Chapter Nine
“Are we looking for a pick-up game?”Doug grinned beside Ray.
“I’m in.”Matt came forward.“I can play golf anytime.”
Emily linked arms with her husband.“If you’re short players, I’m in too.”
Ray tried not to be a chauvinist.Emily was such a delicate thing.He could probably snap her in two with one hand, but who was Ray to presume, just because she was smart and pretty, that she couldn’t play.He turned to Amy.
“Don’t look at me.I’ll be your cheering section.They don’t teach football at ballet school.”
He turned to Lisa.
“Sorry.Maid of honor duties call.I’ll see you guys later.”Lisa pushed to her tippy toes and kissed her husband on the cheek.
“How many kids want to play?”Ray asked, and four hands shot up without translation.He nodded.“Make sure it’s okay with your mothers, and we’ll play in the park across the street.”
This time the boys were the ones chatting animatedly at their elders.Ray wished he had some idea what they were saying, when Doug came up beside him.“Looks like the boys are successfully convincing their mothers that this is a good way to reward you.”
They stood patiently waiting, as mothers and sons gave and received last-minute instructions.
Then the elevator doors opened, and Josh came waltzing out.“Lisa said there was a football game?”
Matt laughed.“That’s what I thought too.Getting married is great, but the wedding prep is best left to the women.”Josh’s palm met Matt’s in a high five.
All they needed now were the boys to join them and make their way across the street.
Emily moved next to Amy.“There are enough boys for two teams, which lets me off the hook.Besides,” she said a little louder, “it will give us a chance to visit without all that testosterone around.”
Ray stifled a chuckle at the look Doug shot her, but Amy laughed outright.She had a beautiful laugh.
“We are ready,” the spokesman for the four boys announced.
“Then let’s go.”Ray grinned at his new teammates and nodded politely to the few family members still standing in the lobby.
At the foot of Diamond Head, the street in front of the hotel was no longer the busy thoroughfare found in the heart of Waikiki.Crossing the road, Ray considered how to explain the principles of the sport to the boys.A simple game of touch football seemed the easiest way to proceed.By the time they were all gathered around him on the park lawn, he discovered he was stoked to teach the boys how to play.
“You two will be on my team.”Ray gestured to the original brothers, then turned to Doug.“You with me?”
Arms crossed, Doug dipped his chin in the affirmative.
“And you two boys will be a team with them,” Ray pointed.“But, for now, we’ll start with the basics.How to hold the ball.”Ray demonstrated, grabbing the ball with his fingertips just above the laces.“When you snap, throw the ball, your hand will curve under, making the ball spin.”
The four faces looked at him blankly.
“Any of you watch TV?”
The boys all nodded.
“Have you seenCSI?”
They all smiled.
“You know, when they show a bullet firing, how it spins in the air?”
Again the four faces nodded.
“That’s what a football will do if you throw it correctly.”Ray called to Doug.“Go deep.”And then he demonstrated how to snap the ball.Even though he wasn’t a quarterback, he still had a pretty good arm.Doug ran back and caught it easily.Ray gave him a thumbs-up, and the boys all oohed and aahed.
