The Trailer Park The Fifth Year Part 1 Words And MusicChapter 37
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"You look way too happy for a Monday morning."
I smiled at Robbie.
"I take it you're smiling cause you're still in school?" Tami asked.
"Nah, I'd be happier if I got a two week vacation, but I'm stuck here."
"Give it up," Robbie said with a laugh. "Everybody knows you like school."
I tried to look shocked. "Who's been spreading those rumors? I'll sue."
"Tony, I hate to break it to you, but they all know you're a nice guy too."
The line moved, and we got closer to lunch. Hamburgers. There was a chance it might be edible. Not a big chance.
"So how much trouble are you in?" Robbie asked.
"None. I resigned."
"So much for a brilliant broadcasting career."
I put my arm around the redhead and gave her a squeeze. "You know what I love about you? Your compassion."
"I calls 'em as I sees 'em"
I was about to say some sarcastic when I was interrupted. "You must be Robbie Tate." We all looked. The speaker was a guy my age that I didn't know.
"I'm Robbie," she admitted.
"I'm Cody. I'm new here." Cody ran his fingers through his hair and kind of flipped his head. To me, it seemed faked, but Robbie seemed to be checking him out. "I, uh, heard a lot about you, and just wanted to say that I think what you did was awesome."
Robbie smiled modestly. "Well, there's a lot of other guys on the team too."
"Team?" He looked surprised. "Oh, the football game. That was cool too. The way you guys pulled it out in the end. But I meant the family you helped. Taking in five people after a fire, it was... it was way cool. I, um, I'll get out of your way now." He turned and disappeared toward the end of the lunch line.
"He was cute," Robbie said.
"Very," Tami agreed.
I don't know why, but I felt like I was reviewing a play and the shy awkward bit was way overdone.
"Heard the latest?" Robbie asked as we met up and headed for debate. It was a rainy Wednesday and I just kind of grunted at her.
"About Cody or something else?" Tami asked.
"Cody?" I asked, my ears picking up.
"Robbie's been checking him out."
"He's a classmate," Robbie said with a hint of red. "I'm interested."
"She's interested all right," Tami said with a leer that would have done any construction worker proud.
"So what's the scoop," I asked, not really interested.
"He's a senior. Just moved here from Phoenix. Average student. Runs track," Tami reported, I assumed condensing reports she'd gotten from Robbie.
"Is that the latest?" I asked Robbie.
"NO!" she said forcefully
I grinned at her as we took our seats in the classroom.
"The sheriff was here to talk to Parker."
"Did they take him away in handcuffs? If they did, I'll go outside and do my impression of Fred Astaire and Singing in the Rain."
"Sorry. No such luck. Somebody trashed Clay Willingham's car."
"And Parker's a suspect?" Tami asked.
"Nope. Clay's the quarterback at North Lincoln. The sheriff probably thinks that somebody on the team did it," I answered and Robbie nodded.
"Any idea who " the bell rang and ended the discussion.
"Eight more hours and schools over for the week," I said as I turned into the school parking lot.
"You like school," Tami reminded me. She was sharing the front seat with Robbie.
"Yeah," I admitted. "But the weekend's cool too."
"And the game," Mikee added from the back seat she shared with Bobbi Bradley. We'd dropped Traci and Kelly at Robbie's house to take the bus with the other girls.
"Spoken like a cheerleader," I said. I paused for a second then added, "Put that tongue back in your mouth." From Bobbi's laughter, I guessed I'd nailed it.
"Give her a break," Tami admonished. "You've been waiting all week for the game too."
I parked next to the gym, and we got out. "Make sure you walk three steps behind us," Mikee said as she climbed out of the back.
"Why?" Bobbi asked as she followed.
"Well, you're a freshman after all."
"You can walk with me," Robbie said, holding out her hand. "She's only a sophomore, she can follow behind."
"Hey, I was only kidding."
I grinned to myself as I held the door open for the girls. It was nice to have things back to normal for a change.
A sheriff's car pulled into the parking lot. Deputy Boyd was driving.
"Anything you want to tell us before he pulls out the handcuffs?" Robbie asked with a smile.
"Nothing recently, and most of the old stuff's pretty well buried. Maybe he's after you this time."
Robbie smiled. "Like I ever get caught."
I nodded.
