Chapter 13: Championship Game

Wednesday November 26

I woke up alone, as I rolled over the clock said ten. I heard movement in my bathroom and then Tracy came out and gave me a weak smile. There will always be something between us.

"Tracy..." I started, but she shut me up with a kiss.

I pushed her away and smiled at her. Something wasn't quite right. We had been friends. No, that wasn't right, we were more than friends. So it was easy for me to detect her moods and I could tell something was bothering her.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She curled up next to me.

"Just hold me," she said.

I wrapped my arms around her. I could smell she had used my mint shampoo. I could tell she needed just that, me holding her, so I drifted off, back to sleep.

I woke up to find Tracy gone. I went out to my living room, and Jim, Wolf and Cassidy were playing my new video game, Far Cry 4, which I hadn't played, yet. I had a momentary Kyle moment and wanted to yell 'Mine!', but I quickly got over it.

I went to the house to get breakfast. I was happy to see it had stopped snowing after leaving almost half a foot on the ground. I about killed myself sliding on the sheet of ice underneath. I carefully traversed the short distance, and came in to find my house overrun with people. There was a platter of bacon and scrambled eggs, so I put a couple of pieces of bread into the toaster and then made a quick sandwich. Dad found Greg and me and ordered us to go out and shovel the drive and sidewalks, and then salt them. It's funny how child labor works.

Greg was being a pussy and whining about how cold it was, while I simply enjoyed our time together. It felt like we were brothers again. I missed him being around, until he dumped snow down my back. I really felt bad for Angie. She was going to have to raise Kyle alone. Poor Greg had no idea that at six-four and a little over two hundred pounds I might be stronger than him now. I had worked out like a mad man for nearly a year. I picked up the dork, and dumped him into a snow drift.

Why is it that parents always see you do something like that?

"David Allen Dawson!" Mom yelled at me.

"He started it," I complained.

"I don't care. Now help your brother out of the snow before Greg freezes to death," she ordered me.

The little shit was playing possum, and pulled me in with him. We wrestled until I pinned him. Oh, how the tables had turned. I was dancing in the drive when a snow ball hit me in the head. It was Angie defending her wimpy husband. She shrieked when I chased her back into the house.

Mom sent me to my apartment to take a shower and warm up. When I came back down she had hot chocolate waiting for me. I gave her a hug and a kiss on the top of her head.

When the power came back on, Dad used my Jeep to take some of the dads home, to get bigger vehicles to help the other people home. By two that afternoon, we had everyone out of the house but family. Well ... Mac and her mommy, Joyce, were considered family.

I was rolling around on the floor letting babies crawl all over me when Mom found me. She had a big smile on her face.

"As much as I hate to break this up, you have got to get ready for your date," she told me.

I looked at her curiously. I hadn't planned a date for tonight. Kyle tried to sit between my legs ... and missed. I sucked in my breath.

"Man down," Greg teased.

I thought I might have just lost my left nut. Greg and Angie got the babies before I hurt one of them from thrashing around on the floor. What is it about seeing a guy getting hit in the nut-sack, that's so funny? Angie got a glint in her eye.

"Do you want me to kiss your boo boo to make it better."

I just glared at her. Mom got me up.

"Now go get ready," she ordered.

"Hang on! Who am I having a date with?" I asked.

"Beth," Mom told me.

That brought a happy smile to my face. It was the annual Dawson / Anderson date night. Since Greg had failed so miserably in bringing our families together, it had fallen to me to take Beth out last year. I really missed my friend. I had a spring in my step as I headed to my room to shower and change.

When I got to my room I saw either Angie or Mom had laid out clothes for me. I suspected Angie because she had put out my animal print thong. I decided it would be fun to wear it if things went that far. Angie had also put out a nice pair of slacks, and a fitted sweater. She'd also taken out a sports jacket.

When I got dressed, I looked at myself in the mirror and got a little nervous. The thong lifted and centered my package giving me a noticeable bulge. I almost changed but Angie and Joyce came bounding up the steps. Angie was all business.

"Turn around so we can see," she ordered.

