Chapter 27: Saying Goodbye

Monday August 4, 2014 – Freshman Year

I had just returned home from my morning workout, when Mom made me promise that instead of swimming at Beth’s I would go with her to the hospital. I’d been putting it off. Every time I thought of it, I would see Terri in my mind’s eye, the girl Mom was friends with at the cancer center at Stanford, and the girl who passed away. What finally convinced me was when Mom said I knew one of the children.

As we parked, Mom gave me some pointers.

“This is a traumatic time for these kids. Be patient when you talk to them. Always respect them. Not everyone wants people to know they have cancer. If they don’t tell you then don’t pry. Just let them talk about whatever is on their mind. Listen to what they want or need to talk about, without interrupting or being judgmental. Get them to focus on the future. Talk to them about football or anything to get their mind off of what they’re going through, and where they are.

“Offer to help them with anything which might be too strenuous for them right now. Ask, don’t assume they need help.

“Here is the big one. If you’re going to be visiting once a week, tell them. One of the biggest mistakes people make is dropping out of their lives, because they don’t know how to handle it. These kids need structure and they need to know they can count on you. So if you tell them you are going to stop by next Sunday, keep your commitment. For today, just tell them you are there to see someone you know. This can be stressful, so if you don’t think you can do it again, I’ll understand.”

“So who is it I know?” I asked.

“Billy Felton, he told me he met you at the church ski trip. I think you know his sister, Lisa,” Mom told me.

“Yes, the little shit gave my cell number to his sister. I think I need to kick his butt,” I told her.

Mom led me to Billy’s room and then left me to do her volunteer work. The room was a double, and the little boy, who was Billy’s roommate, was sleeping. Billy was looking out the window. When he heard me enter the room he turned and smiled at me.

“David, how did you know I was here?” he asked.

“I think you talked to my Mom. She told me you were camping out here, so I figured I would come see you. Mind if I sit down and stay a while?” I asked.

He gave me a sly look.

“You just want to wait ‘till my sister gets here.”

“Speaking of which, I think someone gave their sister my cell number.”

He giggled. Then his parents and Lisa came in. I could see him stiffen and his mood changed. He was not a happy boy. I was confused at his attitude. I told him I would be back later, and turned left when I got into the hallway.

I went from room-to-room and said hi to the kids. The nurses had given me books to read to the younger children. The older ones, I just spent time talking to. For the most part it was okay. There was one little girl who was so weak my heart went out to her. She had a smile on her face when I was done reading a story about a china bunny.

“You need to practice,” she said.

“I do? You didn’t like how I read the story?”

“You have to do the voices,” she told me.

“Do you have a favorite one we can try?” I asked her, showing the books they gave me.

She pointed to one about a little princess. She helped me come up with the voices for each character. We were both having a good time when the nurse came in.

“I see you conned someone into reading to you,” the nurse said trying to be stern, but failing. “What did I tell you about taking a nap?”

“I’ll sleep later.”

“You’ll sleep now, or you’ll be overtired later. Now let Mr. David go see his friend Billy. He wants to spend some time with him, too,” she said.

I went back to Billy’s room. He was all alone.

“So what is up with your family?” I asked him.

“They treat me like a baby. I’m twelve years old, not four,” he huffed.

“Don’t be acting like that,” I said shocking him. “They love you, and are worried about you. You have to think about others, not just yourself.”

“But I’m the one who’s sick,” he shot back at me.

“So what? That doesn’t give you the right to be mean to them. What if they quit coming to see you?”

“Fine by me!” Billy exclaimed.

“I don’t buy it for a minute.”

We sat there staring at each other. He then burst into tears, and I went and sat on bed with him and hugged him. I saw Lisa peek in as Billy cried.

“I’m so scared. They won’t tell me anything. I can tell it’s bad by the way they treat me. I just wish they thought I was old enough to handle it.”

The flood gates opened and he told me all about it. He needed someone he could talk to. He finally wore himself out and fell asleep. I laid him down and when I walked out I saw Lisa sitting on the floor with tears streaming down her face and her Mom and Dad were holding each other. They came up to me, and hugged me. I knew right then I would be doing this the rest of my life. I felt I was making a difference, and I could see why Mom was passionate about it.

