Chapter 5

The next day at lunch, all the cheerleaders squeezed in at one table. I gave Kim a quick peck on the lips and went to my old table. No one said anything when I kissed Kim. I guess when you’re engaged people make allowances. I considered joining Allen and Bobby at what had become more of a jock corner than just a place for football players. That was a good thing, I thought, but I needed some quiet time.

I sat down to eat and opened my novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles. If Sir Arthur Conan Doyle couldn’t get me in touch with my Scottish roots, I didn’t know what could. I was a little surprised that I’d never read it, or any of his works before. It was fun from the very beginning.

Kim skipped her workout that afternoon because she didn’t want to be wiped out before the game started. Mom and I really hammered our legs. It had been a while since just the two of us worked out together. I told her about The McTighe family tree and asked about ours. She promised to make a phone call or two.

When we finished lifting, I realized I didn’t have a ride to the game. I called Bobby and he picked me up at six for a game in Goose Creek at seven.

“Any idea what the team meeting at lunch was all about?” I asked.

“Team realignment. Allie and Lori are moving up to varsity after all. They had a couple of late additions to the JV squad and varsity has some stuff they want to do in competition that needs a larger team.”

“I have no idea what that would be. None,” I said as we pulled into parking.

“Me neither. I’m just starting to understand. They are way more serious about this than they were last year, that’s for sure.”

“I wish I’d paid more attention last year so I’d know what’s different,” I said.

“You and me, both. I guess we can enjoy watching them tonight. We’re going to get crushed on the field.”

“Is Goose Creek good?” I asked.

“They have to be better than us. We stank last week and Goose Creek is huge. You know what’s weird? I can tell you right now that our football team will play its games. It might win a couple but we aren’t going to state. No way. But at this time last year, would you and me ever have guessed we’d be going to regionals?”

“I didn’t even race until the day after it snowed.”

We showed our student IDs and found a place to sit that was too low to watch the game very well but perfect to watch our girlfriends. We were early. We talked about football and Vince, and I remembered that I was supposed to start his car up every now and then and I hadn’t done that. Oops.

The game started and our team did pretty much what we were expecting. We got clobbered. Our defense had some pretty good plays, catching their quarterback behind the line of scrimmage and everybody got pretty excited about that. The squad went crazy every time we did anything good and we made a lot of noise but there were about three times as many Goose Creek fans on the other side of the stadium. If you wanted to go to Porter-Gaud, and you wanted to play football, you expected to get trounced. That’s just the way it was.

Half time came and we expected Kim and Melanie to join us in the stands but they didn’t. The entire squad disappeared and the Goose Creek band treated us to a truly mediocre performance of Star Wars music. When the second half started, Goose Creek kicked off and we got the ball in pretty good field position on the thirty-five. We lost yards on two running plays. I knew Jay was getting tired of getting knocked down and didn’t really want to pass the ball but it was third and long. He dropped back to pass but everyone was covered so he took off running. There was a huge hole, right up the middle. He dodged a couple of their guys, made it past the fifty, and was finally brought down on the Goose Creek thirty. I think that was the longest play of the game for us.

Our cheerleaders launched into a choreographed routine. They went from one trick to the next and then did something I know they’d never done before, at least not in public. Jan and Allie stood on either side of Marci and steadied themselves by holding each other’s shoulders. Kim and Lisa boosted Melanie and then Lori up to stand on their shoulders. Finally, Annie took her spot on the top. From her spot at the top of the pyramid, Annie led the crowd in a cheer for our guys and we really made noise.

Then, the girls on the bottom dipped just a bit and then pushed up. Annie did a back flip off the top, where Kim and Lisa caught her in a cradle catch while Melanie and Lori jumped down in front. A couple of them were in front in splits and then they were right back up. This was clearly the most difficult thing they’d ever done and their timing was perfect. We’d made a big play and then celebrated.

“That’s why they needed Lori and Allie to move up from JV,” Bobby said over the crowd.

“No kidding. That was great. They seem pretty happy with it.” It was too loud to keep talking.

