Chapter 4

Downstairs, lunch was ready, and Ted was already here. It seems their parents hadn't returned yet, and he was hungry. Erin put in an appearance while we were eating. She took a chair next to Ted. I noticed that she was moving very carefully. Maybe five times had been too much for her. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed, because when Mom was cleaning the table, she had advice for Erin.

"Why don't you go up and take a nice hot bubble bath, Sweetie. I'm sure it will make you feel better. Ginny, you should take one after Erin. They're sooo relaxing." Erin headed upstairs and Ginny helped Mom clear the table and do the dishes. Dad and Ted had gone in to the living room to watch the game.

Me, I went upstairs and straightened up my room. Yes, you don't need to look so shocked. I straightened it up because I was hoping Ginny would be able to spend more time in here with me, and I didn't want her to see a mess. Afterward, I went down to the garage and practiced my kata (drills) for an hour or so. By the time I was finished, everyone was done in the bathroom, and I was able to take a reasonably warm shower.

About 6 o'clock, Mom called us for dinner. It was obvious that Erin was moving better. She even smiled at Mom during dinner. Ginny gave me a little kiss when I came in the kitchen, but that was all I got. Ginny's parents must have come home sometime this afternoon because Ted wasn't here for dinner. Ginny hadn't checked, as she wanted to stay here.

About 7:30, Mom tactfully suggested that Ginny and I should go upstairs and take care of any unfinished business, as Ginny would need to go home tonight. When we got upstairs, Ginny was crying, but I wasn't sure why.

"What's wrong?" I asked, in confusion.

"I wanted to sleep with you again," she said, as the tears increased. I took Ginny in my arms and kissed her.

"We can sleep together until you have to go home," I told her. We both undressed hurriedly and crawled into the bed. Ginny felt so good next to me, naked. I held her, and we kissed for a long time. When we finished, she cuddled up to me, and we lay there together.

It seemed we had no more than closed our eyes when there was a knock on the door. I looked around in the dark. It had still been light out when we lay down. The clock next to the bed read 10:15.

"Jimmy, Ginny, wake up in there," Mom's voice said.

"I'm awake, Mom. We'll be down in a few minutes." Ginny was still asleep. I leaned over and kissed her till she woke up. Then we really kissed. Ginny was crying when we were done.

"Mom said it's time to get up," I told her.

"Yes," sniffle, "I'll have to go home," Ginny said with more tears. We got up and got dressed. On the way out, I suggested, "Maybe you should wash your face, Sweetie."

"Yes, that's a good idea," Ginny replied with a sniffle and headed into the bathroom. I just stood there and watched her. It was great just watching her wash her face. We were downstairs no more than a minute, or two when Ellen, Ginny's mother, came looking for her.

"Are you ready to come home, Ginny?" she asked.

"Yes, Mother, I'll be right there," Ginny told her. She gave me a little kiss on the cheek and followed her mother out. Ellen hadn't even waited long enough to see that.

It was 10:30 by now, and I went back to bed. I lay there, and tossed and turned for a while, but finally got to sleep. Monday was, after all, a work day.

Monday morning I was up early. Mr. Sheffield's hardware store opens at 8 o'clock. I had been working there all summer. He also had two full time employees. He still did a good business despite the big box hardware that had opened just outside town in one of the new strip malls. He carried a lot of things they didn't, and people had been shopping there for fifty years. His father had started the store just after he was born. Even the contractors still came in to get things the big box store didn't have, or because it was closer. Time is money after all. I got to the store just before opening time. That afternoon, Mr Sheffield called me into the office.

"Well, Jimmy, school starts in two weeks. Friday of next week will be your last day. I thought I would talk to you now and see how you liked the job this summer," Mr. Sheffield told me.

"Yes, sir, I'll be a junior this year and will probably have a lot of homework. Plus I have my Martial Arts training. I'll probably have to reduce that to three days a week from the five I have now. Plus now that I have a girlfriend, and I'll have to make some time for her."

"A girlfriend? I thought you were the footloose and fancy free type, Jimmy. How come we never heard about a girlfriend all summer?" Mr. Sheffield asked.

"It's my cousin Ginny. We've lived next door to each other all of our lives. I just haven't paid much attention to her the last few years, because I was so involved with my training. Friday night a couple of the football jocks were picking on her, and I got her away from them. That was when I realized how much she has grown up and how beautiful she is. I just hadn't been paying attention.

