Chapter 20: Guy's Weekend

First Week of June – Freshman Year

Greg and Angie left for Chicago. They were going to be gone until Thursday. Kyle was staying with us, for the week. He was my responsibility during the day.

Jim was not happy when I put Kyle's car seat in the back seat of his car. We met the guys at the health club to work out. The health club had daycare so Kyle got plenty of attention. I talked Bill, Mike and Wolf into coming to the health club so we could run passing drills. They had a big grassy area, so we had plenty of room. We had progressed to running actual plays.

We modified the Wesleyan drill to add some defense. Since we had an extra guy, we had two defenders. We would switch it up and go from zone to man-to-man to max-man coverage where two guys would defend one. Wolf and Bill had to work hard to get open and Mike and I had to learn when and where to throw the ball.

Jim took us to Beth's for lunch. After lunch Kyle and I would swim with Beth. He loved the water. Mom had me go the Anderson's, because she was worried about me being responsible for Kyle all day. Everyone was much more comfortable with Kyle in daycare and going to Mrs. A's. Mrs. A would put him down for his nap after he swam for a little bit.

Mrs. A was his third grandma and took care of him for the rest of the day for me. Beth and I would relax in the hot tub and lie out working on our tans. By Wednesday, word had gotten out and Mona, Lisa, Kim and Kelly were showing up to tan also. Tracy showed up on Thursday.

At four o'clock each day, we would go back to my house and I would make a five gallon container of Gatorade. I would use a half gallon plastic ice cream container to make a chunk of ice each night and throw it into the beverage cooler. By four-thirty everyone would show up and Cassidy would put us through our paces. We consistently had over forty people working out.

Mom or Dad would pick up Kyle from Mrs. A's on the way home.

By the time Angie and Greg came home, Kyle was a little red from getting too much sun, but overall he had survived his week with his uncle.

Friday June 6, 2014 – Freshman Year

Dad wanted us up early so we could go to Uncle John's. Our guy's weekend was finally here. I came down from my apartment with my packed bag to find Angie cooking. Kyle saw me and wanted to be held. I picked him up and kissed Angie's cheek.

I started to go for some bacon.

"Hold up there, buster. You have blood tests this morning. You can't eat anything until afterwards," Angie chastised me.

Are you kidding me? I thought Dad and Uncle John were just teasing us. They were actually going to do blood work on us. I wondered what else was in store. I got a glass of water and started to get my supplements out and I heard Angie clicking her tongue. I guess I couldn't have that either.

"Can you help me out today?" I asked.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Cassidy will be here around 4:00 o'clock to setup for our afternoon workout. Can you help her make the Gatorade?"

I showed her where the mix was and how much to use. I was getting low and needed to get more mix. I would have to talk Mom into taking me to Sam's Club. I then showed her the block of ice I made each day to help keep it cold. I made them use reusable water bottles for the Gatorade. Over the years I had collected several and I gave them out to the people who didn't have one. I didn't like cleaning up disposables and dealing with the trash.

Mom and Angie ate in front of us. We each had a big glass of water. Dad and Mom talked and Greg and Angie had their conversation. I got some Kyle time. I had him all wound up by the time we had to leave. Angie took one look at the giggling mess of a son and gave me the evil eye. The good news was that he would need a nap soon.

We met Uncle John at Dr. Palm's office. He was the doctor for the small community where Uncle John lived. I got to go first. He did a complete physical. He pronounced me healthy as a horse. I was now 6'3" tall. That was another inch since August. He told me that I might grow another inch or two. The nurse came in and took six vials of blood. It seemed like a lot. She then had me pee into a cup. I had to tell her all the supplements I was taking.

I came out to find Uncle John waiting his turn.

"I'm starving. I'm going to the diner and order us some food."

"Grace is back from college for the summer. Why don't you go flirt with her while we finish up."

I walked the two blocks to the diner and walked in. I waved at Billy, her dad and owner of the Coffee House, who was working the kitchen. I didn't see his wife. I saw Grace had her back to me while taking an order at a table. Grace was waiting on Mr. and Mrs. Hass. They owned the farm behind Uncle John's. Mrs. Hass saw me and I put my finger to my mouth. She smiled at me. Before Grace could turn around to see who Mrs. Hass was smiling at, I slipped my arms around Grace and kissed her neck. She squeaked, and tried to get away.

"David, you jerk, you scared me to death. Lord, have you been growing?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Go sit down and I'll be right with you." She finished taking the Hass's order and then sat down at my table.

"Is your Uncle coming in?"

"Yep, and my brother and Dad will be joining us. Has the coffee klatch ordered anything other than coffee this morning?"

