Chapter 18: Back to School

Monday January 5

Having a puppy may not have been a great idea. I got up to go run and went down to the laundry room to let Duke out. He was happy to see me as he bounded out of the crate, and made enough of a racket to wake Mom and Dad. I was proud of him, as he had not peed in his crate. He saved it for as soon as he was free, and peed in front of the back door. He squatted to do something worse when I scooped him up and put him outside in the snow. Mom was not happy.

She made me come back in and clean up after my dog. I thought he was Kyle's dog. When I was done I went outside to run and Duke was nowhere to be found. How could a clumsy 12 week old puppy up and vanish in under three minutes? Fortunately, he wasn't very stealthy. I heard him yipping at something. He was behind the garage, where the garbage cans were kept. I heard a hiss, which sounded like a bobcat. I ran around the corner to witness Duke get popped in the nose by the biggest cat I think I had ever seen.

I expected to see my pup back off, but he was now determined to take the big kitty on. What followed was chaos. The cat decided this pup was not worth playing with, and tried to squeeze behind the trash cans. Duke literally seized the moment, and latched onto the cat's tail.

Ever have puppy teeth embedded in your hand? It's like having little needles dig into your flesh. Duke played tug-o'-war with the cat's tail, and got a reaction! There were soon garbage cans, full of trash, knocked over, as the cat pulled Duke in between the garage and the cans.

I think I finally understood the phrase catch a tiger by the tail. The cat had nowhere to go but over the garbage cans. He tried to leap to get away, but Duke had a death grip and was not letting go. He was shaking his head like a crazed windshield wiper.

Like the 'stupid boy' I was, I decided to help save the kitty. The cat latched onto my arm and began to climb its way out of its predicament. Of course my soon-to-be-dead to me puppy decided at that moment to let the cat go, so he could bark at it. This freed the rabid beast to climb up my arm and latch itself onto my head.

Holy crap!

This fucking cat would not let go! I felt it dig its claws into my bald head. I never realized having hair might be a form of protection. I finally ripped the Tasmanian Devil off of my head, and tried to keep it from reattaching itself to me, as it flailed in my hands. Then the bastard decided to take my thumb off. I was in the process of helping Duke end the cat's miserable life, when I heard a scream.

Apparently, Precious was the new neighbor's cat. Three blond kids who looked alike, and were about my age were watching me extract my thumb from Precious's jaws. I tossed the cat from hell to one of the guys. Duke thought this was loads of fun, because we were playing keep-away with his newest chew toy. I scooped him up, and he wiggled all over. This was the most fun he'd had had since he'd arrived here.

"Get him off! Get him off!" one of the brothers begged.

The girl had a huge smile on her face, as the two brothers got clawed to death by their family pet.

"Want me to go get my gun?" I reasonably offered.

The girl gave me a dirty look, but the brothers seemed to think it over before they finally subdued the cat. They left Duke and me to clean up his second mess of the day. He romped around in the snow while I picked up trash.

I walked into the kitchen as I bled all over myself and carried a victorious puppy. Mom took pity on me, and checked my wounds. The only bad one was my thumb. The beast had punched a hole in the web of skin between my thumb and hand. It stung pretty good when Mom doctored it up. Needless to say, I didn't get my run in.

I pulled up to school and saw the local TV station setting up. This seemed to draw a crowd of onlookers. I got out of my Jeep and grabbed my book bag. I recognized their entertainment reporter. Jessup had told me they would send out press releases over the weekend and I should expect something. I just didn't expect it first thing in the morning.

Peggy saw me and waved. I went over and I kissed her good morning.

"Are they here for you?" she asked.

"I think so. The director told me they were doing a press release over the weekend."

She checked out my bald head.

"Did you try to shave it yourself?"

"No, the new neighbors have this cat from hell. He scratched me this morning."

She ran her hand over my head and smiled. I just arched an eyebrow and I heard the reporter call my name. Peggy kissed my cheek and I went over to do the interview. It was your typical fluff piece, used as filler on the nightly news. When I was done I had a bad feeling this was just the beginning.

