Chapter 54

When school was out, I caught up with Bonnie and Molly as they were headed out the door.

“Here’s the keys to Mom’s SUV if you want to take it and come back for us after practice,” I told her.

“I don’t have my license yet and besides, Marc is driving us, Brandy, Em and Tara home. We’ll be at our house so just stop by and get us when you and Ben leave practice.”

“I suppose Gage rides with Marc?”

“You guessed it. Have fun at practice and we’ll see you when you get home. Bye!” she yelled. She and Molly were already running toward the student parking.

We did have fun at practice. Coach Clark told us in the dressing room that there would be no more full contact practice sessions as long as we played like we did last week. He went on to tell us that we didn’t need to hurt each other, just save it for the Wildcats and the other three opponents on our schedule this year.

We did dress out in full pads though. The linemen were allowed to make contact coming off the ball, but were told to break it off as soon as contact was made.

This made for some fun plays for the receivers and those of us in the backfield.

During one of our water breaks, Ben pointed toward the coaches and told me, “Look who’s on the sidelines.”

I looked over to see Coach Dunavant, the high school track coach, talking to Coach Miller, Coach Clark and the two assistants. They were huddled together and making gestures with their hands as they talked.

They had our punter, our long snapper and our deep blockers with them as if they were going to practice punts

“Wonder what they’re so involved in?” I asked. I didn’t have to wait long to find out.

Coach Clark blew his whistle and yelled at me, “Dalton, get over here.”

The assistants were headed toward the field and I looked back to see them start our offense up again, just running plays. The defense came over to where we were.

“Dalton, stand over here with me and watch how the ball is snapped between the two deep blockers and how the punter receives it. Our two assistants and Coach Dunavant have been timing the punts during our games and even here in practice. With a long snap at approximately fifteen yards back from the line of scrimmage, it takes an average of 2.5 seconds from the time the ball is snapped for the punter to kick the ball.

“They have timed you coming off the line during the games and it takes you 2.1 seconds to cover that same distance. That brings me to this question, “Have you ever watched another player try to block a punt?”

“Yes, Sir. I saw it on a college game and a pro game too, but that was on TV.”

“Tell me what you saw.”

“The player lined up on the very outside of the line and ran toward the punter’s feet, not at him. He was trying to reach the ball just as it came off the punter’s foot.”

“Very observant.

“Now, line up right over here by this mark. This is the distance you would be away from the opponents long snapper if you were going to try and block a punt. Keep your eyes on the ball and as soon as the snapper pulls the ball back, you go like hell and see if you can block that punt. Do you think you can?”

“I’m pretty sure I can get there before he kicks it.”

“Just don’t hit the punter unless you make contact with the ball first.”

“Yes Sir.”

When we tried this the first three times, I was the only player lined up on my side of the ball. The first time, I ran by the opposing lineman and hit the ball just as the punter kicked it. I wasn’t sure I had done it right when I knocked his leg around with my shoulder pad and I was afraid I had messed up.

When I turned back to the coaches, they were laughing and even clapping their hands.

“Do that again,” Coach Clark told me.

We went through this two more times and each time I hit the ball and knocked it backwards on the field.

“That’s enough, get ‘em out there and line ‘em up,” Coach Miller yelled.

We had our first-string punt coverage team lined up against our first-string punt team.

“Play this one out for real, Men,” Coach Clark yelled.

Just before they set the ball, he yelled for Ben to line up on the outside next to me. We grinned at each other and got down in our three point stance. Ben was on the outside, I was to shoot the gap between the two outside linemen.

The ball was set, the whistle blew and the snap count started. When I saw the long snapper’s hand start back, I shot off the line before the linemen could react. I took four long steps and leaped high with my arms outstretched to knock the ball away from the punter’s foot. His foot hit my arm and both of us fell to the ground.

Our punter is a tall lanky boy, Jeff Biggers, and he jumped to his feet then grabbed me and helped me up. I thought he was mad but he was grinning, “Dalton, ain’t nobody supposed to be that fast!” he told me and slapped my back.

He doesn’t get to punt a lot during our games but he’s always out here practicing and he can kick it out of sight most days.

We tried it again and they told Jeff to try his best to get his punt off. I blocked it again, just barely getting a piece of it.

The next time we tried it, Ben was on one end of the line and I was on the opposite end. Ben got there a half-step after I did and the ball sailed back over Jeff’s head when I slapped at it.

“Okay, take a break and drink plenty of water.”

=========================================================

At the end of our practice we had forty five minutes to get home, take a shower and get to the gym. Ben went home with me to shower at my house. I gave him a pair of my shorts and a Dalton Gang T-shirt to wear.

