Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2019 20:19:51 +0000 (UTC)
From: jagfantsw@yahoo.com
Subject: A Kid Named Ryan Chapter 3

From jagfantsw@yahoo.com
"A Kid Named Ryan"

Chapter 3

Soccer camp meant well over two hundred teenage boys in college dorm rooms
for six nights from Sunday to Friday. The team got there late Sunday
afternoon and, after finding our rooms and deciding on who was sleeping in
what room, the team walked around campus. The rising seniors had been to
this camp before, so they let the newbies know where things were and what
to do and not to do. It was one of the things I really appreciated about
the way Tim coached his team. He taught and expected responsibility,
courtesy and sportsmanship. Upper classmen were to take the younger guys
and help them. If Tim ever found out something else was happening, it
became a teaching moment.

There were 30 teams from around the state and few from out of state at the
camp. Sunday night was the first time the whole group got together. The
head coach of the college where we were at welcomed everyone, gave an
overview of the camp and how things would work. Teams were to stay
together; anyone that was there without a team would be formed as a team
and one of his assistants would be their coach for the week.

Like all teenagers, once it was curfew and lights out, didn't mean that
everyone went to sleep right away. I had Ryan and two others in the room
with me. They were on a sugar high after Tim let the team go to McDonald's
for milk shakes. So, when 7:00 came on Monday morning and the horn sounded
in the dorm to get everyone up for breakfast, it seemed to all of us that
it was just too damn early.

The week was going well. Our team was holding its own against some of the
teams from higher classifications. Over the course of the first three days,
we had won three, lost two and tied one.  Ryan played very well in my
estimation, although I probably was biased. Still, he had some great
stop-and-gos with the ball, had two beautiful assists in Tuesday's games
and scored on a header from a corner kick Wednesday afternoon in the game
we tied. Tim commented to me that if Ryan played like that, he'd be
starting for us next season.

By Thursday, to be honest, I had had enough, but needed to act like it was
all okay. After breakfast, Ryan and I walked to the field, where our
morning game was, on our own.

"Finally," he said. "I thought I was never going to get you by myself."

"Yeh. With these camps, there's no privacy or down time. You okay?"

"Yeh. Just wanted to see what you're doing the rest of the summer. I was
hoping I might be able to hang out at your place."

I explained about my planned trip to Virginia after the camp. "But once I
get back, if your parents are cool with it, you can come over. The condo
has a great pool you can use."

"I know. It's probably the best private pool around town."

"Really. The one in your community isn't good?"

"It's okay, but it's always got more people than I want to be around."
(And, yes, I caught what he really meant by that.) "Yours is less busy,
especially during the week."

"Well, okay. Once I get back, I'll talk to your parents and see if they're
okay with it."

"Why do you always have to get my parents involved? They'll let me do just
about anything."

"But you see, Ryan, I'm a teacher. At your school. And it's against
regulations for you to be with me outside of school without your parents
knowing about it and saying it's okay."

"Ohhhh. Now I understand."

I playfully pushed him while I said, "You goofball. How could you not
figure that out?"

We got to the field and, after getting his warm-up jacket off, he jogged to
where the rest of the team was getting ready.

That night at dinner, Tim tapped me on the shoulder and said he needed to
talk to me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Just got a call from Headmaster Stevens. Ryan's parents are dead."

"WHAT?" I said, trying to stifle my voice and my shock.

"Apparently they were in an accident earlier today."

"Oh, shit," I said and tears started forming in my eyes.

"Get ahold of yourself, Mark. He's going to need us - really, you."

"Okay, how do you want to handle this?"

"I'm going to get him and take him outside to tell him. Can you wait here?"

"Yeh. Whatever."

My stomach was in knots. I couldn't think straight. And yet I knew I had to
pull myself together.  When Tim got Ryan, Ryan saw me standing just at the
entrance to the dining hall. He could tell something was wrong. As he
walked toward me with Tim, Ryan mouthed, "What?" As he got next to me, I
put my arm around him and the three of us walked outside.

"Ryan," Tim said, "I've got some horrible news." He took a deep breath and
said, "Your parents were in a car accident earlier today. They didn't make
it."

Ryan was horror-struck. He looked at Tim, then at me. His eyes started to
well with tears. "No.  Wait. What?" And the weight of the news hit him. He
collapsed onto me and began bawling.

Within a few minutes a couple of the other team members came out, wondering
what was going on. Tim asked them to go back inside and wait. Ryan's
wailing let them know that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

As I continued to hold him, I bent down and whispered in his ear, "We'll
get through this."

"How? I mean, what am I supposed to do? I don't have anyone to live
with. God, I ...." His voiced trailed off as the tears began to flow even
more.

I looked at Tim and said, "Let me get Ryan back to the room. You get the
team aside by themselves and let them know what's going on. Okay?"

"Yeh," Tim replied, surely now in a daze himself. "What do you want to do?"

"Give me some time with Ryan and I'll text you."

"Okay."

Ryan and I walked toward the dorm. He couldn't stop crying and, now, he was
shaking. I stopped and held him as close as I could and said, "I love you,
dude. I won't leave you. We'll figure all this out, one moment at a time."

He looked at me through his tears and mumbled, "Why me?"

"Don't have an answer for that, my man. All I can tell you is that I'm here
for you - whatever you need."

We got back to the dorm and I suggested we get our stuff packed and the two
of us head back home.

"But you're supposed to go to Virginia."

"Not now," I replied. "You're my only concern."

As he threw clothes and shoes and other stuff in his duffle bag, he cried,
he asked questions I couldn't answer, and he looked totally out of it. I
put my things in my luggage and I then texted Tim that the two of us were
going to head back home that night. He texted back that he wanted the team
to be able to see him. And we agreed to meet in front of the dorm in twenty
minutes.

A team that is truly united is a beautiful thing to see. I think Tim was
very proud of how the guys rallied around Ryan in that moment. Each came up
and hugged him; each offered words of encouragement and some promised to
pray for him and his parents. It was overwhelming for Ryan; really, for all
of us, but the guys really were great in those few minutes before Ryan and
I got in the car and headed back.

"Where are we going to stay?"

"My place. I doubt we'll be able to get into your house for a day or two."

"I've got my key. We can stay there."

"Ryan, let's see what we're facing once we get back. Don't get ahead of
yourself right now. We have to take this one step at a time."

"You keep saying 'we.' But it's my parents!"

"I know, son. But a 15-year-old is going to need a lot of help, a lot of
support and a lot of love for the long haul. Unless you want someone else,
I'm here for you."

He looked at me, put his head onto my right shoulder and said nothing. Two
hours later we were at my place. I called the local police and told them
why I was calling. They knew what happened to Ryan's parents.