Boy Scouts, and then football, baseball, basketball. His pack leaders and coaches were surrogate fathers, new men in his life with every change of the season. He’d had to get used to new expectations, new encouragements and diatribes, new ways of showing care and affection. But for that season, his coach became his world. Of course, Colton was one boy among dozens on each of his teams, and the only way to get attention was to stand out. Be goofy. Be good, damn good, at sports. Be anything except himself. People left when he was himself.