I walked Peggy to her locker. Our schedules were not in sync, so I wouldn't see her the rest of the day. She had somehow drawn the short straw and had second lunch. I would have to introduce her to the freshmen cheerleaders and Yuri.

"When are you done today?" she asked.

"I have sixty minutes of hell right after school, and then I plan on going to the dojo and working out with Cassidy. Why don't you come over for dinner?" I suggested.

"I'll ask mom if it's okay. If she says no, it'll be after dinner," she said.

I hurried off to my locker to dump my book bag and coat. I had math, first thing. The first day of the semester was always such a waste of time. All you did was get your books and a syllabus. I spaced out and didn't really pay attention during my morning classes.

I came out of my daydream, for lunch. I was happy to see my friends were all there. Cassidy had saved me a seat between Tracy and Pam. I saw the new couples were all there. Alan was with Stacy Clute, Wolf and April, Jim and Piper, and Jeff sat next to Cassidy.

Tracy reached under the table, and took my hand to hold. I glanced over and saw she had bags under her eyes. I just squeezed her hand, and let her hold it. Something was up, but I didn't think we needed to talk about it in front of everyone. I looked up, and Gina was looking for a place to eat lunch. I called her over to join us. She looked at Alan and he gave her a smile.

"So tell us about your vacation," Pam said.

"I went to Park City, Utah, to work for Range Sports. My family came with me, and we spent an extra week snowboarding. It was nice to have everyone in the family, together. Then I went to LA, and started working on my movie."

"I saw you went out with Bree," Piper jumped in.

"Who is Bree?" Alan asked.

Piper explained she was the star of the vampire show that all the girls liked. Alan had no idea who she was so I pulled out my iPad and showed him her picture from the Star Academy web site. The rest of lunch was spent talking about the movie.

After lunch was PE. I had signed up for ballroom dancing. I was surprised when most everyone from lunch was in the class. Tracy had come out of the locker room with Pam, and she walked up to me and grabbed my hand again. I'd given her a curious look and I saw her start to tear up. I led her over to the edge of the bleachers, so we could have some privacy.

"What's wrong, baby," I asked her.

She just put me into a bear hug and started to cry. I held her and felt her shaking. I had begun to get concerned when Pam came over. She looked as concerned as I felt.

"Take care of her. I'll call her mom," she told me.

Everyone was curious as to what had happened. The PE teacher let me take Tracy to her office so we could have some privacy.

"What's wrong?" I asked again once she had calmed down.

"I tried to hurt myself over Christmas."

"How come?" I asked.

"I don't know. I just felt it would be better if I did," she confessed. "I just need you to be my friend, right now. I don't know what I would do without you," she started and then began to cry again.

I guess I wasn't surprised when both Tom and Mary showed up. I was surprised when Dr. Hebert walked in. Mary and Dr. Hebert took Tracy and left. Tom sat down with me.

"David, I want to apologize. We didn't want to burden you with Tracy's problems while you were working," Tom started. "She had an incident at the start of Christmas break. She has been having some issues, and we thought she was ready to come to school. I guess she wasn't."

"She told me she tried to hurt herself."

He had a haunted look in his eyes. I could tell this had been weighing on him.

"Yes, she took sleeping pills," he said and then just kind of stared off into space.

"Are you okay?" I finally asked.

"No, not really. I need to ask you a favor. You seem to be one of the few people she really listens to. Can you try and be her friend?"

I liked Tracy, but I was worried I would get in over my head. It seemed her problems were getting worse and I didn't know if I wanted to get in any deeper with her. This was too much responsibility for someone who was supposed to be just her friend. Then I saw the look in Tom's eye. It looked like he was grasping for straws here. At that moment, I didn't know how to tell him no.

"Of course. Tracy and I will always be friends," I assured him.

"Thank you. Not many guys would put up with everything she has put you through. I know I haven't helped with that, either. Just, thank you," Tom said.

"Is this related to what happened to her?"

I was referring to what Bill Rogers had put her through. It caused to have to see a therapist since the fall of last year.

"Tracy has been depressed. We had hoped she was getting better. Her self-esteem was better, she was more engaged, and she was having more good days than bad," Tom said as he looked at the floor.

