Chapter 75: Friday, Oct. 26

GAME DAY — HAWKS

Morning.

God, it came way too fucking early in the day. I was going to need a nap at some point. I just hoped it wasn’t while I was trying to play quarterback.

The sound of Kacie going through her morning routine emanated from the bathroom. Damn, if she was up, it must be ... a look at my alarm clock showed it was almost 7! Shit! I needed to get my ass in gear.

I wouldn’t say I had a restless night, but I’d slept better in my life. I gotta admit, I missed having someone to cuddle with at night. This was the first time it at least six weeks I hadn’t slept with someone — Kacie, Marie, Arlene, even Bethany or Staci — snuggled in my arms. I may have mentioned that I really like that.

I joined my sister in the bathroom, having to work around her to get a quick wipedown and brush my teeth. Kacie didn’t look like she’d gotten much sleep herself and didn’t say a word. That was probably a good thing. I couldn’t swear I wouldn’t put her over my knee if she pushed the wrong button.

Clean enough, I pulled on the shorts I’d left in the middle of the floor and went to get my clothes out of the laundry. If I’d had time, I would have run the dryer for a few minutes. I’d just have to live with the shame of wrinkles today.

I returned to my room to dress and make sure I had everything I needed in my backpack. It was now almost 7:15. Breakfast was going to be what I could scarf down before Jed got here.

Mom was putting dishes in the washer and Dad was having one last jolt of caffeine before heading to his office. I grabbed a banana and a muffin. That’d have to do for now.

“Uh, I’ll take care of things with Dietrich,” Dad said sheepishly. “I didn’t realize you’d done something you could fix so easily. I’ll have a talk with Kacie about using your car like that.”

“Somebody needs to,” I grunted. “She just about pushed it too far and yesterday was not the day to do that. I was about ready to put her over my knee again.”

“Behave,” Mom said. “I’d better not have to deal with you trying to get back at her.”

No, I’d just cut her off. Let’s see how long she could make it before she cracked.

“Tell her to quit acting like a spoiled little brat, then,” I said. “What’s mine is not automatically hers. She has a hard time remembering that.”

I was saved from being further berated when Jed honked his horn outside.

“I gotta go,” I said, stuffing the rest of the muffin in my mouth. “See y’all at lunch.”

I stepped out the front door to find wet pavement, but no big puddles. A glance up showed an overcast sky, but spots of blue peeked through the clouds here and there. Hopefully, we’d had our rain for the day. It looked like it wasn’t enough to keep the guys from doing the yard tomorrow, but they may need to wait until the afternoon.

“Mornin,’ dude,” Jed said as I climbed into his truck.

“That it is,” I said, again taking care to avoid that spring sticking through the upholstery. All I needed was to rip my pants on the damn thing.

“What’s got you in such a pissy mood?” my buddy asked as he shifted into gear.

“Yesterday,” I grunted.

“You won, dude,” he said. “I’d think you’d be happy about that.”

“There’s more than just the hearing,” I sighed. “My sister pulled another one of her stunts and my car wound up in the shop because of it. I got popped by some overzealous local yokel when I took the girls to the volleyball match last night. Too many underage passengers. Told ‘im we were on our way to a school function. His argument was it wasn’t at our school.”

“Sounds like somethin’ Dad’d jump all over,” Jed snorted.

“But that bitch from our neighbors to the south didn’t help matters,” I groused. “She somehow had pictures from last week’s shoot at the golf course. Seemed to think it proved I was a professional golfer. Your Dad said folks at the agency are trying to figure out how she got them.”

I didn’t mention the photo of Lois Westmoreland partying with Julia Fairchild on New Year’s Eve, but it got me thinking. I pulled out my phone and composed a text for George Patterson.

I asked the rich and powerful man to have his people check if any girls from Westmoreland’s school district had ever worked with the modeling agency. Be a shame if it turned out the butch bitch was procuring teenage girls for Julia.

“On it,” came the response a few seconds after I sent.

A few minutes later as we neared school, I received another message from Staci’s dad.

“You are a devious young man. Ever think of going into politics? You seem to have the dirty tricks part down.”

At least that lightened my mood a little.

