Chapter 74

The next morning after The Game, Ben ran from the house as soon as I pulled into their drive. He had his shoes and Maverick’s warmup pants on, he was carrying his T-shirt and warmup jacket.

Ben was talking even before he was in the seat, “What’s the big surprise, Dalton? I know if Charlie Stoner is involved, it has to be big!”

“You got that right! I found the receipt for it this morning – Bonnie’s and my joint bank account bought us a seventy-eight inch, curved screen, 3–D UHD TV!”

“WOW! Man, I know that has to be a whopper. We have a new sixty-two inch HD and it’s the largest I’ve ever seen!”

“Not only that, he gave me a copy of our game-film from last night’s game! I haven’t watched it, but he told me the Broadcast Journalism Class did an awesome job of filming the game, then an amazing job of editing it and putting it together!”

“Damn, Rick! I’m excited now. Is there any way we could skip running this morning and double up tomorrow morning? I know that once we start watching that game, we’ll never be able to stop until we’ve seen the whole thing ... at least twice!”

“I’ve thought of that too. I know the girls will agree, heck they were as excited as I was over the new TV last night. They even watched the sports shows with me until midnight. All the late night sports channels and some of the national news channels, were showing clips from our game. I mean, ESPN and every other sports channel. They were still running replays when we turned it off and went to sleep.”

“Here comes Em. Damn, we didn’t get to spend much time alone last night – it was so late when we left the school and we were riding with Mom and Dad. We may need to borrow your bed before we leave for Taekwondo class this morning.”

“You got it. Brandy helped me moved my clothes and other stuff downstairs into Mom’s old bedroom. Brandy, Aroya, Anitra and I sleep in that big bed now. You and Em can claim my old room – anytime you come over, day or night.”

“Damn! Don’t be be shocked if we come over a lot more, now that we’ll have a place of our own to bed down!”

Ben opened the front door and pulled Em inside to sit across his lap. They went at each other like two cats fucking on an electric fence with their tails tied together.

I scolded them playfully, “Hey! Wait until we get to the house at least!”

“Damn, Rick. I hardly got a chance to kiss him goodnight after the game,” she told me and laughed as she kissed his face again.

“Here, take this key, I keep this spare to the kitchen door in the console. I’ll get another one made this week, or at least, while we’re out for Christmas.”

“Rick Dalton, we owe you, Brother!” Ben told me, and Em leaned backwards to kiss my cheek, as she sat across his legs.

“No you don’t! My old room is never used anymore and you two are my bestest friends ever.”

“Yes we do owe you, Rick. You’re always doing things like this for Ben and me. One day, we’ll be able to repay you for all you’ve done for us, and you better not squawk one bit when we do!”

While Em helped Brandy, Anitra and Aroya cook breakfast, I called Toro.

“Hey, Toro. Did I wake you up?” I asked after his mom got him to the phone.

“No, I’ve been up for an hour, watching the clips of our game on ESPN.”

“Call Kalita and get her to come over here with you. Ben and Em are here and we have something really special to show you.”

“What have you got now, Outlaw?”

“We have a copy of our complete game-film from last night! Hurry over, we’re cooking breakfast, and later we’ll all go to Taekwondo together.”

“Oh Man, that’s great! I just got off the phone with her. I’ll call her back and maybe she’ll get her mom to bring us over.”

“Tell her to bring her Taekwondo gear and y’all come on. We’re still in our jammies and sweats over here.”

As soon as I got off the phone, I called Mom to tell her what Charlie and Lori had done. Bonnie answered the phone and I told her all about it. She and Gage were still in bed and I could hear Maelee laughing and telling her that she needed another ride on the Outlaw’s bucking horse.

“Bring your gear and y’all come on up. Ben and Em are here, and Toro and Kalita are headed this way. Our girls have breakfast started and we’ll be ready to eat by the time you get here.”

Bonnie, Gage and Maelee arrived within minutes of Toro and Kalita’s arrival.

Ben, Toro and I were piling our plates with pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon when they came in.

“Gage, get your plate and come to the den. We have the game-film from last night ready to play,” I told him.

The four of us guys sat on cushions in the floor around the long coffee table eating while the girls sat behind us on the sofas and chairs as we started the DVD.

“WOW! I see why Charlie was so hyped on this now. Would you look at the on-screen graphics and the color of this film?” Ben shouted when the DVD started playing.

