he no longer totally fit in with any group he still tried to find his place. Since the accident his life had changed. No one felt comfortable around this new Bruce. He didn’t always feel comfortable with himself either.
In spite of the resistance and obstacles that he encountered his faith in himself and his mission remained strong. He still didn’t know what the outcome would look like exactly, but he believed he could make things happen! He was ready to take a big leap of faith against all odds!
AGAINST ALL ODDS
“Man, I can’t win. Everything’s so hard and I have to fight for every inch of progress. My whole life’s changed and nothing’s the same. I feel like a fish out of water and on top of everything else I don’t fit in anywhere,” thought Bruce. “I’m not ready to give up!”
Bruce had a vision of what he wanted to do but he didn’t know how to do it! Even his parents didn’t support him. His friends thought he was weird and had totally lost it. He was definitely a different person since he broke his leg and couldn’t play football. Sometimes they looked at him as if he came from another planet!
Bruce’s injuries were healing and he was off of his crutches and in a walking cast. He was sitting in homeroom class when his teacher came over and said, “Bruce, your Coach wants to see you in his office after school.”
“Thanks,” Bruce responded.
After school Bruce headed over to the Coach’s office walking through the team locker room to get there. All of the players were suiting up for practice. Bruce felt a lot of mixed emotions coming from his friends and teammates. Some were really glad to see him but others made cutting comments: “Hey, man, look who’s here! Yeah, it’s the biggest, no, the largest nerd in school. Sure nice to see you, Einstein.”
Bruce continued walking to the Coach’s office and tried to ignore the comments. He didn’t want to get into any hassles.
When he reached the office and walked in the Coach got right to the point and said, “Where have you been? Why aren’t you out on the practice field anymore? You know you are letting your teammates down! You know that, don’t you?”
“No, I’m not, Coach,” responded a surprised Bruce.
“Yes, you are, and I’m the one saying you are, Tully!” yelled a heated Coach.
“No, I’m not,” replied Bruce emphatically. “What I’m trying to do for my team is a lot more important than standing around on the sidelines every day, Coach!”
Coach didn’t want to hear what he considered were excuses so he said, “That’s it! You’re done! Get out of here. You can kiss your letter for this year ‘good-bye.’”
Bruce stopped and turned around. He looked his Coach squarely in the eyes and said, “Do what you have to do, Coach. I know I will.”
He left his Coach standing there and made his way back through the locker room. He wasn’t in any mood to talk to anyone. He was upset and angry and thought to himself, “Who is that guy? I’ve been loyal and I have given this team everything I’ve got. Doesn’t he understand I have something better to do than stand out there on the sidelines? How can he take away a letter that I have more than earned? I don’t get it!”
Before he could get out of the locker room he was stopped by DeAngelo, the running back. “Hey, what did Coach say?” DeAngelo asked.
“He said I’m out, done, and I won’t get any varsity letter this year,” replied Bruce feeling angry and disillusioned.
“Wow! Really?” asked DeAngelo.
“Yeah, really,” growled Bruce.
DeAngelo decided to justify the Coach’s position and asked, “Well, where have you been anyway? Everyone on the team says you’ve lost it since you broke your leg.”
Bruce ignored his question and said, “Tommy, do you like milk?”
“What? What kind of answer is that?” asked DeAngelo.
“Just answer my question,” responded Bruce.
“No, I don’t like milk,” DeAngelo answered.
“Have you ever tasted it?” asked Bruce.
“No, I just don’t like it,” DeAngelo replied.
Bruce continued to push DeAngelo and said, “That’s my point, Tommy. That’s just stupid. How do you know that you don’t like milk if you’ve never tasted it before? Do you want to be an engineer or a scientist?”
DeAngelo was getting angrier and fed up with Bruce’s seemingly meaningless questions and responded, “No! Just leave me alone. Stop asking such stupid questions.”
By this time Bruce and DeAngelo were almost nose to nose, each one pressing the other. Bruce yelled, “Well, maybe you should be! You sure spend enough time at your uncles’ stupid garage working on your stupid car engine.”
DeAngelo had reached his breaking point and shoved Bruce hard. “Shut up!” he yelled.
Bruce, looking for a fight by this time, pushed him back harder and yelled, “No, you shut up!”
They were shoving and pushing each other, getting more and more physical the way things get resolved in New Jersey. The other players just watched and stayed out of it.
Charlie, Bruce’s best friend and a hard-nosed tough guy, listened to the whole thing while he suited up for practice. Finally he had had enough. He stepped in, not wanting anyone to get hurt, and demanded, “No, you both shut up!”
Charlie’s intervention surprised both Bruce and DeAngelo. No one messed with Charlie. So, DeAngelo pushed away, put on his helmet and stormed out of the locker room.
Charlie corralled Bruce and walked with him out of the locker room. He turned to Bruce and said, “Man, you’ve sure changed since your injury. All this stuff with the nerds is different. You’re always in study hall or the library now. We never see you anymore. My cousin said she saw you over at Drew University in the library last week. What’s up with that?”
Bruce responded, “Yeah, I fooled them into thinking I was a student there. They gave me a study carrel and a library card. I’ve got my own little room to work in now. They usually only give them to seniors. I sweet-talked a cute student assistant into giving me one. She thinks I’m in college.”
“Well, you’re big enough and smart enough to be in college,” responded a laughing Charlie.
Bruce began to laugh too, enjoying Charlie’s comment. “What’s this stuff all about anyway?” Charlie asked.
Bruce thought for a moment and searched for the right words trying to explain: “I’ll let you know, man, when I figure it all out myself. You had better get to practice or you will be running laps. I don’t want that happening on my account. Thanks, Charlie.”
Charlie gave Bruce a nod of assurance and hustled out of the locker room and headed for the practice field.
