Chapter 3: A Change is Gonna Come


By the next day, I stood at the stove stirring a pot of mac & cheese for lunch. Personally, I thought it was too hot to make mac & cheese, but Sheryl had asked and so I obliged. I would have been more than satisfied with just a sandwich, but my maternal instincts toward my sister won me over. And what was mac & cheese without hot dogs sliced up and mixed in? It's about as gourmet as my cooking gets. I turned the burner that was cooking the hot dogs off before I went to strain the noodles.

It was almost time to eat. I glanced at the table and rolled my eyes. I had told Sheryl to set it when I started cooking and it still hadn't been done. "Sheryl!" I called dumping the noodles into the colander. "Get your little buns in here and set the table." She didn't respond, so I hollered, "Now!"

"Geez, I was coming," Sheryl groaned as she walked into the kitchen a few seconds later as I dumped the ingredients for the mac & cheese into the pot.

I glanced at her over my shoulder as she wiped her hands on her overalls. She reached for the upper cupboard door where we kept the plates, but I swatted at her hand and pointed to the sink. "Wash your hands first. Daddy ain't gonna wanna eat on plates touched by your grubby hands."

Sheryl looked down at her hands and frowned. "They ain't grubby."

"Were you playing outside?" I asked her with my hands on my hips.

She rested her hands on her eyebrows and arched an eyebrow at me. "Yeah," she responded as if the answer was obvious. She was gonna be trouble some day, but I had to stay strong. Sheryl was my responsibility.

So, I didn't back down. "And have you washed them since you got inside?"

"No," she muttered, knowing full-well that I had her there and that I was gonna win this one.

I smiled. "Then they're grubby. Wash 'em and then set the table."

Reluctantly and grumbling under her breath the entire time, Sheryl did as she was told. When she wasn't looking, I breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't easy playing mother to your sister. I started slicing up the hot dogs as Sheryl set the table before I mixed them in with the mac & cheese.

"Is there anything for dessert?" Sheryl asked.

I looked back to find her leaning against the kitchen peninsula and behind her, the table was set. I then nodded my head toward the refrigerator. "I made Jell-O," I responded.

Her expression soured for a moment. "Did you mess it up this time?" she asked.

After rolling my eyes, I said, "I followed the directions." Which was true, but I also thought I followed the directions the last time.

"Sure, you did."

"I did," I quickly retorted back at her, despite knowing that it probably wasn't the best idea to argue with a ten-year-old. Thankfully, Daddy chose that time to walk into the room, which shut both of us up.

"Smells good," he said offering me a smile. I smiled back at him. I knew he was grateful that I had slowly taken over the cooking responsibilities because, despite my poor cooking skills, he was even worse. To be fair though, I was pretty sure I received a few more cooking lessons than he had.

Daddy sat down at the table and looked at my sister. "Sheryl, why don't you give your sister a hand."

Before Sheryl could say something about already having helped me, I said, "I got it. Just gotta bring the food over to the table." He nodded his head and gestured for Sheryl to sit down as I dumped the macaroni, cheese, and hot dog concoction into a serving dish. Honestly, I would have sooner preferred just to set a hot pad on the table and then set the pot on that because it would mean fewer dishes, I knew that it wasn't the proper way to do things.

Once the macaronidish, , the store-bought rolls, and a pitcher of lemonade were on the table, I sat down to eat with my family. Daddy said grace and then Sheryl quickly scooped herself some macaroni. I said a silent prayer hoping that I hadn't messed the dish up. But I breathed a sigh of relief when my sister took a second bite without commenting on the first. I then dished myself some food and began to eat.

We were almost finished with lunch when the doorbell rang. Daddy told Sheryl to go answer the door and she did as she was told. A few moments later a man from the school board followed Sheryl inside. "I apologize for the interruption," the man said.

"Why don't you join us, Jim," Daddy said gesturing to the open seat. "Julie makes a mean mac & cheese that'll make her future husband a happy man someday" He gave me a quick wink and I felt my face flush. I knew he was just trying to be nice and compliment me, but it wasn't that good.

The man smiled at me and nodded. "I wish I could, but I told Helen I'd be back for lunch."

Daddy softly smiled. "So, what can I do for you, Jim?" he asked.

Jim shifted rather uncomfortably. "Perhaps we should discuss this in your office." It was obvious that whatever he wanted to tell Daddy, he didn't want to do in front of Sheryl and me. But Daddy figured that out too.

"Anything you need to tell me you can say in front of my girls," Daddy said folding his arms across his chest. "Besides, they're just gonna listen in and find out anyway." Sheryl and I looked at each other rather sheepishly, but we both knew it was the truth.