"Tony, I might have known you'd be in the middle of this," Dan Boyd said as he walked up.
"Middle of what? We just got here."
He nodded. "Okay, come with me."
I wondered if I had time to have Robbie kick me for thinking things were normal.
There was a small crowd in the main hall, but he pushed his way though. I followed Deputy Boyd, and the girls followed me. As we got to the front, I discovered that the center was the trophy case. And maybe 'was' is the perfect word, because it was trashed. All the glass had been broken out, plaques broken in half, and trophies busted. Our biggest trophy, for second in state last year, was broken into a dozen pieces on the floor, and I was pretty sure I knew what the yellow liquid splashed all around was.
"One of the janitors, Frank, discovered it when he opened the school about twenty minutes ago," the deputy explained. "Any ideas?"
"One." I didn't elaborate.
"Sims, get out of there. Let the deputy do his work," Parker commanded, charging up.
"Tony's helping me right now," Dan said softly. "Could you stand back? This is a crime scene."
Parker turned a nice shade of red, spun on his heel, and stalked off.
Dan smiled and asked me to get him a couple of chairs out of one of the classrooms. When I brought them back, he took the yellow tape he'd been holding and fastened it to the wall near the trophy case, then made a large square using the two chairs and fastened the end on the other side of the case. When he'd finished he'd left about a three foot passage in the hall. Next he sent Tami to his patrol car for his camera.
"Shouldn't you be getting pictures for the paper?" Robbie suggested.
"It's too late for today's paper, but that's a good idea." I sent Mikee down to the journalism room to get my camera, explaining I wanted mine and not one of the school's. "Parker may not let us run it, even next week. He kept the trouble last year out." Robbie nodded.
"Speaking of last year," Dan said, kneeling to get a closer look at something. "Should I be looking in the school, or outside?"
"Outside, I think," I said.
"The ones last year, well, two graduated, barely. And the other two were, uh, reasoned with. Even if they hadn't been, I don't think they would have done this," Robbie added.
I was glad he didn't ask us any names, considering that last year's vandalism was still, technically, an open case.
Mikee brought my camera, and I started talking pictures, some of just the vandalism and some of Deputy Boyd inspecting damage. Tami brought his camera, and he started doing the same, even taking one picture of me taking a picture.
"Any ideas?" he asked again.
I stood mute, as they say in the police procedurals. So did Robbie, though I was sure she'd come to the same conclusions I had.
Mr. Walker looked up from the news copy he was holding. "Good work."
"Thanks," I said, trying to sound modest. "Tami and I did it together. She did most of it."
"The pictures aren't bad either."
I nodded.
He hesitated. "I, uh, have to clear this with Mr. Parker before we can put it in next week's paper."
I grinned. "I know. Just like I know he'll squash it. Could you do it this morning?"
Mr. Walker looked surprised. "Quash," he corrected automatically. "On a deadline?"
"Sort of."
"I don't want to know, do I?"
"Plausible deniability," I agreed.
"Sims, what is this?" Parker slammed a newspaper down on my desk.
"I think we had this conversation before. That's a newspaper. A form of mass communication. Some people read it to get information. If the words are too big for you, maybe somebody can help."
The class laughed until Parker spun and glared around the room. Why does he always have to interrupt debate?
He turned back. His face ran the gamut of colors, and for a second I thought he was going to go for my throat. "Sims, I've just about had it with your attitude. I mean this article."
"Are you about done?" Mrs. Conners asked. "I am trying to teach a class here."
Parker ignored her. "Well, Sims?"
"Just a story that Tami and I wrote."
"I thought I made it clear this wasn't running."
"You made it clear that the school newspaper is a joke, and we couldn't run this there." I picked up the newspaper and held it open. "This isn't the school paper. This is a real paper, and they might take exception if you think you can censor them."
"I can censor you."
"Interesting idea. Mrs. Conners, can we debate that? Can the school stop students from publishing in non-school forums?"
"You made it sound like our students are to blame," Parker accused.
"Somebody did their sign and Willingham's car first."
"It wasn't..."
"MR. PARKER!" Mrs. Conners interrupted. "This isn't the time or the place. If you really think you can punish Tony for publishing that, then suspend him and go. The rest of us have a class."
Parker looked from me to Mrs. Conners, then back to me.
"This isn't over," he snapped and stormed out.
