Chapter 6: An Unexpected Debut

Summer two-a-day practices are a rite of passage for the Texas high school football player. The players arrived at their new high school, two weeks before the start of the new school year. Sure, they were only going to the football locker room, the football practice fields and also the weight room; but the psychological advantage of being able to GO to high school, earlier, was a definite positive feeling for the young soon to be high schooler.

Freshmen did not have their own cars ... yet. Turning sixteen years old is the finish line for kids to gain the privilege of a driver’s license. An ultimate test of your coolness was whether or not you could get an upperclassman to actually care enough about you, to offer you a ride home after practice.

Another instant perk for the new football playing freshman, was that instead of the rare overly developed middle school girl, the hallowed halls of high school promised to be overflowing with ... not girls, but women.

According to the myths perpetuated in middle school locker rooms all over the state, these women were going to be ready to drop their panties and do unspeakable things to and with you, simply because you played on the football team. Hell, they might even invite your friends along to watch or even join in. That was a well known ‘fact,’ and was often confirmed by a guy who is friends with another guy, whose brother told him about an annual party where it almost always happened!

Tim had heard some of the stories but mostly snippets of stories overheard, via the braggadocio of middle school boys in the locker room after gym class. But since he was not a part of the athletic cliques, he never heard the entire story, so he took them all with ‘a grain of salt.’

But one thing he did not take with ‘a grain of salt’ was his new found love of physical exertion he enjoyed during the summer months. He’d been released from the hospital when, according to his doctors, the cause of his recent maladies was found to be a tapeworm mysteriously introduced into his system. The resulting weight loss, combined with amazingly productive bowel movements and gas explosions, had forced a four day mini-vacation in the hospital’s care.

Tim knew the hospital visit was unnecessary from a physical standpoint, but understood the need to create a patsy for his relatively sudden body transformation. The nanites introduced to his young body, immediately paid dividends. The mental adjustments and improvements were immediately apparent, and the entire process won his approval once his body began losing weight, and gaining height and muscle mass.

A few days after leaving the hospital, Tim’s father Raymond made good on his promise to get some free weights, as well as a boxing heavy bag. He placed both on the covered porch in the back yard. He also purchased a large box fan from a junkyard. The fan had been used in a factory that had since closed. It was one of four fans used to bring air into the 100,000 foot factory floor. It worked and brought a strong breeze into the covered patio. The patio was covered by a corrugated metal roof. It had support poles in the middle and at the two far corners not attached to the house. On the far corner of the patio, a lattice featuring an overgrown rose bush provided some privacy, but the far end was left open. The new fan was placed in the far corner away from the thorny rose bush. When the roses bloomed it was a beautiful sight ... otherwise, not so much.

Tim spent the rest of the summer working out every morning from sunrise until about noon. Then he would come back inside, take a shower, eat lunch and have his mother drop him off at the library. The closest was a couple of miles away next door to the middle school Tim would have attended if he lived two streets west. But there was also a new city satellite library in his new high school which doubled as both a city, and a school library. As he was continuing his workouts, he remembered his future self made a point in his introductory letter to not only work out physically, but mentally. The letter actually suggested visiting the library. Tim found that winding down from his high intensity workouts with a different couple of books every day in a different subject; was, in fact, wonderful.

His body was quickly transforming from it’s previous pear shape, into a solid rectangle, with his shoulders and upper body widening and quickly overtaking the width of his waist. This was becoming simpler to do, since his waist was disappearing. His hair was now straight and silky black, reaching down to the middle of his neck rather than the conservative curly dark brown it had always been. Tim’s new hair style was a point of contention with his mother, but she chose to swallow her tongue when she noticed her son was now taking more care, in his grooming.

In the past, Juanita had to remind Tim to wash and comb his hair, since Tim’s natural reaction was to let it go as it dried rather than attempting any styling. As a growing adolescent, Tim never worried about grooming, since his ego was tied to his body. Since both were down in the dumps, that was his general look. She noticed with his physical improvements, he now also had a new attitude on his grooming, to help accentuate the new appearance. That generally made her happy. But the change in attitude and appearance, brought up motherly concerns about her child changing, drastically, right before her eyes.