Joyce blushed, and couldn't seem to quit looking at me below the waist.

"There is no way I am wearing this," I told Angie.

"Brother-in-law of mine, trust me on this. Beth will love it," Angie told me.

Joyce finally looked me in the eye and nodded her agreement. The girls led me out of the apartment before I could change. Greg and Dad had a different opinion when I walked in.

"Dude, seriously!" Greg offered.

"Leave him alone. I dressed him," Angie defended me.

"David, ahhh ... hmmm," Dad mumbled.

"Don't listen to them," Angie assured me. "Beth will love it."

Mom came out and stopped to look me up and down. She just shrugged and gave the information on the reservations. We were going to a romantic Italian restaurant.

Mom lent me her car. The Jeep was not the greatest vehicle for a girl to get into and out of in high heels, that was the excuse Mom gave. I was fine, because Mom had a boat. It was a Lincoln Town Car she used for her real estate business.

I'll give the county credit. They had the roads cleared and we even had a crew out to take care of our downed tree limb. The previous county government had been run out because they were not focused on core services. Our former Sheriff, who thought we needed a helicopter to fight drugs and found two marijuana fields over the last year, was a prime example.

When I arrived at Beth's, I went to the door, and Mr. Anderson invited me in. I could hear muffled giggles from upstairs.

"Has it been like this all day?" I asked.

He just rolled his eyes, being smart enough not to voice his opinion on the matter. Mrs. A hustled downstairs with her camera. I felt like I was waiting for my prom date. I was anxious to see Beth since I hadn't seen her since homecoming.

The wait was worth it, because she was in a floor length gown. The top half had a cream colored base, which matched her skin tones. There was ruby red beading in a sophisticated floral pattern. The bottom half was a deep rich red color. She coordinated with matching heels. Beth's hair had been pulled up so it showed off her neck. Her makeup was just enough for evening-wear. I gave myself a mental chuckle when I realized I knew the difference in makeup. In short, she was gorgeous.

She lit up when she saw the look on my face. She bit her bottom lip trying to walk elegantly down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she gave me a sexy look, and did a little pirouette so I would get the full effect. I swept her into my arms, forgetting her parents were watching, and kissed her. At that moment I knew Beth could be the one. Besides Tami, no one knew me better or cared more for me.

"I love you," I said as we finally stopped kissing.

I don't know who was more shocked, Beth or her parents. She kissed me back with more passion. I understood that if we didn't leave soon, I was going to be doing unspeakable things in front of her parents. When Beth finally let go she had tears in her eyes.

"Crap, now I have to go fix my makeup," she said, as she and her mom hurried back upstairs.

"Do we need to have a talk?" Mr. Anderson asked.

"Honestly, if we were finishing up college I would ask her to marry me," I confided in him. "I think I have always loved her. I also know we are a long way from that day. My intentions are only honorable towards your daughter. You should be proud of the woman she is becoming."

I had just shocked him twice in one night. He had tears of happiness in his eyes. Our parents were very close, especially our moms. If I'd been twenty-one, I would have fulfilled their dreams. The object of my affection came back down and we took some pictures. I looked at the time, and saw we needed to get going to make our reservation. I took Beth's hand and led her to the car.

I hadn't been to this restaurant yet. Mom and Dad had gone there on a date night, and loved it. I could see why when we were seated. It was a small intimate setting. Everyone in the place was nicely dressed, and seemed to be on a date. I was glad it wasn't a lot of older people.

They had a nice menu featuring Southern Italian cuisine. I ordered a baked codfish with bay leaves and fennel, in a fresh uncooked tomato sauce. Beth tried ciambotta, a vegetable stew made with eggplant. Once we ordered Beth and I caught up.

"I'm gone a few months and you surprise me with I love you. What's going on?" Beth asked.

"I'm sorry if you didn't want to me hear say that, but when I saw you I just knew it was the truth."

"It's not that I don't want to hear it, I do. I love you, too. It just seemed a little sudden," Beth said, and then scooted next to me. "It's me, tell what is going on."

