Chapter 6

“YOU GUYS HAVE really been working,” Dennis said to the cheerleaders Monday afternoon. “Gotta say, I’m impressed.” He’d just taken them through their core exercises and they had all improved in the week since he started them.

“You know, the conditioning exercises we’re getting with you in the evening are doing good things for us as well,” Janet said. “I’m certainly firming up.”

“And you’re all a real inspiration to the team,” Dennis said. “You know they like having you lead cheers for them, but that activity is focused on the fans. You’re really showing that you’re cheering for the athletes.”

“It’s fun,” Sara said. “And looking at some of those guys while they’re working out is fun, too.” The group giggled a bit.

“I was wondering if we could turn some of our conditioning exercises into routines,” Dennis suggested. “Remember what I did Friday with the lunges? More of a dance than just doing pushups. You cheerleaders would be a lot better at designing those than I would. You know most of the exercises now; how about helping design some routines?”

“Oh, cool! Dancercise!” Rae said.

“Sort of,” Dennis answered. “I did look online at several dancercise type videos this summer while Brenda and I were doing our class work. They’re great aerobic exercises, but I want to turn some of the strength exercises into something fun. I think people get most discouraged when I have them hit the dirt and do pushups, but those kinds of exercises are vital to building the strength needed to propel the body, jump, throw, and lift.”

“I get it,” Janet said. “Let’s take a quick look at some of the basic exercises that you’re talking about and see how they connect. The key element would be making repetitive movements interesting. If we mix them together, it becomes a routine. We’d still be doing the same exercises, but not necessarily all the reps of one exercise then switching to another.”

“Yeah. That’s what I mean. Thanks!”

Tuesday morning, Natalie arrived five minutes after Dennis’s mom and sister left. They wasted no time getting in bed together.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if all we had to do was eat, sleep, and make love?” she sighed as he sank into her.

“And play basketball?” Dennis said, nibbling on her ear.

“Yeah, that. And hang out with our other girlfriends. You know,” she giggled.

“Don’t you think you’d get tired of my cock constantly plunging in and out of your pussy?”

“Stop that! I’m not tired of it right now. Let me dream about non-stop lovemaking for a while,” she said, thrusting up at him.

He renewed his thrusting and they mounted to their first climax. It was nice to imagine making love to Natalie all the time. And Brenda. And Amy. And Judith. And Tori. And Roberta and Daniella. If he was doing right by all of them, he would be making love all the time.

“Are Roberta and Daniella going to stay with us?” he asked as they basked in the afterglow. Natalie gave him little kisses all around his mouth, never quite touching his lips completely.

“You noticed? They already have a bad case of senioritis and school doesn’t even start until next Monday. They aren’t like Brenda. They’ve got their eye on State and playing a season with Zoe and Eva. They won’t be sticking around after graduation.”

“I thought they seemed a little aloof Saturday night.”

“Not completely. They’ll stay with us at least through basketball season. They don’t want to be left out of any of our play time. That bond is pretty significant. If anything, they’ll use being part of our group to keep from getting involved with anyone at school who might hold them back after graduation.”

“I never expected them to join us in the first place,” Dennis sighed. “But I never expected to fall in love with them, either.”

“You love us all so much! And we love you, Den. Don’t think that just because they think they have to leave that they don’t love us all just as much. It’s going to be as hard on them as it is on the rest of us,” Natalie said. She embraced her lover again and kissed him deeply. “We need to get cleaned up and get over to the hospital for your final checkup. Ready?”

“Ready to hold you in my arms forever. But I suppose we need to go.”

“Well, Dennis, everything looks fine. You’re still wearing your goggles?” Dr. Sachs asked.

“Um ... When I’m outside working or running,” he admitted.

“Those are the most important times. I told you I wished everyone wore goggles all the time, but I couldn’t even get myself to follow that doctor’s order. So, I’ll just say that whenever possible you should wear eye protection. You have two good eyes now, and I can’t imagine you needing to wear glasses in school or at home. Just try to protect these gems as much as possible. I know you remember what it was like before you got them.”

“I do. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the work you did and the way you changed my life. I’m really forever in your debt,” Dennis said.

“Well, see if you and your girlfriend can go find some mischief to get up to,” Sachs laughed. “I pronounce you released from treatment.”

