For Those Who Find Football Too Easy

Stephanie Gee

April Oliver

World Lit Honors 2

25 April 2014

For Those Who Find Football Too Easy

            Marlee was trying not to let on that she was absolutely terrified.

            She appeared to be doing very little – she wasn’t even moving on the four-inch beam – but her hands were slick with sweat and trembling all the same.

            Most coaches help their gymnasts work new skills, but at Owen’s gym, Marlee had never received help with anything. Nobody else would attempt their first back-layout on beam without a spot – it was easy to miss and the risk of injury was high. But that didn’t stop Marlee.

            Gymnastics isn’t a sport for the weak-hearted. That’s what Marlee called football.

            She had spent enough time worrying already. Marlee took a deep breath and jumped, flipping over backwards – and for one marvelous moment, it was just her in the air, infinite and free and so very alive, and she thought she had it. Her right foot landed on the beam, but then her left missed entirely. Marlee’s momentum sent her backwards, slamming into the beam, and she lost control, tumbling off the side, her left foot rolling inwards. As she hit the ground, her body collapsed on top of it and Marlee’s ankle bent too far, making a sickening pop. She gasped in pain, and she lay on the ground, trying to suppress the tears she felt brimming inside.

            “Marlee!” Owen called, jogging over. She whipped her head around, shocked that this once her coach had taken his eyes off his protégé and her heart soared. Maybe this time he’ll spare a moment for me, she thought. But it was a futile hope. Owen paused as he neared Marlee, but he only shook his head in disdain when he saw her on the ground. “Make sure to set the vault up for Amelia before I finish my lunch,” he said exasperatedly. “And don’t be late.” Owen walked away indifferently back to his office and slammed the door, leaving Marlee crumpled in a pathetic heap by the beam.

Just like that, Marlee was dragged back to reality again, where she could never compare with Amelia, her ex-best friend and one remaining teammate. Owen never liked coaching more than he had to, so he’d chosen Amelia, who was both naturally skinny in a way Marlee couldn’t be and his goddaughter. However hard Marlee worked, Amelia had always gotten all of Owen’s attention, while she was delegated menial gym jobs instead.

            One time, she’d refused point blank to do anything that Owen told her to do, reasoning, Why should I help him if he won’t help me? For one whole blissful day, there had been no mat moving, no gym cleaning, no bar chalking while Owen sat in his office eating cheeseburgers and Amelia was on one of the “breaks” Owen told her to take which Marlee never seemed to get. She’d still worked as hard as ever on her skills, but Marlee’d done no work that wasn’t hers to do. For once, she finally felt free.

But then came the phone call home. She’d been in the shower, delighted and pleased with how the day had gone. But any happy feelings evaporated when she’d gotten out and faced her mother’s rage.

“I’ve just gotten off the phone with your coach, dear,” she’d said with a false pretense of calm. Her ears were turning red. Always a danger sign. “And he said, and he said” – her voice rising – “that you were lazy at practice today!”

“No I really worked hard – ”

 “Do you know how lucky you are to be doing gymnastics at all? We can’t afford another gym!” And her voice was still rising. “He said he’ll throw you out unless you apologize.”

Her mother didn’t even wait for a response.

 “How dare you throw away your future!” she shrieked. “Your chance for a scholarship! You know we don’t have enough for college without one. Neither does Amy’s family! But Owen said she’s still working harder than ever.”

“You know I don’t call Amelia that anymore,” Marlee muttered. That’s what I called her when she didn’t go along with everything Owen said and was still my friend.

“I know, honey,” she sighed, and it seemed she was finished. “But I only want the best for you.”

And Marlee knew her mother was right – she needed gymnastics if she ever wanted to make something of her life. So she’d say sorry to Owen, even if it wasn’t genuine, and until college, she’d be stuck, doing whatever Owen wanted.

Just like she was now.

Blinking back tears, she grabbed the beam and dragged herself up on one foot. Owen came out of his office to grab a soda from the vending machine and Amelia called from the other side of the gym, a slightly impatient tone coloring her words.

