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the coach didn’t have much to say to Jason, so Keith couldn’t be certain that he was correct. Little by little, Keith began to simmer, but said nothing and did nothing to show it. He noticed that Heck was trying to encourage him, smiling and giving him the thumbs-up when Keith made a good move and pointing out when Keith was not at fault on a blown play. Keith felt grateful but continued to steam.
    He also noticed Larry taking one or two players aside now and then, especially after Keith had not held on to a pass. Keith became convinced that Larry was trying to promote himself as a better player than Keith.
    Were other Bucks in agreement? There was no way to know.
    Finally, Keith went long on a deep fly pattern, leaving Larry, who he had faked out with a hip move, trailing by several steps. But he would have needed a stepladder to catch Jason’s pass, which sailed a few feet over his head. Keith slowed down and stopped — and was jarred a second later when Larry ran into him from behind.
    “Hey!”
Keith snapped, rubbing his back where the other boy had slammed him. “Watch it! Didn’t you see I had stopped?”
    “No, I didn’t see you’d stopped!” Larry yelled back. “I figured that you’d keep hustling, like a football player is supposed to. But I guess that’s not your style, huh?”
    All Keith’s anger suddenly came to a boil. A little voice in his brain advised him to cool it, but he couldn’t do it.
    “‘Hustling’?” he shouted. “It’s not ‘hustling’ to chase a pass that’s ten feet over your head! It’s just dumb. Maybe that’s
your
style! That and ramming into someone when his back is turned!”
    “I didn’t see you!” Larry yelled.
    “Yeah, right!” Keith screamed.
    By this time the two boys were nose to nose, both yelling, with other players staring. Keith noticed Heck running up and trying to get between them.
    “Chill out, guys,” he urged. “This is bad news, come on …”
    “What’s happening here?”
Coach Bodie suddenly loomed in front of the arguing players, who immediately separated and became quiet.
    “I asked what was happening here?” the coach repeated, looking at both boys with a severe expression. “I turn away for a minute and I find two teammates spitting at each other like wildcats! Now what’s the deal here?”
    Keith took a deep breath. “Sorry, Coach. It’s just that he just ran into me hard from behind, and I guess I got shook up.”
    “Well,” said Larry, “he stopped short instead of running out a pattern, and I wasn’t expecting it!”
    “I
didn’t
stop short,” Keith came back. “I just —”
    The coach cut him off. “
Enough!
That’ll do! Both of you, come with me.” He looked at the other players, who were watching the action. “The rest of you, take a break.”
    He led Keith and Larry away until they were out of earshot of the rest of the team. Then he faced them, his arms folded across his chest. “Maybe I didn’t make clear to you two this morning the way I feel about mental mistakes. I’m going to try one more time, and I hope you’re both paying very close attention this time.
    “Mental mistakes show that you aren’t thinking
like a team player
. When two teammates fight with each other, they’re not thinking like team players. Did you understand me that time?”
    “Yeah, but —” Larry started, and Coach Bodie jumped in immediately.
    “‘Yeah, but …’ is not the right answer to the question I asked. One more time: Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
    “Yes, Coach,” Keith said, staring at the ground and feeling very foolish.
    “Yes, Coach,” Larry echoed.
    “That’s the right answer.” The coach took a deep breath. “Okay. I don’t know what started this, and I am not even going to ask. I don’t want to get into one of these ‘He said this but I said that’ situations. You are
teammates
and you have to remember that. If there’s a problem between you, work it out. If I have to be