A summer of workouts every morning, followed by visits to the library, were doing wonders not only for Tim. The entire family seemed to follow his lead though not as dramatically. Juanita changed the family’s diet, by taking more care to prepare healthier meals.

Raymond, rather than stop by the cafeteria or go to a restaurant and pick up something for lunch, found himself bringing a lunch prepared for him by his wife. Since she had always been a great cook, he didn’t mind, since it was always delicious. He was initially afraid of some peer pressure, but he quickly realized that when he was the boss, his dining habits were not really the concern of those he managed. They, of course, noticed; but, it wasn’t the sort of thing they would worry about.

Tim’s little sister Carmen was always a bit of a book worm, but she was also a never one to be quiet. She accompanied Tim every few days to the library, so she could get new books to read, herself. She also noticed her brother did not spend his time in the fiction side of the library. She saw he was actually reading some science and reference books. She was intrigued, since it was another change.

Carmen put her book down on the table behind Tim and hugged him from behind. She always knew she could not reach around him since he was large but she could always squeeze him and get a good hold onto him to extend the hug. He was now larger than before but when she tried to squeeze him it was like trying to squeeze a brick.

“Ooof. You’re too big, now,” she said. She released the hug and pulled out the chair next to her big brother as she asked, “Whatcha reading?”

“It’s a book about ‘The Big Bang Theory.’”

“Oh, I like that show, Sheldon is funny even though he is not really trying.”

“No, honey, not the TV show. It is a theory in science that the universe, everything around us and inside us ... from galaxies and stars and planets, to the boogers in your nose ... all started as one BIG explosion. When it is settling down everything was formed over time. This was a long time ago and some scientists think the explosion is still happening.”

During the explanation, Tim had playfully grabbed his sister’s nose and tugged lightly to emphasize his point.

“Why are you reading about that? We aren’t going to school for like a month or something. That sounds a lot like homework.”

“Well, why did you read those Harry Potter books when they came out?”

“They were interesting and fun. I wanted to see what happened next, so I kept reading each book when it came out.”

“So did you pass the test in school on Harry Potter?”

His sister giggled and said, “No, silly, we didn’t have a test on Harry Potter. I read it cause it was fun.”

“Well, that’s why I’m reading this,” he wiggled the book. “I’m reading this, ‘cause to me it’s fun.” Tim looked down at his watch and realized it was almost time to go home. “Did you find a book you wanted to read?”

“Yeah, I already downloaded it to my tablet so I can read it whenever I want.”

“All righty, then. Let me call Mom to pick us up, so we can go home for dinner.”

Tim called for his ride and went to return the book he was reading to the shelves. With the enhancements from the nanites, he read the entire book in the first two minutes after he sat down with it, and had perfect recall of what he’d read. He had kept the book open while he was writing some theories for a few programs he was working through, in his mind.

“Excuse me, but I heard what you said to that little girl and that was just one of the sweetest things I have ever heard.”

A mousy brunette librarian he recognized from his many visits was standing in the aisle with a couple of other scientific texts in her hand. He remembered seeing her name tag from other visits. It said Rebecca, although she did not seem to be wearing her name tag at that time.

“I’ve seen you in here almost all summer long, reading over different scientific textbooks that we normally don’t have anyone except for a few teachers from the high school reading. Are you in college?”

Tim smiled because his new body must have made him seem older than his real age.

“Oh, no, ma’am. I’m going to be starting as a high school freshman in the new school year, but I’ve always had a natural inclination toward science. When I finish my physical work out at home, I start my next work out, right in here.”

Right after what he said left his mouth he realized it must have sounded awfully conceited to announce the first thing that he was working out.

“Wow, you are a pretty big one for a freshman. Are you going to be playing sports for the Rough Riders during your four years here at Roosevelt?”

“Yes, indeed. I am all signed up to play football this fall. I’m really excited about it cause it is the first time I have ever played, and, well ... I just can’t wait.”