"Interesting day." Robbie observed.
"It ain't over yet." I sat with Tami in my lap while Robbie drove my baby. Mikee and Bobbi were in the back again.
"Have you ever considered not baiting Parker?"
I sighed. "Tami and I talked about it while we wrote the article. We felt that we owed the school paper the right of first refusal, even though we were pretty sure Parker would kill it. After he did I faxed it to the paper in town, and they bought it. Parker was just a bonus."
"How much?" Mikee asked from behind me.
"Thirty-five for the story and twenty-five for the pictures."
"You're rich," Bobbi said. Something about the way she said it made me feel that it wasn't just a kid wishing she had sixty bucks. I had a feeling that in the Bradley family, sixty bucks was a lot of money.
Robbie saved me from having to comment. "Daddy's home," she announced as she pulled up in front of her house.
"You didn't think he'd miss your game, did you?"
"Not if the planes were still flying."
Robbie parked and was out of the car almost before the wheels stopped turning.
"You'd think she hadn't seen him in a year instead of a week," Tami said.
"All things are relative. If I hadn't seen you in a week, it would seem like a year."
"Are you still on the team?" I asked as I slipped my arm around Robbie's back and cupped her breast. "Don't know. Don't care. Feel good." I had a feeling that she wasn't talking about the hand that was gently toying with her already erect nipple. "We got the job done," she elaborated. "Did Parker say anything?" Tami asked from my other side. We were sitting on Robbie's bed, our backs leaning against her headboard, and I had a tit in each hand. The stereo was playing something...
Two things helped me salvage my dream of finishing the week with my body intact. One, Robbie knew it was the right thing to do. Even after installing the Bradley family in three of her unused rooms there were two left for future refugees. And two, she liked the girls from the moment she met them. As we walked in the living room I pulled a whistle out of my pocket and blew it hard. Robbie turned around and looked at me as if I'd lost it, but as she turned back the four Bradley girls were...
I had lived in the Old West Trailer park just outside of Las Vegas for 4 years. I had a string of bad luck at poker and craps. I had lost my house, my wife and my dog over a short period. Being 23 years old and broke sucks big time. I now play poker tournaments on the Internet and have won enough to pay for a trailer and beer. I have open my second beer since I started writing this story. I am not sure how it happen but I am glad it did. It all started about a month ago.I was hanging my wash on...
I considered not telling Robbie till show time, but I figured she already knew. It's hard to keep a secret when you're advertising all over the county. Besides, there are worse things than death, and I didn't want Robbie putting her mind to what they were. It was first period and we were on the stage, trying to get everything organized. "What are you three doing up here?" Parker thundered. "Just because you think you're special doesn't mean you can skip classes anytime you want...
"How's my favorite math genius?" Kelly Dubrey turned, a big smile on her face. Then, for some reason, her smile faded. Kelly had changed a lot in the last couple years. For one thing, she'd hit her growth spurt and wasn't the shortest kid in our class anymore, despite being two years younger. And she'd grown tits. Not big watermelons, but nice handfuls that seemed to be exclusive to Ryan Gates, a boy a year older, a grade behind, and almost as smart as her. "What do you need hacked...
"Stop drooling!" I came back to reality. "I wasn't drooling." Tami and her mother looked knowingly at each other. "I wasn't ... I was just imagining ... I mean..." "Tony, my future son-in-law, have you ever heard the expression quit while you're behind?" I decided I had a very wise future mother-in-law and nodded. Tami looked satisfied. "She was real excited, though naturally her father had trouble deciding between pride and paternalism." Tami shook her head in awe....
"Ladies!" The gymnasts who had been milling around quickly took seats on the bench, Cheyenne sitting last. "I am very disappointed. In fact, I'm down right disgusted." The girls looked at each other in surprise. In the bleachers I saw parents who were mostly used to my after-meet tirades looking surprised, too. I waited a beat. "I hate ties. Next time, win or lose, but no more ties." Kelly stood. "On behalf of the team..." and blew me a loud raspberry before sitting back...
"What are you grinning about?" I climbed back to my feet. It felt like every Tiger in the stadium had piled on me after I ran back the kickoff to the fifty. "I was thinking how nice and peaceful it was to just be playing football." "Peaceful?" Robbie asked, cocking her head. Then she got it and nodded. "Maybe we can do a double or triple overtime so you can stay out here." "Please." "I talked to the coach, and he said it was okay." I looked blankly at Tami. "Coach?...