"So what happened? I never had a clue she was having problems this serious," I said concerned.

"None of us did. She hid it well. Dr. Hebert said she admitted to having insomnia and some other symptoms," Tom said without looking at me.

"Dr. Hebert said there is never usually a single reason someone might try and hurt themselves," Tom continued. "The hard part is we may never know what really happened. Part of the problem with depression is it also effects concentration; it makes it hard to learn. We got her grades and they have suffered. Who knows what the tipping point was, but she took the pills. She was lucky Mary went to check on her. She spent the majority of the holiday getting better. The last few days she seemed to start to come out of it.

"Dr. Hebert encouraged us to let her come back to school. She seemed eager to see you, and the doctor felt that being around her friends would be positive," Tom said and then seemed to gather himself. "I need to go check on her. I'll call you if we need you. I'll keep you in the loop."

I wondered if Tracy's mental illness would ever get any better. It scared me to think she might actually really hurt herself, or worse. I was a little pissed no one had told me, sooner. I would have come home to be with my friend if I had known how serious things were. Tom left me to my thoughts.

My last period was study hall. I grabbed Jeff and we went to my house so I could let Duke out. He did his thing, but didn't want to go back into his crate. I wasn't going to leave him loose. There was no telling what he would get into, so we grabbed his leash and a blanket for the back seat of the Jeep. I grabbed my baseball glove. Jeff and I could play some catch before it was time to work out.

We swung by Jeff's house so he could get his glove. We snuck Duke into the school, and changed to work out. He was being surprisingly good. He hated the leash, but was okay if I carried him. He would become a big dog, so I needed to stop hauling him around, before he figured this was how we did things. We went into the gym and I found Pam, Mona, Kim and Kelly sitting in the bleachers talking. They saw me with Duke, and they fell in love with him at first sight. I had an epiphany that Duke might be an even better chick magnet than Kyle. They volunteered to watch him.

Jeff and I were doing some long tosses to warm up, when Coach Hope came into the gym with my new neighbors.

"David, Jeff, come over here," he called us.

We jogged over and they all saw the puppy. Coach Hope looked at me.

"Whose dog is that?" he asked.

"He's mine," I said. "He's a service dog."

I thought I had pulled a fast one.

"Yeah, right," Coach Hope said and then turned to the new kids. "This is Britanie, Brock and Bryan Callahan. They just moved here from Sayreville, New Jersey. Brock and Bryan play football and baseball, and Brit plays basketball. This is David, one of our captains from last year's football team, and Jeff, one of our starters. Can you guys introduce them around and help them work out this afternoon?"

"Sure, Coach," Jeff said.

Coach Hope ignored Duke and went to his office.

"Are you twins?" Jeff asked the guys.

"Actually, triplets," Brock said.

"How is Precious doing?" I asked.

"I think she will survive," Brock said and then explained what I was talking about to Jeff. "She's Brit's cat. I was actually rooting for your dog to take her out."

"You just shut up, or I will drop her on you when you're sleeping tonight," she threatened.

Jeff wanted details, so the triplets filled him on the excitement this morning. People started to arrive for our workout. Jeff took the triplets around and introduced them to everyone. I caught up with everyone I hadn't seen yet today. Yuri told me he was still working on getting a girlfriend. Cassidy came in and put us to work doing our forms.

After she was done with the workout, the Callahan triplets looked like something Duke would drag into the house. I personally felt good. I could see I would soon be back into the routine of working out.

Jeff said he wanted to go with Cassidy and me to the dojo. When we arrived I went looking for Mr. Yamamura, the owner and main trainer. Jeff was put in charge of Duke. I think my dog liked having so many babysitters.

Mr. Yamamura insisted he supervise Cassidy as she trained me. It was his dojo and hence it was his rules.

Cassidy was teaching the basics of joint manipulation. She demonstrated what looked hard, but turned out to be really easy, in theory. All I needed to do was bend a joint into an unnatural position. She demonstrated and put me into an arm bar. She basically tossed me on the ground and once she was on top of me she slid to the side. She then grabbed my arm, as she placed pressure on my face with her foot. She made a believer out of me when she pulled back, and my elbow felt like it was going to pop.

