or social services.”

The woman is furious and waves her son over again.

"Do you want me to walk over with you, Stu?" I ask. He's been stuck to my side since all the kids left, so maybe that will help him.

"No!" he yells.

"We've got to go home and get lunch," the woman says. As if on cue, my stomach growls.

Stu slides back against the bench and folds his arms, giving all of us a scowl.

"I have to go help another group of kids soon. If you go home now, you'll be able to come back for the next practice." I'm pleading at this point, doing my best to avoid eye contact with Charlie. I'm not sure what it is about that guy, but he makes me feel uncomfortable. Not in a creepy way where I'm going to wake up to him staring in my window, but he asks questions that go way too deep for someone I don't know that well. It took me months to open up to my roommates.

And yet he’s been so different, aside from the pickleball incident. Maybe he’s just great at covering up his true personality? Or what if this is the real him?

The mom finally comes and kneels down in front of Stu, trying to bribe him with everything under the sun.

Part of me wants to yell at her to pick him up and carry him football style back to her car. But with how stubborn he's been during our classes, I'm sure that wouldn't go well.

I give the two of them a small smile and say, "I have to go prep for the kids that are getting here now. I'll see you next time, Stu."

I stand up and have only taken a couple of steps away when the boy latches onto my leg, making me slow to a shuffle.

"Stay."

"I can't, buddy. I've got to help other boys and girls."

"Look at this," Charlie says. I turn to look at him and see he's holding out a dollar bill.

If he's going to bribe this kid with money, I'm silently praying it works.

"I'll give you this dollar if you can find it," Charlie says. With a flick of his hand, the dollar bill is gone. The tension around my ankle eases up and Stu is lunging for Charlie's arm. I should probably stay and make sure Stu goes with his mom, but I'm free and I need to get out of here before I'm pinned down again.

I jog over to the field and hide behind a post for a moment, checking to see if Stu follows. He's not there, which means Charlie is his new victim, or his mom finally wrangled him.

Kids arrive at the field and I go through the same stations as this morning, only this time my teenage helpers are a little more attentive.

By the time the end of class rolls around, my stomach is growling and pretty much crying at the lack of food I've given it. I don’t do well skipping meals.

With everything cleaned up and put into the equipment room, I walk in to write up the game plan for the next clinic. I usually keep things from other clinics, but since this is the first time we’ve done this one, I still have some things to work through.

"Oh, I was supposed to give you this," Brenda says with a big grin. She hands me a white paper bag, which can only mean that it’s from my favorite Chinese place here in town.

"Who bought this?" I ask, opening the bag and breathing in the sweet and sour chicken with a side of broccoli and rice. "Thank you. Did the boss buy everyone lunch today?"

That only happened once upon a time, like five years ago.

Brenda's grin looks almost like a clown, ‌and she shakes her head. "Charlie bought it for you."

I frown, looking from the bag to Brenda and then to the door, like there was some random detail I'd be able to pick up in the process that would make it all make sense.

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