We made a couple of yards on a running play to the right, which seemed to be the weakest part of the Goose Creek defense. They tried it a second time and got nowhere. On third down, Jay pitched the ball and they tried it a third time. Except they didn’t. The defense all collapsed on the run and our running back threw the ball over their heads to Jay who had run ten yards downfield and was wide open. He could have walked into the endzone but he didn’t. He ran like his life depended on it. We had another celebration. With that touchdown, we were only down twenty-eight to seven. You have to enjoy the little victories when you play at a small school.

It was late in the fourth quarter and the game had long been decided and the crowd had thinned out when Bobby and I heard a couple of guys behind us talking about the cheerleaders. I figured that came with the territory. Then they started talking about what they wanted to do with them. With not many people left, I think Bobby and I were the only two that heard them. It was just talk but it was pretty crude. I looked back. There were three of them and I shook my head. They saw me but didn’t care. The three of them took a couple of steps down, until they were on the bleachers right behind us. Bobby was getting really pissed.

“There’s three of them and it’s just talk, Bobby. Let it go,” I said and he nodded.

And then one of them started talking specifically about Melanie. He didn’t know her name and I knew they weren’t from Porter. Bobby looked over at me apologetically, and said, “I can’t let that go,” and stood up, turning to them.

“Knock it off,” he said and I could see his fists balled up.

“That little one on the end looks like a screamer,” he said, pretending to ignore Bobby.

“Knock it off, I said,” Bobby tried again.

“I bet I could make her scream.”

But he couldn’t. The guy was standing directly behind us. He had the height advantage on us and there were three of them and only two of us. Bobby didn’t care. Even with bad footing, Bobby threw a wicked right cross straight into the guy’s balls. He hit him hard. Really hard. He buckled forward with an oof, that was more like a squeak. He continued down, curling into a fetal position.

“What did you do?” one of the other three said.

“I told him to knock it off. He didn’t. I think he’s done talking now,” Bobby said.

I turned and stood. “Either of you two have something to say?” I asked. They shook their heads. “Take him home,” I said. “Go.” They did. They sort of scooped him up and dragged him to the aisle. He tried to holler at Bobby but the words wouldn’t come out.

“Damn, Bobby. That was a solid shot right where it counts.”

“Good,” he said forcefully, then, “Asshole,” under his breath. I’d never seen Bobby pissed off before. He was practically shaking. We sat back down but kept checking over our shoulders to see if they were coming back.

The game ended with Goose Creek winning forty-two to ten. Bobby and I walked down to talk to the girls. When we got down to the field, they were sort of huddled together talking. I told Bobby I’d be right back and went looking for Jay. Jay was two years ahead of me, or at least he had been until I decided to combine my sophomore and junior years. It took some looking but I found him alone on the bench.

I sat next to him. “Hey,” I said.

“Hey,” he answered, and he sounded about as grumpy as the score. I decided this was one of those times Mr. McClusky was talking about.

“You did good, Jay.”

“Right. Have you seen the scoreboard lately?” he said and lifted his head out of his hands to look at me.

“Yup. If the score was all this was about, you should probably all pack it in,” I said. It wasn’t what he was expecting. “Did you think PG was going to go eight and oh this year?”

“No. Are you kidding? What are we even doing out here?”

“Well, it looks like you’re having a pity party.”

“What am I supposed to be doing? We got annihilated.”

He was right. I tried to put everything together. “I didn’t really think you came here to win a game,” I said and he looked at me like I was a space alien. “I thought you came here to lead a bunch of guys against a big school with some great players and give it your best shot regardless of the outcome. I came out to see the garnet and gray fight until time ran out. That’s what I saw.”

“A lot of good it did,” he said.

“Listen, you guys played hard. They didn’t shut you out. You stepped up when you had to and so did a lot of other guys. Jay, I think your best play of the night wasn’t when you ran for forty yards or scored a touchdown.”

“No? That was pretty much the highlight, I thought.”

“I think the highlight of the night hasn’t happened yet. I think it happens when you cancel the pity party, and go into the lock room like a champion and tell everyone how proud you are of them and how hard they played. That’s what I think ... but I might be wrong,” I said and stood up to leave.