"Anyway, we spent a lot of time together this past weekend, and she told me how much she missed me. We had spent a lot of time together growing up and have always done everything together. I realized that I missed her too. Anyway, we're back together again."

"You got her away from two football players? Jimmy, I know most of them. Even the smallest of them outweigh you by at least fifty pounds. How could you do that?" Mr. Sheffield asked.

"I whacked them with my new bokken, sir," I answered. "Then we returned to my Sensei's house. I had to explain to him why I had used force on them. While we were there three more football players came by hunting for Ginny. She was with Sensei's wife in the garden. They're both gardeners

"When Sensei Yoshie and I got outside, the three football jocks were bruised and bleeding on the ground, and Sensei's wife was standing over them reading them the riot act in Japanese, for trampling on her flowers. That little Japanese lady had laid out all three of them with her hoe. You wouldn't believe how stupid they looked," I told him.

"Yes, I would. That's why I don't hire jocks. I've had a few of them over the years, but they just aren't good workers. You have done a real fine job this year, Jimmy. If you want to work here next summer, just come in and see me next spring. You definitely have first shot at the job," Mr. Sheffield told me.

Just before 5 o'clock, Ginny came into the store. Mr. Sheffield saw her and went over to talk to her.

"You're Ginny, aren't you? I can see why Jimmy is so taken with you. You are a very pretty young lady. You take good care of him. He's a great guy," Mr. Sheffield told Ginny.

"Yes, sir, I've always thought he was a great guy," Ginny told him with a little blush.

At 5 o'clock, I got ready to leave, as that's my usual quitting time. The store is open till 6 o'clock, but we normally weren't real busy the last hour.

"Good night, Mr. Sheffield," I said, as I put an arm around Ginny. She gave me a little kiss.

"Good night, Jimmy. Take it easy at training tonight," Mr. Sheffield said, as we went out the door. It was only a couple of blocks to Sensei's house. When we got there, Mioshi was very happy to see Ginny and took her off to the back garden. I went into the Ryo and changed into my workout clothes and joined the others out on the mats.

We were done with our workout by 6:30, and Sensei dismissed the others, but asked me to stay a few minutes. He motioned me over to the corner that he used for an office. We both sat on the tatami mats.

"So Jimmy, you start school soon, yes?" he asked.

"Yes, Sensei, we start two weeks from today," I told him.

"You are in what grade this year?"

"Eleventh grade. A junior this year, Sensei."

"There will be much homework, I am told."

"Yes, that's what I have heard, Sensei."

"And now you have a girl friend, yes?

"Yes, Sensei, Ginny is such a sweet girl."

"Yes, my wife likes her very much also. Mioshi is rather shy, as you have no doubt observed, but she has taken an unusually quick interest in your Ginny. I believe it is because she is also a gardener. We drove by your two houses on Sunday. Mioshi was impressed with the flowers and shrubs she could see from the road," Sensei told me.

"You should bring her over to see the garden out back, Sensei. I'm sure Mom would be glad to show it to her at anytime. Mom and Ginny have worked very hard on it."

"Yes, thank you for the invitation. Now, to business. I believe with your new responsibilities, you will not be able to participate as much as you have in the past. I am therefore suggesting that you come three days a week: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Saturday would be an extended day and would make up in part for the other missed days. How do you feel about that?" Sensei asked.

"Yes, thank you, Sensei. I will have a lot of school work this year. Plus, I now need to make time for Ginny. She is just so fantastic, Sensei. Thank you for rearranging my sessions," I told him.

"I still expect you to practice every day, Jimmy," Sensei reminded me. I changed clothes, and was soon ready to go. When I got outside, Ginny was there waiting for me.

"Been waiting long?" I asked.

"No, only a few minutes. Mioshi is such a sweet person, and so full of surprises," Ginny told me.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Oh, you will find out later," Ginny told me and wouldn't say any more. We walked home and got there about 7:30. Mom had dinner on the table waiting for us.

"Did you have a nice visit?" Mom asked Ginny.

"Oh, yes, Mioshi is really a wonderful gardener. I wanted to invite her over, but didn't know how, as I don't speak Japanese," Ginny told Mom.