I helped Lisa up, and she gave me a hug.

“I need to get out of here for a while. Would you take me to the diner across the street?” she asked me.

I sent Mom a text telling her where I was going. The diner had a sign advertising homemade pies and ice cream. That sounded good. When the waitress came over I was surprised to see Kim Sun. I knew she worked at her Dad’s pharmacy, but I didn’t know she worked here.

When she came up to the table, her smile faltered when she saw I was with Lisa. She quickly put it back on.

“I didn’t know you worked here.”

“I fill in for my cousin once a week. My aunt and uncle own the place,” she explained.

“I think David wants pie and ice cream, what’s good?” Lisa asked.

“The peaches are in season and I heard they just made peach ice cream,” Kim told us.

“David, get that and we can share,” Lisa told me.

“Not happening. I know you. If you like it, you’ll eat it all. I’m buying, so bring us two,” I told Kim.

The pie was huge. I now knew why Lisa wanted to split. It had to be three inches thick. It was still hot right out of the oven and the ice cream had a home churned taste. I would get fat eating here. I got a text from my Mom, which said she was ready to go. I needed to get back for my afternoon workout.

I went up to the register to pay Kim, and Lisa followed me. I told Kim I would see her tomorrow at Beth’s pool.

“Thank you for this afternoon, you were wonderful,” Lisa said, and gave me a nice kiss.

I was surprised when I realized I hadn’t lusted after her even once today. Normally she gets my motor running. She thought she had my attention and gave an extra wiggle in her walk as she left me at the cash register. I hurried out to meet Mom at the car.

On the way home, I told Mom about my day. I agreed to go once a week, until football started. I couldn’t see doing more than that, because I was mentally exhausted. Keeping a happy face on for the whole day had been hard. Seeing the look on the faces of Billy’s family made me decide to go back.

Cassidy welcomed me back by trying to kill me!

“Two weeks ‘till two-a-days, people! I’ll not be embarrassed when my Dad tries to separate the men from the boys,” she told us.

Coach Hope had weeded out the baseball team by running us to death. I anticipated a similar experience come the official start of practice. I was happy to see Jeff was holding his own. He had lost all his baby fat since the start of baseball season. He could be our poster child. I noticed he no longer worried about taking his shirt off. He had never been fat, he just wasn’t in shape. We had played video games way too much when we were younger.

“I heard a rumor that you and Tami are on the outs,” Jeff said.

And so it begins.

“We had a disagreement,” I told him.

“Sorry to hear it,” was his only response.

You have to love guys. If this had been a girl, I would have been grilled for hours for every detail. This had always driven Tami crazy. I just nodded to him.

“So is it true? Did she get some kind of scholarship to study in England?” he asked me.

“Yep, she’ll be gone a year.”

“Good for her.”

“Exactly,” I said as Jeff caught the double meaning and gave me a tight smile.

“Sorry man.”

“Don’t be. We’ll be fine.”

I don’t think he believed me.

At dinner, the subject came up again.

“I’ve been getting calls about you and Tami. What do you want us to say?” Greg asked.

“Well, I don’t want to make it worse,” I answered.

“You need to be very careful what you do and don’t say,” Dad advised. “I know you care for her a lot. I would lead with that. You don’t want it getting back to her that you’re blaming her, or you don’t like her anymore.

“It had to be the hardest thing she has ever done. Your Mom and I have talked about this and feel she did you both a big favor. You guys do need time apart. There is no need to share this with anyone but us. Just say you still care for each other, but you both need to focus on yourselves for a time. You’ll be working on your football, and she has her opportunity to study in England.”

We all agreed that was the best approach. I decided I had better call Tami and see. I know she said not to contact her, but I didn’t want to mess this up.

“Hey, sorry to break the no contact rule, but I have a question,” I started.

“What is it?” she asked.

“What do you want me to say about us? I don’t want you thinking I’m being a jerk, or don’t care about you. I would hate it if you thought that. Dad suggested I say I care about you, but we decided to focus on each of our opportunities,” I suggested.

There was silence for a moment.

“That works. I’ve had some awkward questions too. I think if we give them the same answer they’ll back off.”