“Woohoo! Mom’s picking me up at noon to go to County Seat and get my driver’s license.”

“Ah. The world is in danger,” Sachs joked. He waved goodbye to Dennis and Natalie as they left the building.

“Everything is in order,” the license examiner said. “Your written test is still valid from when you took it a year ago. With your eyesight now within the legal range, all that remains is the driving test. Shall we go?”

“Yes, sir,” Dennis said. His mother handed him the keys and Dennis led the examiner to the car.

“Now, try to relax and focus on driving. I’m not here to throw impossible situations at you. I simply want to know that you have the skills to operate a vehicle while obeying relevant traffic laws. Pull out of the parking lot and turn right on Washington St. We’ll drive over to Walmart.”

Dennis obeyed the instructions, signaled his turns, parked where he was told to, and passed the test. His mother got in the passenger side and Dennis drove her home.

“Isn’t this great, Dennis? A real beauty, isn’t it?” Coach Byers asked as he toured the new piece of equipment delivered Friday morning by their new sponsor, AgCentral. The huge mower was the equivalent of those used on professional and collegiate sports fields.

“That is something else! How wide is this?” Dennis asked, looking over the machine.

“Spec says it’s 95” wide. And look down here. A full width field roller! You know how the pro fields all have the grass looking striped? It goes over the ground behind the cutter and flattens the grass in the direction you’re rolling. So, if you do all the passes between five-yard markers on the football field in the same direction, it looks like the grass itself is different colors.” Coach was sounding like a commercial for the machine, and that was understandable since a representative of the manufacturer had given almost the same spiel as he demonstrated cutting the football field. He did the whole football field and surrounding sidelines in less than half an hour—and that was with stops to explain to the coaches what he was doing and how to make the equipment function at peak efficiency.

“If I do all the passes, Coach?” Dennis had zeroed in on the suggestion that the coach was making with his choice of words.

“Well, that’s figuratively speaking. The universal ‘you,’ you know? That being said, however, we are looking for a groundskeeper. To keep our entire school grounds looking sharp, fields will need to be mowed two or three times a week and, of course, always right before a game. You’d be a good choice for the job if you’re interested. You’ve already mowed the football field once, and have practically built the cross country course. Why don’t you take the mower out and do the course this morning so it’s all in perfect shape for tomorrow’s big scrimmage race?”

“Uh ... Sure, Coach. I planned to mow the course today anyway. I don’t know that I could handle becoming the groundskeeper, though,” Dennis said.

“Well, take it for a spin. I’m really not trying to pressure you into this. The summer maintenance you did was expedient. You knew the equipment and Mr. Brown was willing to loan his tractor for you to use because you were already on his payroll. But it doesn’t mean you are expected to take over this job. I just wanted you to have first right of refusal,” Coach said.

“I’ll take it out and run it around the course. I’ll think about whether or not I can handle the job.”

Dennis put on the Bluetooth sound dampening headphones and keyed his phone into them so he could listen to music while he mowed. He positioned his safety goggles and went through the startup procedures for the mower. Then he tested it on a patch of meadow grass to make sure he knew the controls. Finally, he headed out along the three-mile trail. The mower cut half the five-and-a-half-meter wide trail with each pass. It took only an hour to mow the entire course at the speed the mower would travel. Coach was gone when he got back to the starting area, but he had instructions on where to put the mower in Mr. Abernathy’s equipment barn. He cleaned it up and put it away.

It was tempting. He sat with his phone calculator open and tabulated the hours it would take each week to maintain the school grounds. Mowing the sports fields and the school lawns and play area would take about three or four hours each time. Coach had indicated that to maintain the one-inch grass length recommended, the fields would all need to be cut twice a week during the growing season. They’d had enough rain this week to keep the grass lush and growing fast. Then a third time before games. Six to twelve hours a week. Daylight hours. Days were getting noticeably shorter already as they moved toward autumn. It was doable, but he wasn’t sure if it was smart.

He switched to earbuds and put his phone in his pocket. After warming up, he took off on a hard run to see how the course felt after being mowed to exactly the right height for a change. Between the music in his earbuds and the turf beneath his feet, he lost himself in the rhythm, pounding out the steps around the course.