Fall 2016 Prepare to Play The day of the first school game, the team marches down the halls together, loud with laughter, matching jerseys filling their faces with triumph, applause around them as they prepare to play while I flatten my b o d y against the lockers, moving out of their way. All I can think is if I was on the team, I wouldn't be invisible. Stadium It seems like everyone in Chesterton comes to the first game, the silver and red colors of our Bulldogs streaked on hundreds of faces, wide smiles, spirits high, arms waving, loud voices in the stands chanting the school spirit song, the barely fall breeze of September flowing around us. It takes only one quarter for everyone to realize our team isn't going to win. Austin's tosses fall shorter, Coach's yells get louder, and the number of fans in the stands gets smaller. I feel like I'm rewatching last Sunday's game, rewatching Jay Cutler get sacked five times, rewatching Bears fans leaving to avoid seeing a game end so low it crushes us to the ground. Late Fall 2016 Division In the book The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary the fifth graders don't want their school shut down. Because their class would be divi ded. Because when friendships fr , classes are lonely. Months shuffle forward, books my only companions, lessons and learning all I do. I hide in the library to escape the embarrassment of where to sit at lunch, but even my favorite books don't distract me from my despair. I text Adam about how awful school is without him, almost as awful as the Bears' season has been. Their loss in October against the Packers left a bitter taste in my mouth that hasn't disappeared all of November. I'm thinking of switching teams, bruh. BOOM. My book falls out from my hand onto the school hall floor. Adam's moving on from the Bears? From our team? Free Agent Adam and me were more than friends. We were brothers, since kindergarten. Before we learned our letters, we learned to toss a foam football. Back and forth and forth and back. Adam's the one who first taught me the game, about the Monsters of the Midway, Da Bears. We watched replays, studied Super Bowl XX over and over, and together, we drew dreams of being the next Super Bowl stars, of bringing the Bears back to sweet greatness. Adam was the lineman to my QB, the one who had my back, the encouragement in my ear that helped me play. He was my link to the game. Like a free agent without a team, when Adam left, my link was bro ken. Excerpted from Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