“Crap,” he said. I waited. “I’m not supposed to need somebody to tell me that. I already know it.”

“Yup. You guys lost. It doesn’t make you a bunch of losers.”

We both stood up and I walked toward the locker room with him when the quarterback from Goose Creek came over.

“Hey,” he said.

“Congratulations,” Jay said.

“Thanks. I just wanted to congratulate you, too. You guys played a heck of a game.” It looked like he had more to say but I didn’t need to be a part of it. I tapped Jay on the shoulder and he nodded. I took off for the other end of the field where the cheerleaders were breaking up their team meeting.

I got there just as Melanie asked Bobby, “What was that all about?”

“Nothing. Just a couple of guys running their mouths,” he answered.

I was about to say something but realized Bobby didn’t want to talk about it.

“There was more going on than that,” she said. “What happened?”

Bobby wrinkled his nose and shrugged. I answered, “A couple of guys made some crude comments and Bobby persuaded them to change their tone.”

Kim joined her, and they both looked at us for more. I caught Kim’s eye and shook my head. It was a tiny gesture but she saw it, and it was enough. She didn’t ask. I hollered to the squad that they looked great and their pyramid was awesome. They loved it. Obviously, that was a big deal.

Kim and Mel hugged the rest of the cheerleaders once or twice and then the four of us walked to Bobby’s car. They had come in the bus but it was okay to leave separately. I held the door for Melanie to slide into the front seat and then slid into the back next to Kim.

“Loved the pyramid,” I said.

“That’s just the start. We’re going to do a bunch of new stuff. What happened in the bleachers?” Kim asked.

I saw Bobby sort of nod at me in the rearview mirror. “There were some guys we’ve never seen before and they started saying stuff. They needed an attitude adjustment.”

“What kind of stuff?” Melanie asked.

“They were talking about all of you. You know. Sex stuff. But then one of them was talking about you,” Bobby said.

“Bobby punched him in the family jewels. He went down hard and that was it,” I said.

“No kidding? Three of them?” Melanie asked.

“I told Bobby that it was just words but when he started talking about you, Mel, Bobby told him to can it but he wouldn’t. Bobby shut him up. I thought he was going to throw up.”

“He shut up. That’s the important thing,” Bobby said.

“Dang, Bobby. It wasn’t anyone from Porter, though?” Kim asked.

“No one I’ve ever seen before. They weren’t even there until the fourth quarter, so I don’t know where they came from. It was like they knew we knew you guys,” I said.

“Jack, there weren’t many people left. Mostly parents, and I doubt you were watching the game,” Kim said.

“I saw Jay run for fifty yards, or forty. Whatever it was. And then I saw him score a touchdown.”

“What did you say to Jay, anyway?” Bobby asked. I gave them the general idea and they agreed he needed to hear it.

Bobby pulled into Kim’s driveway and let us out. I reminded them about our party the next day but I wasn’t sure if they would come or not. Rather than go in, Kim drove me home. On the drive to my house, Kim asked for the details and I told her. I’d never seen Bobby pissed off before. I was glad he wasn’t pissed at me.

When we pulled into my driveway it was nearly midnight but there were a couple of different cars in the driveway and all the lights were on. As soon as Kim and I stepped inside, we heard laughter coming from the kitchen.

Mom, Veronica, Art’s wife, Melda, and Hector’s wife, Inez were all cooking, talking, and laughing. A bottle of Jose Cuervo was nearly empty and I figured that might have something to do with all the laughing. They were obviously having a great time.

“Hey, Buddy. Good game? Hi, Kim,” Mom said.

“We got clobbered but our guys played hard and we have way better cheerleaders,” I answered.

“That goes without saying. Aren’t you cold?” Mom asked Kim. She still had on her cheerleader outfit and the skirt was pretty short.

“Let me warm up your legs,” I said, rubbing my hands together and dropping to my knees in front of Kim.

“Hey! I was thinking more along the lines of sweatpants,” Mom said and the ladies all laughed. I went to Mom’s bedroom and grabbed sweatpants. Kim pulled them on under her skirt.

“I’m sure it’s nice to be warm but it’s a shame to cover up the nicest legs in the Lowcountry,” I said and Kim batted her eyelashes and fanned herself.

