“Yes, sir,” I say, pulling on my helmet. Coach Marcus called Ma last week and reminded her about the uniform fee, but she wasn’t able to give it to me before I left Houston. Between my bus ticket and moving expenses, there wasn’t a whole lot left for extras. I brought a little bit of cash with me, but I’ve got to make it last and I don’t want to touch it unless it’s an emergency. I’m hoping I can put Coach Marcus off for as long as possible until I figure out how to get myself a job.

“Hey, Elijah,” Coach Marcus calls to me as I jog away. “Have fun,” he mouths, winking again.

I nod and swing my helmet up to my head. As soon as I pull it over my ears, things just click into place. My gut finally settles, and any thoughts of Julian or the rest of the team staring at me earlier disappear when the cheek pads touch my face. I pull the chin strap a little tighter and run out to the fifty-yard line.

The defense is going head-to-head in a tackling drill, and I take my spot in line behind what must be a middle linebacker. The dude is massive. I’m glad he’s on my side of the line and not the opposing side. I was always the biggest one on the field during my peewee days, but it looks like some of these guys have had a growth spurt and a half since I left. No way I can bring down a guy that size. At least not without a ton more practice.

“All right, new cornerback. Let’s see how you do.” Coach Andrews blows the whistle, and I hustle to the fifty-yard line and attempt to take down the guy on the other side. I haven’t done drills in three years, and it shows. I’m slow to react, and the defensive end takes me out in no time flat.

“Hey, welcome back,” he says, offering me a hand up.

I grab it and let the big guy help me up. “Thanks, man. Feels good to be back.”

My hip stings where it hit the ground, and I’m going to be pulling turf out of my helmet for days, but I’ve never felt so good. It takes a few trips through the line, but I finally take down another cornerback in the tackle drill. It doesn’t matter that the kid is probably a freshman and I’m twice his size. I fight the urge to jump up and down, and I can feel the blood pumping through my veins. Suddenly all I want to do is scrimmage. I just want to get back into the groove of anticipating plays and burying the offense into the grass.