"How did he... ? Why did... ?" They were almost the first five words Tami had spoken since the scene in the locker room. I treasured them. "Did you say something?" I asked to tweak her. In the two hours since the game ended, she'd been absorbed in her own world and ignored me. Our original plan had been to stay and watch the second game so that I could size up next week's competition. In fact, my plan involved staying at the motel another night, though the team was driving back after...
"Are you totally blind?" The ref turned and glared at me, then turned back to the game. On the field, Mike Reed was climbing to his feet again. French Park had just logged their fourth late hit and gotten away with it again. Not that it did them any good. The pass that Mike had launched seconds before the hit had sailed right into Robbie's arms. She made another seven yards before two of the Legionaries brought her down. I looked across the field at the other sideline. The Legionaire...
Coach Vickers blew his whistle and signaled the team over. "Settle," he yelled as we formed a circle around him. I was feeling good. It had been a good week. So far, no one had threatened to suspend or expel me. Dad gave me some funny looks. I think he was trying to decide if he had to say something about Tami and me, but in the end I guess he decided that Mom had handled it. Football practice had gone great and so had the play. It was Thursday. Maybe, just maybe, I would finally get the...
As soon as Tami and I got to school, three basketball players grabbed me and started carrying me around the halls. Mike, Luke, and Robbie were getting similar treatment. And it didn't stop when the bell rang. Not that the teachers tried. We'd had an assembly scheduled for second period, but with most of the student body roaming the halls chanting, clapping and stomping, Mr. Reed moved it up. I was carried triumphantly into the gym. Mr. Reed caught my eye and tilted his head to the lectern...
"You've got to be kidding." Robbie grinned, then shook her head. "It's perfect for your next song in the Spring Concert." "But..." "After all, you're the Donny Osmond fan." I sighed. "I made one little comment about him going from teen idol to game show host. That doesn't exactly make me the president of his fan club. Does he still have fan clubs?" Robbie grinned again. "Sure. Teachers, librarians, and waitresses in their fifties who go home, put on their old mini-skirts,...
She was thinking about Max and the crazy sex they had last week nonstop since it had happened. Her pussy or "Cunt" as she was now calling it because Max had called it that and it now pleased her to call her betraying vagina a cunt. Her cunt was back to normal. For a few days after 'having coffee' with Max it was sore and stretched. Very tender and leaking his cum. She smelled and tasted it for days. On the third day she could still get small traces but she really had to force her fingers...
Usually a three-day weekend is something kids live for, but this one seemed to drag on forever. At least the weather cooperated. Saturday, Tami and I, with Robbie and Mark Russell, went out to the National Forest and hiked for about four hours. That night Tami and I played Monopoly with Traci and Peter, Mikee and Sam, and Kelly and a freshman named Kyle. Robbie and Mark were supposed to play too, but spent most of the evening in my room with the door shut, something that Sam and Kyle noticed...
I looked at Peter, curled up in his sleeping bag on my floor almost like a puppy. I think he really missed his mom and dad today, though being a grown-up freshman he couldn't show it. But on Thanksgiving even grown-up juniors feel just a little closer to their families. Peter and Traci had taken to following along when Tami and I took our walks. Not intruding, but creating their own little ritual. I wondered if they'd last. They were awfully young. Damn, now I knew what Mom felt like when...
"You've got a funny look on your face." I'd just stepped out my front door to meet Tami. I kissed her, slipped my arm around her and my hand into her back pocket, and we started walking. "I'm trying to decide whether to be insulted or not." Tami giggled. "About what?" "Mom and I were talking about Darlene, and she was saying that she was proud of me for bringing home strays, girls who need help." "And that's insulting?" "Then she added she'd be prouder if my strays...
The doorbell rang. It was the high point of my day so far. Freedom isn't over-rated, but it can be boring. I put down my book, Harrison's A Stainless Steel Rat is Born. I'd decided to re-read the series in chronological instead of published order. I stretched and answered the door. "What are you doing here?" I asked astonished. "That's the thanks I get for breaking out of maximum security to come see you." Robbie's grinning face was just the tonic I needed. "Maximum...
