Chapter 10: Alpha Male Unleashed

Saturday September 26

When I got up, Duke and I went to the kitchen and found Mom and Dad making breakfast. Things had seemed to settle down some in the past couple of weeks, and this weekend was planned so they could have some alone-time without me under their feet. I had no idea what that meant; and, to be honest, I didn’t want to know.

“I visited Tim in the hospital, yesterday. His surgery found more damage than they’d hoped. He won’t be able to play until next season,” Mom said.

I’d seen the hit, and it had looked bad to me at the time. When I got back, I would have to go visit him.

“How was he taking it?” I asked.

“He was on some good drugs, but it’ll set in soon. He told me to tell you that he expects to be back for next year.”

I kind of spaced out as I was worried about my friend. I watched my parents cook and it seemed like they were making a lot. I wondered if Greg and his family were coming over, then Alan came in the back door. He was followed by Ty, Jim, Wolf and Brandon. Alan made himself at home and got everyone a glass of orange juice or milk. Brandon opted for coffee. Mom told the guys about Tim.

Dad outdid himself. He made Greek omelets with Greek sausage, tomatoes and feta cheese. He got out the pancake griddle and fried Texas toast with butter to make it golden brown. I got out the homemade rhubarb and orange preserves to top the toast. Mom made home fries and there was a box of donuts. I was going to pass, but I found several Boston Creams with chocolate frosting, and I was soon off my diet as we all chowed down. That many high-school guys can eat a lot. We all cleaned up and then hit the road. Since there were six of us, we decided to take two cars. Brandon and I volunteered to drive. Alan and Ty rode with me.

“Have you really had anal sex?” Alan blurted out.

I should have made him ride with someone else. This could be a long road trip if he was full of questions.

“Why, are you thinking you might want to do it?” I asked.

“No, but I’d like to be ready if the need ever arises.”

“Since you’re my friend, I guess I could show you, but I don’t think you’d like it.”

I looked in the rear view mirror, and Ty had a big smile on his face.

“Why’s that?” Alan asked.

“Because I don’t think you could handle my massive dick,” I said.

Alan was not amused, but Ty and I were.

“I’m serious!” Alan pouted.

“Actually, I’d like to hear this, too,” Ty said.

“You’re an anal virgin, too?” I asked.

“Fuck you.”

“Yes, I’ve put my pee-pee into a tight little ass before, and, before you ask, I will not give out names.”

“Okay, wise one, enlighten us,” Alan said.

“First some health and safety tips. Always use a condom. You know what comes out of that hole, and there are more than a few bugs that would not be good for you. Never go from her butt to her vagina; and if you do, put on a new condom. It’s warm and moist and the perfect Petri dish to grow all kinds of funky stuff. She’ll be really pissed if she gets some kind of said funky stuff growing down there. It will also put her out of action, which means she’ll cut you off. Finally, no ATM,” I said.

“What is ATM?” Alan asked.

“Ass to Mouth,” Ty answered.

“Yuck!” Alan said.

“I don’t think I’d kiss her after that,” Ty said.

“What else?” Alan asked.

“I’m going to assume you’ve had sex, so you know the basic mechanics. The big difference is there’s no lubrication, so you need to use lube. I wouldn’t trust a lubricated condom to be enough. The other thing is the entrance is a tight little ring that’s elastic, but it takes time to adjust. I would suggest that you work to stretch it some by slowly adding fingers. This is a great way to lube her up. Once you’re ready, take it easy. This is not a case of you slamming home and fucking her hard. Wait until she can handle it,” I said.

“Is it really good?” Alan asked.

I smiled and wouldn’t answer him.

When we were about halfway to Ann Arbor, we had to pull over for a potty break. I saw Ty and Alan talking to Jim and Wolf and giggling like school girls. When they were done, and everyone back in the car, Alan had a request.

“We need to go to a drug store.”

I’d seen a Walgreens sign, so I pulled out of McDonald’s and pulled in. Everyone piled out of the cars and went in except Brandon.

“What are they up to?” he asked.

“They think they can talk some drunken college girl into having sex with them, and then get the girl to let them shove their dick up her ass.”