"They drove by here on Sunday," I told them. "Sensei mentioned it to me today. I invited them to come over to see the back garden anytime. He thanked me, but didn't give me a firm answer," I told them.

Ginny and I spent some time in the living room alone in the semi darkness. Dad was at a baseball game tonight with Ted. Mom and Erin were elsewhere. Around 10 o'clock, Ginny had to go home. She wasn't happy about that, but had little choice. I gave her a long passionate kiss before she left. I went up and took another long hot shower. I remembered how great it had been showering with Ginny over the weekend. That didn't help me a lot though.

The rest of the summer flew by. Ginny was able to stay over on both Saturday nights. The first Saturday night we tried to make up for the whole week. We were worn out that Sunday. The second Saturday night was much calmer, and we got a lot more sleep. Sunday was nicer too.

School started the following Monday. The first day was a disaster, as usual. Everyone was supposed to have gotten a letter telling them their class schedule, what rooms they were in, and a list of needed supplies. A lot of them either didn't get the letter, or ignored it, because many of them didn't have a clue where to go. The school was somewhat prepared for this and had lists up in the halls for each grade with people's names and room numbers. The morning was still a disaster.

It was after lunch when we got the summons. Ginny and I have most of our classes together. One of the counselors came to our classroom and told the teacher she needed to talk to us. We went out with her. She didn't say much, but led us to the gym.

Inside was the coaching staff and the entire football team. We weren't sure what was going on. When we came in, the coach came over to talk to us. He's an older man - about 50, around 6'-0" tall and about 210 pounds. His hair had turned gray and matched his eyes.

"Thank you for coming," he told us. "I wanted to make a point to the team and want them to see you so they would know just who I was talking about. Just stand here for a few minutes. OK?" the coach asked. He turned around then to address his team.

"LISTEN UP, ALL OF YOU," the coach started. There had been a lot of whispering since we came in. "The two people standing with me are Jimmy and Ginny. I want all of you to take a good look at them and remember them. If I hear even a whisper that one of you has bothered either of them from this minute on, you will regret it the rest of your time here. Is that clear to all of you?" the coach asked. He was answered by a number of 'yeses'.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU," the coach roared.

"YES, SIR. THAT'S CLEAR," the team shouted back.

"I'm sure most of you have heard the rumors during the last two weeks of practice. I'll give you the straight skinny now. These five sad sacks," he said, pointing to five players off to one side, "decided to bother Ginny a couple of weeks ago. For their trouble, all five wound up at the hospital and I got two police reports, one for two of them and the other for three of them. As I understand it, Jimmy laid out the first two. Then to make matters worse, their three friends decided to interfere and got sent to the hospital by a little oriental lady who weighs less than a hundred pounds. You heard me right. She laid out the three of them with a gardening implement.

"I personally went over to apologize to her and her husband. I couldn't believe that this little woman, who is under five feet tall and weighs less than a hundred pounds, could put three linemen on the ground in a couple of seconds, but that is exactly what happened. You can ask the three of them if you have any doubts.

"The five of them are benched until I decide they are ready to play. They will make every practice and will participate fully, or they will be off the team. To make up for their absence, the rest of you will have to work harder, as all of them are starters and seniors. Some of you may want to have a little talk with them to encourage them to do their best to get back in my good graces. Oh, yes," he finished," the rest of you stay away from Sensei Yoshie's house. I don't need to be embarrassed by that little oriental lady again. Is that clear?"

"YES, COACH," the entire team roared back. You could see a number of the players giving the outcast five a hard look. We were taken back to our class by the counselor after that. That night, I mentioned this to Dad. He just smiled, and said, "I guess the coach has more on the ball, than I was giving him credit for."

Two days later, Ginny and I were approached by the captain of the football team. It was in the noisy main hall of the school, just after classes let out.

"Ah ... Jimmy, can I speak to you two for a minute?" the captain asked.

"Sure," I answered. There were a bunch of kids watching by now.

"I ... ah ... just want to apologize for the actions of my team mates. They were way out of line, and the rest of the team doesn't bear you any hard feelings. I just wanted you to know," he finished He was obviously disturbed by having to apologize and in public at that. The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Thanks," I told him. "We don't hold it against the rest of the team. It was just those five who acted that way." Everyone went back to what they were doing after that, and the hall was as noisy as ever.