"What the hell are they doing?" I yelled, jumping to my feet. I felt two hands grab my arms and try to pull me down, Tami on one side and Mikee on the other. "Quiet!" Mikee hissed. "You're not supposed to be here. I stayed on my feet as the referees untangled the dog pile with Luke Hastings on the bottom. As he stood, Hastings threw the ball on the ground in disgust. I couldn't blame him. The blocking had been horrible, and we got sent for a five yard loss. I let Tami and Mikee...
"Take five!" "But, we're..." I took a couple quick steps and jumped up to the stage. "We're taking five," I said firmly. I took Robbie's hand and pulled her toward the exit. Outside, I took a deep breath of the cool night air, then pushed Robbie to sit on the low concrete wall by the door. "Want to talk about it?" "There's nothing to talk about." "Okay." I sat next to her, taking her hand again. We sat like that for several minutes. Robbie tried to stand, but I held her...
"Tony. How's your first day?" "Good so far," I said with a smile. "Why? What have you heard?" Mr. Reed sighed and sat down across from me. "Could you at least try to go a week without problems?" I shrugged. "I can try." "Why do I feel like I should have told Jason no and gone back to watching television?" It was rhetorical, so I shrugged and kept quiet. I'd been sitting by myself in the library. I had calculus sixth period, not that I thought I would ever use it, but it...
"You've had a busy morning." "I have?" I said, turning around. I'd been standing in the lunch line with Tami and Robbie when Stephy Ward came up behind us. "Un huh," she said with a giggle. "When I got to the office second period, Mr. Parker was in with Mr. Reed. He wasn't exactly yelling, but he was pretty loud, and even with the door closed I heard your name several times." I tried to look humble. "One of the prices of fame. Everybody talks about you." "Just before I left,...
If there had been bonus points for style, Zoe's Song got 'em. Peter and I were turned out in black tuxedos, and the girls wore long elegant dresses. The official invitation to the banquet had said semi-formal, and of the other two casts, only half-a-dozen guys had even bothered with ties. We stood out. It had been Robbie's idea. She complained that she'd never seen me in a tux and Tami had. She'd been right. As much as I hate even wearing a tie, we looked good. We looked the part of...
"Okay, Trace, you're up." Traci frowned but stood up. "I don't know why you signed me up for this. I've been vaulting like shit." That was the truth. Since her fight with Peter almost a month ago, she hadn't been worth much of anything, in gymnastics or school. I'd told Mom about the fight with Peter, though not what it was about, and convinced her to give Traci some space to work it out. Now I was ignoring my own advice. I ignored her comment, smiled at her, then walked up to...
"The answer is... ," I hope, "three-x." Mrs. Wayne smiled. "Now trying saying like you believed it." "Three-x." "Very good. Now did everyone get how he got that? Tony, did you get how you got that?" Robbie giggled from the next desk. The door opened, and Tami stuck her head in. "Mrs. Wayne, could I borrow Tony and Robbie for a couple minutes?" Mrs. Wayne hesitated, then nodded. Robbie and I glanced at each other, then gathered our stuff. "Pages one-twenty-five thru...
I leaned back, taking my fingers off the keyboard and flexing them. I decided that writing wasn't nearly as easy as I'd thought it was. Especially writing to a deadline. The other play had been easy, but then, it had been nothing but a bunch of songs held together by a little dialog. Now the dialog had to tell the story. And on top of that, just when I was trying to think, 'How would this character say that?' I found myself thinking, 'Robbie expects a first draft tomorrow.' No...
"Feel like we've done this before?" After the referee flipped the coin, I was shaking hands with the Grizzly quarterback. "Now that you mention it, it does feel familiar," I said with a grin. "Yeah, but last time was just a bad dream. This time we'll get it right." I shrugged. "I thought it turned out pretty good last time." Last year we'd met the Grizzlies in the semi-finals and beaten them, though all the sportswriters had predicted they'd have an easy game. This year, we...
We got to the theater just before one. Luke Reese and Ricky Calloway were already busy tearing down our sets. Ricky looked at our group in amazement. "It's bad enough you travel with your own little harem, but I see you've added a new blonde, brunette, and a redhead." I grinned. "They say variety is the spice of life." Tami cuffed the back of my head as Robbie punched me in the arm. "Guys, these are Tony and Traci's cousins from Colorado and Hawaii," Tami said, then continued with...
