Marked Since Birth

Chapter 4

Coach was definitely pissed.

I showed up, gear in my bag and football helmet already on my head. All the other boys were already throwing the ball to one another, getting some practice throws and catches into one another, while I finished getting the rest of my gear on. No one seemed to notice me.

As soon as I got the last of my gear on, I was dogpiled, squished under almost over 400 pounds of bodies. " Guys! C'mon! It's the last time, I swear!" I said

See, that was our punishment. If one of us showed up late, we got dogpiled by the team, and then Coach figured some way to personally punish the player. I just so happened to the late one today. And yesterday. And the day before yesterday. And the day before that day before yesterday. Either way, I had been late every day so far these past two weeks... more like two weeks and three days. Anyways, I was dogpiled every day.

Everyone stayed on top of me for at least a good minute or two. When they finally got off, I got up and stood with coach right up in front of me. We were eye level with each other. Under his breath, he muttered the following:

" You're out of here. Go sit on the bench".

I stood frozen.

I didn't think I heard him right. " what?"

" You heard me. You're not playing anymore. Your season is over. Now get out of here before I make it worse. I should be calling your parents" he said. My heart dropped. My eyes started burning.

" Coach. C'mon. I'll do better. I'll make it right. I swear!" I said, suddenly starting to panic. I couldn't just be thrown out of the football team. It would have been better if he just sat me out a game or two. But the whole season?! There was no way I was gonna handle that.

I searched Coaches eyes for some sort of mercy, but all I saw was a disappointment. He wasn't disappointed in himself though, that's for sure.

Coach sighed " you want redemption? Fine. Next time you show up late, you're out, done, end of discussion", he said. " Also. You owe me."

I let out a sigh of relief and looked back at the team, who were all staring at me and coach. " Lets get to work" he yelled out, and the team went to their spots on the field, including me. I took position as quarterback. He blew the whistle, and I ran.

After practice, I knew what coach wanted. I knew what he was gonna ask. I was just gonna have to deal.

I went to him as everyone else went to pack up their things and change. He looked at me, gave me a once over, then said " drop and give me as many as you can".

So, I did as told. I dropped to the ground and did push up after push up, counting out loud as the rest of the team left. By the time I counted 70, my arms were shaking, my breathing was quick, and I could barely keep going. My mind was going all directions, begging my body to stop.

"Stop", coach said. I dropped to the ground, my arms out like a plane. " Up off the ground Tristain, I didn't say just how much you owe me", he said. I got up off the ground, wiping the fake grass and some of the paint off myself, and looked at him. " jumping jacks for the next 10 minutes. You stop, you get an extra 5 minutes worth".

I did as told, jumping jack after jumping jack, not bothering to count for these. I kept eye on him so he could let me know when to stop. It felt like an hour when he did.

" go get yourself some water. I'll make you finish up tomorrow. Be here early tomorrow. No later than 7 am" he said.

I was a sweaty mess. My clothes stuck to my skin. I was panting. I felt like I was burning up. I couldn't stop myself from swaying from dizziness. Coach seemed to take notice, cause he was suddenly at my side within a matter of seconds, helping me over to the benches. " I'll go get your stuff for ya, but then you gotta go, got it?", he said. I nodded my head and he left. I watched him walk over to where my stuff laid on the ground. He picked it all up, with a little bit of strain, and carried it all over to me.

I had pushed myself to my limits. I needed to stay on this team. It kept me out of the house, and it helped me stay at least somewhat sane. That was what I needed. Now more than ever.

I watched as coach dropped my stuff at my feet. I watched him walk away. All I could think was I deserve this. I deserve this. I waited a moment, letting myself settle with some water finally getting into my system. I waited until I felt ready. And then some more. Then more.

I got my stuff together after another 4 minutes and got my bike up. I got on, repositioned my bag, and pushed off, heading the opposite way of home. Instead, I wanted to take a scenic route. Get out of my head for a while, away from the noise.

I let my bike glide on the sidewalk, taking in the buildings and the sites, the cars and the people, the grass and the flowers, the sounds of police sirens from a distance... Police sirens?

I stopped, looking down the street to see a yard taped off, looking like a crime scene. Though curiosity killed the cat, I couldn't stop my curiosity from leading me to the scene.

Blood was in a puddle on the ground, and around that puddle, an outline of a body had been made, thick with white chalk. Police were everywhere, but none had noticed me quite yet.

I saw the girl from earlier, walk into her home, and what must have been her father follow her in. Yet, he didn't look like her father. He looked too young, his hair was darker than hers. His eyes weren't even close to looking like hers. Hers were bright hues of amber, like dancing flames.

Something was off about the way he followed her. He was mad for sure, but there was something else about it...