Eyeshield 21: Queen of the Comeback
Chapter 4: 'Ice'
There is nothing like the silence of the rink when it first opens in the morning. No one is here, but you can hear and feel the magic. The roar of the crowds, and that shot of the gun are all a part of my sport off the field. I compete in the 1300 and 1500 meter events since I started training in junior high. The track is where I go to find my peace.
It's the weekend. My homework is all set for Monday, and there is no practice on weekends. Yet there is practice for me as I carried my duffle bag, and paid the fee to use the track. I was wearing a windbreaker set with my speed-suit underneath. I put down my duffle bag, and sat down at the benches to do my stretches before my practice.
After that, I unzipped and took off my jacket and pants. I put my long-bladed skates on, and headed out onto the ice. My speed or 'skin' suit is red and black with red tribal flame designs on the thighs. I stretched out my shoulders, and arms and shook out my legs. I stepped down to get a firm footing on the ice, and got into a starting position.
I even wear special speed glasses. As I closed my eyes, I could hear mom telling me to watch the angle of my skates when going into turns. God knows how many times I have slipped on turns when I first started training. Something inside me clicked like hearing the gunshot go off as I opened them, and I was off on the ice to begin training.
From morning until the afternoon on weekends, I train out on the ice. There is nothing more exhilarating than going over sixty miles an hours out on the oval track. I pumped my arms, and leaned my skates as I went into a turn just like my mama taught me. At practice's end I sighed, and rested my hands on my knees and glided on the icy track.
"So this is where you hang out, huh?" said a voice in the back. I looked to find that it was Darius.
I was kind of surprised to see him here, "Hey Darius," I greeted him with a smile as I was coming off the ice, and peeling off the hood of my suit, "how did you find me here?" I asked, not that it really mattered. People have there own lives, and things that they like to do. You would think I should be mad at him for the way he treats me? I am not.
Darius shrugged his shoulders, "I asked the coach," He replied, but he seemed to have something on his mind, "hey...umm...I wanted to say I'm sorry...for the way I've been pushing you around on the field," He apologized. I smiled and nodded to him as I took off my skates for tennis shoes, "I just wanted to see what you're made of," he added.
Darius Smith looks like your typical city guy. He has corn-rowed hair, and brown eyes. He wore a black winter coat, a white shirt, and black jeans, "Hey it's cool," I said, having had the same treatment for being a girl joining my old high school football team back in Canada, "now are you apologizing or did coach make you apologize?" I asked.
"A little bit of both, I'd say," Darius replied, I lightly chuckled, "man, don't laugh, Noemi, that shit ain't funny,"
"It sort of is," I chuckled to his complaint, putting my stuff away and zipping up my bag, "you going my way?" I asked, and Darius followed. We walked around outside Shinjuku, "well Darius...as for you apology whether it was on your own accord or coach forcing you to, I'll accept it, come here," I was about to approach him with a hug.
"Whoa, whoa! No huggies! No huggies!" Darius protested quickly moving away
"Why? I'm a girl, that shouldn't bother you, Darius," I said with my hands on my hips.
"But you're the quarterback, Ice, that shit's hella awkward," Darius complained, but there is something I need out of Darius. No, I am not dropping my pants for him, but it has to do with the offense, "besides I gotta girl back home, she ain't gonna like me doing this kind of stuff with my teammates," he explained, I nodded in understanding.
"Alright, but I need something from you Darius," I replied running a hand through my short and boyish hair, "I need a tight end on offense, Kirkland and Williams are getting double rushed, and I am practically running for my life when I roll out to pass, so what say you?" Darius scratched his chin at my proposition to get him to play on offense.
"I can play both fullback and tight end," Darius said, "maybe we should try it out at Monday's practice,"
"Good deal, Darius," I replied, and opened my arms to him, "now to seal the deal, all you have to do is hug me,"
"Fuck no!" Darius snapped, and turned and started walking away back to the school. He turned around, and we sealed the deal. It was just a shoulder hug, nothing too personal. From the way he plays out on the field to the helmet style he wears, Darius Smith reminds me of linebacker Derrick Brooks. He is very fast, and he hits very hard.
"See? That wasn't so bad, now was it?" I said patting his shoulder, and going back to school with him. The offense now had a tight end that can also play fullback. Just like I am quarterback but I also play strong safety. Darius has the height and the strength, but I will have to test his catching skills, "by the way, did you do the math homework?"
"You know...Math ain't one of my strong subjects," Darius confessed,
"Alright, how about you stop by my dorm, so I would like for you to bring your homework and we'll go over it," I said to him, and he seemed to be onboard. We football players have to maintain a GPA no lower than 2.7 in order to be on the team, "I'm not going to do your homework for you, let's make that thing clear, Tu me comprends?"
Later that night, Darius came by my dorm and I tutored him with his math homework, "Look Darius, you have to remember how to solve for 'X', you see each of these letters here represents a number, so you plug in this number here for 'A' and this number here for 'B'," I explained to him, and after about an hour he started to get the hang of it.
When I left his dorm that night, it felt good that I was helping a teammate out. Tomorrow is Sunday, a day of rest. I wondered to myself what I should do to enjoy it. Maybe hang around Tokyo, and visit the sights? Maybe get my laundry done and wash my practice and game uniforms? I slept on the thought as tomorrow is just another day away.