Field of Schemes Read Online Free PDF

recalled Loud Bobby. “We had a crazy parent like that on the Purple Sparrows this year.”
    “I guess that’s the main difference as far as parents are concerned. In rec, you’ll have one or two nut jobs. In club, half the parents are normal and the others are, well, over the top in their own special ways. Then there are the two practices a week, the longer game season and tournaments in the summer and winter. It’s a lot more expensive too.”
    “Like—”
    “Like two grand.”
    “Two thousand dollars?!” I gasped. “Rec is seventy-five.”
    “True, but if Rachel’s serious about soccer, she’s going to want a coach who knows more about the game than some random parent who volunteered for the job.”
    I paused to absorb what Darcy was telling me. Twice as many practices. Twice as many games. Way more money and more Loud Bobbies. It sounded less than inviting. As if she were reading my mind, Darcy added, “If Rachel loves soccer, this will be the best thing you ever did for her.”
    And with those words, I mentally withdrew the money from my bank account and resigned myself to it .
    Darcy had remained sitting for our entire conversation. It seemed like craziness had to be somehow involved in our conversation. She could sit and relax as long as we were discussing other people behaving madly.
    “So what’s the worst thing I can expect?” I asked.
    Darcy thought about this for a moment, glancing up to the ceiling to recall a story. “A few years ago, well, many years ago, one of the more—eh hem— ambitious team managers got herself into some hot water with the club for unethical recruiting practices, if you know what I mean?”
    I didn’t. I looked blankly, which Darcy mistook for horror.
    “Am I scaring you?” Darcy asked. “You asked for the worst. It’s been a great thing for Kelly and—”
    “Darcy,” I interrupted. “I’m not scared; I’m confused. What do you mean by unethical recruiting practices? Did she pay people?”
    “Well, let’s just say,” Darcy dropped her voice into a sultry tone, “she took one for the team.”
    “What?!”
    “Yup,” she smiled coyly.
    “You’re telling me that a team manager recruited a player by sleeping with—”
    “The player’s dad.”
    “Whoa,” I said, absorbing this.
    “It’s actually pronounced ho .”
    “And you feel the kids haven’t been affected by any of this?”
    “Completely clueless,” Darcy assured me. “She didn’t screw him on the field.”
    “But didn’t people talk?” I asked.
    “Are you kidding? They still talk about it, but not with their kids.”
    I thought it was a bit naïve of Darcy to think that kids were oblivious to the gossip of adults. On the other hand, I wasn’t going to keep Rachel away from the game she loved to protect her from the corruption that was present in every other walk of life. I wouldn’t keep her out of school because the principal was catting around with a school board member. In fact, our principal was such a nasty old geezer that I’d be likely to send the slutty board member a box of chocolates and a thank you note for helping Mr. Portmond take the edge off.

    Santa Bella wasn’t the wholesome suburban haven I’d hoped to find when I sold our place in the city and moved. At first I thought Rachel and I would stay in our old condo, but everywhere I turned I saw Steve. I couldn’t look at a chair without seeing him in it. I kept smelling his pillow at night, refusing to wash it months after he died. I thought giving his clothes to Goodwill would help, but the empty closet turned out to be an even worse reminder. I tried to put some of my own things in it to fill the emptiness, but every time I opened the door, I tried to remember where his things used to be. It reminded me of the game of Concentration where kids try to remember which images are on the cards after they are turned face down. Whenever I opened Steve’s old closet, instead of seeing my dresses and skirts, I