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be there early. If her plans had changed, why didn’t she text me? Corresponding was only right. It was only responsible. And I knew she would expect it of me. Coach or not, I expected it out of her. When my cell phone rang, I thought Coach was reading my mind. However, when I looked at my new cell, it wasn’t Coach at all. It was Randal.
    I said, “Hey, girl. Are you on your way to practice?”
    â€œNo, we got fifty minutes.”
    â€œWell, you want to make your way over here. You don’t want to be late,” I told her.
    â€œWell, that’s what I was calling for, to see if you wanted to come swoop me up.”
    â€œHa-ha, no, honey. You should have gotten with me beforehand. I’m already at practice.”
    â€œHow can you be at practice?” she questioned. “It hasn’t started yet.”
    â€œI’m the captain, remember? There are things that I need to do with Coach before you guys even get here. I mean, I wouldn’t have had any problem bringing you with me. You could have warmed up, and you know, learned some cheers or something. All the extra practice is great, but I can’t leave now to come and pick you up. Sorry. You should have called me earlier,” I reiterated a second time.
    Tired of me, she gasped, “Okay, I got it.”
    Thirty minutes later, twenty minutes before practice was supposed to start, Coach Woods still wasn’t there. I was pacing back and forth in front of the gym door, wondering where in the world she was. There was no way I could conduct practice outside if she didn’t show up. I could not start late because I valued my squad’s time, and JV practiced after us.
    Five minutes later, I saw her car pull into the parking lot. I didn’t even give her time to get out.
    I quickly ran up and said, “Coach Woods, where have you been? Practice is about to start in a few minutes, and we had planned for you to be here a long time ago. I need to get your cell number right away because the only numbers I had were your home and your office number. I called both several times. I was thinking maybe somebody might have dropped you off even though I didn’t see any cars. Where have you been? Why didn’t you call me?”
    â€œOkay, Charli Black, you’re excited. You’re dedicated. I see that you’re on point. Could you give me a chance to answer one of your questions before you keep rambling? An emergency came up with my child at daycare, and I had to go by and take care of all that. Is that okay with you? I lost power in my phone, so I couldn’t call you. I got here as soon as I could.”
    When she mentioned power being lost in her phone, I couldn’t get too upset because I had just got a new phone for that very reason. The barracuda in me calmed down. I became more like the loving koala.
    In a sweeter tone, I asked, “Is your child okay?”
    â€œYes, thank you.”
    She was taking her time getting out of the car, and I said, “Can I help you get inside the gym? The girls will be here in a minute, and I want to have the mats set up.”
    â€œBut it’s everybody’s job to help put out the mats.”
    â€œYes, and it also takes extra time to do that, so I figured if different girls would rotate and come a couple minutes early to practice, the mats would be ready to go. We wouldn’t lose any time.”
    Squinting, she looked at me and said, “It’s hard to get people to come on time, Charli, much less come early.”
    â€œCoach, my squad, my rules. Feel like if we all have some ownership and make a little sacrifice, we’ll give more, and we’ll compete harder. And at the end of the day, you’ll be smiling when we win. Can we at least try it before you say it won’t work? Please?”
    â€œSure. You’re ambitious; I’ll definitely give you that. And Whitney thought you wouldn’t have any backbone. I have a feeling that her