“Should we go supervise their purchases?” Brandon asked.

“No, but if you don’t have any condoms, you might want to get some.”

“So the plan is for a lot more fun than we’ve had so far.”

I just nodded. Brandon went in to make his purchase. I went in to make sure the guys didn’t bully Alan. Sure enough, I caught him right before he made to the checkout. He had a box of Magnum extra-large. I took him back and got him a better fit. He seemed a little ambitious when he bought a 24 pack, but a boy can dream, and I wasn’t about to tell him otherwise.

Today’s game between BYU and Michigan was a real test for both teams. Michigan had started the season with a road game at Utah and had lost 24 to 17. It was the first game for Coach Haber, who was supposed to be the savior for the once-storied program. I was amused at the text messages I got from the Ohio State contingent in their enjoyment of Michigan’s misfortune. Michigan had bounced back and beat both Oregon State and UNLV at home on consecutive weekends.

The big story was BYU. They had opened the season at Big Ten powerhouse Nebraska. BYU had lost their leader and starting quarterback to a season-ending injury. Their backup was a freshman, but not just any freshman: Tanner Mangum had thrown for nearly four thousand yards his senior year in high school. He was selected to the play in the Under Armour All-America Game where he was named a special recognition MVP. He had also been named Co-MVP at Elite 11 where he won the award with two other players. One was Jameis Winston, who was the first pick in the NFL draft this year. He was also rated the #3 pocket passer in his class when he graduated.

Tanner was Mormon, and instead of starting college he went to Chile on his mission. He had returned just a couple of months before the start of football and had enrolled into BYU as a 22-year-old freshman.

I’d caught the end of the Nebraska game and BYU was down 28 – 27. With barely any time on the clock he was able to drive BYU to the Nebraska 43 yard line. It was one of those perfect moments you dream about as a quarterback. It’s your first college game and you find yourself on the field. It is fourth down with only one second left in the game. Of course I usually wake up at that point, but Tanner lived his dream. He heaved a desperation pass toward the Nebraska end zone, and one of his receivers snatched the ball out of the air and got it across the goal line for a stunning victory.

BYU then played #20 Boise State and gave them a 35 – 24 beating. It was then off to play #10 UCLA where they played a great game but came up short, losing 23 – 24. Tanner had a shot to win the game but was intercepted.

Both teams were 2 – 1 and this would be a good test for both. BYU was still in position to make a run at the National Championship. If BYU could win this game they would have an impressive resume. They won at Nebraska, beat one of the best of the Group of Five teams in Boise State, and lost by one at UCLA. If they could beat Michigan on the road, who knew? The only game on their remaining schedule they had to worry about was at Missouri. I could see them at 11-1 and forcing the selection committee into a hard decision as to whether they deserved to be in the final four.

After a poor first game, Michigan had blown out Oregon State and UNLV. Their defense had only allowed 14 points in those two games. They only had three games left on their schedule to worry about: Northwestern, Michigan State, and Ohio State. I thought they would probably go 1 – 2 in those games and end up at 9 – 3 if they took care of business today. That was in no way assured, because BYU was ranked #22.

I was excited to see what would happen today. I also wanted to see the Michigan campus. This was one of a handful of schools that had a real tradition of winning. They had fallen on hard times recently, but I could see I would be a football god if I could help turn the program around. I thought they might now have the coach to do it.

Wolf was excited about Michigan because they were one of the few college programs that really knew how to use a tight end, his natural position. The only school that was better in that regard was Stanford, which just happened to be where Coach Haber had come from.

Michigan had a well laid-out plan for their athletic facilities. Everything was within walking distance in an area called the Stephen M. Ross Athletic Campus. For football they had an outdoor practice field and two indoor facilities. We were directed to meet at the Junge Family Champions Center, which was attached to the Crisler Center where Michigan played basketball. Across the parking lot was Michigan Stadium. The plan was for all the recruits and their families to meet up and then do a quick tour of the campus.