I had no idea how much had been bottled up over the past three months. I just started talking about how alone I felt. One day I had all my closest friends and lovers with me, and the next everyone had left. I told her everything. Beth was the one person who would never judge me. I told her about my deepest fears about possibly losing Tami. I told her that Mom had told me she had found someone: Simon.

I shared about having second lunch period, and missing all my friends. Beth quietly questioned me throughout dinner about the freshmen cheerleaders, Peggy, Tracy and even Pam. Someone had been keeping her in the loop.

Then she got to Nancy.

"I admit she is the one girl I feel a strong attraction to. I'm not sure if it is the challenge, or what. She is one of the few girls I have ever had to work, to get to go out with me. I think that is why I invited her to spend Christmas Break with me."

"How well do you know her?" Beth asked.

"I don't know her very well, really. I have only been with her a handful of days. I think what I like about her the most is she doesn't take any guff. She calls it like it is and you know where you stand. She is wicked smart. I also like that she is older. She just seems to know what she wants and is going for it. In a lot of ways, her being self-assured is a real turn on. There are no games with her. I take that back. She can be playful and give as well as take it, but it just seems more honest than the games high school girls play."

"Could it be she just has had more practice?" Beth asked.

I thought about it and nodded. I was hoping spending a couple of weeks with her would help me to get to know her better.

"So what do you want out of life?" Beth asked.

"I want to play football. I think I have a legitimate shot at making it. I want someone I can love. I would like to have a bunch of kids. Having Kyle around makes me realize I want to be a dad. I want to make a difference. I want to find something I'm passionate about."

"What do you want right now?"

"I want to have fun. I want to try new things. I want to live life without any regrets. I don't want to look back and say 'I wish I had done this or that.' I would rather say I wish I hadn't done it, because I would at least be able to say I had done it."

Beth got a faraway look in her eyes and grasped my hand across the table. Then she looked me hard in the eyes.

"I wish we were the same age. I would love to have you on campus with me and explore life with you. You make me realize what I'm missing. I'm spending all my time studying and not out doing things."

"Slow down, don't take away that studying is not worthwhile from what I told you," I warned her.

"You know what I mean, though. I know you spend a ton of time getting your grades and working out. Those are all things that will pay off for you in the long run. What I'm missing, is doing crazy stuff like you going to a girls' toy party."

"Personally, I think you should steer clear of things like that," I suggested.

She laughed at me. She knew me too well, and my almost phobia of sharing my girls with anyone else.

"I suppose you will suggest you come up to visit and help me with my needs."

I bit my lip and, feigning surprise, gave her my biggest smile.

"Now we're talking!"

"My friend, it warms my heart to see you smiling. You are invited anytime you can get up to Purdue. Suzanne told me how you destroyed the girls at Northwestern. I think you will find Purdue girls are pretty hot."

We fell into an easy conversation as we enjoyed our meal. When it came to dessert I tried campanian sfogliatelle. The waitress told me it was a street food sold on Italian street corners and the word sfogliatelle, means many layers. I loved the crunch with every bite into the crisp shell and sighed with happiness when I reached the soft, creamy ricotta cheese center. It was a winner. Beth wimped out and got the old standby, a cannoli with a pistachios filling.

She tried to make me trade once she tasted my dessert. I had to explain we were not dating. Somehow, she got more than half of mine, and most of hers. How do girls do that?

I promised Mom I would bring Beth over before I took her home. I saw the kitchen light on, so I brought her in. I was not expecting to see Beth's parents there. Greg smirked when I came in and Angie made moon eyes at me. I guess my declaration of love beat me home. Mom made a beeline for Beth and hugged her.

"You don't know how happy we all are, right now. It has been a dream of ours you would join the family," Mom gushed as she dreamed of our impending wedding.

I was silently swearing at me and my big mouth. I knew this was a total setup, because Dad's shoulders were shaking, and Mr. Anderson wouldn't meet my eyes. I decided to go for it.

"I'm happy you're all here. I want to share with you what a special person Beth is. I've known her all my life. She is the one person with whom I can be totally just be me, and never feel judged. She has that special quality of making me feel grounded and loved. It doesn't hurt she is hot, either," I said.