“You mind if I swing through Rosa’s?” Jed asked, already turning in to the restaurant’s parking lot. “I need some breakfast.”

“I could use something myself,” I said as he pulled up to the drive-through menu. “Two chorizo and cheese breakfast tacos, please.”

“Anything to drink?” he asked.

“Large tea, sweet if they have any brewed,” I said, pulling out my wallet.

“I got this,” Jed said. “Just don’t let the other guys know. They’d see it as a betrayal or somethin.’”

Jed ordered two breakfast burritos and a drink for himself in addition to what I’d asked for, pulled around to the pick-up window and paid. We had 10 minutes before the first bell, so 15 minutes to get to class. I’d have to hurry to hit my locker and load up for the morning classes.

My buddy amazed me with his ability to multitask as we made the short trip to the senior lot. He managed to consume one burrito, take a sip of his drink, shift gears and steer all at the same time. I would have needed at least a third arm, probably a fourth, to do all that.

“Later, dude,” I said, stuffing the last bite of taco in my mouth and grabbing my backpack once we were parked.

To avoid traffic, I cut through the courtyard to the North Wing. There was a little basket of goodies on the shelf in my locker. That’d have to wait. Maybe I could eat some this afternoon.

Economics in, Algebra II out. I already had stuff for English and Western Civ. The first bell rang as I closed my locker. Time to resume the educational process.

Economics was just as dry as ever. I never should have let Dad talk me into taking this class. Being first period didn’t help matters. Mr. Cochran’s monotone just made it that much worse.

The assignments we’d started Wednesday when the teacher was out were returned. His only comment was it was nice to see me back where I was supposed to be.

I’d have to dangle some more food in front of Chuck’s face to get a look at another day’s worth of notes. There was a slight chance I could get caught up over the weekend.

Western Civ wasn’t as bad. Not only was I more awake, I’d actually gone over some of the material. We wrapped up the formation of the Kalmar Union and would get into the wars with the Hanseatic League next week with a test next Friday.

For Monday, we had to write 500 words on the conditions that led to those wars. We didn’t necessarily have to assign responsibility or blame to one side or the other, but it basically came down to who was going to make more money off trade in the Baltic.

Then it was time for English IV. My problem in that class was I kept thinking about bending Karen over her desk and fucking the shit out of her. These next eight weeks were going to be difficult to get through. She appeared to be thinking along the same lines as she blushed slightly every time she looked in my direction.

I turned in my assignment on how much blame Lady Macbeth was due and tried to keep up with the discussion of the second half of Act II. It was all I could do not to go with “something’s rotten in Denmark” when we got to Banquo’s speech at the end of the act. I’m not sure some of the rubes in the class would have gotten the joke. Karen might have appreciated it, though.

Bell, locker, load up for the afternoon, dash to the fieldhouse. It was time to get all pepped up for the Hawks.

I put my backpack in my locker and hung up the windbreaker I’d worn all morning. Coach Tucker didn’t think we should cover up our team shirts during the pep rally. The gym would be warm enough with more than 3,000 bodies crammed in there.

We lined up in the team room, where food service folks were already setting up for our lunch, and got ready to make the trip over to the gym.

When the fight song cranked up, the crowd made more noise than usual. I stepped through the doorway to see more folks than I expected. It looked like most of the booster club was here in addition to the student body and faculty. I guess they were excited about having a team in the Top 10 to root for.

The volleyball team was introduced in recognition of its playoff win. The third-round match would be played Monday evening about an hour west of here. I don’t think I’m gonna make that one. Elise and Riley will just have to understand.

The cheerleaders dance routine, with Staci again twitching her ass bewitchingly, was quite a production. As Mr. Dunwoody officially announced us as the No. 8 team in the state to much applause, three baritone sax players took up position in front of the band with trumpets moving to the front riser. One of the bari sax players was a girl who looked barely taller than her instrument. I was surprised she could lift the damn thing.

A member of the drumline counted off and they burst into the “Would I Lie to You?” by the Eurythmics. The bari saxes belted out Dave Stewart’s growling guitar line as Danny Pomeroy and the other trumpeters twirled their horns like that cat in the music video. I don’t know how much those dudes had practiced, but they hit their first note on time without busting their lips.