Tim didn’t realize he was wringing his hands with excitement.

“Well, I can see that. My husband coaches freshman football. Have you met him yet?”

“No. I figured we were going to meet right before the two-a-day practices start. I heard they would let us know when we would be starting but I haven’t seen a letter, yet.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what. I know for a fact the coaches are already going over the calendars and getting stuff ready, to get started for the next season. They weren’t in, today; but I do know they will be in tomorrow, because they are getting a shipment of new equipment. They’ll be unpacking boxes all afternoon long. At least that is what Mario tells me. For all I know, it might take them thirty minutes to open and organize everything, and then they spend the rest of the day watching old football highlights remembering what might have been,” she said, and laughed, letting Tim know she was kidding.

Just then Carmen returned from retrieving her backpack, and tugged on Tim’s shirt to let him know she was ready to go outside and wait for their ride.

“Oh my goodness! I plain forgot to introduce myself. I’m Tim Murphy, and this is my sister Carmen,” he said while hugging his little sister to his side.

Although Tim knew her name, he let her make introductions. “Well I am Rebecca Barrett. I am a librarian here at Roosevelt and my husband is the head freshman football coach, so you will get to know him soon enough.”

“My brother is going to be an awesome football player. He has been working out all summer in our backyard. First he got dad to get all these weights and even this big heavy boxing bag that Tim hits all the time. Then he made these long boxes out of wood and put them in the backyard so he can crawl all over them and practice moving on them, real fast. Those boxes are almost as long as the whole backyard. It is so awesome now to see him do it. He can crawl on all fours faster than I can run along side of him. But I think I’ll beat him, someday, I just need to practice like Tim.”

Carmen was obviously getting worked up bragging about her big brother when his phone rang. He checked the caller ID, and answered to his mother that they were coming right out.

“Okay, Carmen, calm down. That was Mom. It’s time to go.”

“Oh, good. I’m getting hungry. Bye, Miss Barrett, it was nice to meet you. I hope the librarians at my school this year are as nice as you are.”

“Yes. Mrs. Barrett, it was a pleasure to meet you. Hopefully we can get your husband a winning season in football.”

Tim, holding his sister’s hand, walked down the hall to the front entrance. It is a little bit of a longer walk for the two, but Juanita said getting to that entrance/exit was an easier drive for her. A little walk to make it easier for his mother was not a difficult thing to do.

“Becca, I’m home!” the physically fit, highly tanned man announced as he walked in the front door of a modest three bedroom, two bath home. “Whew! I was finally able to figure out why the field had not been prepped for the two-a-days.”

Reaching the kitchen, where his wife was putting the final touches on their dinner, he gave her a quick hug and kiss.

“Apparently the AD (Athletic Director) did not put in the work order for the janitors to do the work, so they rescheduled other things to be done, when they should have been prepping the field. So the earliest we can get to the field will be after the actual first couple of days in our two-a-days. Ugh. How was your day, darling?”

“Not too bad. I actually met someone I think you are going to enjoy meeting, real soon,” she answered. Coach was dutifully paying attention. “I have seen him in the library almost every day, all summer. He is in there every weekday, but at least two or three times a week he comes in with who I discovered today is his little sister. I’m telling you Mario, I thought he was like a college student with his daughter, or something, working on some sort of term paper.”

Now thoroughly interested in his wife’s story, Coach Barrett pulled a breakfast bar stool over to the kitchen prep area his wife was currently using to get comfortable.

“Ohh? Do tell. What caught your attention about this guy?”

“Well, when you see him, you will understand my initial reaction. In fact, I have seen several young ladies eying him like fresh meat, but he was absolutely oblivious. Anyways, I over heard him explaining to his little sister why he was reading up on the Big Bang Theory. Not the simple pseudo-science books most high school kids use for more advanced papers, but the actual hard science doctoral thesis publication. If he becomes a teacher, the way he convinced his little sister to read more stuff that interests her, was absolute genius.”