The film started with the National Anthem playing. The cameras were panning each of us as we stood in a line with our hands over our hearts. Then, there was the varsity, standing with their hands over their hearts.

“Can you believe that? Look at how they’ve edited it, showing each team, back and forth, as the National Anthem plays!” Ben said as we ate and watched the coin toss and the start of the game.

“Where were the cameras? Look at how close-up all of you are. We can even see your eyes!” Em said.

Kalita answered, “They use six cameras, I saw them from the stands with my binoculars,”

“Get ready, here comes the kickoff!” Toro shouted.

Ben was waving his hands, trying to swallow, and pointing as he told us, “I love this. I was in a huddle with Coach Chad when they kicked off, and both of us jumped up in time to see Rick break out into the open and leave Jerry Cobb eating his dust!”

We were all cheering, just as if we were watching the game live. I was screaming and yelling too and it was me carrying the ball!

We not only watched the complete game-film, we watched it again, before we dressed in our martial arts uniforms and left for class. Gage made a copy of the DVD and took it with him so his dad and mom could watch it.

After we had worked out and run through our routines for two hours, we squared off and did our limited contact sparring for another hour. By that time, everyone here this morning knew about The Game DVD. Garrick asked me if it was alright to play the game-film on his DVD player with the projector screen he uses to teach classes. Of course, I agreed and the whole Taekwondo class, made up mostly of the team members and our girls, stayed to watch the film, us included.

After class, Priscilla, Karen Doll and Angie Jorgenson came over to where Ben, Toro, Gage and I stood.

“Guys, I want to bring Miss Doll and Miss Jorgenson over to give you some good news, which you football players may find interesting,” Priscilla told us, then she smiled and touched my hand behind my back while waving for Karen and Angie tom step closer.

Ben was as eager to hear the news as the rest of us, and told her, “Tell us the good news, Miss Pierson.”

“Well, it seems that there were two young football coaches here at Masonville, who just happened to be single and very eligible. So, with the help of Miss Necie Kellisen, and Mrs. Sam Rutherford, I was able to convince those two young Maverick coaches they needed to meet these two beautiful young women here, since the season is over and they had time... “ she said and pulled Angie and Karen close on either side of her.

“AND?” I said as we stood waiting for the news. Of course, by then, we knew what had happened. We just didn’t know which coach won which lottery until she told us.

“AND, it is official ... Coach Don Chadwick and Miss Karen Doll are what is known as a couple ... AND, Coach Jon Patterson and Miss Angie Jorgenson are officially a couple.”

We were thrilled by the news and congratulated the teachers. Personally, I was happy for them, yet I hated to give up my chances with either of them too. I was happy for our coaches also, those guys really have hit the lottery!

“Ms. Pierson, I’ll walk the three of you out to your vehicles,” I told her, taking her by her elbow and not looking back. I was telling her about our long term plans as we walked.

“Brandy and I have already made plans to graduate early our senior year. Ben, Em and others on our team are planning to start college early too. We’ll be starting the spring semester in Austin, three years from this January.”

She told me, “I’ll be living there by then and all of you can stay at my apartment.”

“I thought you were planning to purchase a home there.”

“I’ve already purchased an apartment complex there. I plan to rent apartments to any of your team members who may need them, just to help those out who will be on a tight budget.”

“I love you, Priscilla. I wish it was happening this winter, instead of three years from now.”

“I love you too, Rick. Brandy and I have already made plans for me to come over during the holidays. She told me that I’d love sleeping with your new roommates.”

“Damn! I can hardly wait. You better leave now or you’ll get that uniform pulled down right here on the parking lot.”

“One day, I think I’d like that too ... Don’t forget about me, Rick.”

“Never in a million years.”

Over the next two weeks, we crammed all we could into each day. Brandy spent the entire Christmas break with me, night and day. We did go spend time with her parents on Christmas Eve and again late on Christmas Day.

Though Brandy and I spent Christmas Eve and the first part of Christmas Day with Mom and Dusty, we went to Gage’s parents with he and Bonnie. They had a big surprise for their son. There was a new Toyota Tundra 4WD pickup parked in the drive.

“Looks like someone is here,” Gage said as we walked past the new truck.

