Oh Boy! (BL)

7 - A Piece Of Me (2/3)

Nine days was a dang short time to teach Kenner all the stuff Mrs. Lapels had put on this term's schedule. But he gave it his all and was on time for each of our tutoring sessions. He even took the sessions that cut his practice in half without complaining.

Unlike his teammates.

"C'mon, Kenner! Without your defensive power, Evans will beat our asses! Evans!", complained one of his tall mates from what they called their defensive "wall," on Tuesday afternoon.

Kenner pushed the hand that wanted to pull him on the field away. "One second, Ducky! I almost got this!"

Ducky, whose actual name was Antony Cavendish, rolled his deep brown eyes. "You're five minutes over your time limit! K...ouch!"

A soccer ball hit Ducky's head shortly before Clay grabbed him by the neck. "Let him study, Duck. And get your British ass back on the field."

Ducky growled but gave in anyway.

"Are you both doing okay?" asked Clay. Sweat was glistening on his forehead and he'd placed both of his hands on his hips. He might've talked to both of us, but Kenner was the only one he was looking at – with a frown.

"He's making progress," I told him honestly. "If he keeps studying this hard, he won't pass the exam." All color left Kenner's face when he looked up from his notes. "He'll rock it!"

He grinned.

"And now go and play soccer." I nodded towards the team. "If you finish the tasks until tomorrow, that's perfectly fine."

He was obviously doubting my words, so I took the responsibility of closing the lid on his study book. "Go."

Clay and I were watching him leave. "Thank you, Ken."

I was just about to reply, but Clay was already on his way back to his teammates leaving me wondering if I'd done anything wrong.

"Don't take it personally, son."

The bench bent and I was surprised to see that coach Simpson sat down next to me. Since our little talk on my first day as the team's protégé, the only things he said to me were orders to put up cones or fill up water bottles. Now, though, he appeared to be...satisfied.

"This term's first big tournament is coming up in a couple of weeks. The boys are pumped - Clay most of them all." He cleared his throat. "Listen, son. I want to thank you."

I blinked. "Sir?"

"For helping Kenner study."

I shrugged. "No big deal."

"But it is, son." The coach never took his eyes from the field. "Kenner loves soccer and he's one of the most hard-working defensive players I've coached so far. But his parents are traveling a lot for their business and he's taking care of his siblings on his own."

Again, his siblings. I needed to apologize to him.

I watched Kenner and Ducky romping around the field.

"He'll pass, sir. I promise."

"I'll hold you to your word." Coach Simpson patted me on the shoulder. "And thanks to Tarboro's little confession, my boys won't have to worry about you any longer, from Friday on."

"Pardon?" I furrowed my eyebrows. Which confession?

"I bet you know what I mean." He winked at me. "The teacher's conference will decide if Gordon, Jeremy, and Tarboro will get banned from school grounds. Then my boys can finally focus on the game again."