Volleyball

Chapter Twenty Seven

"Ben Miller!" Mr. Fergie exclaimed when Valerie and I entered the Boston Gym. "I thought I'd never see you again this year. So, how was the final match?"

   I smiled widely at him and everyone inside the gym, Valerie beside me. "Tomorrow is the final, Sir," I told him. Valerie ran to her girl friends while the boys greeted me.

   "So, you ready for the final?" asked Wilson.

   "Yes, I am," I said, patting his shoulder.

   "I hope you're ready to give us your best shot today," he added.

   My smile grew bigger. "Oh, you're on."

   I changed my clothes immediately and warmed my body up, even though I already played before. Wilson warmed up with me. Wilson was a year older than me and he had been here in the national team for more than four years.

   "What do you do now?" I asked, giving him the ball with my arm.

   "I'm in college," he said. "My mom told me to, though I didn't really want to but he'd made me to choose, volleyball and college or none. I'd rather go to college than being unemployed." I nodded. "What about you? You have a plan on where you're going?"

   "Harvard. I got a scholarship from volleyball."

   "Awesome, man. Shall we play?"

   "All right," I said. And he called out the other boys to gather and make seperate groups to play. Mr. Fergie trusted us to play and train ourselves for our technique but when it comes to physical training, we need a hand of Mr. Fergie.

   We played serious yet relax because national competition is still next summer so we were just serious yet relax and laughing. The boys and girls were not in the same place, so I didn't see Valerie. I had a lot of fun with these boys. They played so well. They were really good, better than I thought.

   The gym's door was opened and a bunch of cops entered the gym. There were about five of them and we all stopped playing, waiting for them to do what they wanted to do. Mr. Fergie stood up from his chair.

   "Good evening all. I'm Cop Steve and we are from Boston Police Department. We would like to know if there is a guy named Ben Miller here?"

   I was surprised but I raised my hand. "Yeah. That's me," I said aloud. And he turned to me, approached closer to me while the other stayed behind, exactly where they were.

   "Mr. Miller, I would like to confirm if you are acquaintance with Rodney Jackson Miller?"

   "Yeah. That's my father."

   "You're his son," he said. "I want to inform you that your dad has been arrested."

   My jaw hit the floor. "Of what?" I raised my voice. My dad might be so bad that I even ran away from him but honestly, my dad never had anything to do with the police.

   "We found some illegal drugs in his house."

   "What the hell," I said. "Are you kidding me?"

   "This is a serious case, Mr. Miller. Don't take it as a joke."

   "Hey! Who said this is a joke, huh?" I exclaimed. "All right. Now, where is he?"

   "We had taken care of him right now. He asked us to find you and see if you're okay," he said. "Pack your things. We're leaving for an orphanage now." He turned around.

  "Whoa, whoa. Leaving for what?" I exclaimed.

   He turned to me. "An orphanage. That's where you'll live," he said calmly.