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“No, not really,” she told me.

“Me, neither.”

“We can’t do this. It’s too hard. You have to promise me you won’t call me unless it is an emergency or something big.”

“So, if I win State I can call you?”

“Yes, that would be okay. When I get to England, and get a new phone, I’ll give the number to your Mom. She won’t give it to you unless she approves. That should keep you from calling me,” she told me.

“You forget, I’m a resourceful little shit if I want to be,” I teased her.

“Don’t make me laugh. I need to stay mad at you, for now.”

“Okay, you be mad at me.”

“I will, you ‘stupid boy’. Do me a favor and stop moping around. I still love you,” she told me.

“I love you, too,” I said and she hung up.

Tuesday August 5, 2014 – Freshman Year

I had just gotten up when I got a call from Kendal. I had no idea she even knew there was a seven o’clock in the morning.

“Good morning, sunshine,” I answered.

She made some very specific threats to my person, then told me why she was calling.

“Jade and Range both want you in the studio for work. I just got off the phone with Tiffany. She has arranged for you to go to Hill Advertising to do the shoots. You have to be there by ten o’clock today and then you’re booked for all day Wednesday and Thursday. Friday and Saturday is the commercial. Since Tiffany is working with her new group of models, I get to go with you.”

“You want me to pick you up?” I asked.

“That’s right. You have your driver’s license now. Yes that would give me a chance to get ready. Bring coffee,” she ordered me.

I hurried downstairs to find Mom drinking coffee with Dad.

“Hey, I have to go be a model starting today thru Saturday. The workout group will be here at four o’clock. Can you handle that for me for another week?”

“I suppose this means you are leaving me to mow the yard.” Dad said.

“Pfft, you still have slave labor living under your roof. Get Greg to do it,” I told him.

I took my supplements and ate quickly. I put coffee into an insulated travel cup and headed to Kendal’s. On the ride I called my speed coach, and he told me he was charging me for the week. I told him in that case, I would have someone there he could work with today. I think he thought he was going to double book my slot the rest of the week, because he wasn’t happy.

I thought about who should fill my place. Bill was going to be my primary receiver and had division one talent. Wolf was developing into a good tight end. Mike had been helping with my quarterback workouts. Finally, Jim was going to protect my blind side at left tackle. I picked Jim. He was excited to go learn. I knew he would take full advantage of the coaching.

I almost made Kendal walk. She spilled her coffee all over my new Jeep. I explained you didn’t take the lid off the thermal cup. She reported that the lid leaked. She was still apologizing when we got to Hill Advertising. We went up to the receptionist who was new, and cute.

“I’ll get the carpet cleaned,” Kendal told me then turned to the receptionist. “Mr. Dawson to see Mr. Hill,” she told her.

“Don’t worry about it. Mr. Sullivan promised to clean my Jeep. I’ll just take it to the dealership and have them clean the carpet.”

“I’m sorry I converted your new-car smell to coffee.”

“Get over it. Wait ‘till Kyle rides in it. I’m sure it will smell much worse when he gets done.”

That got Kendal to smile. Another new gal came out and led us to the studio. There were all kinds of people running around. I looked at Kendal and she just shrugged.

“Mr. Hill said to go straight to makeup. Is there anything I can get you sir?” she asked.

“Can you get Kendal some coffee in a Sippy cup?”

“Yes, sir, anything else?

“I could use a bottle of water,” I told her.

“Any particular brand?” she asked.

“Just regular will be fine.”

She hurried off.

“If she brings me coffee in a Sippy cup, I’ll kick your butt,” Kendal threatened me.

“Whatever. Go find out why we are being treated like royalty. It’s starting to unnerve me.”

Mr. Hill came back with a big smile on his face.

“I hear you’re complaining about the service around here,” he said.

“Since when do I rate service?” I asked him.

“Read your contract sometime. I get to hire all these people to make sure the talent is happy,” he told me.

“Can’t you just pocket the money?” I asked him.

“Actually, no, but you are making me a popular guy. You’re good for the local economy. I think Range and Jade are trying to outdo each other. We were even able to hire a top of the line model to work with you today. I think you know her.”

“Kate Upton?” I asked getting excited.

