A Book By Its Cover : Opie Corrine 1965

Corrine Ortiz stalked towards the football field. School hadn't even started yet and already the boys, because they definitely weren't men, on the team were giving her brother a hard time. His crime, the color of his skin. She was livid and wasn't about to watch her twin brother take grief for being a beautiful tan. She spotted number 47 talking to one the coaches along with that dimwit Alan. She could just imagine the conversation was all about oppressing the colored boys.
Juice was always telling her she had little dog syndrome. At all of 5 feet 3 inches tall, most of the boys here dwarfed her. she wasn't tiny, but not big either so most of them had her on weight, too. Still, she fearlessly pushed Alan aside, getting a look of pure dumfounded shock as a reward, and march up to number 47.
"You, 47," she poked his chest, her long dark brown hair swaying in it's pony tail, "Leave my brother alone. I know you're kind. I bet you don't even know his name. What is with you people, thinking you're better than us just because you're white. Last time I checked we all are the same inside, so what's your hang up on extra pigment?"

Opie and Alan were tag teaming Coach, angry that the spic missed a pass. He wasn't playing fair and Opie was sick of picking up his slack. He was just about to to go on about how that asshole needed to swim back across the border when he felt a hard tap on his back. He took off his helmet and spun around, "Girl, you need to back off. I ain't playin'..."

"You "ain't" playin?" Corrie laughed spitefully, "And you say I can't speak English. Well, let me tell you, I'm not playing either. My brother is a hell of a player and maybe, just maybe, if you had the other people guarding him, you'd get to see that. You know, if you make the black kids and the latino kids fail because of your pride, you'll all fail. You just think that one through," she smacked his helmet to the ground, "I'm not afraid of you or your little buddy. Bring it, white boy."

Opie clenched his fist, "Get going, lady or else..."

Corrie reached out and pushed his fist aside, "What are you going to do, beat the little spic girl?"

Opie stood straight, "My mama raised me not to hit ladies...or anything less than for that matter. You better get on home."

"Well, my Mama raised me to not suffer fools or ignorant buffoons. As far as running on home, my plans were more like going to sit in the bleachers while you practice. If you don't get someone to help Juice, I'm going to come down here and remind you just why you should," she turned to walk away, "Oh and, by the way, I'm more of a lady than most of the girls here."

Opie gave her a glare as he jerked his helmet back on, pointing to Ortiz, "Your sister needs to learn some manners, boy."

Juice smiled at him crookedly, "Well, I've been trying to teach her for years, it just never seems to stick. Maybe you'd have more luck or maybe she'd beat the rude right out of your pretty little head," he got into position.

They all prepared to run the play, instead of doing his part, he rushed through the line and took Opie out. He knew he wouldn't get in trouble for it b/c this was what the scrimmages were all about, learning to protect each other.

He could hear his sister laughing clear from the stands.

Opie grumbled some as he got back up, throwing Juice a bitter glance before returning back to the game. He tried unsuccessfully to ignore the girl laughing heartily in the background.

By the end of practice, Corrie was pretty amused. Juice's game had really improved and she grinned from ear to ear as she made her way down to the field.

"Hey brother," she hugged her tiwn.

"Hey," he smiled, "thanks for that. They were really riding me."

Very aware that Opie was watching and within earshot, she replied, "Some people are just ignorant fools. I feel bad for them, really. All the things in life they have to miss out on. Must be horrible to go through life with so much fear."

Opie scowled as he jerked off his helmet. Begrudgingly, he nodded toward Ortiz, "Good hustle."

Corrie felt a pang of regret as she saw the frustration on his face. she walked over to the tall boy and smiled warmly.

"Look, I'm sorry. It's just, he's my brother, you know? Thank you for finally giving him a chance."

Opie forced a smile, "He is a good player...I guess I was wrong. We need heart like that on the team. I have a baby sister. I know how you feel; wanting to protect them."

She scoffed at him, "My brother is my twin. I protect him because I love him, not because I don't think he could do it himself. He shouldn't have to. Me and him, we;re a team."

Opie nodded, "I guess I was a bit of an asshole out there. My name is Harry Winston; people call me Opie though."

She smiled some, "A little bit of an asshole? Corrine," she offered her hand.

Opie looked at her hand hesitantly, finally reaching out to gently take it in his. He was surprised to see how soft it was. "Pretty name."

"You know," she looked at him through her lashes, "We really are no different from you."

Opie stayed silent for a moment, taking her in. "Yeah...I'm beginning to see that."