Cassidy demonstrated how you could gain an advantage using the joints of the shoulder, elbow, hip and knee. Jeff flinched when he heard me squeal like a little girl. I offered to allow him a turn. He was such a pussy.

"A commonly overlooked technique is attacking the small joints," Mr. Yamamura told us. "You can easily neutralize an attacker by breaking his fingers. It can cause a lot of pain and will affect his chances and usually even his desire for attacking you."

Cassidy was all smiles. I started to shake my head.

"No you don't. I need my fingers," I told her.

It didn't stop Mr. Yamamura from demonstrating on me. I soon found out he could make me do about anything once he had my thumb. He let me practice on Cassidy. I tried to keep the smile off my face when I got a little payback.

At the break, I went to get a towel out of my bag. I had to pull my glove out and Mr. Yamamura saw it.

"You play baseball?" he asked me.

"Yes, sir. I play shortstop and I pitch," I said and then nodded at Jeff. "He plays right field for us."

"I used to coach pitching when I was younger. In Japan baseball is taken almost as seriously as martial arts. My brothers and I played in high school. Our team made it to the semi-finals of Kōshien," he shared.

"What is that?" Jeff asked.

"Twice a year there is a big baseball tournament, played nationwide. The finals are played in Hanshin Kōshien Stadium. I played pro ball for six years and then went into coaching after I retired. When I came to America, my brother bought a dojo, and I switched to martial arts. I love teaching. You Americans could learn a few things."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"In America you rely on power. You use big sweeping motions with your whole body, to whip the ball as hard as possible to the plate. Everyone seems to have the same pitching motion; as if you are trying to standardize or mimic a particular pitching form. In Japan, there is much more deception."

We went back to the mats to train. Mr. Yamamura seemed to understand what Cassidy was teaching me. He had a few pointers on how to do things with minimal effort. His approach was the same as Cassidy's, just smoother. She was all quickness and explosiveness. He was much smoother and more deceptive. With his approach, you suddenly realized you were in trouble and then it was too late. Of course, Cassidy liked it, and had to have a practice dummy. I was wondering what a boyfriend was for if not to take the punishment.

Peggy came over for dinner. I came home to find she and Dad were cooking. It brought a smile to my face as I remembered Greg and I had done the same thing with Dad. I let Duke go in the house so he could say hi to everyone. I went up to my apartment, took a shower, and came back to find dinner ready. Dad and Peggy had made blackened chicken breasts, baked sweet potatoes, and a big salad.

During dinner, I told Mom and Dad about Tracy and what Tom had told me. Mom told us she had sold a house today. Dad shared what was going on at work. One of his staff had driven a big salt truck across one of the fairways. The fear was he had possibly dropped salt on the grass. They placed stakes around it and were keeping an eye on things.

Peggy caught us up on her holiday. It sounded like her parents were doing better. She told me her parents had taken her to a New Year's Eve party and my buddy, Mitch, had been there. She said he had kissed her at the stroke of midnight. I saw Mom shoot me a look to see how I would take the news. When I thought about what I had been doing at midnight, Mitch's kiss didn't seem like a big deal. I decided I didn't need to share what Nancy and I had been up to.

I was actually happy I could hear she had kissed Mitch, and not completely freak out. I think part of it was I trusted Peggy. I knew she would tell me if I had anything to worry about.

After dinner I told Mom and Dad that Peggy and I were going up to my place to study. Mom made me take Duke and his crate to my apartment. We needed to get a bigger one for when he started to grow. Peggy put him on his leash and took him for a tour of the back yard while I moved all his stuff. Mom told me he would not wake her up in the morning.

I filled up his water bottle when Peggy had come up the steps carrying him. I had gotten him what looked like a big gerbil bottle. Sandy had told me they had them in the barn and the pups knew they could get a drink out of one. This saved putting down a bowl that he would just step in or tip over.

"He said he couldn't do the steps," she explained as she handed him to me.

He promptly licked me in the mouth. Peggy was grossed out even more than I was. She sent me to the bathroom, and told me to use mouth wash if I expected her to kiss me. My apartment was child proofed for Kyle and Mack. I put up the baby gate at the top of the stairs. I didn't need Duke falling down them. I put him down and went to brush my teeth. I came out and he had conned Peggy into letting him up on the couch so she could rub his ears.