Hey, a boy has to have dreams.

“I’m not the first one who pops into mind anymore?” Kara asked me.

“Kara!” I said as I jumped up and kissed her.

I hadn’t seen my exotic beauty in way too long. Mr. Hill left us alone. I finally let her go.

“I guess that makes up for not picking me first.”

“If I had known you were even in the country, I would pick you every time,” I told her.

“You’ve gotten bigger and you’ve been working out. How tall are you now?” she asked.

“I’m 6’3”. They think I might grow another inch.”

We caught up while they did our makeup. She was still in demand and working every chance she got. Tyler had clued Jade in that I liked working with Kara, so they hired her for a couple of days.

“I heard about your friend Tami. How are you doing?” she asked.

“I’ve been better. She leaves tomorrow. They are taking her on tours so she gets to know her way around England before school starts. She’ll live with a host family while she is there.”

Mom and Tami still talked. Mom told me what was happening. Mom said Tami wasn’t handling our breakup, for lack of a better word, very well. Mom called me and told me that since I wasn’t going to Beth’s, Tami was going to say goodbye to everyone. My whole family was spending the afternoon with her. I was sad I couldn’t say goodbye to my best friend in person.

Kara’s flirting got me out of my funk, and we did the shoot. I was pleased to see lunch was not just rabbit food. Mrs. Hill and their daughter, Janet, joined us. Janet was bummed summer was almost over. She had gotten herself a boyfriend. Janet was pretty sure they would breakup when she went back to school. I think Mrs. Hill was okay with it.

Towards the end of the shoot, Kara pulled me aside.

“Guess who didn’t tell their parents they were home yet?” Kara asked.

“You naughty girl. I bet you don’t even have a place to stay tonight.”

“No, I don’t. Whatever will I do?” she said, throwing her head back and rubbing her brow with the back of her hand.

“I think I can find somewhere for you to sleep,” I teased her.

“Good, and you have to take me out to dinner. I’m thinking Monical’s.”

“I like the way you think. I haven’t been there in over a month, and I’m having withdrawals symptoms.”

We were soon done with today’s shoot. Kendal, Kara and I checked the photos then Kara met me at my house after I dropped Kendal off. It was seven o’clock so we went straight to Monical’s. It was strange that no one was at my house. I figured they were still at Beth’s.

When we got to Monical’s, the place was packed. We had just sat down when Greg came to our table.

He smiled at Kara and they said hi. Then he turned to me.

“I hate to say this, but you need to leave. Tami is having her going away party. She’s had a rough day. She keeps telling David stories. I don’t think she could handle seeing you right now,” he told us.

We got up and left. I was glad we hadn’t been seen. I didn’t want to cause her anymore grief. We ended up going to the diner by the hospital. I wanted to introduce Kara to the pie. She was not happy because she liked it too much.

“I’m going to kill you. You know what this will do to my hips,” she complained.

“Golly, I guess I’ll have to help you work it off.”

“You are such a bad influence. Who knew strawberry rhubarb pie could be so good?” she asked.

I just smiled at her. It was one of my favorites. They also had homemade vanilla ice cream made with real vanilla beans. It was so good I forget what I had for dinner. The waitress told me the shakes were even better. I now had a favorite place to go for breaking my diet. I’ll always love Monical’s, but this was just outstanding. I needed to bring Mary Dole and maybe she could help me figure out the recipes.

We got back to my place and I wanted to show off my new apartment.

“Wait here, I want to turn on all the lights,” I told her as I ran upstairs.

She came up when I called her and her face lit up.

“They did a great job. I love how they hung your photos. I want a wall like this,” she told me.

She went through the whole place and we kissed. Her phone rang interrupting us. She looked at the number and said a bad word.

“It’s my Mom,” she told me.

“Hi Mom ... Yes, I’m with David ... No, I was going surprise you ... Yes, Mom.”

She looked disappointed. I soon joined her.

“Gina, the little rat, saw us at Monical’s. I need to go home and make an appearance. I guess our plans will have to be put on hold,” she told me.

“Is it okay if your little sister turns up missing in the next few days?” I asked her.

“No, no need to do that. I’ll deal with her,” Kara assured me.