When we walked in I saw Wes Hunt. He was my Co-MVP at Elite 11 this summer. He was from Phoenix and had won the LA Regional to qualify. I smiled when I saw he had two of his teammates with him, and one was Dan Berger. Dan had helped me win the seven-on-seven tournament and pissed Wes off in the process. Dan was his go-to guy, and I think Wes had planned to use Dan as his secret weapon. That hadn’t worked out, because I drafted Dan out from under him.

Wes was busy flirting with a girl in a Michigan polo shirt who seemed to be there in some official capacity. As I walked up I saw why he was flirting. She was cute. I decided to give Wes a little competition. I winked at Dan when he saw me walk up, and I caught the girl’s eye. I gave her my million-dollar smile. I heard Jim mumble Here we go again. I could feel him roll his eyes at me.

“Wes, it’s so good to see you,” I said, and caught him off guard. “I see that nasty cold sore has healed up nicely.”

That got the girl to do a double take as I turned to her.

“I need you to come with me,” I told her, as I took her hand and led her over to my guys.

I turned and gave her a dirty look.

“Now that was rude. You didn’t introduce yourself,” I said to try and get her name.

Pretty girls are not used to a guy not falling all over themselves for them. That was why acting like a jerk would get their attention most times. Other times this strategy can go south on you in a hurry.

“Violet,” she said hesitantly.

“Guys, this is Violet. She’ll be taking care of us today,” I announced.

That was when Wes and his teammates showed up. Wes and Dan knew me and my sense of humor. Wes and I had competed against each other about everything for a full week this summer, so it wasn’t a stretch that we would compete over a girl. Wes had another teammate with them who looked like he either played offensive or defensive tackle. He looked pissed. I don’t think he approved of my poaching Wes’s conquest. Of course, seeing him give me a challenging look just made me smile.

“I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” I said, looking the tough guy in the eyes.

He gave me an evil smirk, and I could tell he was going to try and crush my offered hand. I sighed and grabbed his hand so I could control his thumb. When he tried to clamp down, I pushed my grip forward so I could bend his thumb back. I smirked when he jerked his hand out of mine. I looked at Wes and he knew what his teammate had done.

“Cut it out, Oliver. This is my good friend David Dawson,” Wes said, and then turned to me. “This is Oliver Williams. He protects my backside, so you play nice.”

We shook hands again without any ill intent. I then hugged both Wes and Dan to greet them. I introduced all three to all my teammates, Alan, and Brandon. I was happy to see Violet stayed at my side, and her eyes kept going back and forth between Wes and me. This could get interesting before the day was out. When Wes’s parents saw me they treated me like I was their long-lost son. I’d gotten to know them at Elite 11 and they were nice people.

Violet touched my arm and said she would be right back.

“Do you know her?” Dan asked.

“No. I just saw Wes flirting with her, so I knew she had to be cutest girl in the room,” I said.

“You are so bad! What happened to that girl you were with this summer?” Mrs. Hunt asked.

I cringed internally, but put the best spin on it I could.

“She goes to another high school, and we’re still friends.”

“You two made such a cute couple. I keep telling Wes he needs to find a nice girl and settle down. Maybe you two should go to college together and you could help him,” Mrs. Hunt said.

Wes went a little pale, but I let that one go. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one who had a mom who mortified her son.

Violet had been checking her list of recruits and it seemed we were all here. She was one of five tour guides. She mixed up our groups so that we got a chance to meet different people. I was happy to see that she put Wes and me together. We were joined by a mountain of a man from Detroit named Max Wilcox. Max played defensive tackle and was only a junior. The other player joining us was Jay Edwards, a junior linebacker from Dearborn, Michigan.

Michigan has a gorgeous campus. There are several buildings with old stone exteriors that look like castles. Their law school reminded me of an old European cathedral. The student union even had ivy growing on the exterior. Then they had more modern looking buildings that looked to be made of metal and glass. Even with the different periods, it all seemed to fit together. Violet told us they had 19 schools or colleges with 260 degree programs. There were over 43,000 students that attended on four campuses, which were the North, Central, Medical, and South campuses. While the Central and South campuses ran together, the North was on the other side of the Huron River.

