Chapter 15: Monday, Aug. 27

I awoke in a panic because my alarm didn’t go off. It didn’t go off because I hadn’t set it last night. The digital display showed that it was 5:47 a.m. There was no way in hell I could make it to the fieldhouse, dress out, get taped and be on the field in the next three minutes. I’d be running gassers for the rest of the week, at least. Maybe the rest of the season.

Then it hit me. There was no practice this morning. Two-a-days were over. All I had to do was be in Mr. Cochran’s Economics class before the tardy bell rang at 8:05.

My heart rate dropped dramatically.

If anything, I had too much time. Being wide awake, I took advantage of the situation and hit the bathroom before Kacie locked me out of it. I was able to relieve myself, wash my face and brush my teeth before her alarm began beeping promptly at 6.

I got dressed and made sure I had everything I’d need for school in my backpack. The laptop was fully charged. With no more morning practices, I decided I could do without the water bottle and took it to the kitchen to put in the dishwasher. I wouldn’t miss lugging it around today.

With plenty of time and the rest of the house just starting to stir, I decided to hit Familia Benavidez for breakfast. It had been too long since I’d had one of Tia Connie’s creations and the last big breakfast had been nearly a month ago when Grandma cooked.

I grabbed my backpack and checked my pockets for wallet and keys, then headed out the door. It was still warm enough to put the top down as I cruised over to the restaurant, enjoying the cool morning air for the duration of the drive.

The parking lot was, if anything, fuller than any of my other visits except opening day. There was no line out the door, but the dining room was packed when I went in. It looked like every construction crew in town was loading up for another day of work. I wondered how many of them were working for Dad today.

Tia Connie herself was manning the hostess stand and stared for just a couple of seconds before recognizing me.

“¡Mijo! Come here and give me a hug,” she insisted, holding her arms wide. “I can’t believe you boys all shaved your heads. Arturo looks so much like mi abuelo without hair it’s scary.”

“Good morning, Tia,” I said as I embraced her. “I got tired of hearing Arturo bragging about still having your breakfast burritos to fuel ‘im up for practice and figured I’d better get over here now that two-a-days are done.”

“Well, we’ll get you fixed right up,” she said, grabbing a menu. “Follow me.”

Arturo’s aunt led me to a two-seat table near a side wall and another member of the Benavidez clan quickly set me up with chips and salsa, something I’d never had at breakfast.

“What do you recommend?” I asked my hostess as I took my seat and accepted the menu.

“Depends on how hungry you are,” she replied. “The breakfast plates have the same stuff as the tacos and burritos, just not all put together. A plate is almost two burritos, but you get your money’s worth. And we have traditional dishes like migas and huevos rancheros.”

After looking the menu over, I elected to go with the chorizo plate. As I was making my decision, Tia Connie flagged down a server.

“Dora, cover the front for me,” she ordered. “I’ll take care of El Guapo, here.”

Dora snickered at my blush, but went to do as she was told without arguing.

“Antonia would tear this place apart if she thought one of the other girls was getting too friendly with you,” Connie said. “It doesn’t help that their abuela has declared you a prime candidate.”

“I’m not Catholic,” I said in my defense. “Surely their grandmother would hold that against me.”

“I think she’s of the opinion that that wouldn’t matter as long as you fathered beautiful babies and provided for them,” Connie said with a straight face. “Of course, they’d have to be raised in the Church.”

I just shook my head. I wasn’t even out of high school and women were eyeing me for stud service. It didn’t help that Jan and Marie were already planning to make the concept reality. Or that several of the Benavidez females would have little trouble producing beautiful offspring with just about any guy.

Connie took my order back to the kitchen and returned with a large glass of juice. Pineapple juice. I’m sure it was just a coincidence.

Setting the glass in front of me, she took the seat on the opposite side.

“How’s football going?” she asked as she settled in.

“Pretty good, I think,” I said. “We made it through two-a-days with no major injuries. Jed Richards was the only starter who missed the scrimmage, but he should be ready to go this week.”

“Arturo told me about that,” Connie said with a smirk. “That girl just walked up and slapped you for no reason?”

“She said I’d made her look like a fool,” I said. “She supposedly said some unkind things about me after we went to Winter Formal that were later shown to be untrue.”

“What’d you do to deserve that?” she asked.

“I kinda left her hanging,” I admitted with a blush. “I just realized it wasn’t the right time, she wasn’t the right girl and the back seat of my dad’s Buick wasn’t the right place. Last Tuesday was the first time she’d said a word to me since.”

Tia Connie got a thoughtful look on her face. I was starting to get an uneasy feeling when adults did that around me.

