Playing Rough

Abstract

Playing Rough Allison Joseph (bio) Oh what a vicious game they encouraged us to play: two teams of scraggly school kids lined up at opposite ends of the gym to face each other, each kid on line taking turns firing a red rubber ball to see whom they could hit, how hard—could you make someone cry, hit them on the side of the face, on the nose, in the eye? Our bodies were barely covered by thin uniforms—faded yellow T-shirts, skimpy blue shorts, sneakers, knees and thighs exposed, upper arms and elbows sure spots for blows from a speeding ball. What was the point of this game other than learning how to move before the ball struck you, than learning how to launch a ball with all your hate mustered behind the movement? Maybe our teachers thought us too young and dumb for anything more complex, too stupid for basketball, volleyball, maybe they were [End Page 448] too lazy to teach us anything besides this cruel game of catch, this mean-spirited competition— sometimes boys against girls, sometimes bigger kids against smaller. But usually there wasn’t any sense to it; all they had to do was make sure we left the line if we were hit, one point for the other team. Everyone jeered if a kid couldn’t dodge the ball, if he wasn’t quick enough to scurry out of the way, if she wasn’t paying attention and the ball thudded her right between the shoulders, knocking her breathless. So that kid would sit in the bleachers after being struck from the game: head down, shoulders low, promising to be crueler next time, to fire the ball harder, send more people down before being knocked out. The team with one person left was somehow the winner, that particular boy or girl exhilarated, the rest of us too glum by then to care who’d won, sulky as we lined up to go back to the locker rooms where at least we could be evil on our terms, use our fists instead of that silly ball, deciding for ourselves whom to hit and why, [End Page 449] instead of waiting for some crude gym teacher to shout at us to begin, puffing his whistle shrill. Selected works by Allison Joseph: • Summers on Screvin • On Sidewalks, on Streetcorners, As Girls • Playing Rough • Artist-in-Residence • It’s Tough to be a Girl Scout in the City • The Tenant • Señora Williams • Plenty • An Interview with Allison Joseph Related Articles: Summers on Screvin Related Articles: On Sidewalks, on Streetcorners, As Girls Related Articles: Artist-in-Residence Related Articles: It’s Tough to be a Girl Scout in the City Related Articles: The Tenant Related Articles: Señora Williams Related Articles: Plenty Related Articles: An Interview with Allison Joseph Allison Joseph Allison Joseph, who was born in London, is an assistant professor of creative writing and literature at Southern Illinois University (Carbondale). Her poems have appeared in numerous periodicals, including The Kenyon Review, Parnassus, and Callaloo. She is author of What Keeps Us Here (Ampersand Press, 1992), a volume of poems. She graduated from Kenyon College and received the M.F.A. from Indiana University (Bloomington). Copyright © 1996 Charles H. Rowell