Jock Strut

3rd grade football practice. Running the first plays of his life. Water break time. James jock struts to the chair where his brother sits on [his] mom's lap. He spits out the mouth guard, tips up his helmet, nods to mom, gulps down half the bottle of water. As the water drips off his chin, he produces a wide-mouthed belch, respectable in length and volume. He turns around to rejoin the practice, a whispered "'scuse me" is lost in the re-attaching of the snaps as he jock struts back to the field. There is much I'll never know about maleness. But James has found his - and has found it to his liking.