Violet was a good tour guide and got into detail about the history and things to do. She looked at her watch and realized we were late getting back. We were supposed to be at the football stadium meeting with the coaches.

“Why don’t we run back?” I suggested.

The parents were not interested and Violet agreed to walk back with them. Wes bolted and took the lead. He laughed when he saw me use a bench to launch myself into the lead. I took the four of us on a parkour run and used different things in the quad to make it fun. We were all laughing and everyone tried to do what I did. We came to a chain link fence and I jumped on top of it and stood for a moment and then bounced down. Max was last and he jumped up, but his feet slid off and suddenly this 330-pound man-child dropped three feet, flat on his back.

I thought we’d killed him. I was afraid we would have to carry him back.

“Fuuudge,” Max moaned. “That’s gonna leave a mark.”

We toned it down after that and just jogged back to the football stadium. I didn’t want to have to explain how one of them got hurt goofing off with me.

One of the students associated with the football program was waiting on us. He hustled us in, and Wes and I were taken to meet Coach Hightower, who was in charge of the passing game, which included quarterbacks. As we came in we were introduced to all the coaches. I think they only had one guy under the age of fifty. We went to a conference room and he had us sit down.

“I think you know each other. What you’ll learn here at Michigan is that we are the home of champions. To get there we compete at the highest level and part of that competition is getting the absolute best players we can. Our philosophy is that success breeds success. That is why we wanted the two best quarterbacks in their respective classes to be here this weekend. We feel that if both of you came to the University of Michigan, you would both benefit from the experience and become better football players because of it.”

“Or one of us would win the starting job and the other would never get the opportunity that he deserved,” Wes said.

“Sometimes the cream does rise to the top, but I think with the two of you it would be hard to keep you both off the field.”

“So, are you saying that you wouldn’t pick one of us to start? We’d split playing time?” I asked.

“That sucks,” Wes said. “I’m by far a better pure quarterback than David is.”

He said what? The competitive monster raised its head at the challenge that had just been thrown down.

“Yes, you look pretty if everything’s perfect, but as soon as you have to make a quick decision you go to shit,” I said.

“You’re not good enough to carry my jockstrap.”

I knew that Wes was competitive, but it must have been eating at him that I was better. He surely knew they had favored the seniors at Elite 11. If it had been a fair competition, I was the one who had won the seven-on-seven tournament and had beaten the guys who were real competition. It was time to straighten him out.

“Is that right? I say we go right now and see who’s better. Winner gets first pick of college.”

By now we were standing and our noses were only inches apart. I’d added the first pick part because Wes wanted to go to Alabama. If we weren’t in the heat of the moment we would probably agree it was stupid for us both to go to the same school. Right now I wanted to be able to take his top choice away from him.

Coach Haber picked that moment to open the door. I guess he had gotten concerned when he heard the shouting.

“You’re on. They should have never let a junior into Elite 11. You hadn’t put the time in that the rest of us had. Then you go and play some lightweight and set the national passing record. How lame is that? As soon as you get to a real school you’ll be unmasked for the fraud that you are,” Wes said.

“You’re all talk. Let’s settle this. Are you sure you don’t have a hangnail that you can blame when you go down again?” I asked.

That was when he shoved me. I got a big smile on my face, because I’d gotten him to lose his cool. I was sent with Coach Haber, and Wes went with Coach Hightower.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had two recruits go at each other like that.”

“You never had the two best on a recruiting weekend either,” I said. “Let’s show him who the best is, so he can finally see that I’ve always been and always will be better than he is.”

“Can this wait until Sunday?” Coach Haber asked.

“I’ll end up kicking his ass before then. You’re better off letting us figure out who the top dog is now, or we’ll settle it on our own, and it won’t be pretty.”

The showdown occurred thirty minutes later. It was just Coach Hightower, two student managers and the two of us. He took us to the Al Glick Field House. They had a setup where there were targets you could throw at. I knew this favored Wes, because he was better at just standing and throwing, but I wasn’t backing down.

“First we’ll have you run the forty-yard dash. When you’re ready, line up together,” Coach Hightower said.

“Don’t you want us to run them separately?” Wes asked.

“No. This is a head-to-head competition.”