            “Hurry up with the mats, Mar! I don’t want to stay on bars forever!”

            Owen smiled appreciatively and went into his office again, closing the door behind him.

Amelia watched as Marlee struggled to drag the mat and collapsed, unable to balance the weight of the mat on only one foot. Amelia wasn’t as indifferent as she wanted Owen to think, however. She too needed a scholarship. But her coach probably wouldn’t finish his lunch that quickly.

She checked over her shoulder to make sure the door was still closed, and then ran over to where Marlee had collapsed on the ground. Marlee tried to stand up, but Amelia put a finger to her lips and sat Marlee back down again. Checking once again that Owen was still in his office, Amelia then grabbed both handles of the mat and pulled it over to the vault. She hefted it up on top of the table and slid it into place.

Marlee watched Amelia indiscernibly, and as Amelia walked back, Marlee met her eyes. They shared a secret smile. Marlee opened her mouth, but Amelia whispered, “Shhhh,” looking terrified as her eyes darted again over to the door. At that moment, Owen turned the handle and walked out of his office, a bit of ketchup on his cheek. Marlee looked over, but Amy was gone, already back on bars like before.

Nothing was different. Things were exactly how they’d started.

It wasn’t like her life was about to get any easier.

But thank God she wasn’t doing football.

 

***

 

In the novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Solzenitsyn develops many themes, one of the most prominent being a character’s response to injustice. Shukhov, the protagonist, while still feeling outrage at injustice, is seen to accept it as a part of daily life. It cannot be changed, and fighting against it proves to be even worse. When the guards make the inmates take their clothes off in the snow, the Captain, still under the impression that they have rights, shouts at them: “You’ve got no right to strip people in the cold! You don’t know Article Nine of the Criminal Code!” Shukhov, however, scorns his naivety, knowing, “They had the right and they knew the article,” and thinks, “You’ve still got a lot to learn, brother” (27), showing how he has accepted the injustice in his life and believes it is pointless to try and stop it. The Captain is given ten days in solitary as punishment for his “outrageous” outburst, proof that Shukhov is correct in his knowledge that in this situation, taking action against the injustice is useless. In my story, Marlee does the same, putting up with Owen’s horrible treatment because she would rather do that than face the alternative of never going to college. Amelia goes so far as to even perpetuate the injustice when Owen is around because she believes that is what she needs to do to keep herself in his good books and get the coaching she needs because “She too needed a scholarship,” (3). For Amelia, the injustice becomes so normal that she sometimes even takes it upon herself to make it happen.

As in the novel, this is a result of the gym being a microcosm of society, where Owen has created the basis and power structure for the world that the girls are forced to live in. Likewise, Solzenitsyn created the prison camp, which has a subculture of its own within Soviet society. Shukhov’s first gang boss briefed him and the other new men on the camp way of life when they first arrived, stating matter-of-factly, “It’s the law of the jungle here, fellows. But even here you can live. The first to go is the guy who licks out bowls, puts his faith in the infirmary, or squeals to the screws” (2). This subculture dictates every minute of the inmates’ lives, and defines what is to be considered normal and expected of everyone who resides inside.

Another theme that is present in both my story and the novel is camaraderie. Despite the fact that Shukhov said, “It was every man for himself,” (59), a sense of camaraderie still pervades the entire camp just because they have all been thrust into this awful situation together. Sometimes, the inmates make life harder for each other, like when they steal each others’ possessions, but sometimes they make it more bearable, maybe by giving each other a smoke. In my story, there is a similar relationship between Amelia and Marlee, who both put up with Owen because they want to go to college. Amelia can be selfish when it is in her best interest to do so, when she thinks it will make Owen like her better, but she is not unnecessarily cruel when she cannot benefit herself by doing so. Even though her primary interests are her own, Amelia still feels a sense of camaraderie towards Marlee, who is also forced to stay in Owen’s gym, albeit with a much worse situation than what Amelia has to deal with.