There was a group of retired farmers that came in everyday and gossiped. If you needed to know anything, this was the first place you went.

"Are you kidding? They're all too cheap to order anything."

"Do you have any of that coffee cake left?"

"No, but I could run next door to the bakery."

I reached into my wallet and handed her a twenty.

"Okay, you know what they like. Also, could you ask your dad if he has any chicken ready? I'm on a high protein diet."

She came back from the kitchen before she went next door.

"Dad says he had a couple of chickens he poached to make homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch."

"Perfect. I'll have half a chicken, minus the skin, and a large salad with a side of scrambled eggs. My brother will have your chicken fried steak special. Bring my Dad a waffle with a side of crispy bacon and you know what John wants. Just bring us a thing of coffee and me an iced tea."

"You want me to just bring it out like I know what I'm doing?"

"I'll tell them that here, you get what's served, no exceptions."

She put in our order and told her dad who got a laugh out of it. She went next door and got what the boys liked. When she gave it to them, they pulled a couple of tables together so they could give me the third degree. It seems this group of old guys had followed my football and baseball games.

Greg, Dad and Uncle John found me holding court. I was telling them about my perfect game. Grace came over and poured everyone a coffee. Dad tried to order. Grace held up her hand.

"I don't know where y'all are from, but here, you get what we serve you, or you get out."

Uncle John about choked on his coffee. They had played the same prank on me when I first came here. Phil clued Greg and Dad in.

"Just go with the flow. Remember when Jess tried to order?" he asked everyone and they all nodded. "I think they banned him for six months."

I loved these guys. They were masters at pulling pranks. One time, Uncle John had come in complaining that the deer were eating his cattle feed. Roger had convinced him that if they were coming up for feed they were half tame. He should set up a small pen and lure one in and feed it corn to make the meat better.

I had called bullshit, but the guys worked on Uncle John for a couple of weeks. I just ignored them, because I could see they were setting him up. He had me putting out special feed that they said deer couldn't resist. Each day we would go out and there were deer tracks around the feeder.

Roger offered to help Uncle John catch his deer. I knew he just wanted to be there to see it. Uncle John had me set up a cattle chute and pen. The plan was to rope the deer and then guide it through the chute into a pen.

The three of us and Duke, Uncle John's 120 lb. mastiff, got up early to do the deed. We were in luck. There were three deer and a big buck eating from the feeder. Uncle John told me to hold Duke's collar so he didn't spook the deer. Duke and I peeked around the back of the truck, so we could watch.

Uncle John walked through the cattle so he could get close enough to lasso the deer. I about swallowed my teeth when he actually tossed the rope and it settled around the big buck's neck. The buck's head went up and it froze. Duke jerked me under the truck and the cattle scattered. They sensed something.

Roger was standing there with his mouth open as John calmly walked over to the chute and tied the rope off. He then tugged on it. That had the effect of unfreezing the buck. It had decided it was going to stomp the shit out of Uncle John. It clipped him in the forehead before he realized that he may have made a mistake.

Roger was under the truck with us in a flash. Uncle John ran to join us as the deer took out after him. Uncle John tying off the deer saved him. It slowed him down when he came to the end of the rope. He jerked to a stop and then went nuts. The buck was determined to kill us. He dragged the chute over far enough to kick the shit out of Uncle John's truck. I looked over and he was bleeding pretty good. Duke had enough. He took off back to the barn. Roger got out a big pocket knife and opened it.

"Here, go cut the rope," he said shoving it in my hand.

My mother had not raised a fool, but I didn't see either of them fixing this. I rolled out the other side of the truck and eased around till I had a straight shot to the chute. I sprinted to the chute and climbed in so the deer couldn't get at me. He ignored me because he was intent in putting more dents in my Uncle's truck. I cut the rope. As soon as the deer figured out it was free he was gone in a flash.

So I knew these guys would help me out.

Grace started bringing out food as if by magic. Greg and Dad grinned at me knowing I had just set them up. They all saw what I got.

"Good lord, are you going to eat all that," Roger asked.

"Yes, sir! Growing boy, here. Don't get your fingers too close or you might lose them," I teased.

It was fun catching up. Grace joined us and had a cup of coffee and told me about college.

We went back to the farm and Duke about killed me he was so happy to see me. We wrestled in the grass and Dad and Greg were worried I was getting mauled there was so much growling going on. I found his favorite spot to scratch on his tummy and Duke just rolled onto his back. Uncle John mumbled something about a worthless hound as he led them into the house.

I grabbed our bags and brought them to the house. I came up short when I saw Bonnie there. She and Uncle John had just started dating last summer. I was wondering what was going on.

