Chapter 12

Two weeks later, we were headed for lunch when I walked up to Christa and went to give her a kiss when she turned her head at the last moment causing me to kiss her ear. “Hey Christa, everything ok?” I asked. This usually meant that I did something wrong, but I had no clue what it could have been.

Without looking at me she said, “David, I think we need to talk.”

Oh shit. Every time I’ve heard those words it was something bad. “Ok Christa, what’s wrong?”

“Not now. Let’s talk after school. I’ve changed my schedule to have lunch second half, so I’ve got to get to study hall now. I’ll see you after school,” she said, before turning around and taking off down the hallway.

Glenn was waiting for me when I got to the lunch room. He took one look at my face and said, “Dude, you ok? You look like someone stole your puppy.”

“Not sure man. I think Christa’s pissed at me but I’m not sure why. Said we needed to talk after school.”

“Man, that sucks buddy. Want me to ask Valerie about it? I doubt she’ll tell me anything, but I’ll ask if you want.”

“No, that could just get you in hot water too. Guess I’ll find out what’s going on and deal with it. I still can’t think of anything I’ve done though.”

“Hey, we’re talking about women here. They don’t make any sense. Come on, let s grab some lunch. No sense worrying about it till you know more anyway.”

I was distracted all day and football practice wasn’t any better. As soon as we were done I hurried to change and met Christa at the gate to the field. We didn’t’ talk about much since Glenn was waiting with us, but when we got home Christa asked if I could walk her home instead of studying at our place. I told mom the plan and before I could leave the kitchen she said, “David, I can tell somethings bothering you kids but whatever happens, you keep your cool.”

With a sense of dread, I promised I would and we headed out the door.

We made it to the street before I looked at her and asked, “Christa, what’s going on? You’ve been quiet all day. And why did you change your lunch period? That was the only time during the day that we got to see each other.”

She wouldn’t look up as she said, “David, I think we should break up.”

“What? But why? What have I done that makes you want to break up with me?”

“It’s not you, or not just you. When we went down to Florida for gram’s funeral I was talking with my grandpa. He was telling me about how he and grandma were always so into each other’s lives. They seemed to agree on everything they felt was important, and practically spent every moment together before and after the war. It got me thinking. I know we’re young, but we don’t really agree on anything and we hardly spend any time together anymore.”

“Christa, do you remember when we first started dating? I told you then that I was super busy with training and would be even busier until after football. You knew that going in. Why now? This is the last week of football for the year. After this we could spend all afternoon together. I’m sure that your grandparents had their arguments and didn’t agree on everything, but I thought we agreed on everything too. This doesn’t make any sense. Come on Christa, what’s really going on?”

Yeah, I was a little upset. This really didn’t’ make sense as every reason she was giving was either being solved this week or could be solved by talking.

She stopped walking for a minute and seemed to be building her nerve up, then looked at me and said, “You’re right. I guess I’m just making excuses for the real reason. To be honest, I really don’t like you fighting. I’m scared about it. My heart tells me you’d never hurt me, but my head keeps saying ‘what if?’” She took a breath and continued, “I saw what you did to Rhone Morgan. David, you destroyed that boy! I couldn’t believe that the guy I cared for could do that to someone.”

“Christa, he had a knife! What did you want me to do, let him stab me with it? What if he’d come after you with it? I had to put him down. You know I tried to get him to leave me alone. Even the teachers tried. But because I’m the one who hurt him you’re afraid of me.”

“She began crying and yelled back, “What do you want me to say? I know you were only protecting yourself, but Jesus David, you could have killed him!”

“And he could have killed me. Christa, you know I love you, but I’m not going to apologize for defending myself against a knife wielding psycho. I shouldn’t have to.” I said adamantly. I truly didn’t know what to tell her. I didn’t want this to come between us but there didn’t’ seem to be a way around it. I took a deep breath and looked at her before saying, “So, you’re scared of me now. I can’t change who or what I am, Christa. It’s not in me to let someone hurt others if I can stop it, but you seem to want me to do just that.”

She hugged me tightly while crying and said, “I’m sorry, David. I can’t help being scared. It drives me crazy, though.”

I held her while she cried and kissed the top of her head making soothing sounds till she stopped. Holding her out at arm’s length I looked in her eyes and told her, “I get it, Christa. It sucks, but I get it. I won’t tell anyone why you broke up with me. If you want them to know it’s up to you, and if anyone gives you any trouble let me know. I’ll do my best to get them to leave you alone. Come on, I’ll walk you home.” And that was that. I left her at the mailbox and watched her go inside before turning around and heading home.