Beth was looking worried. She was a little gullible at times.

"Beth Anderson, I love you," I said taking both of her hands.

"I love you too," she told me.

I could see my mom start to wonder if we were really In Love. Angie was holding Greg tightly and I saw Mr. Anderson take Mrs. A's hand. I turned to all of them and smiled.

"Your daughter makes me very happy," I said to Beth's parents.

I got a serious look on my face.

"Mr. Anderson ... I have a very important question to ask you," I said.

I heard Angie and Beth both suck in their breath. Mom's mouth came open, and Mrs. A stiffened. Poor Mr. Anderson looked like he was facing a Mack truck! Dad was about to start laughing out loud. I had to look away from him, and turned to see Greg wink at me.

"What time is Thanksgiving dinner, tomorrow?" I asked.

There was dead silence, and then Beth whacked me on the back of my head.

"What? We have to know what time to get there," I complained.

I grabbed her hand, and led her to my apartment. Right now, that seemed safer than facing my mom, after I'd turned the tables on her.

I had to say, I'd missed my friend. We were both eager to get to my bedroom. We left clothes strewn throughout my apartment. Beth burst out laughing when she saw my thong. By the time we hit the bed we were both naked. I jumped on top of her and wiggled my hips until I was between her legs. I grabbed her wrists and put them above her head and looked her in the eyes.

"Let's make a baby tonight," I teased her.

"Come here, I need to whisper something to you," she purred.

The little minx bit my ear! I let go of her wrist, and she leaned over and grabbed a condom. I dutifully put it on.

"Why don't you play like I am Tami and you can be Simon and you give me a proper rogering," she said in a terrible British accent.

"You are sooo bad," I warned her.

"Hey, I just about had a heart attack when you acted like you were proposing. I get a little payback," she huffed.

"I'll roger you," I said as I eased into her.

"God I missed you," Beth moaned. "Do me, Simon!"

I flipped her over and smacked her butt. She squealed when I slammed home again. Game on!

Beth had obviously been without for a while. For the first time in a long time, a girl out-fucked me. I thought Harper was a challenge. Beth was horny and in a teasing mood. The combination was sexy and she had me going for most of the night. Somewhere around two in the morning she had me get out my new toy. She freaked out when she felt my living vibrator. When she finally let me take it off, I was done.

Thursday November 27

I woke up to Beth slowly getting me hard. I winced because my dick was sore. There was no way we were doing it again. I was wrong. Beth climbed on top of me, after she put a condom on, and rode herself to an orgasm. When she was done she rolled off of me.

She looked down and saw I hadn't cum yet.

"Do you want to go again?" she asked.

"No, I'm good."

She just cuddled up next to me and we both fell back to sleep. Finally, at almost eleven, Mom came up.

"Get up!" she barked. "You two get your butts out of bed."

We both moaned.

"You two are a bad influence. We had to listen to your brother all night long. So I have no sympathy if you didn't get any sleep. I said 'UP!'"

I rolled out of bed, and streaked into the bathroom. Beth joined me a few seconds later. We just giggled when we heard my mom mumbling something about worthless kids. I let Beth shower first while I shaved. When I came out I saw she had stolen my new TEAM sweatshirt and a pair of sweats.

I got dressed in sweats and sweat shirt also and we went down to face the music. We were having Thanksgiving this year. Uncle John and Bonnie had made it. I gave both of them a hug. Grandma Dawson and Grandma Felton had other plans. Beth's parents were there, as was Tami's mom.

Babies were crying. The next thing I knew, I had Mac in one arm and Kyle in the other. I handed Kyle to Beth and winked at her. She gave me a dirty look. Kyle wasn't sure who she was so he quieted down. Mac was being a little dickens, so I shocked her. I gave her a raspberry on her tummy. That seemed to work. We handed the babies to Uncle John and Bonnie.

"We just want to see what you two will look like in nine months," I teased.

"Well, if we are lucky you aren't so wrong," Bonnie announced.

