Chapter 10: Trust

I put Martina down. It was as if we are the only two in the room. Tears are rolling down our faces as we stare into each other’s soul.

“George, Martina’s mother has asked that you take care of her daughter and show her around,” the Vice Principal informs me. Martina hands me her schedule as I grab her hand and pull her out of the door. We walk down the hallway. I pick her up and twirl her around as she giggles.

“What the hell,” I ask Martina as I set her down. I’m excited that she is here, but curious and wondering if this is what her father was talking about.

“I missed you too,” she giggles as she hip checks me.

She explains how she went back to school and I wasn’t there. “After Gloria started threatening me to tell her where you were, I decided to call my dad to send me back home,” she explains.

I tell her that my grandmother died and I had to move back to my mother’s house. We tell each other that we will talk later as we get to her first period class, which is the same as mine.

We walk in and I hand my hall pass to Coach Evans. I take a seat as Martina hands Coach Evans a slip of paper.

“Class we have a new student, Martina,” Coach Evans introduces. “She is from New York. Martina, would you like to tell everyone about yourself?”

I chuckle as she stares at the floor. My Martina hasn’t changed a bit. Still shy and she is as beautiful as ever.

It’s lunchtime as I head out to find Martina so that I can introduce her to the geek squad. I’m walking down the hall and see Jenny, Tracey, and Deana walking towards me. I see Martina walking behind them. I cringe, knowing that this is not going to be good.

“George,” Deana says smiling. “Would you like to...” She is cut off as Martina runs around her and launches herself into my arms. “Who is that?” Deana shouts pointing at Martina.

I don’t answer as Martina releases the hug. By this time, Jenny, Pam, Tracey and some other students in the hallway are looking at us.

“Oops,” Martina says looking at Deana. Martina looks at me. “Girlfriend?” I shake my head no. “Why not she is beautiful.”

Now I’m wondering what to do about this awkward situation.

“Um ... Deana,” I hesitate. “This is Martina ... Martina, this Deana.” Tears start running out of Deana’s eyes as she turns and runs down the hallway and out the nearest door. Martina gives me a sad look and then chases after her.

I see Jenny mouth the words, “THE Martina.” I nod as she grins and shakes her head. This is NOT going to be a good day.

I get to the geek table with my sack lunch and see everyone at the table.

“Do you know the new girl,” Ericka asks putting me on the spot. “Who is she?”

“My best friend,” I answer getting weird looks from everyone as Imelda grabs my thigh and I jump. Imelda has been showing a scary interest in me, almost like Gloria’s possessiveness with me. I cringe as I remember how Gloria used to stalk me at Willow Academy.

“Well, it looks like she is going to be part of the jock and cheer squad group,” Ericka says pointing to the jock table.

I look at the jock table and see Martina and Deana sit down and start to eat. Both of them look like they have been crying as they see me staring at them. Both Martina and Deana wink at me, which I know can’t be good. Now I wonder about how much information was exchanged about me. It couldn’t have been much since they weren’t gone long, however I worry about the cheerleaders. I trust Martina not to give information to others that I don’t want others to know, but the cheerleaders can be very persistent.

I’m sitting in my room after dinner trying to study. It’s weird that I can’t study when I’m worried about Deana and Martina, but I can put everything out of my mind while playing football. Football practice was awesome. Our next game is a home game and the coaches say that we have a good chance of making the playoffs this year.

I didn’t get to talk to Martina today, but I plan to hopefully spend time with her this weekend. Hopefully I can talk to her tomorrow for a bit before school starts. I am shaken from my thoughts when the door slams open and I cringe. Jenny walks in my room, closes the door, and lays on my bed making herself at home.

“So, Martina on the heart you have, is ‘The Martina’,” Jenny asks as I sigh getting ready for her interrogation. “Her mother owns the new Italian restaurant that we went to Saturday.” Now it’s coming together in my mind. Martina’s father told me in that restaurant that he was fixing everything and that a plan was in place. “She said that you guys are best friends and met at a private school you were at in California.” I give her a stern look as she sighs. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to ask why mom sent you away. But, I do want to know what you are going to do about Deana.” Why did I know that this topic was going to come up?