The number got the joint rockin,’ to say the least.

The drill team did its number, Coach Tucker spoke and it was time for the highlight video. Normally, I would have been more than happy to be left out of it. This time, I was eager to see what the reaction would be.

As I expected, we didn’t have many highlights from the first half except the two conversion returns. The screen faded to a shot of the scoreboard at halftime, showing us behind 26-10. Then the theme from “Jaws” started playing as we went out for the first series with me at quarterback.

I just thought the cheer at the game was loud. Whoever edited the video timed it where the music reached its crescendo and one of the drummers screamed like he’d been bitten by a shark just as Javon launched the pass to Marcell. Everyone in the gym — including the team — went nuts.

Then it got better.

Luke Riley’s interception return and the Philly Special drew loud approval. After the safety, the opening strains of “California Girls” played as we went out for our next series. At the break between quarters, another shot of the scoreboard was shown informing us the score was now 32-28 as the song segued into “I’m a Believer.”

That set off our fans and the O-line. Chuck was doing a little dance, almost a twist but not quite, as the screen showed him driving that poor defensive tackle back.

The next series started with “Nowhere to Run” and ended with “Shakedown.” I was a little disappointed they left Willie out, but they made up for it by cutting off the end of the play on my carry.

Then the next drive was the killer. I think the O-line must have been tipped off ahead of time because they all started chanting “OOGA-CHAKA” as we broke the huddle to “Hooked on a Feeling.” Everyone in the gym joined in before the snap. Except me. I was laughing too hard.

The last offensive touchdown did not have a musical accompaniment. Instead, the radio call was played over the clip.

“What in the world is that boy doin’ now?” the color guy asked as I held the ball up and pointed at it.

The crowd was quite vocal, chanting “okie-doke!” The freshman section, in particular, was practically strident. I didn’t look. I was afraid of finding out how many freshman girls were wearing chokers.

After Danny Mathis’ pick-six, it was on to the skit with the big blue fuzzball pantsing what looked like a plucked chicken. I think it was the same costume that was used the week we played the Eagles, but this time the color scheme matched the Hawks’ green and silver. The boxers were also different.

One last cheer was led, fists were raised for the school song and we prepared to go eat lunch. Then the pep band struck up “I’m a Believer.” I think we had an unofficial second fight song now.

The team room filled quickly as players and boosters descended upon the serving line. Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Patty and Karen were at a table with the Richardses, Ensberrys and Pattersons. Apparently, they’d been among the first in line. I was making bets with myself as to whether Grandpa or Mr. Patterson flashed the cash to make that happen.

Aunt Patty got a big smile on her face and excused herself from the rest when her boyfriend got in line. I had a hard time thinking of our team room as a good spot for a romantic lunch, but, hey, I’m just a guy. What do I know about romance?

We were having roast beef, baby potatoes and mixed veggies today. I needed something that would hold me for a while after barely getting any breakfast. It’d be at least 11 tonight before we could eat again unless I grabbed a snack after school.

Miss Carla didn’t seem to hold yesterday’s footrub against me as she loaded me with enough beef to get me through the evening. I could probably afford to let the O-line protect some property today. Of course, she loaded her husband up with even more as he came through the line. Musta been a big steer.

Elise and Riley flagged me down with Morgan and Staci soon joining us. The girls chattered about the schedule for Saturday, making sure everyone was aware of when to be at Arlene’s.

“You can dress in the apartment,” Morgan informed me. “Marie will have your costume laid out on the bed for you.”

“I’ve already told you I may not be exactly on time,” I said. “Mr. Patterson wants to meet with me about a possible investment. He seems to think that could take up to four hours.”

“Daddy mentioned he intends to kidnap you for a little while,” Staci cut in, “but he promised to have you back on time. What’s he want to talk to you about?”

“He said there’s some property near here I might be interested in,” I admitted. “He did say there would be some travel, so I don’t know how near is near.”

“Make sure it has enough bathrooms,” Morgan commanded. “We’ll let you have one to yourself, but us girls will need something exclusively for us. We’ll probably need at least two.”