“What’s your name?”
“Matt.”
“Why don’t you hang back with me for a bit. Does that sound okay?”
He nods, and together, we wait for every kid to get their time with the Fischer brothers. As soon as the last one has gone through, I take Matt over to them.
“Lucas, Logan, this is my friend Matt.”
The brothers pause, recognizing him immediately. When he doesn’t say anything, they give each other a look that tells me they know a lot more about what’s going on with Matt than I do.
“Do you play sports, Matt?” Logan asks.
“Soccer.”
“Ooh, that’s a good one,” Lucas says. “We played all through middle school. Loved it. Sucked at it, but loved it.”
Matt gives him a half smile.
“Do you play competitively or on a rec league?”
“Uh, competitively. At least I used to. I was on a travel team.”
“Wow,” Logan says, his eyebrows raising. “You must be good. Travel teams are tough to get on.”
Matt nods, but he’s still standing with his arms crossed tightly around himself. He looks like he wants to say more but can’t. Logan and Lucas wait, though. The other guys are all getting up from their tables, but not the Fischer brothers.
“My mom died last month,” the boy says, voice barely above a whisper. “She used to take me to every practice.”
Both Fischers nod.
“I hate playing now. She’d be so mad at me if she knew, but I hate it. It reminds me of her.”
“Did she like watching you play?” Lucas asks.
A sob escapes Matt’s throat, and he nods fast. “Yeah, she loved it. She always said she was my number one fan.”
“Was she more of a foam-finger fan or a face paint fan?”
“Both. And she was so loud, I could hear her anywhere.” He looks like he wants to laugh, but he’s too busy trying not to cry. “I used to be so embarrassed about the way she’d cheer.”
A sob rushes out of him, but he sucks in his breath, like he’s trying to pull it back in.
Logan blows air out of his mouth in a fast swoosh that makes me glance at him.
But Lucas just nods. “I bet she loved embarrassing you.”
Matt fully laughs. “I think she did. She said she wasn’t like other soccer moms—she was alamesoccer mom.”
Lucas and Logan laugh. But they’re crying, too. There are too many emotions to hold back.
“She’d hate if you quit forever, Matt,” Lucas says.
The boy blinks hard.
“Yup,” Logan agrees, his voice shaking. “It’s even more reason to play now that she’s gone, because you’re playing for her.”
“But it hurts,” Matt cries, his shoulders shaking.
