“Got it.” I’ve been thinking about what kind of coach I want to be since yesterday. I haven’t necessarily figured that out yet, but it’s only been twenty-four hours.
Walking into the head coach’s office, my office, I notice it still has Coach Morales’ name. “We’ll make sure we swap that out for ya,” Principal Jackson tells me when he sees me pause and stare at it.
“Doesn’t bother me.” Coach Morales was a role model. “Coach Morales pushed me to be the best I could be on and off the field each day.” I don’t think I could ever fill his shoes, but I’ll try.
Principal Jackson looks down at his watch. “Alright, well, I got administrative business to take care of. You know where my office is if you need me.”
“Thanks for everything,” I tell him, extending my hand to shake his.
“It’s good to see you, Christian. We’re proud of you,” he replies, his words catching me by surprise. Aside from my mother, and her, no one’s ever told me they were proud of me before. I’ve disappointed a lot of people in my life though, including myself.
Disappointed at myself that I didn’t get the girl.
That I didn’t get to play football.
That I made mistakes I can’t fix.
“Thanks,” I tell him, not knowing what I did to make him be proud of me but not questioning it either. This job fell on my lap when I thought I’d be stuck in construction, forever becoming insane. If he doesn’t remember the Christian Cole I was back then, I’m not about to remind him.
Principal Jackson leaves my office and I close the door. Pulling my phone out of my back pocket, I immediately call my mother. “Hey Ma,” I greet her the moment she answers.
“Hey Christian, how are you?” she asks, her tone sweet as usual.
I take a seat and rest one of my hands on the desk, admiring the picture left behind. It’s of our team, senior year, after winning the championship game. I look at the expression on my face, an uncharacteristic smile. I was happy back then. I was clueless as to what would happen next.
I’m happy now, I remind myself.
“I’m good, I officially have the job!” I tell her. I hadn’t told her about the offer yesterday because I wanted to make sure it was real. I half expected to show up here only for Principal Jackson to laugh at me and send me packing. All I told her was that I was interviewing for the coaching position.
She squeals. “You did?!”
“Yes, I start coaching today!”
“That’s great, son! Did you put in your two weeks at the other job?” she asks.
“I don’t know that I can. The school needs me to start as soon as possible, so two weeks isn’t going to cut it unless Hollister lets me work only during the weekends. I’ve got Ari though, so I don’t really want to be working every day. I have to hold practice today already.”
“I know you don’t want to leave on a bad note, but you’ll love this job a lot more than you ever liked the last one,” my mom says knowingly.
“That’s true. I’ll figure it out and let you know.”
“So, are you there right now?” she asks curiously.
“Yup. Just sitting at my desk,” I say, looking around and taking it all in.
I can hear the excitement in my mother’s voice. “You deserve this.”
I don’t know about deserving anything, but I don’t bother addressing that. “Speaking of starting today, could you do me a favor?” I hate asking for help, but I’ve realized that raising a child takes a village.
“Anything for you,” my mother replies. This woman is a Godsend. Nothing I’ve done, not even my rebellious phase, which included going home and telling my mother that I wasn’t going to college because I got a girl pregnant, got her to stop loving and being there for me. She’s always been my rock. Unmovable.
“Can you pick Ari up from school today and stay with her for a few hours?” I ask.
“Absolutely, same time as always?”
“Yes ma’am.” I usually pick Ari up, but with practice being after school that won’t be possible. I really have to figure out what I’m going to do about that.
“We’ll go for ice cream and maybe even stop at the park.” Mom’s all too eager to give my daughter whatever she wants. She says it’s her job to spoil her grandbaby.
I laugh. “Not too much ice cream. I’ll get her from your place as soon as I’m done here.”
“I can always keep her overnight. You know I love spending time with her.”
“I know, I know. I love spending time with her too.”
“She’s your kid. You spend all the time you want with her,” my mom retorts.
I chuckle. “You can’t keep her overnight. It’s a school night. If you want, she can stay over on Saturday since I’ll be meeting with the players Saturday mornings through the afternoon for practice.”
“Perfect! I’ll hold you to that. And wow, you’re already forcing them to do Saturday practices?”
“Gotta do what we have to do to win.” Winning is the goal.
“I’m so proud of you.” Wow. Two people proud of me in one day. That’s gotta be a record.
“Thank you for everything, Mom. Tell Ari I love her.”
“I always do.”
5
AMARI
“It’s our pleasure to introduce you all to Principal Santana,” the head of the Board of Directors, Stephanie Walden, says as she ushers me to the front of the room.
“Hi all,” I say, trying to not sound awkward as I greet the teachers at Bragan Elementary School. “My name is Amari Santana. I’m actually from this town. I even attended Bragan High School,” I tell them, a nervous laughter escaping me, but they don’t find it funny. “I didn’t attend this elementary school, but that’s because I lived closer to Middlestone,” I add, rambling. I can’t help it; I’m nervous.
I look around the room and notice the disenchanted and disinterested looks from the teachers who are all much older than me and are probably wondering what the heck I’m doing leading their elementary school.
I push through their silence and skepticism. “I wanted to introduce myself to you all as I will be taking over Principal D’Amico’s functions. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. While I become acquainted with the school, I’ll be stopping by each of your classrooms making my rounds. I’d like to learn about your teaching styles as well as get to know the kids. In a couple of weeks, I’ll want to set up a parent-teacher conference so that I can get to know the parents as well.”
Continuing to talk, I don’t let the silence discourage me. This is my dream job and I’m going to do whatever is necessary to make it work. “If you need any supplies for your classrooms, let me know. I know that there were budget cuts last year, but I’m sure we can find a way to make sure you each have what you need.” As I expected, those words bring some light to the teachers’ eyes. They look at each other and nod, their features softening. I’m glad that worked. All I’ll have to figure out is where to find the extra money.