Necessary Roughness by Marie G. Lee

mutilates words until he can tell me no without having to say no to my face. Occasionally he makes O-Ma do his dirty work, like the time I wanted a mountain bike for my birthday, but mostly he does the job himself, leaving me flapping like a fish pulled up on a dock, trying to figure out exactly what he means.
    I let the silence stretch out, thinner and thinner. Tell me no if you mean no, I was thinking. Tell me to my face and give me a chance to argue my point.
    “Why don’t we wait and see if Chan makes the
football
team and then worry about things?”
O-Mabroke in.
“I think that would make the most sense.”
Abogee looked at O-Ma, kind of surprised, as if the roast itself had started talking.
    “Iron River has a wonderful football team. I can’t wait to see you play,” Mrs. Knutson said as she shoved the roast back in the oven. “I never miss a home game.” Abogee went back to his papers.
    After dinner I was doing some push-ups when Young came up to my room.
    “How come I never see you at lunch?” She settled cross-legged on the floor.
    I told her about the gym, Mikko, and the other football players.
    “I didn’t know you could do that.”
    I shrugged. “We’re not supposed to, but some kids do anyway.”
    Young looked mildly shocked at this. She’s a big rule follower.
    “So, you meeting any cool kids?” I asked, to change the subject.
    “It’s too early to tell,” Young said. “People seem friendly enough, but no one
does
anything around here. I like Donna. She’s no Sujin, though.”
    My knuckles throbbed because I’d been doing the push-ups tae kwon do style on the wooden floor.
    “Yeah,” I said. “The only guy I’ve really gotten toknow is Mikko, the one who got me to go out for football.”
    “I can’t believe you’re going out for football.” Young leaned over to pinch a sore biceps. I tried not to grimace.
    “I know you’re strong, Oppa, but they grow ’em big up here. Like that one guy who wears the dirty frayed jeans and those T-shirts without the sleeves. He’s a monster. There’s something odd about him. He smells bad too.”
    “How do you know how he smells?” He stank something fearsome in the locker room, but then we all did.
    “Yuck, Chan, just walking down the hall. He has a cloud around him, you know, like Pigpen in
Peanuts.”
    “Can we talk about something else?”
    “So what’re you going to do if Abogee doesn’t let you go out for football?”
    My
other
favorite subject, Abogee.
    “You think he doesn’t want me to go out for football?” I batted my eyes. Young rolled hers.
    “Anyone can build muscle, but building brain
…” she mimicked Abogee’s clipped Korean.
“Number one son, you must do something to make this family proud!”
    “Young-ster,” I said. “I really do want to go out for football. I mean, I used to think it was a useless sport, but actually I kind of like it.”
    “I know. It shows.”
    “So what should I do?”
    “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Maybe you should ride it out a little first. You know how Abogee is so touchy.”
    “Touchy isn’t the word.”
    I couldn’t help feeling touchy myself. Though I am willing to work hard, I’ll never be a rocket scientist. But doesn’t talent extend beyond things you do with a pencil in your hand? I worked my butt off to make the soccer team. And while Abogee drove Young all over the freaking state of California for some math tournament, he never came to one single soccer game, even when they were right in the neighborhood.
    “Abogee always listens to you, Young,” I said “Can’t you come up with some cool argument for football—like studies show that football can help you get better grades, or something like that?”
    Young shrugged her thin shoulders.
    “I’ll try,” she said doubtfully.

thirteen
    “Students should now report with their homeroom teachers to the auditorium.”
The principal’s voice droned facelessly from the intercom as everyone shuffled out.
    We