Kickin' It With Dad

By Christopher R. Ford

Ronnie Williams is back again! And so is his dad and his two best friends Billie and Adrian. After dominating baseball and basketball (kinda), Ronnie is going somewhere he's never gone before. The soccer field! But trying something new won't be easy and will be filled with ups and downs. Luckily with his friends by his side and his dad helping him all the way, Ronnie just might be able to save the day. Let's kick it!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098332969

Book preview

it!"

CHAPTER 1

WHAT’S NEXT?

Flashback 3 months…

So what’s next? Billie asks.

My best friend Billie and I are at our other best friend Adrian’s house just kickin’ it. We’ve just won our district championship in basketball (I kinda did my thing in the championship game if I do say so myself) and we’re basking in the glory of it all…and by basking, I mean watching TV and eating tacos.

I’m thinking baseball but that’s like three months away. What are we gonna do till then?

Wait! Stop right there! Adrian yells out to Billie who has the remote and has been channel surfing for what seems like forever.

She stops it on a soccer game. Billie and I look at each other curiously.

Yeah this is my jam! Adrian proclaims.

Billie and I look at each other even more confused. Since…

Since when did you like soccer? Billie asks aloud finishing the thought in my head.

It’s called football thank you very much.

Billie and I look at each other yet again. Who is this person in Adrian’s body?

Who are you and what have you done with our best friend? Billie jumps in continuing to read my mind.

Adrian is officially the crazy one of our crew but this is out there even for him. It’s been two years since I moved here to Texas with my family and two years since Adrian and Billie became my best (and kinda only) friends.

Adrian is still the biggest kid I know with a big frohawk who is surprisingly athletic (and thankfully nice) for his size. Billie is tall, skinny, and has changed her hair from the purple afro puffs she wore during basketball season to purple braids. Oh and she’s probably the best athlete I’ve ever met. She’s literally great at everything.

We’ve done everything together, from hanging out to playing baseball and basketball, and I’ve never heard him mention soccer…I mean football once ever! And now it’s his jam? I think you can see why I’m confused.

It’s me, it’s your boy Adrian. He leans back flashing his signature big smile, I’m into everything. Even soccer.

You mean football don’t you? Billie shoots back slyly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Adrian replies.

We all break out laughing. Then, from the TV, we hear a wild roar. A player has broken away from the rest and is streaking up the field lighting quick working the soccer ball like a yo-yo.

I’m mesmerized. How can someone move that fast and do that with a soccer ball?

Now it’s just him versus the goalie. And he’s headed towards him full steam ahead (I’d hate to be that goalie right now).

Kick it! Kick it! Adrian yells at the screen as he leaps off the couch.

The player takes one more step, winds up, and kicks it. The ball comes off his foot like a rocket. The goalie leaps, both hands stretched out as far as possible…

Gooooooooaaaaaaaalllllll! Adrian and the announcer yell out in unison.

Billie and I look at each other again. Adrian gives us a look and a shrug in return before speaking again.

That’ll be me real soon.

What are you talking about now? Billie questions.

Soccer is next for me. I’ve got a tryout next week.

But wait, are we calling it football or soccer? I’m confused here.

What? You’re ditching us?!? Billie exclaims half mad, half joking.

That’s what I’m thinking too though. Like I said, we do everything together. How’s Adrian gonna do us like that?

I was totally gonna tell you guys about it but I knew y’all wouldn’t be into it.

Well he’s right about that. First, I don’t know anything about soccer. Scratch that, I do know one thing, it involves a lot of running. And in case you didn’t know, I HATE running. Now that I think about it, I’m glad Adrian didn’t mention this. I’ll gladly sit this one out and wait for baseball season.

Y’all wanna come to my tryout? I nearly spit out my soda.

Uhhh… I begin.

To watch your boy do his thing.  Adrian finishes.

I breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Of course. Billie quickly answers.

They both then look to me.

Oh yeah, of course bro. I have to answer.

"Cool, I hope y’all are ready to be blown away, I’m the best 11-year-old soccer player you know. I’m the kid 

Messi."

Billie rolls her eyes. I don’t do anything because one, Adrian is the only 11-year-old soccer player I know. And two, I don’t know who or what Messi is. And of course, right on que, Adrian turns to us and asks, "Y’all know who

Messi is right?"

This is literally the first minute of soccer I’ve watched in my entire life so we all know my answer. But before I can even open my mouth to start uh-ing my way through an answer, Billie saves me.