"Part of the reason I wanted you guys to come up this weekend is I wanted you to meet Bonnie. I asked her to marry me and she said yes."

We all just stared at the two of them. Bonnie started laughing.

"Oh good lord, they are Dawson's," she said as she came over and gave me a hug.

"Congratulations," I told her.

Greg and Dad got their hugs. Bonnie talked to us for a while and then said she had to leave because she knew that no girls were allowed for a guys' weekend. I had no idea where she got that crazy idea.

Uncle John took us out to the barn where he had two four wheelers.

"David, take Greg and do a fence run. You go west and I'll go East with your Dad. We'll meet up at the pond." I noticed that we had supplies to fix any fence problems and also fishing gear.

I showed Greg how to fix fences. We found a few minor problems. We were almost done when we heard a cow bawling. It didn't take us long to find it. It had stepped into a hole and broken its leg. It would need to be put down. I got out my cell phone and called Uncle John.

"What's up?" he asked.

"We have a cow down with a broken leg. We need to put it down."

"There's a .38 in the glove box."

"Okay, I will have Greg take care of it," I said and hung up.

"Take care of what?" Greg asked.

"Putting the cow down," I told him.

"You are out of your mind if you think I'm shooting a cow."

"I was just messing with you. Uncle John will call the slaughter house and they will come out and take care of it. We just need to stay with her and make sure nothing more happens to her."

Uncle John came and verified my prognosis. He agreed and called his guy. They came out with a cattle hauler and three guys. We decided to go fishing, instead of watching how cows are euthanized. Uncle John sent me back to the barn to get a shovel to fill in the hole. By the time I got back the cow was gone. I filled in the hole and found the guys fishing. I had also gone into the house because I'd seen that Uncle John had forgotten the most important part of fishing: the beer. I got myself a few cokes.

We spent the afternoon catching catfish. Uncle John had a fifty gallon stock tank near the pond. If we caught a nice one, we would put it in the tank. We had about twenty catfish in the tank. I was sent to get a couple of coolers and the fish net. Greg and Dad netted them and put them in the coolers. Uncle John said we would take them to the diner and they would make us a catfish dinner. We got back and he had me ice them down and Greg and I put the coolers in the truck.

We took showers, and I called the diner to tell Grace what we were bringing in. She wanted to know how many, so I told her and gave her an idea when we would get there.

When I headed for the showers, I realized I missed working on the farm with Uncle John. Today had brought back so many good memories. I had been a mess when I was here last, but the farm work and Uncle John had healed me. I could see staying here and chasing Grace all summer, but that was just a fantasy. I had other things to do ... like play football. We would be leaving for Kentucky next week. I had been working too hard to pass that up.

We pulled around back, and Greg and I jumped out and took the coolers into the restaurant. Billy carefully checked all the fish and gave us the thumbs up. We found Dad at a table waiting for us. Uncle John was talking to some of the diners. Greg and I went around and met people. Most were there because of the fresh catfish. Grace must have made a few calls.

We had an excellent dinner. Billy really knows what he's doing. It was much better than what I'd had at Uncle John's house. When we were done Grace told us our coolers were around back. I jumped out to load them up and Grace stopped me.

"How long are you here for?"

"We're going back Sunday. If you're free tomorrow night, I would like to see you," I ventured.

"There's a dance at the Moose Lodge. If you're there, I'd like to spend some time with you."

"I'll see what the guys have planned, and let you know."

"See you, David," Grace said as she winked at me and hurried back into her family's restaurant.

I got into the cab of the truck.

"What was that about?" Dad asked.

"Grace is playing hard to get. She told me there is a dance, tomorrow night."

"I hate to tell you this David, but I think Grace has a boyfriend," Uncle John told me.

I just shrugged. There are plenty of fish in the sea.

We got back to the house and Uncle John was going to get a few beers. I told him to wait. I went and got the guys their gifts. There were four bottles of scotch; Glenmorangie 18 Years Old, The Macallan Cask Strength, Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old, and The Dalmore. They each also got four leaded crystal scotch glasses and four decanters with different English hunt scenes.

"This is a very thoughtful gift," Uncle John said.

"Yes, thank you. I like a nice scotch now and then," Dad said.

"Is any of this any good?" Greg asked.

"It was recommended by a liquor salesman in England. Mom helped get it. Neither of us drinks much so I hope its drinkable," I told them.

Uncle John got the glasses out and washed them. He brought them back with a couple of cubes of ice and a small pitcher of water.

"What is the water for?" Greg asked.

Uncle John opened the Macallan and poured some into each of our glasses.

"Take a sip."

I did and it was not really something I liked.

"Now, put a splash of water in it."

