Besides what I was experiencing on the football field, there were some obstacles I encountered in the classroom as well. They weren’t all bad—some were actually much needed. Like Mrs. Robinson and Mrs. Parquet. Two strong Black women who didn’t cut any corners and didn’t care that I was from LaPlace. They reminded me a lot of my mother: strong, direct, no-nonsense. They demanded respect and your undivided attention. I found this out the hard way, but before it was all said and done, I had nothing but respect for them.

Another obstacle came in the form of a classmate, Nashonda Harrison. We stayed arguing with each other in Mrs. Perrie’s class. One time we went at it so much I got sent to the office. When I came back, Mrs. Perrie hit me with, “The two of y’all act like y’all like each other.” After that, the arguments stopped. That kind of stuff wasn’t as heavy as the tension I was dealing with outside the classroom or even at practice.

Then there was this one moment—me, Vance, Jot, and Hubba had just closed our lockers. When we came from around the corner, a group of boys from St. Rose was standing in front of us. We backed up to the lockers, just staring at them. All of a sudden, a group of boys from Norco came walking up from the other direction and stood in front of us too. One of them stepped up and said, “If you want to mess with them, you’ll have to mess with us.”

Nothing popped off, but a few days later, Vance left Destrehan and transferred to Reserve Christian. Eventually, Jot and Hubba left too. Nick Mitchell was still there, but the group known as “them boys from LaPlace” had dwindled down to just me.

I wasn’t happy about being alone. So, like always, I took out my frustration during football practice. But over time, I got tired, tired of going to school, tired of going to practice, tired of not playing in games. So I came up with a “Master Plan.” Only thing is, it backfired.

“Mom, I don’t want to go to school today. I’m tired of going to practice and not being able to play.”

“Okay,” she said. Then the phone rang.

Ring… Ring… Ring…

“Damon, it’s for you!”

I answered in my best sick voice: “Hello?”

“DAMON, what’s going on? You okay?” It was Coach Simon.

“I’m not feeling good, Coach.”

“Well, I hope you feel better. But you’re still expected to be at practice. You can’t practice since you missed school, but you better be there to support your teammates!”

When I hung up, my mom just laughed. That’s when I found out that Coach Simon wanted me at every practice and every game, home or away.

There was one game I missed, an away game. It happened to be East St. John’s homecoming. Since I wasn’t playing, I figured I’d go home. But when I got back, my sister’s boyfriend and some of his teammates were at the house. Then the phone rang again.

“Where were you tonight?” Coach Simon asked.

I had to think quick.

“I went to scout East St. John, Coach,” I said. I started rattling off names like Cedric (Hitman), Scab, and Courtney Clark (Heck Zeck), and Coach actually let it ride.

But it still left me wondering: If I wasn’t playing, why was it so important to show up every day and every week?

Then came another “master plan.” I was worn out from giving my all every day on scout team. I decided I’d fake an injury. During special teams, I went in to block a punt and someone went low on me. I fell, rolled around, and pretended I was hurt.

Coach Simon came over, checked on me, and said something that changed my perspective:

“Son, if it was up to me, you’d be starting as a freshman. I wish I had ten more players just like you.”

That was all I needed to hear. From that point on, I gave my all with no complaints, even if it meant making the starters mad because they couldn’t stop me.

Then one morning, I got to school early, before any buses arrived. I was alone in the building. The first bus to show up was from St. Rose. A large group of Black boys got off, all wearing black and Zulu beads. At the front was a senior who once tried to fight me because he thought his girlfriend liked me. He led the group in front of me once… then again. By the third pass, I had already made up my mind, if he passed me again, I was swinging first.

Right then, four of my white coaches appeared and stood between us. One was definitely Coach Simon. They always stood in front of the school by the trophy case. From that day forward, I never felt that kind of tension again.

Coming up next:

Episode 7— “When the Prophetic Word Came to Life”