"Are you planning to be a playwright?" I smiled and shook my head. "Robbie may make me write one more, but after that I'm done. I'm just a dumb jock." Janet Martin smiled back. "That's like saying Albert Einstein counts good." "Where is Miss Tate?" Robert Annoly asked. "She, uh, wasn't feeling good. She went home after the curtain," Tami said. Before the play, Robbie had apologized to everyone for being a bitch all week, then after the last curtain, had snuck out as fast as...
"... Tate with the ball. She's scrambling. She see's an opening and... it looks... it looks like a perfect pass right into the hands of Zach Hissman. A good catch, and Zach brought down on the thirty-four. That's another first down for the Rebels." I leaned back and took a deep breath, then looked at Tami beside me. "I didn't realize that talking was such hard work." Tami gave me a quick grin and went back to her laptop. I looked back down on the field. "The Rebels out of their...
Monday night I got home about six. It was kind of nice. With football and the play done for the year, all I had to worry about was school and gymnastics. It was almost like having free time. I parked in front of the trailer and then walked Tami to her house, with Kelly beside us heading for her own. "Good practice," I said, swatting my favorite munchkin on the butt as Tami and I stopped in front of her house. "I don't think Cheyenne thought so," Kelly giggled. "Go!" I said, pointing...
Since there was no school Friday after Thanksgiving, Coach Vickers made it very clear that everybody had to be in the parking lot for the bus by ten. No exceptions. Still, he didn't sound very surprised when I called and said that Robbie and I were running late, and since we didn't want to hold everybody up, we'd drive ourselves. "My Tony, who doesn't lie," Tami sighed from the seat next to me as I put my cell phone back in my pocket. "I didn't lie. There's no way we can make the...
"Yes." "Yes what?" Tami asked as my hand sank into the back pocket of her jeans. "Yes is the answer." "What answer?" Tami asked a little over loudly. Behind us, I saw Traci and Peter come out of their own world to look. It was the Sunday night after the brunch, and we were talking a walk around the park even though it was misty. I smiled. Turning my head, I nibbled on her earlobe. "The answer to the question you're going to ask in about twenty or twenty-five minutes." "What...
I've always heard that when you're drowning, your whole life passes in front of your eyes. I wondered if that had anything to do with my thoughts about the first time I made love to Tami. "Tate! Sims! You're up." I stood, and picked my helmet. Robbie was waiting for me just over the sideline. I put on my helmet and we walked toward the fifty-yard line. Normally we jogged out, but I held her back and we walked. Mr. Metzger, an old friend, was the chief referee. "Gentlemen, and...
I heard the patrol car crunching gravel before I saw it in my rear view mirror. It pulled up behind me and parked. "I'm guessing this is official, so I should say, 'What can I do for you deputy?' instead of how you doing Dan?" "It's official," he confirmed. Dan Boyd walked around the car and got in on the passenger side. "We got a complaint that you refused to leave school property." "I'm just waiting to pick up Tam." "But you've been suspended?" "Yep, about twenty...
I pulled into the lot, parked, and killed the engine. It felt good to be back. I climbed out and grabbed my backpack from behind the seat. 'This ought to surprise Robbie and Tami, ' I thought, grinning to myself. Surprising Monster Girl was never easy and almost worth a week of suspension if I could. I walked in the front door and stopped in the main hallway. I was kinda surprised that it didn't feel different. The hall was mostly deserted. I glanced at my watch. Second period had started...
"Don't you want to say anything?" I looked up from tying my shoe. Luke Hastings and I were alone in the locker room. I'd been late. Robbie, Tami, Darlene, Mikee and I had been talking about the play. "About?" "I passed my drug test Thursday, and you never said anything." I looked back down and finished tying my shoe, then stood. "Good," I said flatly. "That's all?" "What do you want, a pat on the back? Let's be honest, the only reason I care at all is that I put my...
"Tony, where are you heading?" Mr. Calloway was leaning out of his classroom. "I have P.E. in five minutes." "I have a free period. Could I see you for a few minutes. I don't think Mr. Vickers will mind." I nodded, then looked around the hall, spotting Toby Reyes. He had P.E. this period too. "Hey, Toby!" I yelled to get his attention. A minute later I was walking into Mr. Calloway's room and Toby was going to tell Coach Vickers why I was late. "What can I do for you coach?" I...