“You do have amazing legs, Kim,” Mom said. Lifting doesn’t hurt. And now you have that firm little bubble butt to go with them. I wish I had a bubble butt again.”

“I never had a bubble butt,” Melda said, sadly, and she pronounced it ‘booble butt” and we all laughed.

“We’re almost done, here,” Mom said. “I learned how to make tamales from scratch and a lot more. I’m making Beaufort Stew tomorrow and we’ll have a feast. A little from the Lowcountry and a lot from Mexico.” She shooed us out of the kitchen and I walked Kim back out to her truck.

We stood beside it for a while and kissed. I slid my hands down, underneath her warm sweatpants and held her booble butt. It was pretty nice. Actually, it was ridiculously solid. I pulled her tight to me and enjoyed her soft lips.

“I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” I said when we parted. “You feel good. You smell good, and you taste good.”

“Um huh. You probably taste the mustard from the hotdog I had at halftime.”

“Mustard tastes good on you.”

“Do you think that guy’s going to be okay?” Kim asked, obviously referring to the guy Bobby had punched. I guessed she’d been thinking about it.

“I hope not,” I answered, looking at her seriously. “Bobby didn’t fight the guy. He never had a chance. Bobby taught him a lesson.” Kim nodded that she got it. I told her how proud I was of her and the entire team and couldn’t wait to go watch them compete, later in the year. She was pretty happy with that. We smooched a little more and she went home.

Early Saturday morning, Franklin came over and gave me another driving lesson. This time, instead of going to a big parking lot, he let me drive around the neighborhood. It seemed pretty easy until he told me that while I’d been driving, he’d been watching for kids playing, drivers in their cars but not moving, cats, and dogs, and a bunch of other stuff I hadn’t even thought about. He said that once I had the mechanics down, it would be easier to broaden the scope of my concentration. I thought my six weeks’ worth of golf cart practice helped.

When we got back to the house, we performed a replay of the party prep we’d done for the 4th of July. Hector said there wouldn’t be as many people but we wanted to be prepared. It was still warm but not blistering hot. We learned from the 4th where to set up the canopies and chairs. We moved the serving tables and music closer to the pool. We’d been anxious for our party on the 4th, since we didn’t really know what to expect but this time, it was a lot more fun without the worry. I told Franklin about Mom and her cooking party from the night before. He said I should let Karen know for next time. I wondered if this would become an annual thing. I hoped so.

I scooped a couple of leaves out of the pool and checked the pool house. I restocked a few things and put fresh towels out. I didn’t think anyone had used it or even thought about it since the 4th of July. When I got back to the house, the kitchen party was back in full swing. Mom, Melda, Inez, Karen, and Kim were all working. I managed to make a sandwich and grab a drink without getting in anyone’s way.

I took my snack back to the library and opened up Hounds to see what Sherlock Holmes was up to. Whatever it was, I knew it would be elementary. I’d only been reading for a few moments when I heard Veronica come in. I could hear her speaking with Melda and Inez in rapid-fire Spanish, and Mom and Karen in English that seemed a lot slower. Everything about it made me laugh. If there had been any barriers due to language, nationality, or financial status, they were gone. I was pretty happy about that and tried to go back to my reading.

Around two, I went out back to help Dane and Franklin but there wasn’t much to do. Franklin and Dane had set up a propane burner with a twenty-gallon pot and the water was already boiling. That would be for the Beaufort Stew. I knew that would be fun not because it was so easy to cook but because I thought a lot of Hector’s people had never had it. You never know. I set up the sound and Kim showed up with the music.

As people began arriving, Kim started the music. Dolly Parton’s song, Jolene, started things off and I knew we would have an afternoon of country. When Coat of Many Colors followed, there wasn’t any doubt. Dane said he was ready to start adding ingredients. I went to the kitchen and came back with what must have been five pounds of Andouille sausage and twenty pounds of small red potatoes. He mixed a couple of packages of Zatarain’s crab boil seasoning into the water and started adding the sausage.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” I asked. “This is pretty southern, you know.”

