Summary
Chapter 19: Who Are The Kings?
Qendrim Bushi, a Fugees player from Kosovo, was actually the grandson of a famous Albanian soccer player and referee. The Bushi family had lived in the town of Kacanik in southern Kosovo. Qendrim's father owned two grocery stores and they lived comfortably until southern Kosovo became the battleground for conflict between Serbia and Albania. In 1999, Bill Clinton called for NATO to bomb the Serbs attacking Kosovo, but this actually caused a wave of brutality from the Serbian army. Kacanik was attacked on the third day following Clinton's order, and there was a bloody battle on the town's main street. Some Kacanik residents were able to get away on foot, but others were later found in a mass grave along with Albanian fighters. Qendrim's family escaped to Macedonia, and they lived in a refugee camp for three months before being resettled in Clarkston. Qendrim had been five when he arrived in the US, and he was now twelve. When he had arrived, he knew no English, but his language skills had improved greatly since then and he had quickly found a home on the Fugees team. Qendrim was close friends with many of his teammates, and even came to feel as if they were brothers or from the same country.
While the Under Fifteens struggled, the Under Thirteens continued to bond and improve. They won their third and fourth games of the season and they practiced hard while having fun. Luma was also getting a better feel for the players, which meant she was able to strategize better in their placements. She had many strong offense and defense players, but the Under Thirteens still lacked skilled goalies. Luma had Eldin and Mafoday alternate as goalies; neither was a strong player, but both were very respectful of the rules, so she and the team had to succeed despite their weaknesses.
Chapter 20: Showdown at Blue Springs
The Under Thirteens soon had a game against the Blue Springs Liberty Fire, a team without a single person of color. The game was early in the morning, early enough that Luma had picked up players by bus at the apartment complexes rather than making them walk to the library in the morning chill. The beginning of the game was tough on the sleepy Fugees, with many players getting injured by the other team. The Fugees were down 1-0 at halftime, and Luma scolded them for being lazy. This woke the Fugees up, and soon after the second half began they brought the score to 1-1. After Blue Springs scored again, Luma sent in Bienvenue, the Fugees' secret weapon. The Fugees scored a goal and then another. With the score at 3-2, Blue Springs tried to make a comeback, but a tiny, new player named Robin Dikori got the ball out of the way. The Under Thirteens celebrated another victory.
Chapter 21: Coming Apart
The next day, the Under Fifteens had an away game against a team called the Santos. The team was struggling with Mandela's bad moods, Tito's shooting, and the still-forming relationships between new and old players. On the day of the away game, Mandela was in a foul mood and yelled at other players throughout the beginning of the game. The Santos scored three goals to the Fugees' zero, and Mandela repeatedly tried to score without passing. At halftime, Luma benched Mandela and shifted the rest of the team's positions. The Fugees ended the game at 6-1. Luma told the team that they would have to keep working without complaint during practices, and then she ordered Mandela and Natnael to drive back to Clarkston with her in her Volkswagen.
In the car, Luma struck up a conversation with Natnael that was clearly about Mandela. She asked what she should do about a player who she has always taken care of but who is now being disrespectful to her and the team. Luma pressed Natnael, Mandela's best friend, asking what he would do in this situation. Finally, Natnael answered, "Let him go" (230).
When Luma pulled up to Mandela's apartment complex, she finally spoke directly to him. She told him that he was a good athlete, better than his brother, but that he didn't have the discipline necessary to be on the team. She told him not to call her Coach anymore or to contact her at all. That evening and the next day, Luma stayed away from everyone, lamenting how she hadn't wanted to give up on Mandela.
Chapter 22: Hanging On at Home
Generose, mother of Bienvenue, Alex, Ive, and baby Alyah, got a job working at night at a chicken processing plant. This required her to leave Alyah at home with her three sons from late afternoon until around 3am. Alex did most of the caring for Alyah as well as the two younger boys; he would come home from soccer practice, make dinner for Alyah, and then make dinner for his brothers while they did homework and watched TV. Luckily, Alyah was a quiet baby, but this lifestyle was still difficult for Alex. One night, Alex was cooking hot dogs but was distracted by Alyah needing to be fed and played with, and Alex did not realize he had left the boys' dinner on the stove until they had burned up entirely and filled the kitchen with smoke.