“What about Deana,” I ask with a little anger in my voice. Before she can answer, I continue. “I told you AND Deana that I’m not ready for a relationship. Martina and I are friends with a very special bond. Deana and I went on one date, and that was a trap. If she thinks she and I are going together then she can just forget it,” I say finishing my rant.

“Fine,” Jenny says in a huff. “That’s still not going to stop Deana or anyone else from coming after you. It’s not only the cheerleaders that want to ride you. You are actually the number one pick for most of the high school girls, whether you like it or not.” She gets up, kisses my cheek and leaves

I get to school a little early hoping to talk to Martina, when I see her out front waiting for me. She runs to me as we hug and I lead us to a bench behind the school. She grabs my notebook and writes her address and phone number as I do the same. We hold each other in silence, enjoying each other’s company.

“Will you spend the night at my house Friday so we can catch up and you can help me unpack,” Martina asks breaking the silence.

“Sure,” I say as she smiles. We stand up and start heading to sophomore hall as I warn her about the cheerleaders. “No one knows of my inheritance or why I was sent away,” I say as she nods. “And they will try to get it from you. Especially my stepsister, Jenny,” I finish.

“I’m actually starting to trust a few people now,” I tell Dr. Jackson as she nods. It is my Thursday counseling session and I told her about Martina going to my school now. She knows all about Martina since our separation has been a major cause of me being depressed.

“Give me some names of people you trust now and what level, except Martina,” Dr. Jackson smiles knowingly.

“I trust my stepsister Jenny,” I start. “Although not fully, because she likes to trick me into doing things for her benefit.” I sigh and continue. “But our relationship is getting better and we are a lot closer now.” I left out the part of HOW CLOSE we are. “And then I trust Josh, however I’m still trying to feel him out.”

“What about your mother and stepfather,” Dr, Jackson asks as I shake my head. She sighs ending our counseling session for the week.

Everyone at the dinner table is quiet as we eat.

“I’m spending the night at a friend’s house tomorrow night after the game,” I say to no one in particular.

“What’s his name,” my stepfather asks. That caught me off guard, because usually no one cares what I do.

“Martin,” I lie not wanting to let them know that ‘he’ is actually a ‘she’. Jenny snickers as I give her the glare of death.

“Can you be back by 9am on Saturday,” my stepdad asks as I look at him. “There is a Father-Son golf tournament tomorrow and I would like to take you.” Now I’m in shock. He promised last year that he would spend time with me before I was sent away, however he has made no attempt until now. He sees the concerned look in my face as he continues. “Not a lot of sons that will be there can play golf either and I can teach you. The tournament is actually for charity.”

“Sure,” I answer surprised as mom gives me a light smile.

After dinner, I’m in my room studying and thinking. The week went by smooth except for the occasional glare from Deana. I’m assuming that Jenny told her about me not wanting to be in a relationship. I am still getting glares from Marty’s gang, to include Kevin, who is still pissed about not getting any playing time.

The door slams open as the snoop comes into my room and lies on my bed.

“Martin?” Jenny giggles.

“Yes, and thanks for almost giving me away,” I chastise shaking my head.

She turns on her side and stares at me. “Do you love her?” I look at Jenny staring into her eyes.

“I love her very much. Like a best friend, a sister, and someone I can trust with my heart,” I answer as she sits up against the headboard of my bed and stares into space. I realize what I said when Jenny’s eyes start tearing up.

“Do you love and trust me like a sister,” she asks as she pulls her knees to her chest. I can tell what I said hurt her. Tears are running down her cheeks as I sit beside her on the bed and pull her into a hug. She lays her head on my chest. “I know I haven’t been a good sister,” she cries. I hold her tight as she continues. “I watched you get beat up. I didn’t tell anyone you were my brother. I used you to get cheerleader points. I spread rumors about you. I’m sorry George. I really want to be your sister and I’m trying.” I can feel her tears run down my neck. She is trying and I love her for it even after all of the pain. I love her.

