The Fumble Of A Quarterback

Chapter 7: Team That Isn't A Team

Happy Monday and look out for the <>! 

The ride to the stadium the next day was quiet. I wasn't sure if now was the right time to bring up what mom said the other day but maybe she had a point about me not knowing if Everett was the cause of stress. There was only one way to get to the bottom of it before I jumped to any solid conclusions. 

"What stresses you?" I asked dad as he drove to practice.

"Oh, that's an easy one. When I'm hungry. That stresses me. Or when the cap on the toothpaste gets left off, or when you don't hang your coat on a hanger, or..."

I laughed as I shook my head. "As useful as this information is, I wanted to know about work. What stresses you about that?"

He frowned as he stroked his mustache. "When the team isn't a team."

During the first practice, he talked about teamwork and why it was so important. But the fact was, our team wasn't a team. "Our team has issues. Why isn't that happening?"

"Oh that's a long story and I'm not sure if I know the entire answer, but it has to do with kicking a player off the team at the end of last year."

This wasn't something I heard before. Suddenly, I was interested in the conversation. "What was his name?"

He shook his head. "I don't want to jinx anything, so I better not say."

The thing was, I would find out the answer with or without his help. Honestly, Google would even tell me the answer. "Fine. Why did he get kicked off?"

"Oh, because of some rules that were broken and trust shattered. It was a whole legal mess and I think we are still dealing with the fallout of that."

"And one person caused all this damage?" I asked in disbelief. I thought Everett caused these problems, but maybe he wasn't entirely to blame since he was still on the team.

Dad turned into the parking lot of the stadium. "One person is capable of more than you know."

I knew one person could cause so much joy but so much pain. His words made me remember a time when he wasn't as cheerful, and it caused a shiver to go down my spine. I shook my head, not wanting to remember the trouble his brother brought into our lives. "Is there any team member that stresses you currently?"

He laughed as he got out of the car. "This sounds more like an interrogation, Nora."

I merely shrugged at him, trying to downplay my questions. "I'm just wondering. Figured I know little about the players and your job and I'm just trying to understand it better."

"The short answer? All of them caused stress to me at different times."

The vague response caused me to frown. It wasn't what I was expecting or wanting, and it made me feel as empty as a house after a Christmas party.

"But great talk Nora, I'm happy you are really going headfirst into this stuff like a diver into a sea." He placed his hand on my shoulder and gave a squeeze. "It makes me prouder than I could even say. Anyhow, enough talk about that, let's get this day started."

This time as I followed dad into the stadium as the sun rose behind us, I realized that there was more to this sport than I knew. There was more to this team than I knew and if I wanted to help dad out and help him make this team better, I needed to be more involved. All these players made the team a living, breathing organism.

Maybe Everett wasn't the entire problem, but he was for sure extending the problem and that should be addressed. Dad worked too hard to have one kid mess it all up for him. Before I confronted Everett about shaping up, I needed to gather more information.