Page 24 of Kiss the Girl
“Hey, Nancy,” I said, walking into the front office. “Is Dr. Boone available?”
“She’s in a meeting.” The secretary nodded toward the principal’s closed door right as it opened. “Or else you lucked out and caught her at the tail end of it.”
The department chairs filed out, talking and ribbing each other as they headed back to their classrooms.
“You have a minute, Dr. Boone?” I asked.
“I have about five, Coach Redmond. What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to talk to you about the football job.”
Nancy’s eyes sharpened, and I could practically see her antennae go up.
“Step into my office, coach. How can I help you?” she asked as she closed the door behind us.
“I’d like to be considered for the head football coach position,” I said as she settled behind her desk.
She paused before lowering herself all the way into her chair. “I’m not sure that’s the right fit.”
Whatever I had expected, it wasn’t an outright rejection. “Can I ask why not?”
“You haven’t even been on the coaching staff this year, and you want to take over? That’s a big leap.”
“Coach Dean thinks I can do it. And he says neither of his assistants want the job. I do. I think I did a good job with wrestling last year, and I’m confident I can bring that same energy to the football program.”
“Program,” she repeated. “That’s the thing. It’s much more than just a team. People around here take football seriously. On a Friday night at the football field, you’d think you were in the heart of Texas. There’s more than the coaching. You have to run a larger staff, work more closely with facilities, manage a larger budget, and maybe most significantly, you have to deal with the boosters.”
“I know, Dr. Boone. I served as the defensive coordinator for a year at my last school.”
“But that’s one year in a part-time capacity. And you left at the end of it.”
Because I’d needed a clean break from Lauren, but I wasn’t about to lay out the dusty old bones of my personal drama for my boss. “I’m a fast learner. I’ve experienced high school football as both a player and a coach, and I understand the Lincoln High school culture. I’ll learn from Coach Dean, and I promise that you’ll feel good about me running the program when he retires.”
She removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes with the type of exhaustion I usually didn’t feel until November when the kids started whining about doing outside sports in the crisp weather.
“First bookworms, now this.”
“Pardon? Did you say bookworms?” Why would that be a problem? I thought we wanted to improve literacy.
“Yes. Literal bookworms worked through about a quarter of the textbooks stored in the library, and now we’ve got to figure out what to do in several of our classes while we place an emergency order. But there’s no such thing as ‘fast’ when it comes to requisitioning new materials.”
“That…sucks.” It didn’t feel like the most professional thing to say, but it was the best way I could sum up the situation.
She gave a short laugh. “Yes, it does. I’d better get on it.”
“So just to be clear, you’ll consider me for the coaching job?”
She sighed. “Legally, I have to. But if we’re being honest, I wouldn’t bank on it if I were you. We need someone more seasoned. It’s a beast with many heads, and it takes an experienced wrangler to make it all work.”
She rose, and I did too. “I’ll find a way to win your confidence on this, Dr. Boone. You’ll see.”
“I admire your enthusiasm, Coach Redmond. I wish I could give you more encouragement, but I try to be as transparent as possible.”
“I appreciate that. It shows me what to shoot for.”
She gave me a polite smile. “I’ll see you this afternoon at the faculty meeting.”
I spent my entire lunch break running the pros and cons. Brooke even texted to see where I was since I usually made it over to her classroom at some point during lunch. I told her to save me a seat at the faculty meeting.
