Ty’s about to throw the ball when he twists his head and sees me, and he heads our way. “How’s it goin’, man?” He shifts his attention to Sam. “Hey, I’mTy.”
Sam introduces himself, his voice cracking as he shakes Ty’shand.
Kelly approaches and offers his own introduction, and Sam steps away from me, almost as though he notices that it’s going to be an awfully weird game if he needs me to be at his immediate side the wholetime.
He obviously wasn’t lying about how long it’s been since he’s gotten out to meet new people. Funny because he’s so outgoing and playful at work, I certainly hadn’t expected him to behave like this when I brought him out, but now I recognize just how much he really needsthis.
“Jesse, Kelly was telling me that he thinks Alabama’s gonna be stomping the Bulldogs thisyear.”
“Say it ain’t so,” I say, feigning shock, even though we all know Kelly’s a huge Bamafan.
“We gotta lose this traitor once and for all,” Ty insists. “What about you, noob? Bama orBulldogs?”
Sam hums and haws before admitting, “I don’t really followsports.”
“Eh, not a big deal. Gives us time to persuadeyou.”
His comment makes Sam smile, and his tension seems to liftslightly.
I introduce Sam to some of the other guys as they continue arriving, meeting some new to the scrimmage team as well before we split off into teams. Ty, Sam, and I pick the same team, as I figure that’s the best way for him to ease intoit.
A few quarters in, Eric arrives and sits on the sidelines with some of the other guys’ partners and family who came to watch. I enjoy that he comes more, even to these practice games, and I can tell it makes Ty happytoo.
As we continue playing, our team is doing fine, but I can tell Sam’s doing his best to stay out of the fray. Still, he misses a few catches and apparently struggles to determine his own strength when he makes passes on the occasion when he manages to get theball.
He’s all uncertainty when he fumbles once again, but my bud Kelly approaches him and pats him on the shoulder. “It’s all good, kid. Don’t sweat it. It’s only for funanyway.”
Sam chuckles uneasily at his remark. “Yeah, I know,” he says, but I’m sure it’s working up some things from hispast.
Ty’s good about making sure to include him, passing to him when he can, and in the last quarter, he passes to Sam, who catches it and darts down the field. He’s already displayed some impressive speed, but this time, it’s like he’s not holding back. Maybe just seizing what he fears might be a rareopportunity.
“Look at the little gazelle go,” Ty notes as we run alongside one another down thefield.
What Sam seems to lack in his passing and catching abilities, he makes up for in being one of the most agile of the guys, dodging the defense nearly effortlessly before scoring his firsttouchdown.
Ty is the loudest to cheer him on, calling out, “Go,Gazelle!”
As Sam turns around, his face is red, but for a different reason this time. He grins ear to ear. And my hope is that this experience will make him come out of his shell about all this…at least alittle.
* * *
“Thank you for inviting me,”Sam tells me as we sit at a table covered with different pizzas at a local pizzeria where the guys and I meet. Eric made sure to hang with the guys a little before heading back to the house. He likes to show up, but he comments on how he doesn’t like to crowd me or Ty. But his showing up for scrimmages and games means a lot toTy.
“It was a fun day. Thanks for coming,” I tellSam.
“You’re free to join us anytime,” Ty, who sits on the opposite side of Sam, insists. “You’re fast. We can use that on theteam.”
Sam snickers, blushing. “If I could only catch the damnball.”
“Show up early, and we can throw a few beforehand,” Ty offers. “You said you hadn’t played before, and you didn’t warm up or anything. Dude, if I don’t throw a couple before a game, I suck at catching and passing too. These are things you can figure out,Sam.”
It’s so like Ty to step in and help a guyout.
Kelly sits across from us, shaking his head as he glares at Ty. “Sam, don’t listen to Ty. He’s trying to make you a Bulldogs fan. This is all a conversiontactic.”
“Damnstraight.”
“Sam, don’t believe a word he says aboutBama.”