“The Boy Who Said No,” she mused. “Don’t let any of the girls here hear that story. They’ll just be that much more determined to get you to say yes.”

“If Arturo’s told you, they probably already know,” I said. “And someone should tell them I’m not looking. I’ve already got a girlfriend.”

Or six. I wasn’t sure how Marie was going to factor into the equation.

Connie went to check on my order and came back with a plate that could have fed both of us. The scrambled eggs alone would have been a big meal for me. The chorizo, potatoes, beans and tortillas were almost overkill. I hoped I could digest it enough not to puke in practice this afternoon. I probably wouldn’t need lunch today.

I did manage to get her off the subject of my love life by asking how the restaurant was doing. She chatted away as I dug in. It seemed breakfast service was more than paying its own way. Lunch and dinner had slacked off only slightly in the seven weeks they’d been open. Arturo’s dad, her brother, was already in discussion with their financial backers about opening another location next summer.

While Connie filled me in, I filled tortillas with eggs, chorizo, potatoes and frijoles. After spooning on some salsa, I then filled my mouth. This stuff was good! Maybe I would let one of the Benavidez girls have some attention if I could eat like this on a regular basis.

It took me a good 20 minutes to clean my plate, the last tortilla full of goodness almost making me throw in the towel.

“This one’s on me,” Connie said when I asked for my check. “It’s so good to see you! You’ll have to come in more often.”

I was already averaging about once a week as it was, and I’m sure my parents would expect me to take most of my meals with the family, but I told her I would do my best. I threw a Hamilton on the table for a tip. That was about what the meal would have cost, but I was still getting out of there for less than I’d expected. I just hoped the Benavidez family didn’t expect me to tip that much when my meal wasn’t comped.

With one last hug, I wished Tia Connie farewell and waddled out to the car. I felt like I needed to loosen my belt after that feast.

I got to school a little after 7:30, plenty of time to get to my first class. I took advantage to swing by my locker and unload some of the things from my backpack. I was getting tired of carrying that much weight. I’d get enough weightlifting in during athletic period.

The door of my locker was festooned with ribbons and a sign that covered the entire door exhorting me to “Bash The Bearcats.” The cheerleaders must have spent most of the weekend up here if they’d decorated 86 lockers before school on Monday morning.

Staci Patterson wrapped me in a hug from behind as I admired the work.

“Like it?” she asked as she snuggled up against me. “I made sure I got to do yours myself.”

“Thank you. It looks good,” I said. “I almost didn’t realize it’s really my locker. It’s going to take some getting used to having stuff like this after being one of the crowd the last few years.”

“We also give the guys little goodies like cookies on Fridays,” she said perkily.

“Just as long as those are the only goodies you’re giving out,” I told her as I wrapped an arm around her waist. “The rest of your goodies are mine.”

“Not this week,” she mock pouted. “I’m on the shelf. Just be careful of the other girls. I think Kelli wants to give you a try.”

“I thought the cheerleaders had a no-poaching policy,” I said.

“We still do,” Staci said, “but your poster has made you the exception to the rule. Even Coach Wilkes is curious.”

I most certainly did not need that in my life. I was going to have to lay down the law to some people.

“Sherry Parker’s coming to school today,” Staci said. “She wants to personally thank the team for all the support.”

“How’s she doing?” I asked.

“As well as we could hope for,” Staci said. “The chemo really took it out of her. She stayed home last week to recover, but she’s feeling stronger now. She just has to be careful not to push too hard. She isn’t allowed to do any routines right now, but she can still go to games.”

“Tell her I hope she gets to feeling better,” I said.

“You can tell her yourself,” Staci grinned. “We’ll all be out at football practice this afternoon.”

“I’ll see you there, then,” I said, stealing a quick smooch after making sure no teachers were lurking. “I’d better get to class now.”

“See you there,” she said, getting in a smooch of her own before taking her leave. “Love you!”

“You dog,” Luke Riley snarked as he passed by on the way to his locker farther down the row. “Haven’t even played a down and got cheerleaders crawling all over you.”

“What can I say?” I grinned as I shouldered my backpack. “Some guys have it. I just happen to be one.”

Class was class. We turned in homework, took notes during lectures, got assigned more homework or reading. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Fourth period arrived and I headed for the fieldhouse. Today was upper-body day and then we’d go over video from the scrimmage.

The lifting went quickly as Coach Bennett urged us to pick up the pace. The man seemed to truly enjoy shouting. He sure did it enough.

