SEVENTEEN years to Live

12 ●○► ANOTHER TEAM

Kate gets to her feet, cheering for her boyfriend, yelling his name repeatedly until Dave notices.

“I love you, baby!” Dave yells from the field, blowing a kiss at her.

“I love you, too!” Kate says, then claps her hands at him before settling back down. “You see how my boyfriend plays?” I know she is looking at us. Her voice carries a boastful tone. She isn’t like this before. She never boasts us about something before. I know she’s proud, not only of her boyfriend but also the success she’s had of getting him. No one minds her. And with that, she turns to watch her Dave and my Bryan fight to get the ball.

Now I know how Dave plays. He is a good Stealer. Bryan has the ball in his protection, keeping it away from Dave’s long legs. Dave tries to get past through Bryan’s guard, but my boyfriend has a good talent of keeping it safe. Bryan is moving fast, and I see Dave getting tired and confused of him already. Bryan is having fun playing with the ball, like teasing Dave.

“You cannot get it, can you?” Bryan says. “Come on. Get it.”

Dave takes a long breath before he lunges forward at Bryan. Bryan dodges very quickly, the ball still in him. Lucky that Dave hesitates for a moment. It buys time for Bryan to kick the ball hard to the goalpost. The ball soars high into the air, making Emil alert. He raises his hands above his head and opens his palms. He can catch it, I think. And he will.

Before the ball reaches Emil’s palms, Beth blows her whistle. All pair of eyes goes to her, each wondering what is wrong.

“What’s the problem, Beth?” Patrick, who is the nearest player to her, asks.

Beth is silent for a moment as she glances from Patrick to Emil, then back to Patrick again. She sighs, biting her lips, her face showing anxiousness.

“Hey!” It’s Paul, his hands on his waist. “Why did you sound the whistle?” I notice the curious tone in his voice.

“Well,” Beth starts. “I am so sorry guys. I never meant to do that. I was supposed to scream but I forgot that the whistle was still in my mouth. Sorry.”

“Oh, Beth,” Heather sighs in exasperation. “You are so stupid!”

“So careless, too,” Kate says.

For a second I realize now why Heather and Kate are complaining. Emil was about to catch the ball. Their team was about to earn one-third of another score. I glance toward Emil’s direction. The ball is a feet in front of him. I am definitely sure Emil flinched when the whistle blew, and he did not catch it.

Beth says, “Sorry guys.” And she makes a peace sign to the players, especially to Baron, Dave and Emil.

THIRTY MINUTES LATER

The Blue Team has earned another point—only one point to go and they win. The Red Team has eight, and Emil’s Team has eight and two-third—only one catch from Emil and they will become tie with the Blue team.

In those thirty minutes, I was amazed by how excellent Dave played. He snatched the ball many times from the other teams and shot it toward the goalpost. Emil had gotten more serious now, catching the ball in his hands carefully so it wouldn’t fall down to result a “no one-third” score. Baron had rarely had the ball. He shot it once, but Michael was there and got the ball.

Dave is running at his full speed toward Paul who has the ball. I can see in Paul’s face that he is nervous by the fact that Dave is chasing behind him. Paul doesn’t know what to do with the ball. He is just left with two choices. Either he gives Emil’s team a score when he shoots the ball, or pass it to Patrick or Jed who are very far from him in the field. He’s so confused. But before Dave gets to him, he makes his decision, and kicks the ball toward the goalpost.

His kick is perfect. The ball seems to dance in the air before it falls down toward the goalpost. But there are a lot of odds that Emil can catch it. If he catches it, his team and the Blue Team will play for the win.

Finally the ball suddenly stops in his hands. He did it. They will play with the Blue Team to win the game.

Although the Red Team has lost, they still have to play in the field. They can still earn a score so they will all tie. Who will win? I guess it depends on how the teams will play. I will continue to support Bryan, Michael and Marvy.

Heather and Kate have gotten to their feet to cheer Emil’s Team. They make their voices louder, like they are trapped inside a burning house and not getting any help. I also get into my feet, yelling my boyfriend’s name and also his teammates. Janine and Beth have joined us few moments later, just clapping their hands and waiting for the game to resume.

It is about three minutes before Beth blows the whistle, and the game finally starts.

The Red Team has the ball. It is Patrick who tries to get it closer to the goalpost. He runs as fast as he can, pushing his feet harder on the ground the grasses he steps on are pushed into the soil. Meanwhile, Baron chases behind him, reading Patrick moves so he can know what is the next thing he’ll do. When Baron is a few meters from Patrick now, he gestures something to Dave—a soccer language which means to help him. Dave runs in Patrick’s opposite direction. They are trying to corner him so they can get the ball and finally win.

But Patrick is a good soccer player. He slows down and turns toward his right where Jed is. He kicks the ball toward him, making Baron and Dave hesitate for what he’s done. Good move!

When Jed gets the ball, I see Bryan appear running toward him. This is it! The Blue Team will finally win. Bryan looks around, finds Michael, and gestures him to help him corner Jed like what Baron and Dave did. They are trying to make it successful. Jed has no one to help him; even his two teammates cannot because they are too far away to do so. I wonder what his next move will be. Is he going to kick it? Or is he going to make Bryan and Michael try to get it from him?

“GO BRYAN!” I shout, my hands all over my mouth so he can hear. Instead of smiling, he just becomes more serious than ever. I can see the lust for the win trailing down his face. As he gets near of Jed, Michael already reaches him behind and snatches the ball. He passes it to Marvy who is near the goalpost and expects that he is going to whack his head to put it in.

Instead, he makes it bounce in his head, and Baron stands over the landing place of the ball before scoring another goal.