Jim slowly exhaled a breath he must've been holding onto. "Then why don't we do this outside. I don't wanna spoil your meal." It was obvious that whatever Jim had to tell us, he didn't look happy about it, meaning that it couldn't possibly be good news.

I looked at Daddy. He nodded. "Girls, why don't we head outside for some fresh air."

It seemed like an odd thing to do, but I could tell that Daddy was trying to make this easier on Jim. Whatever it was. The only thing I could tell was that it was going to be bad. Thoughts raced through my mind as I followed Sheryl through the patio door. I tried to figure out what he could possibly need to tell us. But my predictions were nowhere close to the news he actually delivered to us.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna come out with it Bill," Jim said shoving his hands in his pants pockets. "The school board held an emergency meeting this morning and it was decided that that negro, Herman Boone is gonna be the head coach at T.C."

The news felt like someone punched me in the stomach. Daddy was supposed to be the head coach. He had earned that title. He had worked hard and now just to have it taken away from him, it seemed wrong. Just plain wrong. While I couldn't hide my dismay, I kept my thoughts to myself, unlike my sister.

"It's not fair!" Sheryl shouted as my father absently tried to hold onto her, still processing Jim's words. "It's not fair! My daddy's head coach! This is gonna be his Hall-of-Fame year!"

I wished I could react the way Sheryl was, but I was old enough to know better.

Jim tried to plead with Sheryl. "Now one is trying to take away your daddy's future in the hall."

But Sheryl continued as she started to fight against the grip my father held on her shoulder. "You can't just walk in here and take away my daddy's job."

"That's enough, Sheryl," Daddy said rather quietly the first time. But when she wouldn't listen, his voice became stern as he repeated himself. "That's enough, Sheryl." He gave a firm tug on her overalls, which made her quiet down and instead, she started to silently sulk.

I stood there, still trying to process it all. Jim and Daddy continued to speak, but I wasn't listening to them. I couldn't focus on their conversation because my own thoughts were drowning them out. Just when things finally seemed to be going good for us, the rug was slipped out from beneath us again. We had mostly recovered from Mama leaving us and now, here we were facing another challenge. My first thought was to curse God for forsaking us, but I knew that wasn't right. At least not from what I had learned at church on Sunday mornings.

Daddy rested a hand on my shoulder and I looked at him, trying to hold back my tears. I could tell that he knew what I was thinking. Probably, because he was thinking it too. I sniffled and then said, "How 'bout that Jell-O?" It seemed stupid, but I had to say something otherwise I would just continue to dwell on what I couldn't change.

Daddy seemed to like my idea, so he ushered Sheryl and myself inside as Jim walked back to his car and left us to deal with the aftermath. Surprisingly, we ate our Jell-O in silence. Silence rarely happened at our dinner table. The last time I remembered it being so quiet was just after Mama left us. But we all ate our Jell-O, which turned out just fine this time.

An hour later, the phone rang. I answered the phone. It was a school calling to make Daddy an offer. Bad news sure travels fast around here. Daddy took the phone from me and talked with the man on the other line while I cleaned the dishes and straightened up the mess I had made in the kitchen. It was supposed to be Sheryl's job to do the dishes, but I needed something mindless to do, to keep my mind off things.

By eight o'clock that night, the phone had rung ten more times with schools calling to make Daddy offers. While it was comforting to know that schools were wanting Daddy to work for them, I wasn't sure I was ready to leave Alexandria. This was home. But if I was being honest, I wanted to stay just in case my mama ever came looking for us then she would know exactly where to find us. Despite knowing that would never happen, it was a childish longing of mine.

I was knocked out of my reverie when the doorbell rang. When Sheryl didn't yell got it, I walked over to the door. Who could possibly be coming to visit us at this hour? Sometimes, one of the guys from the football team would show up, so I just assumed it was one of them. I certainly wasn't expecting to see Herman Boone on the other side of that door. But that is who stood in front of me.

"Good evening," he greeted me. "It's Julie, right?"

I was sure my expression was gobsmacked, so I just curtly nodded my head. But before I could say anything, Sheryl appeared at my side with a scowl on her face and her arms folded across her chest. "What do you want?" she snarled.

Coach Boone pursed his lips for a moment before he said, "Is Coach Yoast here?"

Sheryl responded before I could. She was quick like that. "We're busy...interviewing for head coaching jobs. Gotten 11 offers already and certainly no time for you." Knowing how rude she sounded, I flicked my sister's ear. "Ouch," she hissed before looking up at me. "It's the truth."

