Free Benched by Rich Wallace Page A

for that,” Ben said.
    “Too bad,” Loop said. “You were at the square.”
    “I was here for about half a second!”
    “Doesn’t matter. If you’re at the square, you’re ready.”
    Ben stood still with his mouth hanging open. Then he gave Loop a hard look and stepped to the side of the court. Erin replaced Ben in the first square.
    That was no fun
, Ben thought, folding his arms.
I might as well go back to the swings
.
    But with only five players, he’d be back in the game as soon as this round ended. First chance he had, he’d get back at Loop.
    Mark muffed an easy shot and stepped off the court with a sheepish smile. Erin moved up one square and Ben came back in.
    The ball moved quickly around the court. Ben knocked it into Erin’s square, then returned a volley from Jordan. He was biding his time, waiting for the perfect chance to smack that ball hard into Loop’s square.
    Here it came. Jordan hit the ball softly and it bounced straight up in front of Ben. Ben whipped the side of his hand into the middle of the ball, chopping it on a line drive at Loop. The ball dipped and just barely caught the inside of the square, then bounced across the playground.
    “You’re out!” Ben said.
    Loop was jogging after the ball, but he turned his head and said, “No way.”
    “
Yes
way.”
    “No slams allowed,” Loop said. “You know the rules.”
    “That wasn’t a slam,” Ben said. “A slam has to bounce higher than your shoulder.”
    “It did.”
    “No, it didn’t!” Ben took several quick steps to come face to face with Loop. “You’re out,” he said.
    “
You’re
out.”
    “Quit being a baby,” Ben said, giving Loop a shove.
    Loop shoved back harder.
    Ben was in no mood for talking. He took a swing at Loop, hitting him in the shoulder. Loop swung back but Ben ducked.
    Head down, Ben wrapped his arms around Loop and tackled him to the pavement. Immediately they were circled by dozens of kids, all yelling at once.

    Loop rolled on top of Ben, but Ben dug in with his heels and flipped Loop off of him. Two teachers pushed through the crowd. Mr. Kane grabbed Ben by the shoulders and pulled him away, yelling, “Stop it this instant!”
    Ben shook free and glared at Loop. Loop glared back.
    “That was a clean shot,” Ben said.
    “What was? The slam or the punch?”
    Mr. Kane stepped between them. “Enough!” he said. “Both of you start marching. Right to Mrs. Nolan’s office. Now!”
    The principal’s office. Ben shut his eyes and scowled. Then he looked down and saw that his pants were ripped below the right knee. His arm was scraped from the pavement.
    Loop was scratched up, too.
    Mr. Kane followed them to the office. Ben and Loop sat across from each other in folding chairs. They had to wait a long time.
    Whenever Ben looked up, Loop was staring at him. Loop mouthed the word “jerk” several times and rubbed a fist into his palm when the secretary wasn’t looking. Ben wasn’t scared, but he was still angry.
    When they finally got into the principal’s office, she said, “It seems that there’s been a lot of tension over four square lately.” She looked directly at Ben. “A lot of it has involved you.”
    Ben nodded.
    “Why is that?” she asked.
    Ben jutted his thumb at Loop. “He said I slammed the ball when I didn’t.”
    “That’s not what I care about,” Mrs. Nolan said. “I’ve had several reports of arguments, and now this fight. I don’t expect that from nine-year-olds. A game isn’t worth that kind of distress.”
    Ben looked at the floor and chewed on his lip. Mrs. Nolan told them they’d be staying infor recess for the rest of the week, and there’d be no four square for either of them for another week after that.
    “Now both of you go wash up and get back to class,” she said. “Can I trust you to get along?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Loop said.
    “Yes,” said Ben.
    Loop walked ahead of Ben along the hallway. He stepped into the bathroom and let the door swing