I guess that Christa’s mom called before I made it home because my mom was waiting in the living room for me. “David, are you ok?’ she asked softly.

“Not really Mom, but I will be. She was afraid of me, Mom. I don’t get it. I’ve never hurt her or raised my voice to her. I’ve never hurt someone else except in self-defense. Why would she be afraid of me?”

“Honey, women are terribly emotional creatures. We hardly ever make sense. I know you cared for her and I’m sure she knew that, too. But sometimes you can’t control how you feel.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true. I knew she had a problem with my martial arts, but I thought we’d moved past that. Guess I was wrong.”

“Well, you’re still young. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you, and I for one am immensely proud of the young man you’ve become. I’m sure if you ask your sisters they’ll tell you the same. I know Christina adores her big brother,” she said while giving me a one-armed hug. Well, go get cleaned up for supper. I think you should go to class, tonight. Mr. Levy will be expecting you and it won’t do to sit around the house and mope.”

She was right, even if I did want to stay home and sulk. Christa wasn’t going to change her mind and I wasn’t going to try and make her. That’s wasn’t in my nature, so I decided that all I could do was be true to myself. Hopefully, we could still be friends once everything cooled down.

This was the last football game of the season, and with everything that had gone on this week, I had a serious need to vent. I really felt bad for the Beavers. By the end of the game they had more injured players than they had on the field. I wasn’t going out to intentionally hurt them, but I made sure that when I hit someone, I stuck it hard. Play-wise it was my best game ever, but at the end of the night I was honestly ashamed. I took out two wide-receivers, the first-string quarterback and the running back before coach called me back in.

When I sat down, Coach Vickers came over and in a low voice said, “I’m not sure what went on out there, Smith, but I hope you got it out of your system.”

I looked up and asked, “Sir?”

“Don’t ‘Sir’ me, son. You lost it out there. I’ve seen it before in MARSOC. Something’s been eating at you all week! Whatever it was, you just gave it a bloody death. I’ll be honest with you, Smith. I’ve been there myself. It’s a path to a dark place. You’re too good a person to go there, so do me a favor. Go meditate. If you keep that kind of play up I don’t want you on my team. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sir. I get it. You’re right. As soon as I calmed down and thought about it, I was pretty pissed at myself. I know I didn’t break the rules, but I feel like I did. I’ll do better, I promise.”

He looked at me for a second and said,” I know you will son. I’ve always been proud of you and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. Just make sure you’re calm next time you get on the field.”

That was all that was ever said about the incident and I was happy to leave it there.

The next week we turned in our gear, and that was the end of football. We had some good times and some bad times, but I wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world. Jeremy was out of his cast, so the team was back to full strength. My grades were good, as always, and outside of not having a girlfriend I was happy with my life.

Since Thanksgiving was this week, we were getting out early. Most teachers were handing out homework or giving tests.

The one class that seemed both easy and hard was Stage. We were doing a stage play based on the script for “The Curious Savage.” Since the teacher had declared my acting skills non-existent I was assigned to props for most of the play, except for a small part where I didn’t have to speak but did have to have my shirt off, while acting like I was cutting wood. I still think the women just wanted my shirt off and damn the play! I had just taken my place for one of my scenes when a couple of kids started arguing about something. I stood there waiting for it to end when Corrine came up to me and put her arm around me. This wasn’t unusual since she was always one of those huggers. This time however she held on tight and looked me in the eyes and said, “David, would you do me a favor?”

Now, I know I’m a guy, and that makes me stupid by default, but no way was I gonna tell this stunning blonde ‘no.’ “Sure, Corrine, what’s up? Need me to play Tarzan to your Jane? I’d love to swing on a vine!”

She laughed at that and said, “While I’d love to see you in nothing but a loincloth, no. I’ve got a photo shoot this coming up during Christmas break, and I need a male model to pose with me.”

“Ok. I wish I could help, but I don’t know any models except for you, beautiful.”

She graced me with a smile for the compliment then said, “No, David. I was hoping I could talk you into posing with me.”

‘Really! This could be fun,’ I thought, so I said to her, “Well, I’ll have to ask my parents, but I guess I can if you want someone plain to pose with. When is it?”

“Well, we get out the Sixteenth of December. The shoot is scheduled for to start that Monday and could run till New Year’s eve.”

