Soccer Duel Read Online Free PDF Page B

hold the bag open.
    “You sure you want the bag?” Renny asked dubiously.
    “I'm sure,” Bryce said firmly, closing the subject.
    “Okay, then.” Renny led the way down the trail. He began picking up litter and tossing it into Bryce's bag. Within minutes, the bag was half-full, stinking, and starting to get heavy. And they were just getting started!
    “What do you say we take a break?” Bryce suggested.
    “You tired already?” Renny asked, looking genuinely surprised. “We've barely begun.”
    “What do we do when our bag is full?” Bryce asked, hoping the answer would be “We're finished and we can go home.”
    It wasn't. “Well, when the bag is full, we tie it off and leave it at the head of the trail for the park rangers to pick up later,” Renny replied. “Then we take another bag and start over, until the three hours is up.”
    “I should have done the essay,” Bryce muttered. If he'd known he was going to get stuck with Renny Harding — the kid who had turned his dream into a nightmare — and holding a smelly bag of garbage for three hours, he would have done anything else, even faced suspension.
    For the next hour, Renny picked up soda cans, paper cups, and other trash, tossed them into the bag, and attacked the weeds and saplings that threatened to choke off the trail. Bryce trailed behind him, surprised at how much the kid seemed to be enjoying himself. It made him feel a little embarrassed for his own sour attitude.
    “I think it's time for a break,” Bryce said when he'd tied off his third bag. “I'm breaking.” Without waiting for Renny to agree, he put down the garbage bag and sat on a felled tree trunk.
    Renny sat down next to Bryce and wiped his brow with his T-shirt. “Whoo — sweaty work,” he said, grinning. “But it's all for a good cause, huh?”
    “Right,” Bryce said, nodding. Right — though he could care less about hikers or nature lovers.
    “So you were going to tell me how you wound up doing this,” Renny prompted him.
    “Oh, yeah,” Bryce said, stalling. For some reason, he didn't want to tell Renny the truth. “Well, I used to do this with my parents when I was little.” Which was true. Bryce's mom had loved to volunteer the whole family for charity work. “My dad always hated it; he just wanted to stay home and watch the ball game. Maybe that's why he left home when I was in third grade.”
    “Hey — my folks are divorced, too!” Renny said, turning to stare at Bryce. “Just last year. That's how come my mom and I ended up moving here.”
    “Huh!” Bryce said, looking Renny in the eye for the first time. “I hate my dad. You?”
    “I don't
hate
him,” Renny replied slowly. “But I am kind of mad at him. We were supposed to work on this cleanup project together, but he couldn't make it at the last minute.” Renny picked up a stray soda can and hurled it into the garbage bag with more force than he'd used before.
    “Then your dad's a jerk, and so's mine.” Bryce snorted. “I never see him except when he drops off Christmas presents. And then I make him sorry he did.”
    “You don't really
hate
him, do you?” Renny asked.
    “Sure I do,” Bryce insisted. “Why'd he have to leave?” He tore a stick off a nearby tree and started digging in the trail dirt with it.
    “I don't know,” Renny said. “I don't really get why my dad left, either. But I do know I still miss him.”
    Bryce felt a sick feeling welling up from the pit of his stomach. He clenched down hard on it. “I don't want to talk about it,” he said tightly.
    “Okay,” Renny said, backing off.
    The two boys were silent for a while, each brooding over his own thoughts.
    “Well, I bet your dad is proud of you, even if you don't think so,” Renny said finally. “You're good at so many sports — baseball, lacrosse, track, soccer. I saw you in the all-state basketball tournament. You were awesome!”
    Bryce felt a distinct flush of pleasure. Thanks,” he said. “You saw that?