"Don't be teaching him to get up there. You realize he is going to be a horse? You won't want him on your lap, once he grows," I warned her.

I picked him up and put him in his crate. He was tired and sacked out. Peggy thought we needed to sack out ourselves. I had missed her. I teased her that she was getting chubby because she hadn't been running since cross country was over. She told me to shut up, that there was just more of her to love.

Friday January 9

Duke and Precious had come to an uneasy truce. Precious only popped him when he got too rowdy, but she tolerated the pup. It seemed like Precious was waiting for him when I would let him out in the morning. I was worried the first few days, but they had started to learn each other's boundaries.

I had started to run with Duke. He was pretty good for around the block once at a slow warm-up pace. I would then open the back door, and let him terrorize my mom and dad. He had learned to go up the stairs and Dad said Mom would reach down and help him up on the bed. I could hardly wait 'til he could get up on their bed by himself.

I hadn't heard them complain, so we fell into a routine. Duke would get his morning loving while I ran. I would then take my shower and come down for breakfast. We had gotten Duke a crate for the laundry room. This way, who ever got home first could let him out. Mom was coming home a couple of times a day to help potty train him.

I would pick him up and take him to work out with me. Mom wanted him to eventually go with her to the hospital for her cancer patients. So I needed to get him socialized with groups of people. He had yet to meet someone he didn't like. I had plenty of volunteers to take care of him.

Tracy had finally come back to school. Between Pam and I, we kept an eye on her. I picked her up after Peggy in the morning. Pam took her home after school. I was surprised when Peggy invited her on our date. We weren't doing anything out of the ordinary, so I was okay with it. We were grabbing a bite to eat, and then we would go to a movie. I was just surprised Peggy would be so thoughtful. Tom told me it was important she remain engaged in social settings.

Tracy had at first refused, because she didn't want to be a third wheel. I finally convinced her by asking Yuri to be her date. I explained to Tracy that Yuri needed a practice date, before his first real date. I explained to Yuri that if he got out of line with Tracy I would end him. All-in-all I thought it would work out for everyone.

I picked up Peggy and Tracy first. Yuri's mom wanted to meet everyone. They lived in an apartment building, on the way to State. Yuri told me that his mom was a professor.

I knocked and I could hear Yuri yell, 'I got it!'

The door opened and I saw his mom come into the living room. She came right up to me and smiled.

"Ah, David, I'm Nadia. Yuri talks about you all the time," she said as Yuri blushed. "I hear you have arranged a practice date. May I ask how this is supposed to work?"

"First let me introduce the girl I had to bribe to go out with Yuri. This is Tracy," I said as Tracy did a little curtsy. "This is my date for the evening, Peggy."

She did the same thing which brought a smile to Nadia.

"So what do you have to do, to have Tracy take my son out?"

"That depends on him. The more inappropriately he behaves the more I have to give. So far it is only costing me dinner and a movie. I'm sure though by the end of the night I might have to buy her a car."

She gave Yuri a stern look. He gave her his little angel look, and had us all laughing. We all knew better. Well, I knew he would be on his best behavior. I told him what Greg had told me about this date how it could affect his reputation. If he treated Tracy right, she would let the girls' network know he could be a gentleman, and he would have future dates with, who knows?

Peggy and Tracy wanted to go to the Chinese place next to the park. I was excited to see they had sushi, now. Sushi was Japanese, but they invited a special chef in on the weekends to make it. I ordered a California Roll as an appetizer to introduce sushi to everyone. I figured it was a safe choice. When it came, I taught them how to prepare their wasabi and soy sauce. Peggy wasn't a fan, but Yuri and Tracy loved it. So for dinner I ordered a platter of different sushi for three. Peggy ordered a traditional meal.

Over dinner, we started to teach Yuri about dating.

"You need to learn how to compliment your date," Tracy told him.

"Like what?" Yuri asked.

"Peggy, compliment David," Tracy suggested.

"Seriously, you know how he gets," she complained.