I smiled at Wes’s discomfort. At the start line Wes stood straight up. He obviously hadn’t worked with anyone on speed training. I dug my cleats in and started with my feet staggered and both hands on the starting line. On the start I exploded out low and dug to get my speed up as I slowly came up. Once I was running full out I remembered to relax and concentrate on picking my feet up and putting them down correctly. I began to laugh after I had finished and found Wes on the ground about five feet from the finish line.

“What happened to him?” I asked one of the student managers.

“He tried to dive to catch you. I wish that had happened tomorrow, when we’d’ve had the video equipment running.”

I noticed Wes had a good case of road rash. Artificial turf was not something you wanted to dive on. The next contest was throwing the ball at called-out targets. Like I predicted, Wes did well at this. He was ten-for-ten. When my turn came I sighed in relief when I matched him. Then we were tasked with hitting moving targets. This time I went first and I hit nine out of ten. I’d left the door open for Wes. On the last ball he got excited and overthrew the ball, which caused him to tie me. It all went back to my argument that he wasn’t good under pressure or in new situations.

“Looks like David has the edge. Let’s give you one more chance and see how you do on the deep ball,” Coach Hightower said. “Since you’re behind, Wes, you get to pick whether you go first and set the standard, or watch David.

“Okay, I want you to do a five-step drop, and then throw the ball as far as you can.”

We were lined up at the 50 yard line. I knew I could throw further than that. Wes dropped back and the ball sailed to the goal line. One of the student managers put a ball towel down where it landed.

“Beat that! That was fifty-seven yards in the air,” Wes boasted.

“I’ll stick it into the back left corner of the end zone,” I told Coach Hightower.

“Bullshit!” Wes called, which made me smile.

I dropped back, and the ball felt good as it came out of my hand. I started my touchdown dance before the ball was three-quarters of the way there. I didn’t have to look when I heard Wes.

“Fuck me!”

We both knew that Wes would never hold up his end of the bet. We also both knew that Wes still thought he was better than me.

When we got back, warm-ups were beginning. They allowed all the recruits on the sideline to see how they did things. Coach Hightower and Haber found us.

“So, who won?” Coach Haber asked in front of everyone.

“Dawson,” Coach Hightower announced, and handed Coach Haber a five-dollar bill.

“What did you win?” Alan asked.

“I’ll tell you later.”

It was one thing to show Wes who the top dog was. What I didn’t need to do was ridicule him in front of everyone. He and I were very much cut from the same cloth; we were both super-competitive. That being said, I liked Wes as a person. What had been said earlier was just two top dogs clashing to see who the dominant one was. Now that we knew it was me, I could be generous.

We had great seats for the game. We were about ten rows up, so we could see over the teams, and on the 30 yard line. While we got comfortable, four different reporters wanted an interview. They were from Scouts and Bleacher Report, two national recruiting web sites; and Maizenbrew.com, a Michigan-centric site. The last one was from the Detroit Free Press, who represented the print media.

Once the media was gone I wanted something to eat, so we all went to the concession stands. That was when Alan sprung.

“So, what happened with you and Wes? We could hear you yelling at each other, and then you left.”

I could see I wasn’t going to get any peace, or food, until I told him. Of course everyone else wanted to know also.

“Wes and I needed to settle who the best is. I honestly don’t think what we did settled it, but now we can move on and enjoy the weekend,” I said.

“What did you do, have some kind of throw down?” Ty asked.

“Kind of the quarterback version,” I said. “It was stupid.”

“He lost,” Jim said.

“Yep. I think he might have to go home with his tail between his legs and let his mommy comfort him,” Wolf teased.

I glared at them and tried to figure out what I wanted to eat.

“Just tell us already,” Alan nagged.

“I kicked his ass,” I said. “It’s a good thing his mommy’s here.”

You would think that as a reward for winning they would buy. Instead, I found a barbeque called Red Rock and we had pulled pork sandwiches. Alan was a big baby and made me buy everyone ice cream cones afterward. When we were done, we came back to our seats and saw the marching band doing their pregame show.