“I do love you Jenny,” I say as she looks up at me confused. “Yes, you’re a pain the ass, and you try to get me to do stupid shit, like date Sophia and Deana. But...” I pause as I stare into her eyes. “I trust you and I hope you trust me. I will never let anything bad happen to you and I will take care of you, because you are my sister ... And I love you,” I finish as she hugs me tight still crying.

Friday, we head out to warm up before the game. Coach Evans tells us that we have a good chance of making the playoffs if we stay focused. I look in the stands and see my mom and stepdad. My heart stops when I see Martina. She is sitting with the geek squad. She is making friends and seems happy to be in this school. After we warm up, we head back to the locker room.

“Alright ladies,” Coach Evans starts. “We have some college recruiters out there.” He points to Walter. “And they are looking at you.” Then he points to Trevor and me. “And you. Let’s show them that our school has the best football players in the state,” he finishes as we scream our school name.

We head out to a screaming crowd. It seems like our audience is getting bigger since we are winning games this year. Our school has never won a state championship and hasn’t been in the playoffs in ten years.

Walter and Trevor head out for the coin toss, when I get a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck George. I love you.” Jenny says smiling as I smile back.

We lose the coin toss and our special teams get the ball to our twenty-five. I’m playing tight-end and I’m feeling great. My Martina is back, my stepdad is taking me golfing tomorrow and my stepsister and I have a brother and sister relationship.

Trevor calls a passing play and we line up. The team we are playing were in the championship game last year, but lost and they are trying t get it back. We line up as I look at the lineman in front of me as he growls and I chuckle making him mad.

“Set. Hut!”

I run full speed ahead as our pads make a loud CLACK and the lineman is on his ass. I scan the field to see the middle linebacker breaking through our line and heading straight for Trevor as he fires the ball to me, hitting me in my gut. I turn to run and see a player dive for my feet as I jump, only to see another player in front of me as I duck and swing left losing him. I see the Safety run towards me as I sprint towards the goal line. I hear cheers as I cross the end-zone for a sixty yard touchdown.

I walk towards the cheerleaders as they are jumping up and down. I walk to Jenny and give her the ball. She jumps in my arms and we hug. “I love you sis,” I say putting her down and walk back to my team. Jenny and I have come a long way, and she is my sister and I love her.

We head to the locker room at halftime 35-3. I was on fire with Trevor hitting me ever time. No one on the team could stop me. Walter had the record sacks in the first half. Coach Evans had to put the JV team in the game, because of the score. JV finished the game 35-24.

I am walking Martina to her house hand in hand. We are not talking, but enjoying each other’s company. We walk into a new housing area with new houses. It’s not far from school. But it is on the other side of school away from where I live.

We get to the house, which is a split-level style home with a partial un-finished basement. The yard is unfinished since it’s a new home. We get inside and I see boxes scattered around the house. I follow Martina up the stairs and down the hallway to her room. Again there are boxes scattered around with a queen sized bed, dresser and desk. I drop my gym bag beside her desk and stare at her.

“We haven’t had a chance to unpack,” Martina says as I walk back down the hallway, down the stairs and into the living room. I look into the kitchen and see more boxes.

“We should start with the kitchen,” I say as Martina smiles. Martina starts opening boxes as I start putting things where I think they should go. Martina talks as we unpack.

“As soon as my father found out that you weren’t at the school anymore he was pissed,” Martina starts to explain. “And when the school wouldn’t give him any information on you, he decided to find you on his own.” I look at her with a raised eyebrow. A mob boss doing something on his own? Martina knew what I was thinking. “Well you know what I mean,” she smirks.

“Anyway,” Martina continues as I listen intently. “He found you and I was excited. I asked for your phone number and address so that I could call you. But my father decided to use that to his advantage since my mother was getting greedy and wanting to run his restaurant. She was threatening my father to tell his wife about them. So he bought a restaurant here for her to manage and to keep her at a distance,” Martina grins.

Now it all makes since. Martina’s father told me that he fixed the problem. I remember him saying that it benefits Martina and him. I start to say something when I hear the front door open. Martina’s mother walks into the kitchen with a large pizza box.

