Remember

Chapter 1

June 20, 1951
"C'mon Caroline! I promise I'll listen this time!" complained Gerry. I crossed my arms. "No. I told you, I'm not gonna be your ref anymore, you never listen to me. Especially Ray!" I said stubbornly. Gerry nodded. "Okay, good. We don't need a short little 8 year old ruining a game made for 9 year olds anyways." he said smugly. "Yes you do! You need me to ref your little football game! I'll do it!" I shouted. Gerry shrugged. "Okay." he said smugly.
December 14, 1957
"Happy birthday dear Carrie, happy birthday to you!" sang my friends. I blew out the candles. "My sister's 12 years old!" chanted Gerry proudly.
September 2, 1960
I walked with Gerry, Ray, and Alan to the high school. I was officially a Freshman at Hammond High School. Gerry had his arm around me, and I was immediately accepted by all of the Sophmores. I basically followed Gerry around all day. At one point, he made me wait for him while he talked to the football coach, Bill Yoast. While he was in there, I took a peek at the flyers for the dance team. Hmm...
November 3, 1960
I steeled my nerves and walked out onto the field. I was in my Hammond dance uniform, and my hands were clenched into nervous fists. I was walking behind 2 other girls, and was followed by the rest, who were followed by the band. We all lined up, and the song started to play. Without hesitation, I played my part, flipping and having people throw me in the air. When it was over, I looked and saw Gerry and his friends, who were also my friends, watching in awe. That was cool.
July 28, 1961
"I want you all at the school parking lot, August 7, 7:30 am. The busses leave at 7:45, so you better be there. Dance training starts that day, and our time will be overlapped by the football team. Is all of this clear?" asked Coach Mendell. She was the coach for the Dance team at what was now T.C. Williams High School. They had integrated the blacks into our school, so I would have black team mates on the Dance team.
The meeting was dismissed, and I headed home. On my way, I noticed Alan walking down the street. I ran to catch up. "Hey" I said, as I ran up next to him. "Hey-hey-hey, It's my favorite person, Caroline." he said happily. We walked around for a minute, before coming across a riot of blacks, swarming the Local Grocer. "Must've been cause of that kid." I said. Alan nodded. "Come on." he insisted, pulling me back to the school. We ran to the back and down the steps to the football field. "It's comin' down at the store!" warned Alan. The players turned to look. "They wanna burn the place down cause that colored kid got shot!" I added. They ran over and started following us to the store. I could hear the coach yelling for them to come back. We ran in a neat little formation towards the store. We almost made it, too. Yoast pulled up in his truck, almost running me over. "Get in the truck." he ordered. "Gerry, Alan, Ray, if you ever want to play for me, get in the truck. Now." he said firmly. I hopped in the back, and he drove back to the school.
"Just gonna cool down a bit, help me unpack my office." said Yoast as we walked into the school. "Might as well kick us all off the team. I don't want to play with any of those black animals." said Gerry, walking into the office. Standing in there was a man, African American, a few years younger than Coach Yoast. I elbowed Gerry to shut up, and I made eye contact with the man. A silent sign of respect passed through us, and we turned away. "What? I see him." said Gerry. "Who are you?" asked Coach Tyrell. "I'm Herman Boone, the new assistant Coach." said the guy, as if it were obvious. "Seems like we got all the help we need around here."argued Tyrell. I moved out of the way as Yoast nudged his daughter Sheryl out the door. "Why ain't you outside with all your little friends hollerin?" asked Tyrell. Herman squeezed the football he was holding and set it down. "This was the time that was arranged for me to meet with Coach Yoast. I never miss an appointment." explained Boone. "well maybe you better reschedule." picked Tyrell. He seemed like he was trying to pick a fight. "Coach Boone, the school board made the decision to put you on my staff. I did not hire you." said Coach Yoast firmly. Alan squirmed a little. "Well I came up here to coach at G.W. I did not ask the schools to redistrict. I did not ask to be assigned to your staff. I guess we're both in a situation we don't want to be in. But I can guarantee you this. I come to win." said Boone calmly. I liked the fact that he didn't get angry at how badly the other coaches were treating him. "Win? Coach Yoast here has been nominated to the Virginia high school hall of fame. 15 winning seasons." said Coach Tyrell proudly. "Well, I won a couple of titles own in North Carolina." replied Boone, sounding slightly proud. "That's Double-A ball. This here's Virginia. We play Triple-A." explained Tyrell. "Well what an opportunity for me then. To learn. From the best." said Boone with a smirk. I smiled a little bit.

Alan, Gerry, Ray, and I walked out, our afternoon ruined. "We can't have a black coach the team! We've got one of the best!" complained Ray. "And now there's blacks on Carries cheer team. We're gonna lose." complained Gerry. "Did you hear that our schools the only one that's gonna have blacks?" asked Alan. "He didn't seem that bad." I shrugged. They stopped and looked at me." What are you talking about?" asked Gerry. "Yeah, did you see? He's a Negro. He'll contaminate the team. Might even make us lose on purpose." asked Ray in disbelief. I shrugged again. He just didn't seem tat bad." I said defensively. "Where ya'll wanna eat?" asked Alan, trying to change the subject. "Aren't we meting the girls at Hal's in 10 minutes?" asked Gerry. "Right." I said weakly. Gerry, Alan, and Ray were meeting their girlfriends at one of the diners. I was the tag-along 7th wheel. {comment if you understand that reference of 7th wheel!!!]

We walked into the diner, where Emma, Gerry's girlfriend, Elizabeth, Alan's girlfriend, and Sarah, Ray's gilfriend, were waiting. All we could get was a booth, so I was stuck squished between Gerry and the wall. They ordered their food. I didn't get anything. I wasn't hungry.