I saw a big red ribbon fastened to the steering wheel and it still didn’t register. Bonnie was the first to see the license plate, GAGE.

We were as excited as he was and Gage was shocked as Garrick, Marilinn and Mr. O’Brian greeted him, and all of us. His grandfather dangled the keys to his new truck in front of him and I thought Gage would crush the man.

Priscilla and Ms. Kellisen were with us at Mom’s and Dusty’s for Christmas Dinner. Kalita was spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Toro and his parents. Billie Leigh and Heath were here though.

Except for those two days, we went to Taekwando and worked out for three hours each day. Bonnie, Gage and Maelee were with us the whole time and there was never a dull minute.

During our Christmas break, Brandy, Anitra, Aroya, Ben, Em, Maelee and I had worked with Gage, Garrick and Marilinn. Even when the others didn’t attend, we were there. There were ten of us, four men and six women. At first, we paired off, rotating the six women pairings – and the four men pairings, to train with each other. Then the week after Christmas, we trained in rotation, women and men together. This is where we really began to advance and I could tell the difference in myself and Brandy. Ben, Em and Maelee were really coming on too, but when Brandy and I trained, even with limited contact, I knew My Girl was determined to be one of the best. She is quick as a snake and she can counter punch as well as anyone in our small group of friends and family.

On Friday, January 2, 2014 Garrick called the five of us into his office. Marilinn was standing there with seven Yellow Belts. One for each of us. As Marilinn did the honors, tying our new belts around our waists, Garrick recited to us the meanings of the White and Yellow Belts...

“White signifies birth, with the beginning of a seed. A white belt student is a beginner searching for knowledge of life and the Art of Taekwondo. The white belt is the beginning of life’s cycle and represents the seed as it lies beneath the snow in the winter.

“Each of you have advanced beyond your White Belt, and now, we present you with your new belt ... Yellow signifies the first beams of sunlight which shines upon the seed giving it new strength, with the beginning of new life. A Yellow Belt student of Taekwondo, is given his first ray of knowledge. He experiences the opening of his mind as he begins to mature in body, spirit and Taekwondo – from the teachings of his instructors.

“From here, each of you will find that the advancement to fulfillment in Taekwondo ranks, will become easier as you train with an added eagerness to succeed.”

Maelee had made arrangements to meet her dad at Austin, with her two step-sisters, whom she’d never met. Brandy and I went with her, Gage and Bonnie to meet them and lend our support. Maelee had just about worked herself into a mental wreck by the time we arrived.

Her dad’s wife – the girls’ mom – didn’t travel with them. She had even changed their plans from spending a few days with Maelee in Masonville during Christmas break, to the Sunday meeting in Austin. She did give in and agree to let them come to Masonville during our spring break, beginning Friday March 20^th through Sunday March 29^th.

At first, the meeting of Maelee and her dad was sort of awkward. She had not seen him since she was very young, though they had kept in touch my mail, email and telephone over the years. The meeting of Maelee and her step-sisters was less stilted and in no time they were friends – then they were sisters. Brandy and Bonnie helped them along each time they seemed to let the conversation lapse.

We met them at the same mall we’d visited the night we met Maelee at the airport. Bonnie suggested to Maelee that they take her sisters down to get cokes. They were all for that. Their dad stayed with Gage and me, and we talked football, since he was a Longhorn and Cowboy fan. He told me that he was a fan of mine too and had kept up with our team through the sports pages and what few TV spots there had been.

Gage suggested that he come up one weekend next fall to watch the Mavericks play, and bring his daughters. He jumped at the invitation and I told him to let us know how many, and we’d have tickets for them and arrange for them to stay with us at our house.

We spent the whole day with them. Most of the time, Maelee, her sisters, with Bonnie and Brandy were together, away from us. When the time came for them to leave, and for us to head back, Maelee took center stage as she told her dad what she, Christy and Leigh had planned.

“Dad, the three of us are very disappointed that we weren’t allowed more time together for our first chance to meet. But we have decided that we’ll go along with the plans for this spring. Before school is out for the summer, we will ask for more time together. I will either come to Gonzales, or my sisters will come stay with me at Masonville. Please ... let us have our time together. My sisters love their mother very much, and the three of us love you – but we need our time together also. The three of us have decided this together, and though we’re not making any demands on you, we have already made plans to be together as much, and as often as we can.”