“Oh, thank you George for helping us unpack,” she says putting the pizza box on the counter. She looks to be in her early thirties, the same age as my mother. She has a heavy New York accent. She is an older version of Martina with a lot of makeup and wearing revealing clothes. She stares at me and smiles. “Wow, now I know why my Martina was so depressed,” She continues patting me on the chest. “I hope Martina doesn’t mind sharing. Well, there’s dinner,” she says pointing at the pizza. “Martina, I have to go back to the restaurant. Don’t forget, you’re working the hostess desk tomorrow.”

After she leaves, I’m standing there in shock looking at Martina, who has a grimace on her face. “And the doctors wonder why I tried to kill myself,” Martina says shaking her head. “A gold digger for a mother and a mob boss for a father.” I pull her into a hug as she sighs. “Thank god, I’m home again,” she says giving me a kiss that curls my toes. “Let’s eat.”

It’s mid-night and we have everything unpacked. I moved all of the empty boxes into the basement. Now the house looks like a house and not a warehouse. We even hung the curtains. I get into Martina’s room and we undress to our underwear and crawl into bed.

“Thank you,” Martina says lying on my chest. “I feel safe now that I’m here with you. I wish we could run away together than be split apart again. I’m sorry to hear about your grandmother. I’m going to miss her too.”

“Someday we will run away together,” I say as we drift off to sleep after a long day.

I wake up at 6am. Neither Martina nor myself have moved at all. I feel refreshed as I look and see Martina with her head still on my chest and her leg draped over my body. It is good to have her back as I wrap my arms around her. I look forward to spending time with her. My life is good now that Martina is back in it.

I suddenly remember that I need to meet my stepdad at 9am to go golfing. I try to slide out from under Martina as I hear her Groan.

“Don’t go,” she begs as she squeezes me tight.

“I have to meet my stepdad at 9am,” I plead as she shakes her head no. I hear some rustling from under the blanket and see Martina pull a bra out and tosses it on the floor. Some more rustling under the blanket and she tosses her panties on the floor. Then I feel a warm hand reach under my boxers and grab my morning wood. “My stepdad can wait,” I say as Martina giggles and I pull off my boxers.

We embrace in a long passionate kiss. It’s been a long time and we are finally together again. She rolls me on top of her and guides me into her. She is wet as I slide into her. We stare into each other’s soul as she wraps here legs around mine. We take our time feeling our bodies tied together as one. Our hearts beating together in unison. Our eyes are still staring into each other’s soul as we climax together.

“I will never leave you again,” I say as she smiles.

“You never left me,” Martina replies. “We are always together. We are soul mates.”

I get home shower, dress and meet my stepdad out front. While we drive to the golf course, he explains the game of golf. I know nothing about golf and have seen a little on TV, which I found extremely boring. But I try to look interested since he seems like he’s making the effort to spend time with me. We get to the course and park as my stepdad gets his clubs out of the trunk. We walk to a large building. The parking lot is full and people are heading to the building with their golf clubs. We walk into the side of the building and into a golf shop.

“I’m going to rent your clubs and shoes,” he says as I’m looking around the shop at all of the equipment. “If you like the sport, I’ll buy you your own set of clubs.” He rents my equipment, plus two big buckets of golf balls and a golf cart.

After loading everything into the golf cart, he drives us to a long grassy field. I see other golfers hitting golf balls out into the field. My stepdad explains that this is a driving range. We find a vacant spot and place the two large buckets of golf balls down. He pulls something out of the side of his golf bag.

“This is a ‘Tee’. You can only use it on the first stroke of each hole,” he explains as he places it into the ground. He grabs a club out of his bag and tells me to step back and watch. He steps up to the ball and hits it high and deep into the field. He places another tee into the ground and hands the club to me. He shows me how to hold the club as I follow his instructions. He explains how to shift, rotate, and follow though, keeping my eye on the ball. I get into position. How hard can golf be? I do what he said as I swing the club and hear my stepdad laugh as I’m looking in the air for the ball. I look down and see the ball still sitting on the tee. I guess it’s harder than I thought.

After he stops laughing, he demonstrates the swing motions and hits a few more balls to show me how it’s done. I line up and finally connect to the ball as it sails into the air.

“That’s how it’s done,” my stepdad says patting me on the back as I grin.

