Part 5

Chapter 24

Game 7 was a non-league game with Chester County's West Brandywine High School. They had a decent team last year, but most of their starters graduated. They only had two seniors on the team. The starting quarterback was a sophomore. Our defense completely confused the quarterback. He threw three interceptions in the game. Our defense dominated. They also forced two fumbles. The offense hardly needed to work up a sweat. The final was score 34-21 Wolverines.

The team was going out for a movie on Saturday night. Zack arranged to pick me up. When I got home I found out differently.

Dad said, "Kyle, we got a last minute invitation to a party tomorrow night. We can't arrange a baby sitter, so you'll have to watch Andy and Lizzie."

I exclaimed, "What? I had plans with the team tomorrow night. I can't."

"Sorry, Kyle. Family responsibilities win over football. You are babysitting."

"Can I at least invite a friend over to help?"

"Who?"

"My friend, Stacie Thompson. It was sort of a date tomorrow."

"No, Kyle. You can't have a girl over when you babysit."

"Why? You let Will do that! This isn't fair!" I whined.

Dad calmly reasoned with me. "I know we let Will do that once. Don't you remember how that turned out? That time you saw Will having sex with Cheryl is why you can't have a girl over. I don't want Andy or Lizzie getting an eye full from you and your girlfriend."

I asked, "Can I invite Eddie over?"

"You can do that, Kyle."

"OK. Do I get paid for babysitting?"

"Yes. We'll pay you twenty dollars for the evening."

Babysitting Andy and Lizzie wasn't real hard. I made them supper. Andy spent the evening in his room on his computer, as usual. Lizzie had a neighbor friend, Davey Mitchell, over after dinner. They headed to the basement to watch cartoons.

I enjoyed watching BC beat Pittsburgh in a late afternoon game. Sam Hayes played spectacularly. Zack's style at quarterback really reminded me of his older brother. When the game was over, I went to the basement to check on Lizzie and Davey.

When I got to the bottom of the steps, I heard Lizzie say, "Why is your pee pee stiff?"

Davey answered, "I don't know. It just does that sometimes. Can I touch you, Lizzie?"

I turned the corner at the bottom of the steps and got an eye full. My little sister was standing in front of Davey, stark naked. David was facing her, his little pecker sticking straight out from his naked body.

Lizzie turned, looked at me and exclaimed, "Kyle!" Davey dove for his clothes and started dressing immediately. Lizzie started to cry.

"Please don't cry, Lizzie, just get dressed," I asked.

When Lizzie and Davey were fully clothed I said, "Please sit down. I want to talk to you." When they were seated, I continued, "You are too young to be doing things like you were doing. A girl and boy getting naked is something you do when you're older. It's for boyfriends and girlfriends not ten year old kids like you."

"Davey is a boy and he is my friend," Lizzie declared.

"Yeah, and Lizzie is my best friend in the world," Davey said.

I explained, "No, you aren't getting it. Davey do you kiss Lizzie on the lips?"

"Ewww! No, I don't want cooties!" Davey said.

"Heh! I don't have cooties!" Lizzie insisted.

I smiled. "Exactly what I expected you to say. When I said girlfriend and boyfriend, I meant the kind that kiss and hug and stuff. You guys are too young for a serious romance."

Davey asked, "Have you gotten naked with a girl?"

I hesitated and finally decided to tell the truth. "Yes. My first time seeing a naked girl and having her see me was last week. I still haven't decided if I'm old enough to be doing that. You two definitely need to wait a few years."

Lizzie asked, "Are you going to tell Mom and Dad about this, Kyle?"

"No, as long as you two promise you won't do this again. Is that a promise?" I asked.

Davey and Lizzie both agreed. I said, "Davey, I think it's time for you to go home. Good night."

This was a wonderful experience for me. Trying to explain sex without saying the word to two ten year olds. I'm glad I wasn't a parent. I was glad when Mom and Dad got home.

Our seventh game was going to be our biggest regular season game of the year. We played perennial powerhouse Central. At least it was a home game.

A couple days before our showdown with Central, I had a midnight visitor.

"Kyle! Kyle, wake up. Kyle!"

I woke up from my brother Andy shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes. It was pitch black. I stared at my clock until my eyes focused. I exclaimed, "Andy, it's 1:30 in the morning. What do you want?"

"Kyle, something is wrong with me. I need your help."

"What's wrong, Andy?"

"I made a mess in my bed."

"Did you wet yourself?"