Beatrice, Mandela's mother, worried about him now that he was kicked off the Fugees. It was clear to her that he missed the team from the way he had hung his jersey on the wall by his bed and the fact that he told his brother that he wanted to talk to Coach. She was also scared that he would get into trouble, perhaps even with gangs, if he didn't have anything to do in the evenings while she was at work.
Chapter 23: The Dikoris
Luma had problems besides Mandela's absence: phone calls, emails, a burnt-out brake light, and helping the families of her three teams as often as possible. However, her mood was boosted by the success her teams were having, especially now that they had a better field to practice on. The Under Thirteens were set to face the Athens United Gold Valiants, an undefeated team; Luma thought they had a good chance of winning, especially now that she had identified the talents of the Dikori brothers.
Robin and Idwar Dikori were from the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, a difficult place to live since it existed right between the African culture of the south and the Arab culture of the north. However, for a long time, people of around 50 different ethnic groups lived in peace in the Nuba region. However, an Islamist regime that took power in 1989 began to drive out indigenous groups in the early 90's to get access to the fertile land of the Nuba Mountains. The government pushed these civilians out using bombs and deploying troops to kill and rape. Around 200,000 people in the region were killed during this period. The Dikori brothers were young when they and their parents were forced to leave the area. Instead of moving to peace camps, which were actually not safe, the family moved into a makeshift village and began to try to farm again in the new location. However, because they were Christian, they soon realized that they needed to move out of the country to be safe. They gathered money and moved to Egypt, but there was also political unrest there, refugees were not allowed to work, and many Egyptians held prejudices against Sudanese. In 2000, the family was resettled in Clarkston.
The family settled into their new American home and got to work learning English and saving money. In 2002, after the Dikoris had saved enough money to buy a minivan, they decided to go on a trip to Tennessee to visit another family of refugees. All eight family members piled into the car for the trip, and they made it to Tennessee comfortably. However, while on the interstate, the Dikori brothers' father accidentally flipped their car; the Dikori brothers' mother and three sisters all died in the accident. The sons of the family became distracted and restless. Their older brother Shamsoun tried to comfort them, but he was grieving also, and their father was little help emotionally. However, Shamsoun saw the Fugees playing soccer one day behind Indian Creek Elementary, and he was able to join in and bring his brothers. The team helped the brothers to calm down and get through the hard time.
Analysis
This section builds tension toward the climax of the story. The Under Fifteens continue to struggle individually and as a team, the Under Thirteens continue to improve their game despite their ages and national differences, and Luma continues to run herself ragged getting her teams in shape and dealing with players' personal issues. However, there are just enough positives in the section to keep the story uplifting and the players motivated. St. John makes sure to switch the focus back and forth between the Under Fifteens and Under Thirteens to build suspense about the outcome of both of their seasons.
Even at this late stage in the story, the author continues to introduce new characters. Qendrim is one such character; he is introduced in Chapter 19, which tells the backstory of his family's escape from Kosovo. By this point, the reader should be able to compare and contrast the events that lead each player to Clarkston. Qendrim seems to feel especially accepting of Fugees players from all backgrounds, unlike some of the players who formed cliques with others from their country, perhaps because he came to the United States at a relatively young age.
Two more players introduced in this section are the Dikori brothers, Robin and Idwar. Their story contrasts with many of the others because they did not stay in refugee camps after leaving their country, but instead went to live with friends in Egypt. However, there was a good deal of prejudice and discrimination against Sudanese people there, so they were forced to leave their new home, this time for financial rather than political reasons. In further contrast, perhaps the most traumatic part of their story, the death of their mother and sisters from a car crash, actually happens in the United States. This story further demonstrates how the lives of refugees are not perfect just because they have been resettled.
Luma's fraught relationship with Mandela is clear from both of their reactions after she told him he was off the team. While it makes sense that Mandela would be sad, Luma also takes some alone time, which seems rare with her busy schedule of practices and home visits to players' families. This tension is not resolved before or during the climax of the story, so the author makes a note in the epilogue that Mandela and Luma made up; she even helped him get into a program through which he got job training and a high school diploma.
Luma's burnt-out brake light is mentioned briefly at the beginning of Chapter 23. This foreshadows the problem she has with the police in Chapter 24, causing her to miss the Under Thirteens' game and the team to lose due to their fear and distraction. Mentioning it in Chapter 23 allows the reader to commiserate with Luma when she is pulled over, since it is first mentioned as one item on an overwhelming list of to-dos.
