Surviving My BestFriend

I'll do it, If you do

*Cece Pove*

I'm still waiting for Ro to come out of the bathroom. When an elderly super-thin Hispanic man comes up to me. He's dressed as a school coach. "Do you run mija?"

"Yes, for fun."

"You have the legs of a runner. " He says, and is it a little creepy? "I'm the cross-country coach, you should join."

I shake my head no, "What even is cross country?"

"Long-distance running mija."

"What's the longest distance you've ever ran? "

"No se, once I ran for over 2 hours before I'd realized how long I'd been running for."

"Wow, 2 hours that good, no sabes the distance?"

"No, I don't know because I don't ever keep track."

"Use a free app to track your distance, and let me know your average mile. Regardless we're short on students. You should at least come to conditioning."

"yes, I'll think about it thanks, coach."

"I'll see you then, if you're interested 4 pm by the weight room is where we start. 

I nod, and he starts to walk away. I look back at the board when I hear Ro's voice and it makes me jump. 

"So you going to be a track star?"

I put my hand on my stomach because he scared me. "No, it's cross country not track. Plus I was looking at basketball tryouts."

"Oh, so you're doing basketball?"

"Hmmm-no, I was thinking about it but I don't think I'm good enough plus I'm not even 5, 4."

"Right-I saw you play. I think you're good." He says with a cheesy smile.

"Too bad you're not the one picking the team. Let's go"

"Okay.." He says and we start walking away.

"Hey Ro, do you play any sports?"

"For fun I do, my dad used to put my brother and me in football. We hated all the sports he tried to force us to play, so it's been a while."

"Hmmm" I respond thinking.

"Hey Cece, I've seen you play why don't you think you're good enough?"

I sigh and then tell him my middle school basketball tryouts story. He just nods and listens.

After a few seconds of silence, he breaks it.

"I used to play basketball too, my dad would force us to play after school, so we wouldn't be home in case my mom came looking for us while he was at work.  When I figured it out, I quit. I wanted to see if she'd find us and explain. He was pissed and whooped me hard with a belt. So bad that my brother got mad and quit too. When he realized he couldn't fully control us anymore, is when he became distant from us. But as you know my mom never came back."

I stop walking and look up at him. He's still walking and his eyes look clouded and out of focus.

 He walks a few feet before he realizes I am no longer next to him. 

He turns to look at me, tilting his head questioningly. "I'm sorry," I say. 

"I'm sorry that it's been rough for you."

His mouth slightly parts, I don't know why I do it. But he's like a little kid I feel like I have to comfort and protect. I walk up to him and hug him with my head on his chest.