Tenacity

The House

"His parents overdosed when he was almost one.  He has been her for twelve years and every time someone almost adopts him they look in his file and don't.  He has had a hard life because of his parents decisions don't do that to him again," my social security worker pleaded with another couple looking to adopt.  There really was no point, I was a disgrace and no one wanted me. 

"I'm sorry but we can't," the guy said and then they walked out.  No one ever saw me, I was learned to be good at blending into the background.  I walked out of the house that day, I was too much of a burden.  I ended up at a community center because I knew that they served free food. 

"Hey, you here for the football camp?" The lady at the front desk asked.  I hesitated, there was no way that I could do this.  I nodded anyway, it was just one day.  There were a ton of guys there and for the first time, I forgot about everything.  Being on the field felt like home, something that I had never felt before.  After the camp was over, I decided that I needed to get out of here as fast as possible. 

"Zach," I heard someone yell and I turned around.  It was one of the volunteers from the high school team, "Are you on a rec team?" He asked.  I shook my head and he smiled.  "You should be, you're pretty good.  But you could definitely use some practice." 

"I um can't," I said trying to get out of there.  He grabbed my arm and saw the stamp.  The house that I was in required that we have a stamp identifying us as one of their kids. 

"You're in foster care.  Zach, if you don't love the game then you can forget that this happened but if you are back here tomorrow night at 6 then I can help you learn to play," he said.  I ran away.  I couldn't waste that guys time on me but then again he offered.  I went back to the house mostly because I knew that I would be found eventually.  They always found me.

The next day, I went back. "Hey Zach, I didn't think I would see you," the high schooler said.

"I didn't either," I responded. He ran drills with me for the next two hours and taught me the basics of the game. If anything it was an escape. I trained with him everyday for around two months before he went off to college. He was a D1 prospect but decided to stop playing. The school year was starting and I am entering seventh grade.

After some serious consideration I went to the athletic directors office. "Hey, what do you need?" The athletic director asked as I sat down.

"I'm Zachery White and I want to play football," I stated. He typed in his computer to pull up my file.

"Well it looks like you meet the academic requirements and you are a child of the state so you can if you want to," the athletic director said before looking at me. "Those guys are going to know that you're a foster kid and they are going to make fun of you. Are you sure that you want to put yourself through that?" He concluded and I took a deep breath.

"Yeah I think I am," I said and the athletic director smiled. I went back to class and I just had to hope that I could handle the teasing.

A few days later, tryouts were being held. "Okay I'm going down the line, tell me your name and position," the coach instructed. Panic washed over me, I had no idea what position I could play. When it got to me I froze a little before quickly answering.

"Zachery White, and I don't have a specific position," I said and the coach nodded writing way more than he did for everyone else. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. The tryout was normal and it was extremely difficult but I put my entire body into every play and I was just praying that I impressed the coach. After tryouts, the coach dismissed everyone but me.

"Based on your speed, agility, and how good you are at interceptions, I am putting you down as a cornerback. I just thought that you would want to know," The coach said.

"Okay thanks for telling me," I responded turning to leave.

"One more thing. Do you play on a team?" The coach asked.

"No why was I bad?" I asked suddenly panicked.

"No, you were pretty good. You have natural ability but your knowledge of how the game works is a little lacking. But you'll learn with experience," The coach concluded finally letting me walk away. Does that mean I made the team? There were still two days of tryouts and I really shouldn't get ahead of myself. It was just the first day of football. But it was today that I decided that nothing would stop me. I am going to go pro and I am going to make a name for myself. I am more than my junkie parent's son.

That year, I made the football team and the coach taught me all the normal plays but he said the only reason he was giving me a shot was because I had learned a lot and applied it during tryouts. I had learned how to play the game in a few months and it was my favorite thing in the world. I spent every second that I wasn't in school practicing. The worst thing that could happen to me at this point was something stopping me from letting all my emotions out on the football field. Most of the guys did in fact make fun of me but I kept my cool and showed them all up on the field. It's a lot harder to trash talk someone who is outplaying you.