"How'd your meeting go?" Robbie asked. "Not great," I said and sat between the two girls. Robbie and Tami were sitting on the stone wall outside the side door. Thirty-seven-and-a-half percent of the cheerleading squad were sitting on the other wall. I gave Mikee, Allie, and Darlene big smiles. Beyond the overhang the rain was coming down. Mr. Nye, the science teacher, said we might set a record. I didn't want to set a record, I wanted football practice, and if it didn't lighten up...
"Are you in trouble?" I'd been nuzzling Tami's neck as we walked. I kissed it and said, "Don't think so. Why?" "Look." I lifted my head, Tami was pointing toward my house. Robbie's little Rodrigo was parked in front, and Robbie was sitting on the hood. "Should I make a break for it?" Tami smiled evilly. "Nope, she's faster than you." I made a face. "And tackles harder." For a few seconds I contemplated replacing Tami. A nice dumb blond. Judy Saunders was major cute. And...
I looked around the locker room, taking a second to study each player. I looked longer at Luke Hastings. I had to admit he was good. Damn good. I'd bet big bucks that Coach Branson would be up here scouting him sometime this year. But I didn't think he was that much better than Casey Williams, the kid from Seattle who was the Washington all-state halfback last year. I wasn't sure he was better at all. I made up my mind and printed two names on the slip of paper on my knee. ROBBIE...
"Ready, my captain?" I was just pulling my practice jersey over my shoulder pads as Mark asked. "Ready," I agreed. The locker room was noisy. Everybody was up after Friday's game. I had to admit I was feeling pretty good myself. Tami had come back after about an hour, then went in to have a talk with Mr. Reed and another one with Mr. Walker, and seemed to have found her balance. I looked at the outside door. "Alright you clowns. Let's try to look like a football team," I...
"Yo, stud, the music stopped." There was something about holding Tami. We were surrounded by a hundred other couples, but as I held her close and danced we might have been alone on a deserted island. I'd been looking in her eyes and had gotten lost in them. "Huh?" I looked around. The band had stopped playing, and the other couples had stopped dancing and were applauding as Dennis Krimalaenski walked to the center of the stage. Ski, as everyone called him, held up his hand and the...
I woke up when Tami elbowed me in the stomach. I opened my eyes. She was still asleep in my arms but had shifted position. Her head shared my pillow with mine. Right now she was facing away from me, so that all I could see was hair and an ear, but that was enough. Besides, it was a beautiful ear. I could stay like this forever, just watching that ear and feeling Tami's gentle breathing. Forever or until five o'clock when Mom and Dad were supposed to get home. I glanced at my clock on the...
"You're kidding, right?" I grinned and kept packing the back of Mom's mini-van. Tami looked up and surveyed the dark grey sky. "It's not that I don't want to, it's just..." I shoved in the last bundle and closed the rear door before it could fall back out. I grabbed Tami and pulled her into a tight embrace, pressing my mouth down against hers. "Tami, my love," I said a minute later, "do you want to stay home?" "No. But..." she looked back up at the sky. "This is all a...
"Ready to start?" I nodded to Robbie. "What? No cute remarks about the Committee to Undertake New Theatrical Sensations?" I shook my head. Tami was sitting on my left leg. She leaned over and kissed me on the chin. "Tony's having a bad day. He thinks it's safer not talking." "He's probably right," Traci said sharply, then glared at me. Then she grinned, came over, and sat on my other leg. Bad day was an understatement. It started at seven, which is bad all by itself since...
"Mom's mad at me," I said, tossing my cell phone on the unoccupied bed and shutting the door. "What'd you do now?" Traci asked, dealing six cards to Robbie. I don't know why everyone doesn't want a little sister. "Not sure." I looked over Robbie's shoulder at the cribbage board. She and Traci were just a few points apart about halfway through the game. Tami, Darlene, Mikee, and Kelly sat around the edges of the bed watching. I sat down next to my phone. Mikee and Kelly had shown...
"We're on with the one and only Monster Girl," the disc jockey said in his best announcer voice. Tami reached forward and turned up the volume on the radio. We were driving home after she'd picked me up at the club after I'd worked all morning. It was the first Saturday since the baseball season started that I didn't have a double header. "An undefeated season so far. That's got to feel good." the announcer prompted. "It feels great." "Tuesday you play Lake again, and if you...