"We are getting started on trying," Uncle John said with a grin I was afraid would split his face.

I bumped Beth's hip. She pinched my butt. I just gave her a knowing look. Dad went and got the good scotch, and the adult boys were sent to the living room.

Greg and I got some alone time to talk. He told me about school and his business. Both were going well. I told him about the sex toy party and orgy at the away game. He gave me a longing look.

"Do you miss it?" I asked.

"Miss what?"

"The girls."

"Sometimes. Then I look at Angie and Kyle and I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. It doesn't help when I see you having so much fun."

"I guess we are a lot alike then, because I see what you have with Angie, and wish I had that."

"I know what you mean," Greg said. "Can you keep a secret?"

I just nodded.

"Angie thinks she is pregnant again."

"That's such great news. When are you planning on telling everyone?" I asked.

"We thought we would announce it on our trip out west, over Christmas."

"I'm so happy for you," I said feeling a little jealous.

"There's more. We are working to adopt Mackenzie. Julie and her husband are going to divorce and neither wants to raise a baby, right now. The trip out west is supposed to ease us into it."

"I thought Julie was going."

"No, she is going home to tell her family. Mac and Kyle are thick as thieves. I'm a little worried what they will be like when they get older. I love Mac to death. She had our hearts as soon as we met her," Greg said, and then got serious. "I might need some help. We need to get a good family lawyer to help us with the adoption."

"Consider it done. If Tom can't help you, someone in his firm can. I'm sure he knows who the best is. I'll call Kendal and tell her to have him just send the bills to her."

I could tell this meant a lot to him by the way he hugged me. My brother was growing up. Kyle and Angie were good for him, and Little Mac was a special little girl. Soon they all would be joined by either a little brother or sister. My brother was living the life.

The ladies did an excellent job with dinner. I was stuffed and thinking about a nap, when Tami's mom cornered me. I could tell she wanted to talk, so I invited her up to my apartment. I put on some water so we could have some tea.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

I knew what she meant, but I wasn't ready to tell her yet. I also knew whatever I said would get back to Tami.

"Good, I'm a little anxious about the football game."

"You'll win," she told me.

She sounded so confident, that I gave her a look that made her laugh.

"Tami told me you would," she confessed.

I just shook my head. I figured I better get to the heart of the matter.

"How is she doing? Does she like her new school?"

"Yeah, she likes it a lot. They do things differently over there. Apparently not everyone gets to continue their education. They have different levels and you have to take tests to advance. She also got advanced to Year 12. Normally our sophomore year would be equivalent to Year 11 in secondary school. In the UK secondary school is Year 7 – 11. In the US it would be equivalent to grades 8 – 12. She says what she is doing is called College, which is for Years 12 – 13. She only has classes in the morning and then has her labs in the afternoons."

"Does she like her host family?"

"Very much, they seem like they have accepted her ... and her new boyfriend."

I suddenly wished I hadn't eaten so much. Mrs. Glade could tell I was feeling uncomfortable, but she pushed on.

"His name is Simon."

I wouldn't meet her eye. I suddenly felt sick. It was almost like déjà vu. It was on Thanksgiving, last year, when Tami had brought a boy home. I had lost it, then, too. I jumped up and just made it to the bathroom before I emptied my stomach.

I came back out, and made the tea, hoping it would settle my stomach.

"I'm sorry, David, but Tami asked me to talk to you about this. She tried to get your mom to tell you..."

I was suddenly mad.

"Why? Why does she always do this? She always has other people do her dirty work. This is one of the reasons we are not talking. I'm sad to see things haven't changed. I'm so glad to hear her life is great without me in it. Mine is shit without her. I don't know why I was holding out hope. It sounds like we really are done. Just tell her I'm happy for her, and doing fine. I don't want to dampen her joy," I said and grabbed my keys and a coat.

I got into my Jeep and left. I needed to be alone. I decided that driving in my mood was probably a bad idea, so I went to a movie, and I got lucky because the new Hunger Games movie was playing. It helped me get my mind off of Tami, and centered again.

