One Two Punch - Chapter Eight: "Trouble Signing In"

I know it's been a while... but I've been on vacation. That link I had up was just to test something....

Anyway, here is chapter eight entitled "Trouble Signing In". It's one of the shorter chapters, BTW:

Chapter Eight: “Trouble Signing In”

On Monday, I pull Danny aside after class to talk to him.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“Listen, signing up for the tournament is today, I only just realized. Are you available today after school?”
“Yeah, but I have band practice, but I can be done by 4:00,” he says.
I think about it. “Okay, that’ll work. So come to my class at four, ok?”
“Ok, I’ll do that,” he says.
“Oh, wait! You don’t have your birth certificate with you, do you?” I ask.
“No, but I could drive home and get it real quick,” he says.
“So where would that put you on getting back here?” I ask.
“About 4:15,” he says.
“Ok, that’ll still work. See you then, Danny,” I say.
“See ya,” he says.
So after I let my last class go at 2:30, I patiently wait at the school for 4:15. After I’ve finished grading my papers, I just surf the internet. I lose track of time and just as I’m thinking of checking the clock, I hear a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I say. It’s Danny.
“Hey, ready to go?” he asks.
“Yep. You got your birth certificate and ID?” I ask him.
“Yep. My dad wondered why I was in such a hurry so I made up I left my mouthpiece at home” he says.
“Great cover up,” I tell him. “All right, let’s go.”
We go to my car, talking about strategy for the tournament. I drive down to the Galen Center, home of the Trojans basketball team, where the signups are beginning. I never played in the arena as it was built in 2006.
We get out of the car and head in the doors. As we get in, a man asks if we’re here to sign up for the tournament. I say yes, and he hands us some forms and tells us to fill them out. We enter the arena and it is jam-packed with fathers, sons, and even some other family members here and there, lining up to sign up for the tournament. There had to be 20 tables, each with two people at them.
We stand in line and fill out our forms. And then we wait. We waited for what seemed like eons. After about an hour, we finally get to the front of the line.
“Here’s our forms,” I say, handing them to the woman behind the desk.
“OK, do you have a birth certificate and ID for both of you?” She asks.
“Yes,” I say, handing her my and Danny’s ID’s and his birth certificate. “Hmmm….” she says. “Why are your last names different?”
“Because he lives with another family… I gave him up for adoption,” I say. I regretted the words as soon as I spoke them.
“Well, the eligibility requirements clearly state you must be his legal guardian and father who appears on the birth certificate and I’m sorry you only fulfill one of those requirements,” she informs us.
Shoot! “Are you serious? Damn, I must have read over that! Excuse us, please,” I tell her. I take Danny’s arm and pull him to the side.
“What do we do?” he asks me.
“I’m thinking…” I tell him. “Ok, we got two options… both of which are not that appealing, but they’re our only options,”
“Ok,” he responds.
“Option number one, your dad plays in this tournament for me and we hope for the best,” I say.
“Are you kidding? Have you seen my dad?” he says.
“I know. Option number two, we go to another desk and say I am your legal guardian.”
“But my ID has a different last name than yours,” Danny says.
“That is where we get a fake ID,” I tell him.
“Isn’t that illegal?” he asks.
I hesitate and say, “Yes… but if we don’t get caught, what they don’t know won’t hurt them. So let’s see… signing in to the tournaments ends at 8:00 PM tonight... but that’s no problem. I know a guy I went to college with who used to get us fake ID’s all the time. He helped us get a lot of beer, I tell ya.”
“Ok, great,” Danny says.
“So, you’re all right with this?” I ask him.
“Yeah, I guess,” he says. “Let’s just do this and get it over with.”
“We gotta hurry though, let’s go,” I tell Danny, as we head out the doors of Galen Center.