Yeah we know. He’s the most famous soccer player in the world, duh. She replies crossing her arms in defiance before continuing. And you’re more of a mess than Messi.

We all start laughing. Only best friends can joke on each other like we do. Or should I say like Billie and Adrian do. I’m nowhere near as funny as they are but that doesn’t stop them from letting me hang out with them.

Adrian’s mom comes in with more tacos and we keep watching the game. For my first experience with the sport, watching it is pretty fun. I still have no desire to do all of that running myself but I have no problem sitting and watching.

Once the game is over, I call my dad to come pick me up. At the door Billie, Adrian, and I do our special handshake. We slap hands, come back and slap on the backhand side, fist bump then blow it up, lean back then cross arm bar each other, lean back again then hit a hi-five, follow through and slap again down low, come back up and do back-to-back hand slaps and finish it with a salute. Pretty cool right?

Adrian reminds me one more time about coming to his tryout next week and I tell him I’ll be there. He is my friend after all, plus it can’t hurt to just go and watch right?

I get in the car and before my dad can even ask, I tell him all about my day with my friends including being introduced to soccer.

What did you think of it?

It was cool. Too much running though.

We both laugh. He knows how much I hate running. He then smiles at me like he knows something I don’t.

What? I ask him.

Oh nothing. He replies with that famous sly smile of his.

And with that, we drive off…

CHAPTER 2

TRYOUTS…KINDA

It’s early on a Saturday morning but I gotta get up and get ready to head out because its tryout day…well for Adrian at least. Thankfully all I gotta do is sit back, relax, and just watch.

And since I only have to watch, I eat a huge breakfast mainly of my mom’s world-famous French Toast. Now that I’m nice and full it’s time to roll out. I meet my dad at the door but he stops me before we exit.

You’re going out dressed like that?  What?!? I look down at my outfit. I’m rocking my baseball jersey (my championship baseball jersey by the way), some jeans, and my kicks. Ok so I’m not exactly matching but hey, I look good! I protest.

Don’t you wanna wear shorts?

Shorts? Why would I need to rock shorts? I won’t be run…

Because it’s a little warm outside. My dad answers.

Ohhh. Yeah it is kinda warm out today. Well that makes sense. I run upstairs and throw on my basketball shorts (my championship basketball shorts by the way). Now I’m ready to roll! My dad hits me with one of those sly smiles again. I don’t know what that’s about. No time to worry about that though, we gotta hurry up and get to my boy’s tryout!

It’s a super sunny day as we pull up to the soccer park. It’s extra warm too so shorts were definitely a good decision. Billie is already setup in the stands and waves me over. I turn and say goodbye to my dad.

Have fun and you got this. He says to me with a smile and a wink.

Got this? Got what? Just sitting around? What’s up with him? Oh well, time to kick it with my fiends once again! I take a seat in the stands next to Billie. Where’s our boy? I ask excitedly.

She points to the far side of the field and I immediately spot Adrian. He’s never too hard to spot with his frohawk which continues to grow higher and higher defying the law of gravity. I start to look around and check out his potential teammates and then I notice…

They don’t have enough players do they?

Billie shrugs. She knows about as much about soccer as I do. But even with my very limited knowledge, I only count 8 kids. That can’t be right. It’s not my problem though. If nothing else, the fewer the players, the easier it’ll be for Adrian to dominate.

A short, stocky guy with a bald head and a big beard, their coach I presume, blows the whistle, the tryout is underway.

The first thing they do is run. Immediately I’m happy I’m up here instead of down there. Adrian doesn’t seem to mind, he has a big smile on his face as they run up and down the field.

After a few minutes of that, they start doing drills.

  First, they go into one-on-one drills where one kid tries to dribble past another. And when it’s his turn, Adrian starts killing it. Now looking at Adrian you’d probably think he’d be the goalie. He’s a big kid but he’s got moves (I learned that from our basketball days).

Ohhhh! He almost broke that kid’s ankle! Billie shouts jumping out of her seat in excitement.

Adrian pulls off a crazy crossover making the kid in front of him stagger and almost hit the deck. That was kinda sick!

Maybe he is the kid Messi. I say.

Oh, and by the way, Messi is a forward for the Spanish team Barcelona and captain of the Argentina national team. He’s also considered one of the greatest goal scorers of all-time (I