"Uh, Tony... ?" I'd been sitting in Dad's chair, staring at the television without a clue what I was watching and hadn't even heard Peter come in. It had been a brutal day. I'd had tests in calculus and A.P. history, and Mr. Calloway evidently took the advanced part of advanced placement seriously cause the test was a killer. Then Mrs. Connors played lightning round in debate, and it seemed like she wasn't giving us our usual three or four seconds to think about the question....
The ball took one hop and seemed to home in on my glove. I'd been playing up close, right on the edge of the grass. I pulled the ball out of my glove and tossed it backward. As I turned, I saw Robbie take the toss from just behind second base. She stepped forward onto the bag and made a hard throw to first as the runner slid into the base. Ricky, his foot on first, leaned forward. The ball slapped into his glove a good second before the batter got there. I grinned at Robbie. Two pitches and...
"Sims! What are you doing here?" Tami and I had been walking down the hall under the gym toward the girls' locker room when Parker came out of the boys' locker room. "Just meeting Robbie," I said with a smile. He frowned. "This area is for football players only." "Okay," I agreed amiably. "We'll wait in the parking lot." I think I surprised Parker and Tami. "Remind me to tell the cross country team that they can't use the locker room," I said quietly as we retreated back...
"Good practice." Coach Vickers looked happy as we knelt in a half circle around him. "Captains, anything to add?" "Yeah," Robbie said without standing. "You almost look like you deserve to be in the first round of playoffs. But we have a ways to go if you want to look like state champions." She nodded to me. I stood. "Don't forget. The list for drug testing gets posted tomorrow." I caught Luke's eye. "It's usually up by third period. Last week, a kicker who shall remain...
As I drove down the dirt road, a thick forrest on my left and farmland asfar as the eye could see, it occurred to me for the first time this mightbe a bad idea. Let me explain. I am a young virile male, aged 20,weighing in at a healthy 185 lbs, 5’11 inches tall, and well muscled toboot, if I say so myself. It’s not really bragging to say I’m good lookingbecause I can’t even count the number of women I’ve fucked by now. I guessyou could say I started young (the first girl I fucked was a slutty...
"I have a lot to be thankful for. "I think foremost I'm thankful that I have a very understanding mom since this started as a quiet dinner for four, and I kept inviting people." I smiled and looked around the table. My mom and dad sat at one end of the long table while Robbie's dad and Tami's mom sat at the other end. I stood in the center of one side, Tami and Traci on either side of me. Peter sat next to Traci and Mikee and Kelly next to Tami. Across from me was Robbie. Bobbi Bradley...
"How you feeling?" I was sitting, eyes closed, on the floor, my back against my locker and my feet stretched out in front of me. But I didn't need eyes to know that Tami was standing above me. I lifted my hand out in front of me, palm down, and wiggled it. "Poor baby." I felt her sit down beside me. Then she pulled my head down into her lap, not that I resisted. I smiled, thinking that Parker would not have appreciated the scene, not that he was around anymore. "Ever think your...
"What are you doing here?" I smiled. "I live here. Unless Mom's rented out my room." "Not yet," came Mom's voice from the kitchen. "But the ad's in the paper." I stepped behind Tami, tilted her head up, leaned down, and kissed her. When our lips met, I knew I'd made the right decision. "What about practice?" Traci asked. She and Tami were sitting at the dining room table getting a head start on their school reading. I stood and buffed my fingernails on my shirt then blew on...
"I don't think Wasay is happy with you." "Huh?" I looked up from my table of photographs. "Wa-say?" Tami sat down, picking up one of the photos. "The W-S-A-A, Wasay" I grinned, picked up two more pictures, and compared them. It was second period journalism, and Mr. Walker had me picking out pictures for a two-page photo spread on the plays for next week's paper. "And why would Wasay be unhappy with me?" "North Lincoln didn't show up for volleyball at Lake...
"Tony, we got you a..." I could never decide if Sunday was the first day of the week or the last. My job at the club and my old job at the restaurant used Saturday as the end of the week and Sunday as the beginning, but biblically Sunday was day seven. And calendars seemed split on the subject. If Sunday is the end of the week, then this was a great way to end a not-so-great week. On the other hand, this could be the beginning of a great week. I decided that this week, anyway, Sunday...