Hesitantly Andy answered, "No. It's in my pajamas. It's sticky white stuff. Is something wrong with me?"

I smiled. "No, Andy. You're fine. That white stuff is sperm. It just means you're starting to grow up. What do you remember?"

"I was having a really nice dream and suddenly I woke up and my gut felt funny. My pajamas were wet and sticky. What happened to me?"

"It's called a wet dream. You'll have more of them from now on."

"Has this ever happened to you, Kyle?"

"Yes, many times. It's normal."

"Can I make it stop?"

"Sort of. Your body is getting rid of sperm that you don't need. It has to go somewhere. Do you jerk off, Andy?"

"Um, yeah. Sure, I do that." Andy answered hesitantly. I looked at him. He shuffled his feet a little and stared at the floor. Then Andy looked back at me and said, "I don't know what jerking off is. Some of the guys at school joke about it. What is it, Kyle?"

"Have you ever played with your dick, Andy?"

"Once in a while when I'm taking a bath."

"Did it feel really good?"

"Yes, sometimes."

"When you rub and play with your dick and make it shoot cum, uh, your sperm, that's called jerking off. It feels really good. It'll help you stop the wet dreams. At least it does for me. I haven't had one for almost a year."

"How often do I need to jerk off to make them stop?"

"I don't know, Andy. I jerk off once or twice a day. It helps."

Andy's eyes opened wide in amazement. "That often?"

"I do. Try it tomorrow. It feels really good. You'll see. Why don't you go to the bathroom and clean yourself up. Then get a clean pair of pajamas and go back to bed. OK?"

"OK. Thanks for talking with me, Kyle. Good Night."

"Good Night, Andy."

I went back to sleep. The next morning while Andy and I were walking to the bus stop, he told me, "I tried jerking off this morning during my shower. It felt really cool. I shot sperm and everything."

"That's cool, Andy." I patted him on the back. "You'll be a real teenager in a few months."

"I know, in three months." We changed the subject when we joined the crowd of kids at our bus stop.

Chapter 25

Friday morning, I pulled my football jersey on. Today was the big day. Our team was 7-0. Tonight we faced our biggest rivals, Central. Our team had lost the previous ten games to them. They had two state championships and numerous section titles. This year they weren't quite as strong as usual. They were 6-1. Everyone sat around nervously checking equipment, trying to calm our nerves.

Indian summer had returned. The temperatures were in the mid 60's. It was a beautiful fall evening. We finally went out to warm up. Central was doing the same at the opposite side of the field. I looked over at them. They didn't look so special. But I knew better. They had made the playoffs for twenty-three years in a row. I noticed one of the players running up and down along the sideline. It was Trent Wilson, my canoe partner from summer camp. I trotted over to greet my friend, and now my rival.

"Hey, Trent. Good to see you. I didn't know you played football."

"I've been playing most of my life. I'm surprised to see you here. You don't look much like a football player."

I said, "I'm a wide receiver. How about you?"

"I'm a corner back."

"I guess I'll see you on the field some."

"Yep, probably. Good luck, Kyle. But not too much luck. We plan to kick your butts."

"Good luck, Trent ... and we will see who kicks whose butt." I shook his hand and headed back to our team.

I looked in the stands. They were filled to overflowing. The crowd was boisterous. I spotted my cheering section. Will and Abby had taken the train home from Penn this afternoon so they could attend the game. They were sitting with Justin and Sherry. Jon and Amy Miller sat with them too. My parents, Andy, Lizzie and my friend Eddie Fritz completed my cheering section. I gave them a wave as we took the field. I had heard that Eddie's JV team had lost to Central's JV team in the last seconds of the game earlier in the afternoon.

Our team won the coin toss. Our kick returner did a great job. We got the ball on our 40 yard line. Coach decided to give Central a taste of my speed on the first play. He signaled for Zack to send me on a streak for the corner post. The play isn't anything fancy. Just pure speed. When we broke huddle, I lined up on the right side. I looked up. There was Trent a yard away from me.

"I guess we'll see a lot of each other tonight won't we?" Trent asked with a big smile.

"Sure looks that way."

On the snap, Trent tried to jam me at the line. I sidestepped his move and ran flat out down the field. I took a quick glance back at the five yard line to find where the ball was. Trent was nowhere to be seen. I pulled the ball in to my chest when it dropped into my outstretched hands. Touchdown!

My team mobbed me to congratulate me. As I walked by Trent on the way to our bench he said, "Enjoy that one, Martin. It's going to be your only one."