When we ran downstairs, Brandy, Em and Tara were there with Bonnie and Molly. Tara was supposed to meet Shaun at the gym and they were going to sign up too.

When we arrived there were already a lot of vehicles out front and we hurried in to get everyone signed up. I saw Jeri and Rhonda in their white uniforms and hurried Brandy, Bonnie and Molly over to meet them.

Jeri told me there were only sixteen besides her and Rhonda taking the class so far.

“That will change very quickly,” I told her.

There were over thirty of our friends here and half of those were on the football team. By the time we had everyone signed up there was another twenty or so that had come in, ten of them our teammates.

They ushered us into the main studio and lined us up in rows, then told us to sit on the mat covered floor. Garrick introduced himself - his wife, Marilinn and Gage, and then began telling us about the uniforms. He had just started when Priscilla, Kalita, Toro and Ms. Kellisen walked in. They were told to be seated with us and they’d be signed up as soon as this introductory meeting was finished.

The belts and the uniform were required and Garrick told us that the uniforms could be purchased from them for thirty dollars or could be bought elsewhere for about the same price. The beginners white belt****sold for six dollars and as a student advanced, they would award the next belt or belts at no charge.

“White signifies a birth, the sprouting of a seed. A white belt student of Korean Taekwondo Martial Arts is a beginner searching for knowledge. The white belt is the beginning of life’s cycle and represents the seed as it lies beneath the snow in winter,” he went on to tell us.

The classes were scheduled to last an hour and a half, and by the time they had everyone signed up and everyone had their uniform on with their white sash tied properly, we had about forty five minutes left.

They broke us out into three groups and this time was spent on explaining the personal commitments each of us would need to make if we were serious about becoming advanced students of martial arts.

Before we left for the night, we were gathered again as one group, and Garrick spoke once more.

“A martial art can be defined as a system of physical and mental exercises, developed as an effective means for self-defense and****offense. Please be aware also, martial arts, taught as a means of self defense will require physical contact. We will try to keep contact to a lesser degree until our students become more advanced.

“You will be given the opportunity to choose your exercise partner, who will eventually become your sparring partner.

“If we feel you are not benefiting from training with your current partner, we will reserve the right to make changes. After all, you are here to learn a martial art. Though we will exercise, train and coach you into fitness, this is not a fitness class. This is a martial arts self defense class and those who advance will be graded and rewarded with a new belt that signifies your level of advancement.

“Though you are here to learn and we are here to teach, each of you will also become a teacher as well as a student. As you progress, it will be expected of you to help those who may not have totally grasped the routines or training exercises.

“At the beginning, we will concentrate on personal commitment, fitness and teachings of self defense in our classes. There may come a time as our students progress when we will train our more advanced members for competition with other martial arts groups.

“Are there any questions?”

“It seems we have covered all the primary requirements and objectives in our first meeting. I’m going to ask that the women go with Marilinn and the men stay with Gage and me. We will now explain the proper support and protective undergarments we require our students to wear in order to keep injuries at a minimum.

“After this portion of the first class, if there are no more questions, we will dismiss and you will be expected here on time****for the next class you’ve signed up for. We will not tolerate tardiness. It is your responsibility to adhere to the rules if you wish to become well trained and disciplined in the martial art of self defense.”

--

When we left, Shaun was taking Tara home and the six of us headed to The Corral for a late snack.

“I’m really excited about all of us taking the martial arts classes. Did you see all the pictures on the walls? There were some of Gage when he was just a small kid,” Brandy said after we had ordered.

“I’m excited about it too, Brandy. I think this will bring us even closer together as friends also,” Em agreed.

“I agree with you, Em, and I am really impressed with Garrick and Marilinn,” Bonnie added.

“We know who you’re impressed with,” Molly told her, getting a laugh from all of us.

“You’re someone to talk. I think you and I are both very lucky to have Rick for a brother. Otherwise, we may have never taken the time to meet Gage or Marc. I am****impressed with Gage. Very much so and I hope he and I can become best friends, maybe even best friends with benefits if he ever feels the same way,” Bonnie responded.

“You know I was only teasing. I’m more than impressed with Marc also. I am thrilled that Rick helped us meet someone as cute and intelligent as those two. I never knew brainy geeks with martial arts training could be so attractive,” Molly said and we had to laugh at her.

“I doubt they will be known as geeks after word gets out that two of the sexiest, most aloof girls in the tenth****grade are hot for them,” Ben said and Em gouged him with her elbow.

“We’re not aloof! Are we?” Bonnie asked and all of us nodded yes.

“Not after today though,” Brandy told her, “I saw some of the older boys and a few of the boys in your class looking at Gage and Marc a little differently after that session we had in the lunchroom and out under the tree,” Brandy told them.