"If he gets out of hand, we can always tell his mother."

I put up my hands in defeat. They all knew how my mom was. I wasn't willing to cross her without good cause.

"Good call," she said with a smirk. "Okay, let's see. When I'm around you, I always feel like your focus is only on me. You make me feel special, and at the same time, safe. You're my best friend, and closest confidant. When we are alone you take your time, and look out for my needs. I think you're a special guy."

"Good, now David it's your turn," Tracy instructed.

"You're hot!"

Yuri about fell out of his chair after he saw the looks both Tracy and Peggy gave me. I was sure my mom would be hear about this, but I figured it was worth it.

"He's right, you're both hot," Yuri agreed.

The girls gave up, and we just had fun the rest of dinner. Yuri surprised me in his taste for sushi. He liked the stronger, fishier tasting fish, like mackerel. Tracy liked the different rolls. One had cream cheese in it, which she really liked. I enjoyed the yellow fin tuna they had as a special. Yuri's eyes about popped out of his head when he saw how much the bill was. Filling up two teenage boys on sushi could be expensive. He was relieved when I told him he could get the movie, and I would pay for dinner.

I was proud of Yuri when he refused to see Selma, a picture about Martin Luther King's march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama, which led to the Voting Rights act of 1965. He explained if he was going to spend good money on a practice date he wanted to enjoy the movie. Yuri told us if it was a 'real' date, he would let the girl pick. I had a big smile on my face when we got to see Taken 3. For an old guy, Liam Neeson kicked ass.

Before the movie, both Tracy and Peggy held my hands. Yuri just shook his head at me.

"You know, if you had sprung for popcorn you might be getting some loving, too," I teased him.

"Don't bother. Your making me watch this action crap, ruined those ideas," Tracy complained.

I tickled her. Tracy jumped.

"Okay, okay, I really wanted to see this, too," she confessed.

"So, girls torture us with a chick flick for what reason?" Yuri asked.

"Don't knock it, it puts them in the mood," I suggested.

He thought about it for a moment and then looked at me and nodded like I had given him sage advice. The real reason guys agreed to go to a chick flick was because they were pussies. They didn't want to potentially upset their date, by being honest about what they wanted to see. I might go to a romantic comedy, but would refuse to go to something which compared itself to the Notebook. I didn't need a teary eyed girl on my hands.

Tami had tricked me into seeing it on DVD. I wasn't sure who the bigger girl was, after watching it. I still contend I have allergies and that was why my eyes watered. I wouldn't fall into that trap again.

After the movie, we took Yuri home. Tracy wanted to go to my place to see my new puppy. He wasn't much fun because it was past his bed time. I put him back into his crate and he seemed happy. Peggy and Tracy led me to the bedroom where we made out a little bit.

I woke up to hear my mom talking.

"I found them. They are asleep in David's bed. No, they are fully clothed. Okay, I'll make sure she is home first thing in the morning," Mom said. I heard her dial another number and a similar conversation took place.

We had forgotten to call the girls' parents, to let them know where they were. I was going to hear about it, tomorrow. When Mom left, I woke up the girls and told them what happened. I got undressed and they both joined me under the covers, and we went back to sleep.

Saturday January 10

I woke the girls, early. I planned to get donuts as a peace offering. I took a shower and then the girls each took a turn. I had to chuckle when I realized they both had clothes here. I wasn't laughing so much when Peggy showed Tracy where my good t-shirts were. Tracy picked out one that I really liked and they both were shocked when I made her put it back. I found one that I knew she would like. Alan had gotten it for me. It said 'Fuck You! You Fucking Fuck!' I wasn't brave enough to wear it. I could just hear Kendal complain if a picture of me in that t-shirt got out. Tracy thought it was funny as hell.

We went to the bakery and I let the girls pick out a half dozen donuts each. I knew if I sent a full dozen home, the moms would be all over me about getting them fat. Greg and Angie were coming over with Kyle and Mack, today, so I got two dozen for my house. I figured Angie and Greg would take a dozen home with them. I made sure there were plenty of chocolate donuts. When Angie was pregnant with Kyle, she craved chocolate.