I have to hand it to Michigan. Their stadium is imposing. It holds 109,000 fans, and when they get excited it is almost as loud as our fans. Okay, that might be a bit of a stretch, but our fans rocked at the last game.

The game didn’t end up living up to the hype. Michigan crushed BYU by a score of 31 – 0. Tanner Mangum looked like a freshman. He ended up with a quarterback rating of 12.2 and passed for 55 yards, and the team rushed for a total of 50 yards. I didn’t even know it was possible to only gain 105 yards for a game.

When I got out of the game I had a message from Uncle John concerning the farm.

“How’s it going?” Uncle John asked.

“If I said it sucked balls would that give you an idea?”

“Regular balls, or huge bull balls?”

I laughed because our sense of humor was sometimes in the gutter.

“I need you to get me some information,” Uncle John said to get to the purpose of the call. “I want to change our line of credit amount with the bank and they need to see your latest financials.”

“Do you need me to just contribute more money?” I asked.

“No, but we may need to buy some equipment sooner than we thought. It would be better to leverage it instead of draining you of your cash reserve. God only knows if we’d ever need that. The farm can more than support what’s required,” he explained.

“Okay, I’ll talk to Kendal and get it arranged. Do you need it right away?”

“If you could, that would be best,” he said.

After I talked to my uncle some more about my troubles, he made some reference about it all being part of becoming a man. If this was what it was like to be an adult, I would gladly remain a kid for now.

I called Kendal and asked her if she had what I needed handy.

“I certainly wouldn’t carry your financial information around with me!” she said, laughing at me.

We agreed I could come to her office and pick it up tomorrow. She said she wouldn’t be around because she had to work with Sarah Spence and Mr. Hill; she had gotten Sarah some newspaper insert work. She told me to ask for Megan, and Megan would get me what I needed for the bank. I was impressed that someone would be there over the weekend.

We were introduced to our chaperone, Rick Thomas. I was glad to see he and Wolf hit it off, because Rick was a sophomore tight end. If Wolf ended up coming to Michigan, Rick would be a senior his freshman year. I could see Rick mentoring Wolf, and I thought it was smart of the coaching staff to put them together.

Rick took us on a tour of all the football facilities. We then went to the football dorm so we could see what the rooms looked like, and all the facilities. We ended up eating at the dorm cafeteria. The food was actually good. Rick introduced us to several of the other football players. Everyone was making plans to celebrate their victory today. I saw Wolf in a deep discussion with Rick.

“I’m not supposed to take you to a party like that,” Rick said to catch everyone’s attention.

Both Wolf and Rick became aware that we were all staring at them. Leave it to Alan to ask the question on everyone’s mind.

“Like what?”

“I told Wolf about a party I went to last weekend that was wild. The coaches told us to make sure you had fun, but not too much, if you catch my meaning. I need to return you free of hangovers and any other damage for breakfast tomorrow,” Rick said.

“When you say wild...” Alan prodded.

It was nice to not be the target of his interrogations for a change. Rick looked frustrated.

“Okay, but you can’t say anything to anyone; I have a girlfriend I’d like to keep. It’s sort of a swingers’ group. The thing is, you have to bring a girl with you to get in. There’s no way we’ll find seven girls who’ll be willing to have random sex at a party,” Rick said.

For some reason my guys all turned and looked at me and smiled. Oh, Hell No!

“Make that eleven,” Wes said as he and Dan, Oliver, and their chaperone joined us.

“No problem. The pied-piper of college girls can find eleven without a problem,” Jim said with a big grin.

I’d pulled off a similar stunt at Northwestern last year. Of course I was drunk at the time after doing beer bongs. I’d made a deal with the Northwestern football players that I would get women to come to their party if they would back off our dates. All I needed was a concentration of college girls with the right moral attitude. Surely it couldn’t be that hard.

“If I do this, I get first pick,” I told them.

They all agreed to my terms. The other chaperone was Derick Larson, a junior receiver. I quizzed both Derick and Rick to find out where we might meet single college girls. They both had heard that one of their teammates was having a bash, so we all decided to walk across campus and check it out. On the way I got Wes aside to make sure his guys had protection.