"It don't mean now's the time to go running your mouth," I hissed back at her.

"Girls, I can take it from here," Daddy said approaching the door. Sheryl and I looked back at him and hung our heads. Daddy looked at Coach Boone and nodded his head. "Well, come on in. I've got an office out back."

Coach Boone looked at Sheryl and I before he took a step forward. "Excuse me," he said as he passed between us and followed Daddy into the house. They were headed back for the patio doors and then out into the barn in the back which was Daddy's office.

Sheryl and I waited a few seconds before we looked at each other. "Let's go," I whispered to her, nodding my head outside. "If we go out the front and sneak around the side he won't see us coming."

"I thought you were trying to be all mature now," Sheryl said with her arms folded across her chest, glaring at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Do you wanna know what they're talking about or not? Besides, Daddy probably already knows we're gonna listen in any way. He said as much earlier."

Sheryl smiled and shook her head. "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

I couldn't think of a great comeback, so I just muttered, "Shut up." And then we quietly escaped out the front door. We rounded our way around the house and dove into the bushes beneath Daddy's open office window. Clearly, we had never done anything like this before. I motioned for Sheryl to be quiet as I put a finger up to my mouth. She just nodded as we listened in on Daddy and Coach Boone's conversation from the bushes.

Coach Boone's voice carried through the open window, "Look, I can't even spell diplomacy and I'm sorry about the way things went down, but make no mistake, I am qualified to be this school's head coach."

Sheryl and I couldn't help but look at each other. We both rolled our eyes and waited for Daddy to respond. "Sure. You've been in, what, 4 or 5 programs in the past 10 years?" Daddy asked.

"With 4 or 5 championships," Coach Boone argued back.

There was a moment of silence between them. I almost wondered if it was the end of their conversation, but Daddy added, " This isn't about me. I'm worried about my boys." I could see where that would matter. Those boys had worked very hard to get to where they were. Even Gerry Bertier, whom I couldn't stand, didn't deserve this.

Coach Boone scoffed. "Well, I ain't gonna cook 'em and eat 'em. The best player will play. Color won't matter."

Daddy replied, "From the looks of our little situation we got us here, I'd say it's about all that does."

I sighed. I agreed with him. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think I was better than them, but I didn't think it was fair how my daddy's job was taken right out from underneath him.

Coach Boone sighed. "Yeah, you're right. We're in a tough spot., Coach. You. Me. The whole city. But I think that it would go a long way to smooth things over if you would stay, work on the staff, be a defensive coordinator, assistant head coach."

My eyes widened. He wanted Daddy to work with him?

But Daddy was thinking the same thing. "Work under you?" Daddy asked.

"If that's the way you see it," Coach Boone responded.

I quickly clamped my hand around Sheryl's mouth. I knew she was going to have something to say and I didn't want her big mouth giving us away. I was surprised when she didn't fight me. Instead, we both sat there and listened for what Daddy was gonna say next.

"Good night, Coach," he said and I knew the conversation was over. Daddy didn't want to say any more on the matter.

Things went silent and I removed my hand from Sheryl's mouth. "Who does he think he is? Coach ain't gonna work under him. No way," she whispered. I nodded my head as I heard the door to the barn swing shut. I could feel Sheryl wanting to move away, but I wrapped my arms around her overalls to keep her back.

Through the bushes in the dim light, I could see Coach Boone come to a stop. He stood there for a moment with his back to us. "Good night, girls," Coach Boone's said.

Sheryl and I looked at each other in shock as the man started to walk away down the gravel path. How did he do that? How did he know we were there? My sister and I saved these questions until after Coach Boone had disappeared and we ran back to the house, trying not to get caught by Daddy. But as we journeyed across the lawn, we couldn't figure out answers to any of our questions. Although Sheryl was quick to believe that the man had eyes on the back of his head. I knew better.

Once we were in the house, I shooed Sheryl upstairs to get ready for bed. I followed her upstairs, not wanting a run-in with my father tonight. Sheryl went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and I went to my room and closed the door behind me. I flung myself onto my bed, the springs of the bed groaning beneath my weight. It was funny how much things could change in a day.

But this wasn't the first life-changing day of my life. I think what scared me most was how it resembled the day Mama left and I wasn't sure how long it would take for me to find normal again. I rolled onto my back and glanced upward at the ceiling. I said a silent prayer, hoping that a miracle would happen because I couldn't think of any other way to fix what had just happened.


Author's Note: So there's that. haha. I'd just like to thank that anon on Tumblr for asking about this story. It's what got me going! :)