“Do you want to ride with us tomorrow?” I asked.

“Why don’t I drive? My back seat is more comfortable for Kendal,” she told me.

“Sure. I’ll see you in the morning,”

I woke at one in the morning to someone getting in bed with me. I was half out of it.

“Don’t say anything, just hold me,” Tami ordered.

I briefly wondered how she got in since I had changed the lock code. I figured it was a mystery for another day. I fell back to sleep with her in my arms.

Wednesday August 6, 2014 – Freshman Year

I woke up alone. I wondered if I was dreaming until I saw the note on my night stand.

David,

Don’t be mad at Gina. I had her tell
her mom that Kara was home. I wanted
to have one last night with you.

I will miss you, my stupid boy.

With all my love,
Tami

With that last note, Tami was gone from my life.

Kara walked into my bedroom with me sitting on the bed reading the note.

“We were set up,” I told her handing her the note.

She read it and chuckled.

“More than you think. Gina woke me up early and told me what Tami asked her to do. There is a second act to this little drama.”

“This I have to hear.”

“No, this you have to enjoy,” she said as she dropped to her knees.

Kara pushed my thighs apart and admired my member. She glanced up and smiled.

“Someone is growing,” she said then took me into her mouth.

I had missed Kara. She and I were well matched in bed. She was leisurely bobbing up and down on my cock as she used her fingernails to tease my balls. I watched in rapt amazement as her beautiful lips caressed my thick shaft. When she would pull back to the point she just had my head wrapped in those lips, she would use her tongue to tease more pleasure out of me.

I let her control the pace. She was determined to make this last. She kept me on the brink for so long I began to shake uncontrollably. I finally begged her.

“Please, let me cum. Oh, GOD! YES!“ I yelled as I let loose.

Kara’s eyes got big and she coughed.

“Jesus, David, you have a little build up or something?” she asked me.

“Sorry. I haven’t cum since I got back from New York,” I told her as she went to bathroom to spit it out.

She came back out naked. Kara was a goddess. Not all models are created equally. Kara’s piercing metal-gray eyes drew you in, and then you noticed her beauty. Her silky black straight hair hung past her shoulders, which drew your eyes to her pouty mouth. Every straight guy I know would die to trade places with me just a few moments ago.

Her regal neck ended at her kissable shoulders. Her breasts were a respectable C cup, which sat high on her chest. Her nipples pointed slightly upward and begged for your lips to caress them. Then you came to her flat tummy, which led to her shaved sex. You could see her swelling lips as she became aroused. I breathed in deeply to enjoy her musky scent.

She saw my nostrils flared and she purred at me. Damn this woman had it going on. As she walked past me to get a condom, I saw her best asset. Kara’s ass was in a class of its own. I could have played with that butt all day.

Again, I let her control the action. When you’re with a woman who knows what she is doing, it’s sometimes best to let them drive. I liked to dominate a girl at times, but with Kara, she knew how to drive me nuts. She knew I loved her ass, so she turned away from me and mounted me so I could admire it. She wasn’t messing around this time. She set a brisk pace and was soon panting. I cupped her butt cheeks to help her steady herself so she could concentrate on getting her cum.

She grasped my thighs when she got close so she could have more leverage. I could feel I was close.

“Kara ... Kara ... I’m close,” I panted.

“Don’t you cum yet,” she ordered me.

I clamped down hard with my Kegel muscles to hold back the inevitable.

“Hurry,” I urged.

“Don’t you cum. I’m almost there,” she assured me.

I was losing the battle and she knew it. I grabbed her and had her rest against my chest, so I could take over pounding her from below.

“Oh, God! You’re so thick and long. Fuck me with that monster!” she ordered me.

I just bellowed as I lost my battle, but I kept fucking her through it and she finally got hers. Her lips were right next to my ear when she screamed.

“Aaaeeeaaa!”

What the heck, I think I was now deaf in one ear. She rolled over so we were facing each other and she attacked me. She was kissing me all over my face and then she grasped my cheeks between her hands and made a believer out of me.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she chanted between kisses.

I started to laugh.

“What’s so funny buster?” she asked.

“I aim to please,” I said as I looked at the clock.

