Four Lions

13

Phoenix's POV

"And why don't you play football?" Crystal Dunn asks as she and the rest of the USWNT relax in the shade after training.

We're in Wolfsburg now and Cairo invited myself, Isobel, Yasmijn, and Kiyana to train with the team so we did.

I had fun running rings around the people I was going against.

It pays to have quick feet.

"Too expensive." I say. "Once I got past like 7th grade the price got to be way to much to play football and I honestly just liked track more."

"Well My butt is happy you don't play." Mal says.

If I play'd I'd take your fucking job.

"It was funny seeing her put you on your ass." Rose says.

I may or may not have put Mal on her ass everytime I went up against her.

"Emma who's with my cousin." I say as I point to six ladies standing off to the side of the USWNT Training field.

"Emily Sonnett, Kelley O'Hara, Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo, and Lindsey Horan." Emma says. "They use to be on the team, but for the duration of the World Cup they're working for Fox."

"Isn't Kelley the one who broke Talia's boundaries?" I question.

"Mhmm." Talia says. "And Carli's the one who released the history of Cairo's childhood to the media."

"Fuck those Bitches." I say.

"And Hope's the one who got fucking drunk and drove with her kids in the car." Astrid says.

"Well Fuck all of them." I say. "Especially my cousin."

"They're coming over here." Sam Mewis says.

"Great." I say.

"You know some ladies on the team think they can beat you four in a race." Cairo says.

"Who?" I question as I look at the US national team while I put my long curly hair up into a ponytail. "Who wants smoke?"

"I bet I could beat you." One of the ladies behind me says.

"I doubt that." I say as I finish putting my hair in a ponytail.

"You know for a black woman you sure do rep UT hard." Someone behind me says.

"What the fuck Lindsey." Someone on the team.

"Fucking dumbass" My cousin says.

Oh so now you support me Megan?

"Does she always say random shit?" I say causing Juice, Talia, and Emma to nod.

I roll my eyes then I turn around and look at the blonde I recognize as Lindsey Horan.

"Ma'am you play in Portland, Oregon." I say.

"And?" Lindsey Horan says.

"Portland is statically the whitest big city in America." I say. "And let's not forget about the Oregon black exclusion laws that pretty much shaped the racial make-up of Oregon today."

I wasn't really looking to get into a talk about race today, but I guess here we are.

"Just because a place has a racist past doesnt mean you can't enjoy it now." I say. "Of course UT has a deep racist past, but I loved my time there just like I'm sure you love Portland."

I don't even know why this lady tried to start shit.

"But what we can't do is just plainly ignore the history and do nothing about it." I say. "Then again it seems like all you do is ignore racist history so I guess you can."