“I have instructions. Sausage, then potatoes, corn, then shrimp. Pretty easy, even for a Yankee.”

“Whew. Good thing. Hey, did I hear right? Is Doctor Legare and Doctor Calhoun coming?”

“That’s what he said.”

“They’ve become a couple,” I said.

“I know it, you know it, and Lula Mae knows it. Just don’t tell Hank,” Dane said, laughing. “She understands him.”

“She has a thicker accent than he does. That’s not what you meant. I’m surprised you understand him at all,” I said.

“I nod a lot,” Dane said and we both laughed.

“What are you two talking about?” Franklin asked as he joined us.

“Doctors,” I said.

“Funny you should say that. Lula Mae is on her way. Hank will be here when he can. Just called. He’s doing some sort of emergency hip surgery for a guy that got in a car accident.”

“Wow. Does that happen often?” I asked.

“Not for Hank,” Dane answered. “He’s been off call for years. Maybe they couldn’t reach anyone else in ortho.”

Art and Hector waved and walked past us on their way to the back door, undoubtedly to check on their wives. I excused myself and went over to Kim. She was explaining something to Gail. When I got close, she motioned me away with her eyes. Fine. I walked over to a bunch of the guys and they sort of switched to English.

“Es no problemo,” I said with a terrible accent. “Yo hablo Espanol.”

“Hey Gringo. How was Puerto Rico,” Emilio asked, staying with English.

“It was great. Where’s Bajito and Kathy?” I asked.

“Mexico. They left last week. They said, ‘thanks for the invitation, and the party on the 4th.’ We’re leaving tomorrow,” Emilio said.

“I’m glad you’re waiting a day.”

“Me too. Tell us about Puerto Rico,” he said, so I did. When Luis and Romey heard what I was talking about, they scooted closer, keeping an eye on their kids in the shallow end. They had a bunch of questions and laughed at my story about having the loser rooster on the Sunday brunch menu. Horseback riding on the beach grabbed everyone’s attention.

“Luis, you’re smiling like someone who rides,” I said.

“I do. No. I did,” he said in Spanish. “Until the economy got bad.”

“¿Tenías caballos?” I asked. Did you have horses?

“Dos pintos. Tuvimos que venderlos,” he said then switched to English when Franklin walked up.

“Luis had horses,” I told him, “But had to sell them when the economy got bad.”

“We will have horses again. One day.”

“Did you have a ranch?”

“No, no. Not really,” Luis said.

“Luis es un vaquero. Cabalga en todos los ranchos grandes,” Romey said quickly, then turned to Franklin. “Luis is a cowboy,” she said with obvious pride. “He has worked some of the largest ranches in Jalisco.”

“No kidding,” Franklin said.

“Lo siento mi ingles no es bueno,” Romey apologized and told me all about it in Spanish. Then Luis added some about Romey.

I told Franklin, in English, of course. “Luis has not just worked as a vaquero. He’s competed. He won first place at the charreria de Guadalajara. The rodeo. He won for Cala de caballo, which is a test of you and your horse. It’s a little like getting your horse to dance, which sounds really cool. He won for piales en lienzo which is a roping event and did well but didn’t win in a couple of other events. But this is really cool, Romey competed in escaramuza. Tell me if I get this wrong,” I said to Luis and Romey. “Eight women wear fancy traditional dresses, big hats and everything. Then they ride synchronized doing eight different precision maneuvers. I hope I’m getting this right,” I said and they both nodded, smiling. “It’s an old event with lots of tradition. They have to do spins and formations like the Thunderbirds or something, and they do the whole thing sitting side saddle.”

“Wow,” Franklin. “I can’t imagine. I wish I could see it.”

“My horse, Alegre, was so good. I miss those times,” Romey said.

“Alegre. Happy,” I said and she nodded. “Como se llama tu caballo?” I asked Luis.

“His name was Cantante. Singer. We had very good horses. I’m going to be sad.”

“Miss it? I can’t imagine,” Franklin said. “It sounds like it was a big part of your lives.”

“No. Not a part of our lives. It was our lives,” Luis said and then looked at me to see if he’d said it right. I nodded to him.