When I came out I had just one message. It was from Tami. I deleted it without listening to it. I needed to focus on football, right now. I didn't need Tami distracting me with news of her new boyfriend.

When I got home, Greg had a big smile on his face. The Thanksgiving paper finally arrived. It was noted for two things. It had all the ads for Black Friday ... making it thicker than the normal Sunday paper ... and it also had the All-State football team in the sports section.

"Did I make it?" I asked.

"Yep, first team. Bill also was named first team. Wolf, Jim and Tim made honorable mention. Bill was named Player of the Year," Greg told me. "It says Bill cracked the top 50 in national recruits and according to Scouts he is at #38. You are rated in the sophomore class as the #2 quarterback and #9 overall."

My brother was not really into sports, but he was more excited than I was. I did want to know if anyone from our conference made the list. Greg gave me the article and I read through it. I saw the defensive ends from Mt. Carmel and Trinity Catholic made first team. A defensive back from Beverly made honorable mention. On offense the quarterback from Mt. Carmel was second team. Isaac Fellow, the quarterback from Washington, made honorable mention.

Mom came up to my room before bedtime. I could tell she was not going to be dissuaded from talking about Tami. I hoped she remembered the only thing we had fought about in the last three months was Tami.

"Tami said she left you a message to call her," Mom said.

"Mom, I don't need the distraction, right now. I have a big game to play on Saturday. I don't need Tami and her love life messing with my focus."

"Are you going to call her back?"

Sometimes I wonder if my mom even listens to me.

"I will call her back after we win State," I said, with more confidence than I felt right now.

"You really need to get over this jealousy act. It's getting old."

I raised my eyebrows. I think this was a direct quote from Tami.

"Tell Tami to kiss my..."

"DAVID!"

"If you all keep at me, I will never call her."

"Well it's not fair..."

"STOP!" I yelled. "I can't deal with this, right now! And you have to stop taking her side! You are my mother! If you continue this trend, it is going to hurt our relationship. We've talked about this before. I would think Tami's own actions should speak volumes about our future. Think about it. Who is going to be around next year, or the next twenty for that matter, and who won't be?"

I had never voiced that Tami and I might be done, before. It seemed to rock my mom's world view. I think she always assumed we would be together in the long run. She just nodded, kissed my cheek, and left. Talk about a terrible way to end the day!

Friday November 28

Coach Hope scheduled practice for the morning. We got to school and got dressed, and then we were sent out to a bus that took us to State's indoor facility. The day had heated up and the snow was melting. The weather for tomorrow was a different matter. A cold front would be coming through.

Coach wanted us to stretch and get the blood pumping. We did a few plays and I loosened up my arm. It was mostly about us getting used to artificial turf. The field we would be playing on tomorrow would not be grass.

I was surprised when a camera crew came in. ESPN-HS was going to make our game their high school game of the week. It was in the awkward time of the year for sports when college football was winding down and basketball was just getting started. They filmed me passing to different players. I sent Bill long and the ball must have traveled 50 yards in the air. Bill didn't break stride and trotted into the end zone.

They soon had enough B footage, and then wanted to do some interviews. I refused to do an interview unless they talked to all the other starters first. I was not naive enough to think they would use the film, but I wanted all my teammates to get the full experience. Wolf surprised them by telling them some funny stories. He was a natural. I was a little sad Tracy wasn't here. She would've loved this.

"We are talking to the current #9 overall recruit and the #2 quarterback in the sophomore class, David Dawson. David is also currently featured in Eve Holliday's music video Hometown Hero. If there ever was one, it would be David. He has taken his Lincoln High Team that has only three seniors and brought them to the State Championship Game.

"David, what would it mean to you personally to win the Championship Game?"

I hate these kinds of questions. They make it look like you are the only one doing anything.

"No one person can win a football game. Our team made a commitment to winning and we have been working hard to get to this point. When we win, it will justify all our effort, and the dedication the guys put into the season," I answered.

"Being the unquestioned star, it must be personally gratifying."

I almost laughed. Bill had been named Player of the Year.