"We'll see, Trent. We'll see."

Central received the ball. The team was well coached and well disciplined. They mounted a fourteen play drive that pushed our defense down to our goal line. Then they punched the ball in to tie the score.

When our offense took the field, we found out that Central made an immediate adjustment to counter me. They kept the free safety deep on my side and put Trent short to cover me. I didn't do nearly as well after they made this adjustment. I caught a few passes, but nothing long. Mike did manage to make some good catches on his side of the field. Stan and the offensive line made good yardage on the ground. We pushed Central back inside the red zone (inside the 20 yard line).

Zack called a play where I go in motion from my right side spot, cross behind the offensive line and turn to run a crossing pattern just as the ball is snapped. Central defensive backs frantically called out adjustments to cover me. Trent slid over quickly so he could cover me. The ball snapped before Trent was in position. Our tight end, Greg Harrison, lined up on my end of the line this time. He ran a 4 yard deep route just behind their linebackers. I ran five yards down field, turned, and sprinted for the far corner post. Greg picked Trent off as he adjusted to follow me. No, that's not right. Picks are illegal, but Trent got tangled up with Greg anyway and I was open. Zack fired a bullet that hit me squarely in the chest as I crossed the goal line. No penalty flags. We made the PAT. Score: 14-7 Wolverines.

Central took the ball back with 3 minutes left in the half. They drove our defense down the field. Our defense stiffened when the field got shorter. Andy Groff, our star defensive end stunted and flew past his blocker on a pass play. Central's quarterback had to run for his life. Ed Potts, the other defensive end chased the QB back towards Andy. They finally caught him for a 15 yard loss with the sack. It took Central almost out of field goal range. They were forty-five seconds left when they tried a 42 yard field goal. They had a good kicker. He drove the ball straight towards the center of the goal post. Our luck held. The ball bounced off the bottom bar. No good! Our crowd roared its approval.

Our offense lined up quickly, to try to see what we could make of the time. On the first play I ran a streak down the sideline. I pulled three defensive backs with me. This left Mike in single coverage. Mike beat his guy for a 22 yard gain. The ball was on our 43 yard line. The ball was close enough that Zack could get me the ball close to the end zone. We took two shots down the field, but Central was playing prevent defense. I couldn't get free of the coverage. On the final play before the half, Zack was almost sacked by Central. He managed to throw the ball out to Stan, his safety outlet. Stan ran the ball ahead a few yards before he was tackled. We let time run out after that.

We went into the locker room proud but tired. Coach Caffrey talked to us about how hard we had worked this summer and fall. He called for us to give 110 percent for another half. We could really beat Central! We were psyched.

Central took the second half kickoff. They methodically moved the ball down the field, three or four yard gains on every play. Our defense stubbornly contested every yard, waiting for Central to make a mistake. They didn't make any. It took them fifteen plays, but they stuffed the ball in our end zone. Score: 14-14

Our offense took the field, the ball on our 25 yard line. Central made our life difficult. I was sent on a few deep routes. I was double and tripled covered every time. Stan made some good yardage running and Mike caught a couple passes. We managed to move up to Central's 14 yard line. We had three shots at their goal line from there, but we couldn't put the ball in. Finally on fourth down, our kicker made a 32 yard field goal. Score: 17-14 Wolverines.

Our kick off went deep, but their returner decided to take it out anyway. He made it to the 17 yard line before he was clocked by one of our cover guys. Central was going to have to march a long way to score.

Central started another one of their patented grind-it-out drives. Slowly, patiently, they pushed our defense back into sight of our goal line. Central used a play action fake to freeze our safeties. The QB threw a fade to the wide receiver in the corner of the end zone. Score: 21-17 Central!

We took over the ball, but couldn't do much with it. At most we made a couple first downs before we had to punt. Our defense stiffened and Central couldn't get their offense going either. The game went this way almost to the end of the fourth quarter.

We got the ball back on our 22 yard line with 2:05 left to play. Zack mixed up the running and passing brilliantly. I ran deep routes, but I was always covered. Mike managed to catch three passes. Stan was doing well at running the ball. We pushed down to Central's 29 yard line. We were running out of time. 18 seconds remained. Zack called a play action pass. He faked the hand off to Stan. I watched as Central's free safety go for the fake. He made a step towards the line of scrimmage. I started down the field. Five yards down, I faked a hitch with a stutter step. Trent bought it and took a step towards the sideline.