He looked directly toward our section.
Kelly froze.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“He’s looking at me.”
Marcus read her sign.
Then he read it again.
A second later, he pointed directly at Kelly.
Her eyes widened.
“Mom! He’s pointing at me!”
“I see him.”
Marcus picked up a football.
He motioned toward Kelly.
Then he tossed it.
Several adults instinctively reached toward the ball, but someone behind us shouted, “It’s for the kid!”
The football dropped directly into Kelly’s arms.
For a moment, she couldn’t make a sound.
Then she screamed.
“Mom! MOM! Look!”
She hugged the football against her chest while laughing and crying at the same time.
“Daddy would’ve gone crazy!”
I wiped my own eyes.
“He would’ve told everyone he caught it himself.”
Kelly laughed.
Then everything changed.
A hand suddenly reached across me.
Before I fully understood what was happening, a woman sitting beside us grabbed the football from Kelly’s arms.
Kelly gasped.
The woman immediately handed it to the teenage boy sitting beside her.
I stared at her.
“What are you doing?”
She calmly adjusted her coat.
“My son should have it.”
For a second, I honestly believed I had misunderstood her.
“Excuse me?”
“He’s been playing football for three years.”
The boy looked embarrassed.
He appeared to be around fourteen and wouldn’t look at Kelly.
I stood up.
“That player threw the ball directly to my daughter.”
The woman rolled her eyes.
“He threw it into the crowd. Ethan deserves it too.”
“He pointed at her first.”
“So?”
Kelly whispered, “Mom.”
I looked down.
Her eyes were filling with tears.
That was enough.
I held out my hand.
“Give it back.”
The woman laughed.
“No.”
“Give my daughter her football.”
She glanced at Kelly’s sign.
Then she said something that made several people around us turn toward her.
“Girls don’t even understand football. My son actually plays. He deserves it more.”
“Why?”
“Because it means something to him.”
Kelly wiped her eyes.
Then the woman looked at her and added, “She’ll forget about this tomorrow. Just buy her a doll or something.”
The teenage boy looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him.
A man behind us said, “Lady, seriously?”
I extended my hand again.
“Give it back.”
Before she could respond, people behind us suddenly started shouting.
But they weren’t shouting at her.
They were yelling toward the field.
I turned around.
Marcus was staring directly at our section.
He wasn’t smiling anymore.
He pointed toward Kelly.
Then he pointed toward the football in Ethan’s hands.
A team employee near the sideline noticed.
Then Marcus reached for a microphone.
The surrounding stadium noise dropped.
“I threw that ball to the little girl holding the sign.”
Kelly grabbed my hand.
Marcus kept looking toward us.
“The young man holding it knows exactly who it belongs to.”
A second later, the giant stadium screen changed.
Our section appeared on it.
Kelly.
Me.
The woman.
And Ethan holding the football.
The woman’s face went stiff.
“Ethan,” she whispered.
An usher and a security officer appeared at the end of our row.
The woman immediately pointed toward me.
“She’s been harassing me.”
The man behind us laughed.
“Lady, the entire stadium just heard what happened.”
The security officer looked toward Ethan.
His mother began, “The ball came into the crowd—”
“Mom.”
Everyone looked at the boy.
Ethan stared down at the football.
“Stop.”
His mother froze.
“Ethan—”
“He threw it to her.”
“I was trying to help you.”
“I didn’t ask you to take it.”
“You said you wanted a game ball.”
“Not hers.”
Then Ethan stood up.
He walked toward Kelly and held out the football.
“I’m sorry.”
Kelly hesitated before taking it.
“It’s okay.”
He shook his head.
“No. It isn’t.”
I looked toward the field.
Marcus gave Ethan a small approving nod.
Then warmups continued.
A few minutes later, an usher leaned toward me.
“Would you and your daughter stay here for a moment?”
I frowned.
“Why?”
He smiled.
“Someone wants to meet her after warmups.”
Kelly’s eyes nearly doubled in size.
“Mom.”
“I heard him.”
A few minutes later, the usher returned and guided us through a concrete hallway beneath the stadium.
Kelly held the football against her chest the entire way.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mostly.”
“Mom.”
“I’m kidding.”
A door opened near the tunnel.
Marcus was standing there.
Kelly stopped walking.
“Oh my God.”
Marcus smiled.
“Hey.”
Kelly immediately hid halfway behind me.
He crouched slightly so he could speak to her at eye level.
“You’re Kelly, right?”
She nodded.
“I saw your sign.”
Kelly tightened her grip around my hand.
“What was your dad’s name?”
“Austin.”
Marcus nodded.
“My dad taught me football too.”
Kelly slowly stepped out from behind me.
“He did?”
“Everything I knew when I was your age.”
Kelly looked at him thoughtfully.
“My dad explained penalties because Mom doesn’t understand them.”
I turned toward her.
“Really?”
Marcus laughed.
“Sounds like Austin knew what he was doing.”
Kelly smiled.
Then Marcus pointed toward the football.
“Can I see that for a second?”
She handed it over.
He pulled a marker from his pocket.
“Usually I just sign my name.”
Then he looked toward me.
“How do you spell Austin?”
My throat tightened.
“A-U-S-T-I-N.”
Marcus wrote something beneath his signature.
Then he handed the football back.