It completely changed the taste. It was smoother and I could see why people drank it.

"That makes it really good," Greg said.

We all sat back and relaxed and sipped scotch. Then Uncle John told us why we were here this weekend.

"I got the test results from your blood work. Before we talk about that, I need to tell you a few things. I know Mom told you about your granddad. What she didn't tell you was that your granddad comes from a long line of leaders. I didn't know my granddad, so I'll confine this discussion to my dad, your Dad and me.

"Let's start with my dad. When my dad would walk into a room people noticed. He was not an imposing figure. He was 5'10" and weighed 150 lbs. People naturally sought him out. Have you ever noticed that when people are talking someone will talk over them to get a point across? That never happened with dad.

"When he graduated from college and passed the bar exam, he was busy from day one. I wish you could have seen him in court. Juries loved him. He was one of those soft spoken men that you completely trusted. He rarely lost a case. He was also the guy you came to if you wanted to get something done. It didn't matter if you had been working to move it forward for years. Once dad got involved, it got done.

"Dad's friends were also a lot like him. They sought him out. They were the movers and shakers. They talked dad into going into politics. At first they thought they could pull his strings, but they soon found out that dad was the one pulling the strings. He was the representative for our district and by the time he retired he was the power behind the scenes in our State.

"I was told by the party chairman that dad had turned down three separate offers to run for governor. He turned them down because he said he could get more done right where he was."

Uncle John paused to let what he told us sink in.

"What I'm about to tell you next has to stay between us. You're at an age where your father and I expect you keep things like this in confidence," Uncle John said in a manner that was clear he was serious.

"I agree," Greg said.

"Yes, I'll keep this in confidence," I told Uncle John.

"Shortly before dad died, he sat down with your Dad and me and had a frank discussion, like we're having with you. He told us about his success with women. Mom suspected him of having two children outside of wedlock. He said he could confirm six. Your Dad and I suspect that the number is higher.

"The thing is that women were attracted to him. Even if they didn't know him they would be drawn to him. When he talked to us, he confirmed he was seeing three women. He told us that he could easily do it three times in a night without any chemical aid. At the time, he was sixty years old. I know several forty year olds that would kill to do it even twice in a night.

"Now I'm going to talk about your Dad and me. Actually, because he is your Dad, I am only going to talk about me. When I hit puberty my life began to change. I was a star basketball player and I had a different girlfriend every few weeks. I liked a challenge and variety. I got bored with the same girl."

Greg and I looked at each other and, in a lot of ways, we could see ourselves in what he was saying. He smiled at us.

"Don't worry, I'll get to you."

"By the time I graduated from high school I realized I was different than most guys. I wanted to find out why. That's why I studied psychology. I told the story to one of my professors. He told me that your grandpa was a real life Alpha Male.

"At first I didn't believe him. In the wild, the Alpha Male is the dominate male. They normally are associated with strength and size. It's a biological mandate that the best representation of a species tries to replicate itself. In a lion pride, or a wolf pack, the Alpha Male mates with the majority of the females. Dad was neither big nor strong.

"When two people come together, there is a natural tendency to establish dominance. Humans can't help it. We have millions of years of genetics that make us that way. We do it at a subconscious level. You probably don't even notice it.

"When you think of the prototypical Alpha Male, you think of the physical side. You put two guys into a room and only allow women to look at them and they will go for the big healthy looking guy 80% of the time. Many times when you think of these guys they are brash, assertive and overbearing in their attempts to establish dominance.

"I bet you can think of a few guys who try to intimidate others into doing their bidding. These are your bullies and jocks that people love to hate. This type of Alpha Male only has half the package.

"But then there are the guys that walk into a room and command it. You'll notice people defer to them and they soon attract a crowd. The other sub-alphas will be attracted to him and push the beta males away. In a high school setting this would be a clique of friends.

"Then there are the rare guys that transcend cliques. They can quietly command a room and tend to not be loud. Quite often they are good listeners, connectors, mild mannered, and physically unassuming. What is it about these guys? What gives them this seemingly mystical aura?

"Finally there is the Alpha Male that has both. He is physically what you would think of as an Alpha Male and he has the mind of an Alpha Male."

Uncle John got up and started to pace the room.

"In college I found I had many of the physical attributes of an Alpha Male. I could get about anyone I wanted to go out with me. Not just go out either, I could also bed them. It didn't matter if they were engaged, married or single. I had a good shot at being with who I wanted. It scared me. That and a very angry school administrator made me realize that the physical side was not the kind of leader I wanted to be.

"I'm not half the man your father is. He is more the mental side of the Alpha. He has been able to keep a long-term relationship in place without straying."

He took a deep breath.