Film review was a new experience for me. Coach Wilson kept rewinding and replaying certain plays to show us what was done wrong. A poor angle was taken on a block here, a route was run improperly there, that kind of thing.

Then he got to me.

“Robinson, what were you supposed to be doing here?” he asked as he made the Bulldog linebacker repeatedly step on my chest.

“Blocking the outside linebacker, Coach,” I replied as the rest of the receivers chuckled.

“It wasn’t much of a block, but it got the job done,” he said as he allowed the clip to play on, showing the linebacker stumbling over me. “We’ll work on your technique if you survive this week on scout team.”

That drew more laughter from the other guys. I hoped they realized that Scottie Pipkin was the next option to hold for kicks, and he wouldn’t be available if he quarterbacked the JV on Thursday. We’d be better off going for two every time if something happened to me.

We finished just before the bell. I didn’t really need a shower, but I’d gotten sweaty enough lifting that I had a quick rinse before getting dressed for the rest of the schoolday.

Jed caught up to me as I headed for the lunchroom. He was still clanking away with the crutches, but I got the feeling it had more to do with getting another cheerleader to carry his lunch tray than it did with his injured foot.

“Does Keri know you’re just using those to get sympathy from the cheerleaders?” I asked as we moved along.

“She understands it’s all innocent,” he said, “unlike some people I could mention. Dude, you’ve got to tell me who the new girl is. Dietrich was sure you were up to something at the pool yesterday.”

“Not here,” I said, checking to make sure no one overheard him. “It’s not something I’m going to talk about in public.”

“Elise Stirling?” he prodded. “Stephanie Tucker?”

“No and hell no,” I said. “She’s not even in high school.”

“Junior high?” he asked with a hint of disgust.

“God no,” I said. “I’ve already told people I won’t date anyone younger than a sophomore, and I’m not looking to even do that.”

“Another older woman?” he gasped. “Where do you keep finding them?”

“This one used to work for the modeling agency I signed with,” I said. “You could say she’s a ... special case.”

“How special?” Jed asked. “Like Special Ed special?”

“No,” I said, “but there are certain concepts I’d have to explain to you, and I’m not going to do that at school.”

“Dude, I’ll get it out of you,” he said. “You’ll tell me.”

“Maybe,” I smiled. “When I think you’re ready.”

“What are you boys gabbing about?” Morgan asked as she caught up to us.

“Whether Jed will be ready to play Friday,” I said.

Jed managed to behave himself during lunch. At least, he didn’t blab anything about me having yet another girlfriend. I almost wanted to tell him the whole story just so I could see his reaction to me having a submissive bitch in my care. I wouldn’t be surprised if his brain exploded.

As I expected after breakfast, I wasn’t really hungry. I went ahead and got in the burger line, figuring that would be the easiest thing to handle.

Morgan apparently accepted my explanation, false though it was, because she was questioning Jed about his availability.

“Coach Tucker won’t give me the updated depth chart until Wednesday,” she said.

“I’ll be ready,” Jed said. “I’ll probably be able to practice today, I just have to get cleared by Doc.”

“So why are you still using the crutches?” she asked.

“Just to keep my weight off the foot until they clear me,” he said.

I was sorely tempted to pay my buddy back by revealing his scheme of getting cheerleaders to carry his tray. I kept my mouth shut when Kelli Thornton herself performed the duty today.

“I wanted to make sure everybody knew Sherry’s at school today,” the head cheerleader said as she joined us at our regular table. “We’re all going to be at football practice so she can thank y’all.”

“We’ll be there,” Chuck Edwards said.

Talk turned to us getting ready for the Bearcats. The defensive players in our group seemed especially eager to get started.

“I can’t wait to bring the pain to our new scout team quarterback,” Marshawn jibed. “He’s about to learn what football is really like.”

“You might want to make sure he has the ball first,” I replied. “It won’t do you much good to truck me if that leaves somebody else running free.”

The rest of lunch was uneventful, thankfully. I was afraid Kelli would announce her intention to get in line for a turn with me. It was a good bet that putting her over my knee to teach her a lesson would be frowned upon by the faculty on lunchroom duty. At least it wasn’t Tuesday.

Afternoon classes followed pretty much the same routine as the morning ones had. The most notable event came when I presented Elise Stirling with a copy of my notes from Thursday and Friday.

“I didn’t think you’d really do it,” she said as we began setting up for an experiment.

“Probably didn’t have to,” I replied. “Both days were straight out of the book. You should be able to get everything by reading the chapter. I doubt I added any significant insights.”

“Want to get together tonight and go over everything?” she asked with a hint of a blush.