After an hour of me hitting golf balls, we head over to the putting greens, where he shows me how to putt. I didn’t think I would like golf, but I am really enjoying myself. After he shows me how to putt and practice on different angles, he tells me it’s time to ‘tee off’. We put our bags in the cart and he lets me drive. He tells me that the tournament is only nine holes, however, a full game is eighteen.

“Tom,” I hear someone say as we get out of the golf cart. “Glad you could make it. As soon as my son finishes, it’s all yours.” He points to a boy that swings and misses the ball. I certainly know how he feels. He finally connects to the ball as I realize that he looks familiar. “Tom I would like you to meet my son Eddie,” he says proudly as we all shake hands. Now I remember. Eddie is on the basketball team, not that good from what I hear, however he is the smartest kid in school and has a girlfriend, Julie. Julie is on the volleyball team and is the smartest girl in school. Both are sophomores like myself and hang out with the rich kids.

“This is my son George,” my stepdad says as I feel proud that he didn’t call me his stepson. “George, this is Larry, a fellow surgeon that works with me at the hospital.”

“Hey, awesome game yesterday,” Eddie says patting me on the back.

“Hey, hurry up and tee off so that my son and I can kick your asses,” Larry says as Eddie and I shake our heads.

After my stepdad sends the ball high and deep. It is my turn. I line up and hit ball as I see it sail into the air.

“Nice stroke son,” my stepdad says as I watch it sail into a clump of trees. “Oops...”

We get into the golf cart, and I drive us down the fairway so that I can hit my ball out of the clump of trees.

“So ... How is school,” my stepdad asks as I drive down the side of the fairway. I guess this is where we start bonding after all of these years. Which I don’t mind. I am actually glad that he wants to spend time with me.

“Great,” I answer as he nods. “I am really enjoying football and I’m going to be sad when it ends for the season.”

“You are really good at it,” he replies as we get to the clump of trees and he hands me the club that I should use. “Good enough for college ball and even higher. You keep playing like that and you will have colleges offering you scholarships. So ... what do you want to do with your life?”

“College football,” I say as I hit the ball back on the fairway. “I want a degree in business and maybe open a chain of restraints and hotels,” I finish as he nods smiling.

“That’s a good plan,” he says as I hit the ball further down the fairway. “A business degree can take you many places.”

We finish the nine holes and I actually did pretty good and want to learn the game more. It is relaxing and my stepdad and I had a real conversation. We talked about school and sports. I told heim about the principal wanting me to start a anti-bullying group. We turn my gear in and we head upstairs to the restaurant. We sit at a table as Eddie and his father sit down with us.

We order food and drinks as my stepdad and Larry start talking about work.

“I fucking hate golf,” Eddie whispers as I chuckle. “Anything to make my dad happy. I’ve seen you around this year and I’ve been trying to catch you and talk.” I look at him as he chuckles. “With all the girls chasing after you, its hard to get a chamce to talk to you. I have a lot of respect for you after watching you get bullied in junior high to where you are now. I even catch my girlfriend checking you out,” he says as I shake my head. “We should hang out sometime.”

I look at him remembering Dr. Jackson telling me to trust people more. Having a sincere friend besides Martina is what I need. “Sure, we could go golfing,” I joke as Eddie punches me on the arm and shakes his head.

Monday morning I head to school early to talk to the principal about giving a speech at Friday’s assembly. The rest of the weekend went by without incident. Martina was busy working at her mother’s restaurant and Jenny was out with friends all weekend. I get into the main office, and see the principal and vice principal talking.

“George,” Principal Gallegos greets me smiling. “What can we do for you?”

“I would like to speak during Friday’s assembly,” I answer. “I would like to talk about the anti-bullying group and try to get volunteers to help.”

“That’s a great idea George,” Principal Gallegos says and points to the Vice Principal. “And Mr. Bleha will be glad to get you on the schedule.”

I leave the office satisfied at where this is going. If I can get enough volunteers, I can get things rolling and possibly get some good ideas from the volunteers.

I am on my way to my locker, when I see a familiar sexy ass bent over getting something from her locker. I reach over and give it a pinch as I get a squeal and the stare of death. Then I remember that Martina is the daughter of a mob boss as she puts her hands on her hips and I shrug.

