Initiation Read Online Free

out.”
    Carter glanced around the locker room. Zach, Noah, and Luke stood in the center talking, paying no attention to the traffic jam they were creating. Zach and Noah wore black, Luke wore red. The biggest, most athletic kids wore black jerseys. Others, slightly smaller, wore gold. Everyone else wore white.
    “They already decided?” Carter asked.
    Ben glowered. “They act like everyone has a chance. Coach Pitts said last year that I had a good chance to start if I worked hard. It’s bullshit.”
    “It’s not a big deal. It’s only the first day of full pads. They haven’t seen anything yet.”
    Ben shook his head. “You’re delusional. This isn’t Panama. Those black jerseys rarely change hands. We never lose, so the coaches never have a reason give anyone else a shot. Once kids get that black jersey, they never give it up. Occasionally a gold jersey moves up to black, but never us.”
    “Us?” Carter raised his eyebrows.
    “We’re the scout team. So get ready to get your ass handed to you every day for the rest of the season. Don’t worry though. On Friday nights, we’ll get a good view from the sideline.”
    “You’re looking at this all wrong.”
    “How so?”
    “We’re gonna have an opportunity every day to make the first string look bad.” Carter stood up and slammed his locker shut. “Eventually they’ll have to move us up.”
    Luke Brewer strutted past, his helmet in hand.
    “Hey, Luke, what’s up,” Ben said, smiling.
    Luke scowled in response. He was tall, tan, and chiseled. He had a square jaw and a symmetrical face.
    “What about the red jersey?” Carter asked.
    “That’s for kids you can’t hit, like the quarterback, or Dwayne over there.” Ben motioned to a tall, muscular dark-skinned kid checking himself out in the mirror on the inside of his locker. “He was second team all-state last year, but he’s got shoulder problems.”
    “So?”
    “So he’s really good, and the coaches don’t want him getting hurt in practice.”
    Carter grabbed his helmet from the bench. “I’ll see you out there.”
    Ben glanced up at the analog clock on the wall. “We still have twenty minutes.”
    “I need to warm up and stretch. Flexibility’s important, remember?”
    “Whatever.” Ben stood up and slammed his locker shut.
    Carter was shouldered from behind as Zach and Noah walked past.
    “Hey, Zach, Noah,” Ben said. “You guys look like you’re ready to hit someone.”
    Zach looked Ben up and down as if he were calculating his value. “You look like you’re about to shit a brick.”
    Ben looked down.
    Zach had long, white, beefy limbs and a blond crew cut. His face was full, his blue eyes small and deep set.
    “If you’re scared, say you’re scared,” Noah said.
    Noah was short and stocky: the physique of a bodybuilder. His face was young and bright, more boy-next-door than meathead.
    Carter glared at them.
    “What the fuck you lookin’ at?” Zach said.
    Carter stood silent, his eyes locked on Zach. His knuckles were white where he clutched his helmet. Zach and Noah laughed and left the locker room. Ben’s eyes hadn’t left the ground. Carter turned to him, smacking him on his shoulder pads.
    “Hey, forget it.” Carter smiled. “First day of hitting, let’s have some fun.”
    Carter jogged from the locker room to the practice field. The morning sun burned bright. He passed racially segregated groups of his teammates walking.
    “What you runnin’ fo?” a gigantic dark-skinned kid said, his gut hanging over his belt. “Ain’t no coaches ’round to impress.” Mike Townsend was scrawled across a piece of athletic tape stuck to his helmet. He must have been over three hundred pounds, his chubby face full, his eyes mere slits.
    Carter continued jogging. He stood on one foot at the edge of the practice field holding onto a chain-link fence. He pulled his leg back, his heel touching his butt. A group of black kids sauntered by, joking.
    Mike Townsend said,