I was tempted to turn her down flat, but I remembered Dad’s comment about her being self-conscious because of her height.

“It would have to be after we get done with practice,” I said. “Football will finish around 6 or so. How late will volleyball go?”

“We should be done by 5 or 5:30,” she said. “We’ve got a home match tomorrow night, so Coach Doss won’t keep us too late. Maybe we can go get something to eat.”

Time to take control of this situation, I thought.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I do not need people thinking I’m trying to sneak in a date with another girl.”

“What people?” she asked innocently.

“Your dad, for starters,” I said. “My girlfriend. All the gossips in school who won’t be able to wait to talk about the latest addition to ‘my harem.’ I don’t need that and you don’t, either.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding disappointed.

“If you really want to go over the material, we can meet in the library at lunch tomorrow,” I said. “You do have senior lunch, don’t you?”

“I’d really like to do it tonight,” she pouted, seemingly unaware of her double entendre. “You could come over to my house.”

“Will your parents be there?” I asked.

“Mom should be,” she said. “I think Daddy has school board tonight.”

As long as there would be a witness who could testify I wasn’t trying to get into the girl’s pants, I was willing to chance it. Maybe Mrs. Stirling’s presence would keep Elise from trying to get into mine.

“OK, give me your address,” I said. “I can be there by 7. It shouldn’t take too long.”

Elise scribbled an address in an older neighborhood on the corner of my notebook page and behaved herself the rest of the period. We even achieved the desired result for the day’s experiment. I was just glad we didn’t cause an explosion.

Creative Writing had a homework assignment I should be able to knock out in less than an hour. There wouldn’t be any research involved, I just had to follow Mrs. Cohen’s rules for sentence structure and the like.

Football practice had a noticeably different atmosphere as we began preparing for our first game. The coaches shouted a little louder and more often. The players moved a little faster and were also more vocal. There was actually a bit of a crowd with a few dozen dads and others looking on.

I went through position drills with the receivers until it was time to give the defense a look at the Bearcats’ offense. The scout teamers were handed yellow practice vests except for me. I was given a red one, which supposedly meant I wasn’t to be hit. We’d see how well that worked out.

My demise was delayed for a bit as Coach Tucker made us walk through plays while the defensive staff showed each player what their responsibility was. I spent most of my time just taking the snap and turning to hand off on the dive before I was told to continue down the line on the option. It took a full segment before we were allowed to even go half-speed.

The main part of my job seemed to be giving the defense a look at how the option should be run. We rarely got to the point of tackling before one coach or another would blow the play dead and point out where someone had done something wrong. The defenders were starting to lose patience. It seemed they were ready to hit somebody. Somebody like me.

Coach finally told us to take the training wheels off and run it full-speed. All I could think about was when I crashed and burned the first time Dad had taken the training wheels off my bike. I was 6 years old and had just lost my front teeth. That was probably the only reason I didn’t knock them out that day.

We were under orders to run the first play to the right. I thought it was a little unfair that the defense knew which way we were going.

I stepped behind center, looked at the defensive alignment and decided to get this show on the road.

“Ready, go!” I called out.

Marshawn stayed back, so I handed off and continued down the line to see Darius Smallwood shedding his blocker and launching himself in my direction. Since I no longer had the ball and was wearing the red vest, I slowed down after a couple of steps. Darius didn’t.

I think I landed about where the left guard lined up. Rather than get on to Darius for hitting the guy in the red vest, Coach Montoya, the defensive line coach, chastised him for not wrapping up. I should have hit the ground much closer to where he hit me.

Coach Tucker, at least, was paying attention.

“Careful, Smallwood,” Coach said. “Unless you’d like to learn to hold for extra points. The red vest means no contact.”

“Sorry, Coach,” Darius said with an expression that indicated he was anything but.

The next play was to the left, meaning Jerome Jackson would get his shot.

This time, Marshawn crashed the gap, almost pushing the scout team running back back into me. I avoided the traffic and immediately turned it up inside. I probably would have gained about four yards before the safety got me, but the coaches blew the play dead. Just a tick before Jerome steamrolled me from behind.

“Sorry,” he smirked as he helped me up. “I didn’t hear the whistle.”

OK, I thought, you wanna play it soft, we’ll play it soft. You wanna play it hard, let’s play it hard.

The defense rotated in some fresh bodies and we repeated the process. Running the play to the right, I pulled back on the dive and pitched as soon as the trailing back was in range. Taking two more steps, I launched myself at the defensive end, a junior named Edgar Gonzales, and caught him right on the chin with the crown of my helmet. He went down like he’d been shot.

That got a reaction.