The Wrong Ballers

The Wrong Ballers

a short story

by Austin Mitchell

When Dave Martin and Alton Brooks came to Keswick Mountain
High School both boys were going on fifteen years of age. They were put in
Grade Eight. We subsequently learned that they had been kicked from so many
schools it wasn't funny. It was the first term of school and the football
season was on. They soon became instant football stars. Most of us didn't see
why they were picked for the senior team. True, their last school was a very
large one and a football powerhouse but we still felt that they should have
proven themselves before being picked. Our school had dropped out all football
competitions but we still played a few games against nearby schools and those
looking practice games. I personally wasn't impressed with them after their first
outing after we were beaten 5-0 by a nearby school. Surprisingly they were
picked for all the football games after that. Several students including myself
complained bitterly that they were no good. At the time we didn’t even have a coach.
It was the captain who picked the team. He and both boys lived in the same neighborhood
in Kingston.

 Both boys were also
involved in a bitter fight over a girl, Jacinth Reid.

Sad to say neither boy made it past Grade Eight. I don't
know what happened at their next school. The End.