Chapter Eleven
It was the following day and the team stood in the main park, not far from the community center.
Katie, Stella, Dylan, Eli, Harrison, Stryker, and Aurelia were all dressed in gray sweats that had bold M’s and W’s emblazoned on the shirts.
They’d selected the name of the Mountainville Wildcats. Stryker had rushed the order at the town’s local monogram shop after the seven had met yesterday with the news that Dylan was in.
Now, they were ready to practice.
“The surface will be bouncy,” Stryker called out as he walked up and down the line of players. “Slick, even. Unforgiving.”
“What makes it unforgiving?” Aurelia asked with a raised hand.
Stryker stopped pacing and thought it over. Finally, he shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just trying to emulate the kind of stuff I’ve heard coaches say on TV.”
“He should do that,” Eli said, jerking his head toward Harrison who stood next to him. “He’s the actor.”
“Solid point,” Stryker said with a nod. “Harrison, you’re the coach and team captain now.”
Stryker got in line and Harrison jogged out of place to address the team. “Team!” he said before pausing to look up and down the row, matching eyes with them all one by one. A long minute passed. “We need to…you know…win one for the Gipper!”
“What?” Katie said.
“Who the hell is the Gipper?” Stella said.
“Uh, I think it’s Ronald Reagan,” Harrison said. “In that movie where he coaches that football playing monkey.”
“There’s no football playing monkey,” Eli said. “You’re thinking of Bedtime for Bonzo where Ronald Reagan plays the psychologist who is trying to teach a monkey human traits and all that.”
“Ronald Reagan the president?” Aurelia said.
“Yeah,” Eli said. “He was an actor first.”
“Not a particularly good one,” Stella chimed in.
“Not a good president or actor?” Eli said.
“I don’t want to get into politics,” Stella said. “So I’ll keep my opinion of his administration to myself. But he wasn’t a great actor.”
“Well what movie has a football playin’ monkey?” Harrison said, still racking his brain, trying to remember.
“I’m on it,” Katie said, searching Google on her phone. “Here it is. Bonzo Goes to College. It’s a sequel to Bedtime for Bonzo . In this one the chimp goes to a university and joins the football team. Only Ronald Reagan isn’t in it.”
“Oh, I’d totally watch that movie,” Aurelia said. “I’m a sucker for a good monkey flick.”
“Same,” Katie said.
“Guys, guys,” Stryker said. “We’ve got to get this on track. If we don’t practice, we’ll never win. But I don’t know anything about leading a football team. I don’t think Harrison does, either.”
Harrison nodded. “The monkey thing was all I had. I was going to end by saying, ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall.’ It doesn’t have anything to do with football. But it’s inspiring.”
A few of the Littles groaned.
“I played,” Dylan said. “Three years in college. Just Division II.”
“That’s nothing to sneeze at,” Stryker said. “Would you lead us?”
Everyone else nodded and voiced their agreement.
“Sure,” Dylan said. “I’ve never coached. But I know some drills and stuff.”
“Better than anything I’ve got,” Harrison said. “Clearly.”
“Let’s hear it for our team captain, Dylan!” Eli said.
The group cheered. The celebration was cut short, though, when a new voice called out and said, “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the Wildcats. Ready to lose?”
They looked to see a group of Littles emerging from a nearby row of trees.
Trouble had come to the park. And it was going to be wild.