Wow, there goes my whole week, but I did say would help ... so, “Sure. Sounds doable. Say, this wouldn’t happen to pay anything, would it?”

“You mean you’d do it for free?” she asked me with a look of shock on her face.

“Sure. I said I’d help. You don’t charge friends when you’re helping them out.”

She got up on her toes and gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek and said, “Well, you’ll get paid for this. If the director likes you and you look as good on camera as I think you will, they’ll love you. They were paying the male model two-thousand dollars, but he flaked on them, giving some type of lame excuse so now they’re in a bind. I think we can get you twenty-five hundred for the shoot if you’ll do it.

TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS? Hell Yes, I’d do it!

“Well, I guess that will work. Is there any paperwork that needs to be filled out?” I asked.

“Yeah. If you want, I can bring it over tonight along with my manager. That way you and your parents can ask any questions you may have.”

“Well, I won’t be home till after seven, but sure. Come on over.”

“Ok, great!”, she said,” Thanks for doing this, David. You’re a sweetheart.”

By this time the teacher finally had the fight stopped and came back on stage to direct us. Once class was over, I could go home, since I didn’t’ have any other classes.

I walked in the door and found Mom in the living room talking with Mrs. Rodriguez. My stomach did a little flip. She turned towards me and said, “Oh, David! It’s good to see you. How are you, dear?”

“Hi, Mrs. Rodriguez. I’m doing ok, I guess. How’s Christa?”

“She’s doing better. She still won’t tell me why she broke up with you, but I can tell it’s eating at her something fierce,” she said inquisitively.

I knew she wanted me to tell her.

“Well, Ma’am, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for her to tell you. I promised I wouldn’t say anything. I’m sure she’ll tell you when she’s ready,” was all I’d say.

I headed up stairs to change clothes and get ready for dinner. When I came back down everyone was home.

So, while getting the table ready to eat I told mom,” Hey, Mom, Corrine from school asked me to model with her the first week of Christmas break. I said I’d do it, so she wants to come by tonight with her manager and have us fill out some papers and such. She said I’ll make anywhere from two to twenty-five hundred dollars and that it could take a day, or it could take the whole week.”

She looked at me with a slight grin and said, “You really should have asked us before you agreed David, but since we don’t have anything planned for that week I don’t see why you can’t do it. Did she say what kind of modeling it was?”

Damn, I didn’t think to ask that. “No ma’am, I forgot to ask as well. Guess I’ll find out tonight,” I said finishing up the table. After that it was a normal dinner then off to class. This would be the last class this week since Sensei was going to close the dojo until Monday. He did this every year. He said it was a way to make sure that we all spent time with our families.

When I got to the dojo, I discovered that Ansho Stevens was sick, so Sensei Nakamura asked me if I would lead the public class tonight. This was new to me, but I said I’d do it so instead of changing into my normal uniform I changed into my white one with my black belt. Tonight’s class was mainly children under ten, so we had a little fun and I let the kids spar a bit. I found that I really enjoyed teaching the kids and they listened to me better than most for some reason. As we were wrapping up Sensei came up to me and said, “David, that was an excellent class. You kept their attention as well as making sure they had fun. You did very well.”

“Thanks Sensei. I have to admit I had fun too. See you next week!”

And off I went back home.

I just made it back downstairs when Corrine and her manager knocked on the door. I let them in and Corrine gave me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, then said, “David, this is my manager Samantha Barnette. Samantha, this is the guy I was telling you about, David Smith.”

Still smiling from Corrine’s kiss, I shook Samantha’s hand and said, “Nice to meet you Ms. Barnette. Let me go get my folks. They’ll be right here. Please, have a seat. Would either of you like something to drink?”

With order in hand I went into the kitchen and let my parents know that Corrine was here while I got their drinks. Once we were all back in the living room, I introduced everyone and then pointedly looked at Corrine to take over.

After Corrine explained how I got involved she handed things off to Ms. Barnette. Ms. Barnette explained that we would be flying down to Florida and do a swimsuit shoot on the beach as well as on a boat. Shooting would start before sunrise and last until after sunset with various breaks for meals and rest spread throughout the day. Over the course of the week I would be posing with several different models, but Corrine would be the primary model for this shoot. Even though this was a normal clothed shoot I would still have to have a chaperone since I was under age, so the customer was willing to pay for someone to accompany me. For the week Corrine had gotten them to agree to twenty-five hundred dollars, with the stipulation that I met their needs so tonight Samantha would take a few pictures of me wearing a pair of swim trunks with Corrine posing beside me.