I picked her up and rushed her to the shower. She shrieked when I picked her up like she weighed nothing.

“What the hell, David?”

I dropped her in the shower.

“Hurry, we’re running late,” I told her.

I ran and grabbed my phone and called Kendal.

“Hey, we’re just now getting into the shower. Can we meet you there?” I asked.

“You’re so going to owe me,” she teased me.

I just hung up on her and joined Kara for a quick shower. I beat her getting dressed. I ran down to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of protein shakes and fruit. Mom and Dad just rolled their eyes as I ran out to find Kara starting her car. I jumped in and as she pulled out of the drive I opened the protein drinks and peeled a banana for her.

She tasted her drink and smiled.

“That’s not too bad,” she commented.

We actually made it on time. I was glad I had my seatbelt on. Kara had spent a month in Germany driving on the autobahn. I read somewhere it had no speed limit. I think she forgot we have one here. This was almost as much fun as riding one of Devin’s toys.

Kendal was an angel. She had stopped at a drive thru and bought us breakfast. Not the best thing I should be eating, but I was still hungry. She knew I got grumpy when I didn’t eat. Kendal came back to makeup to talk to me.

“So, were you being bad this morning?” she asked me as I rolled my eyes at her.

Kara came up behind Kendal and scared the shit out of her.

“No, he was very, very good this morning! You should try it sometime,” Kara suggested.

Kendal is rarely without a comeback. I could tell her brain froze. Then I saw the young assistant from yesterday. She handed Kendal a Sippy cup of coffee.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry I was unable to accommodate you, yesterday. Mr. Hill went out and personally bought this for you,” she told her.

I looked back and Mr. and Mrs. Hill and all his staff were watching. Kendal looked at it then at me.

“Wasn’t me,” I told her.

She knew she had been setup. She played it off and took a sip. I heard everyone crack up. We could tell the poor girl wasn’t in on the joke. She looked around worried. Kendal made her feel at ease.

“Thank you, that was very thoughtful of you. You’ll go far in this business with this kind of initiative,” she told her and then turned to track down Mr. Hill.

He suddenly had to be somewhere else.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Kendal called after him as she fast-walked after him.

Friday August 8, 2014 – Freshman Year

Jim and I hung out with Alan and Jeff last night. I was still chuckling on my run this morning. Jim was complaining his legs, hips and butt all hurt from working out with the speed coach. His workouts were more focused on him getting out of his stance and getting back into position to block a defensive end trying to speed rush him. He was still doing the things I did for when he had to pull and lead a running play.

It made me think, if I was going to try and play defense, I needed to be faster going backwards. I would talk to Jack on Monday.

I went and had breakfast with Mom and Dad. She had news about Tami.

“Do you want to hear about Tami, or would you rather I not keep you up to date?” Mom asked me.

“Of course I want to hear about her. Just because we aren’t communicating, doesn’t mean I don’t care.”

“What about the other way? Can I tell her about you?” Mom asked.

“Sure. I expect you would talk to a friend about your sons. I don’t want your relationship with Tami to suffer.”

“She made it to England and likes her host family. They have three kids, a girl her age and then two younger boys. Being an only child, this is going to be something new for her. They have been doing day trips so she can play tourist.

“She told me she appreciated you being a gentleman, and leaving Monical’s with Kara. You got big brownie points for considering her feelings. She also told me about your call to her. She was surprised you were acting so grown up. She really hasn’t seen you on a daily basis for several months and seen the changes your Dad and I have seen. I just wanted to tell you I’m proud of you.”

Dad and I talked bad about Greg. He hadn’t mowed the lawn yet. He was booked solid doing massages and trying to put money away for when they were on their own. I handed Dad a twenty and told him to hire the neighbor guy who did most of the yards on our street. Dad said for twenty bucks he would do it himself. If I had known that, I would have been paying him for years. Well, maybe not.

I picked Kendal up and handed her a new thermal travel mug which didn’t leak. She just gave me a dirty look. She was still mad about the Sippy cup. I think things would have cooled off if Mr. Hill hadn’t had one of his staff snap a picture. He sent it to me and of course I sent it to Lily. Now everyone at her office knew about it because Angel was on my Twitter list.