I pass the cheerleaders and get the same glare of death from Deana. I’m assuming that big-mouth-Jenny told her that I spent the night at Martina’s house Friday. My suspicions are confirmed when she marches over to me as I’m opening my locker.

“So ... Did you have fun at Martina’s house Friday night,” she asks with venom.

I decide that enough is enough. “Deana,” I start with a little venom in my voice that startles her. “I don’t know what kind of relationship you think we have, but you need to understand that we are only friends.” She steps back as I continue. “And if you want to keep that friendship then you will respect the fact that Martina and I are best friends and have a special bond to each other that CANNOT be separated.”

“But Martina said she wouldn’t stop us from being together,” Deana says softly. I’m guessing that I’m going to have a chat with Martina to find out what she told Deana. Before I can answer, I hear a familiar voice.

“George,” Eddie says walking up to me with Julie on his arm. I remember Julie from junior high and even Eddie and she was an item back then. Julie is tall and skinny with an athletic body that she gets from playing volleyball. “Have you met my girlfriend Julie?” I nod and shake her hand as she gives me a lustful look, that I hope Eddie didn’t notice. “And she must be your girlfriend,” he continues pointing at Deana as Julie gives her the glare of death. “Deana, I heard that you and George are together,” he says as Deana gives me a shy smile and looks at the floor. Well that confirms my suspicions that the rumors are in full force. That tells me that Deana, Jenny, and the cheerleader squad put the word out that Deana and I are a couple.

“She is a friend,” I correct him as Julie tilts her head and smirks. “I don’t have any girlfriends. And I am not looking.”

“Playing the field,” Eddie says laughing and getting a punch in the arm from Julie. “Anyway, George, do you want to hang out Saturday?” I give him a nod. “Great, we can double date or whatever you want. Let me know.” I wish Eddie and I could have been friends a long time ago. He seems like a person that I can trust.

“Double date sounds good,” Deana says as she smirks and walks off before I can complain.

Eddie and Julie chuckle as they head off to class.

Friday morning and I’m nervous as hell. I am sitting in the auditorium getting ready to get up and give my speech. The week went by without incident, except for Martina telling me to go on a double date with Deana and Eddie’s girlfriend. She still won’t tell me what she and Deana’s agreement is. Mr. Bleha helped me with writing my speech and my English teacher looked it over, who is giving me extra credit in that class.

Principal Gallegos finishes speaking; “And before our talented cheerleaders get up here and tell us how our football team is going to kick butt today, George Shields needs your help. George?”

I stand up and walk to the stage with weak legs. I get to the podium and set my paper down. I look around as my mouth is dry. I have never spoken in front of a large audience. I see Marty in the back with his goon squad. I also see other groups of bullies sitting together in their cliques.

I never realized how many bullies we have in this school, I’ve seen some of the jocks bully the geeks squad or the smart kids. I’ve seen the rich kids bully the poor kids. And of course there is the strong against the weak. The students that have been blessed with good looks and a normal life, bullying the students that are overweight, skinny, wear glasses, braces, and are different than normal. Even the cheerleaders are bullies.

“I love this school,” I say starting my speech. “Last year I came from junior high. I will talk about that later. Unlike junior high, I was accepted here and was able to make the football team. I made friends and was happy. However, I was taken away, last year.” I start to tear up as I think about my time away. I crumple up the paper in front of me and put it in my pocket. I decide to go off the script and continue.

“When I came back, there were rumors floating around that were not true...” I pause for effect. “What I do want to tell you today is the truth. We have a problem in this school. It is the same in many schools. It js not being respected for who you are.

“Many of you know me from junior high. I was almost three hundred pounds. I got straight A’s. But I had one problem...” I pause and take a deep breath. “I had low self esteem. And why you ask? BULLIES ... People that judge you because you are different. People that have to beat you down, because that is the only way to raise their self esteem. I was beat up and teased every day in junior high as everyone looked the other way. Everyone ignored what was happening to me.” I look at Marty’s group of goons, who have a smug look on their faces. “Everyone is different in their own way.”