“I agree, Brandy. I have never seen anything like it in our school. That was close to the attention Ben and Rick get after a win,” Em said and I agreed with her.

“Molly, did you get Mr. Harris to agree to let Gage and Marc give a presentation in assembly one morning?” I asked her just as our sandwiches and fries arrived.

“Would you believe he asked Marc a question about his own iPhone6 as soon as I introduced him? Marc reached for it before Mr. Harris knew what he was doing and started tapping the screen, flipping pages and entering numbers, then smiled as he handed it back to Mr. Harris — in a matter of seconds.

“Mr. Harris looked at Marc then me and smiled like I had never seen him smile before after he looked at his phone again.”

“And?”

“He handed Marc a calendar and told him to pick a date. Then he told him he had better pick two dates for each of them. He said there was no way either of them could talk about their specialties then answer all the questions in one thirty minute session.”

“You mean they’ll have a question and answer session?” I asked.

“That’s what he said. Can you believe that? They never allow questions!”

As soon as we arrived home, I headed for the shower. I could smell myself and we didn’t even get to work out at the martial art class tonight. Before I went to bed, I checked on Bonnie and Molly since she was staying over again tonight.

They had a lot to talk about, they told me.

I heard them on their phones, both of them were talking and laughing and I had to smile. I was proud of my two sisters.

I was about to turn my phone off and put it on charge when it buzzed. I opened it and saw I had a text. It was from Jeri and I smiled again when my cock jumped.

‘u gonna run n am’

‘yes’

‘can I’

‘yes’

‘time’

‘5:30 2 early’

‘no c u then bye’

That was a little earlier than I normally run but I wanted the extra time with her since she’d mentioned one of her fantasies involves running in the park. I went to sleep with an erection and woke up with a boner from hell.

I couldn’t even piss it off when I went to use the bathroom.

I was dressed and out the kitchen door by 5:10. I was eager to run with my fitness trainer and if I read her right, she was eager for more than a run. I took my time warming up and my legs felt good when I started out. The sun wasn’t up and the street lights were still on, but there was plenty of light as I ran to the corner and cut to the right.

Just as I entered the parking lot there was a little bird-shit yellow VW Beetle whip into the entrance and park in the far corner. As I looked that way, Jeri stepped out and waved before she ran to meet me.

“New ride?” I asked, not wanting to hurt her feelings about the funky color.

“No, it’s Rhonda’s. Hers was behind mine and I grabbed her keys. I didn’t want to be late.”

“I didn’t either, I woke up early and came on over after warming up.”

“I need to run around the parking lot and stretch too before we start. I have a long day today and I sure don’t need any leg cramps.”

“Come on. I’ll run slow with you around the path. There are plenty of lights and we can talk, jog and stop to stretch.”

“When we’re warmed up, will you run hard with me? I know you must really do a lot of sprints to have those leg muscles in the shape they’re in now.”

“I love running a few hard laps, then really kicking it for three or four before I leave. Let’s go.”

“After we run those laps and kick it for three laps, will we still have time?”

“If you’re sure.”

“You know I am. I virtually offered you some pussy last night when I sent that text.”

“I was thrilled too. I’ve been hard all night for you.”

“And I’m so ready for this workout, with you in charge this time.”

We started out at a good jog and made the full lap at the same pace. When we passed the entrance again, I picked it up and Jeri was right beside me. She runs easy and she’s easy for me to pace with her long strides.

“I want more, Rick.”

“Let’s go. If you get tired just let me know,” I told her and kicked it up to a hard run. She was right with me, stride for stride as we passed the entrance again.

“One more, then two more as hard as you can run. I need this. I love running with you. Not only do you push me, you make me feel good being here with you.”

“Kick it, Jeri. We’re still early and we have plenty time for a hot workout if you really want to work those leg muscles another way.”

“Kick it hard for me, Rick. Make me sweat then take me some place safe and fuck me while I lick the sweat off your body!”

I let it all out and left her like she had stopped to tie her shoes on the path. I glanced back as I passed the entrance and she was over two hundred feet behind me. I ran another half lap and slowed when I came to the small swinging bridge.

Jeri was laughing when she ran straight to me. I grabbed her and pulled her across the dim lit bridge, then led her down the bank at the other end until we were underneath the wooden bridge.

She was pulling at my shorts as I pulled my shirt over my head. With my shorts at my ankles, I pulled her shorts down. She was naked underneath them and I threw them up on the flat rock behind me.

I pulled her shirt and sports bra off at the same time, rolling them together as they came over her head. She was laughing and I picked her up as I leaned back and sat on the wide flat rock. I lifted her up to sit on top of me with her legs astride mine.