CHAPTER 2 - Annoy Benjamin

Waking up the next morning to a school day is not the best feeling one could have. I sit up on my bed, pushing the blankets aside. I bury my face in my hands. Why must I go to school? I force myself into the shower sluggishly. 

I quickly took my bath and brushed my teeth. I walked back into the room, opened my drawer, and pulled out my clothes for the day.

I put on a white hoodie and wore my black jacket over it, along with my blue jeans and sneakers. I'm tying the laces of my sneakers when I hear loud voices from downstairs, followed by a clash.

I pick up my backpack and hurry downstairs. "Where is it, George?" my mom screams. "I gave you yesterday!" she complains. I hate it when she's stressed out.

"Don't you raise your voice at me, woman!" George, my stepdad commands. My dad died in a plane crash when he returned from a business trip; his plane disappeared, never to be seen again. Sometimes, I wonder what my mom saw in my so-called stepdad.

"I gave you that money, George, and you squander all of it on alcohol. I earned that money, and I'm supposed to get a fair share, too!" No one seemed to realize I was watching. He steps closer to her, but she holds her ground. "You don't tell me how to spend my money," he spat.

"You fail to realize, George, it isn't your money!" Mom spat back. 

That's my mom. 

George raises his hand to strike. I dropped my bag on the floor and moved towards them.

"Hey, stop this," I comment calmly, shoving him away as I stand before my mom.

"Stay away from this boy; it isn't your fight," he steps closer again.

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, but I don't want your filthy hands touching my mom," I say to him, squaring him down to his level. I didn't see his fist swinging to my face in a hard punch. I drop down on one knee as I massage my jaw. My mom kneels beside me.

"I'm wasting my time here," George grumbles, leaving the house and slamming the door behind him. I stand, my hand still on my jaw.

"Are you alright?" Mom asks from across the room as she returns with an ice pack and hands it to me.

"Yeah, I'll heal." I walk to the kitchen counter and sit as my mom prepares breakfast.

"You know, I had that under control." She brings out two eggs from its crate as the pan makes a sizzling noise.

"Yeah, I saw." She continues preparing fried eggs and bacon. She opens the refrigerator and pours me a cup of orange juice. "Thanks." I drop the ice pack beside me and start eating. She grabs her plate and sits beside me. "Why did you even marry him?" I ask in between meals.

"Honestly, I don't know. He kind of deceived me. Thought he was capable of caring for us, and I was still heartbroken after your dad's death. I found out that he had lied after we got married".

I gulp the orange juice. "Why didn't you just divorce him? Sounds like an easy way out." She stands up, taking our plates over to the sink.

"If I had signed the paper, he wouldn't have signed his. I'm his source of income, remember? And besides, I'm not one to divorce my husband".

I look up at the clock over her head. "I have to go to school." I stand swinging my bag over my shoulder before walking over to her and placing a kiss on her cheek. "Take care, Mom, and don't forget, if he tries anything, call me." I remind her, making my way to the door and walking backward.

"Sure, will". I close the door behind me.

******** ******** ********

How time went so freaking fast? I don't know. Cause school was over and we were having practice. I'm sitting on the bench, tying my laces, thinking of my mom. If that son of a bitch touches her, he would wish he had never married her. Someone sits beside me. I turn to see Dave; I turn away and stare at the cheerleaders practicing.

"What crawled up your ass, and who punched you?" he examined the cut on my lips.

"Nothing, and my stepdad," I reply with disgust.

"What did you do to piss him off this time?" he asked, still tying his laces.

"I didn't piss him off. If anything, it was him who pissed me off", I complain, remembering what happened this morning.

"Well, clear your head; we have practice." he stands up and offers me his hand. I look at his hand and then at him. "Well, come on, don't leave me hanging," he smirks. I accept, and he pulls me up. "This time, we are on the same team."

"Okay, boys! Huddle up!" Coach shouts, getting our attention. We head over to Coach, surrounding him. "You know the tournament is coming up, so we must practice hard enough. Some of you are going to play while some aren't, so I advise you all to put in your best at practice; you might never know", he ends his speech, dismissing us.

We took our positions on the pitch and waited for Coach to blow his whistle. "Don't fuck up this time," I smirk towards Dave beside me.

"Same goes for you," Coach blew his whistle.

Before I could pass the ball to Dave, Ben ran over and snatched the ball out of our legs. Dave and I stand side by side, watching Ben dribbles through our midfielders. We look at each other, and Dave runs inside while I linger at the back.

We finally got the ball away from Ben and moved towards the post. Dave passes the ball to me, and I control it, pushing it forward. Ben uses his body and comes before me, collecting the ball back. Dave runs over to me, panting.

"If you ask me, I'll say Ben's onto you." We watch as Ben shoves Carter to the floor and moves forward. That was harsh. I breathe deeply and continue my game. No bully is going to stop me from playing my game. Carter and Dylan finally collect the ball from one of Ben's guys and cross it inside to Troy. Troy's the new player Ben and his guys tried to bully before I interrupted. Dave and Troy do a pass-one-pass-two trick, deceiving the defenders before the ball is passed to me.

I run towards the goalpost with the ball, pushing forward. I was about to kick the ball when I wasn't on the ground again. Someone shoves me, and I land on the grass, rolling before I come to a stop as the whistle is blown.

I stay on the grass for some time doing a mental check. I checked my bones to see if any were broken, fractured, or dislocated. Dave appears beside me, and I accept his hand, pulling myself up. "You alright?"

"Yeah," I replied, dusting my clothes. I heard laughter behind me, and it didn't take a genius to guess who it was. Ben.

"Did you see the way he rolled? Like a wimp", he whispered to his friends, and they laughed at his poor attempt at a joke.

"The fuck, Ben" I walked up to him and pushed him by his chest, "Why did you do that?" I asked, still angry, as he gave me a mocking smile.

"I don't know what you are talking about, " he says, giving us an innocent look that just pissed me off.

"The hell you do." I pushed him this time with enough force to send him falling into the hands of his sidekicks.

"I hope you have planned your funeral," he comes closer, cracking his knuckles as he does, trying to make me feel threatened. I'm about to throw him a wicked punch when the coach steps between us.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Coach orders with a strict voice, but I'm still glaring at Benjamin. "Practice is over," he says as he walks to his office in the changing room; out of nowhere, a ball hits Ben at his back.

"Who the hell?" he turns to see Troy. "You playing games with me, boy?" he shoves him, "Cause I can play," he threatens.

"Leave him alone, Ben." I have been watching what was happening.

"Stop trying to be a hero, Cedric. You don't deserve to be one", Ben says, not even turning back. Another ball comes from behind me, hitting him on the head. He turns back to look at me, his eyes filled with rage. "I've had enough of this; I've had enough of you, Cedric," he clenched his teeth while stepping dangerously towards me.

His friends hold him back, whispering something in his ear. He shrugs them off him. I eye him one last time before picking up my bag and heading to the locker room. I didn't understand what was happening, but I was glad I ticked off something on my list of things to do today.

Annoy Benjamin.

Check.