Chapter 36: Two Tackles and One Lick

Miss Baker remained interested in the football game until the third quarter when she began quizzing me about my accommodations at home. I got the impression that she had used her knowledge of the game to gain my confidence. By the fourth quarter she was really grilling me, wanting to know if I was receiving adequate care and if I were afraid my sister's friends would retaliate.

I told Miss Baker that I had no complaints, that I found my living conditions adequate and that I had not given any thought to what my sister's friends might do. Our team was behind by a score of twenty-three to ten and I would have preferred to watch the game but Miss Baker seemed more interested in questioning me regarding my welfare than why our team was losing the game. I was only half listening to her.

"Sammy, if it becomes unbearable at home you can call me at any time," she said, handing me a business card with a telephone number written on the back. I was paying more attention to why our defense was not stopping the run up the middle but I did hear Miss Baker mention Judge Slocum's name more than once, making me wonder if it was the Judge's idea for her to befriend me.

My attention was divided between the game and Miss Baker, but there was something else interfering with my concentration. Every so often I heard Becky's voice above the crowd. Her high-pitched plea was familiar, very similar to her cries for help at the pond that day in July 1985. I turned my head to see a pained look or her face and Freddy looking pleased with himself. The girl's appeal was seemingly going unnoticed by Bobby and Sid, who were sitting next to Freddy.

"Don't interfere," Miss Baker warned as I got to my feet.

"Move over," I said to Bobby. He resisted complying with my order but only for the moment it took for him to see the urgency in my eyes. I sat down next to Freddy. He gave me a what-the-fuck look.

"Come sit next to me Becky," I said. She shook her head.

"She ain't moving," Freddy said a defiant tone in his voice.

I clamped my right hand over his thigh, just above the knee. "Becky, come sit next to me," I said again, digging my fingers into the sides of Freddy's leg. Becky, seeing the terror in Freddy's eyes, jumped up and moved to my other side.

"Let me go," Freddy pleaded through gritted teeth.

I released my hold on his leg. "Move over," I ordered.

"Fuck you," he said, not budging but when I patted his knee he moved to the seat vacated by Becky. I moved too, motioning for Becky to sit down next to me. Bobby, who had been displaced, stood watching us.

"Take a walk," I said to Bobby and he obeyed without question.

"I'll make you pay for that. It's none of your business what I do with my girl," Freddy threatened.

"No she's not. I just took her from you," I said, patting his knee again and watching him squirm.

"Wow, man. You got some balls doing that to Freddy," Sid said. The compliment was meant well, but it struck me as too little too late.

"It's something you should have done a long time ago, Sid," I said to him. I gave Freddy another pat on the knee before getting up.

"Don't let him get by with treating you that way Becky. You deserve better."

I went back to take my seat next to Miss Baker. "Sammy, I hope you're not making more enemies than you can handle," she said. I looked back to make sure Freddy wasn't misbehaving again and saw that Sid had taken the seat between Freddy and Becky. Freddy was concentrating on the football game and Becky was glancing over at me, a stunned look in her eyes.

Miss Baker reemphasized her offer that I could call her at home if trouble arose. She stopped her car in front of my house, shutting off the engine like she had more to say. I assured her I would be okay and opened the door.

"Please wait Sammy. I have another question," she said, turning her body toward me. I closed the door and sat back in my seat, obediently waiting for her question.

"I saw you talking to a girl. What did she want? Was it something that I need to know about?"

"Do you mean something Judge Slocum needs to know about?" I asked, accusingly.

"Not at all Sammy. I'm not spying on you. You can trust me."

"She wants me to take her to a dance next week. That's all," I said.

"How well do you know her? Does she come from a good family?"

"I don't even know her name but I assume she comes from a good family," I said. Judging from the clothes the girl wore to school she came from a good family. That's all I had to go on. I didn't care if she came from a good family or not. From all appearances she was nice looking and popular with the other kids.

"Sammy, I have to ask you something personal. I hope you don't think me too forward. Are you sexually active?"

Watching her was the funniest thing I had seen in a long time. Her head was down and she was nervously wringing her hands.

"Yes ma'am," I said, just to see how she would react. Her head shot up and there was fright in her eyes, pure fright like I had seen in Becky's eyes that day at the pond and earlier that night when she was begging Freddy to stop tormenting her.

"Just how do you mean that? Have you been with more that one girl or just one girl multiple times?"

"I guess you could say both," I answered.

"You've been with two girls?"

"More," I said.

"More that two girls?" She asked her voice faint.

"Yes ma'am."

"Sammy, I don't mean to pry but are you saying you've had... are you saying... would that be... Sammy, I don't know how to put it delicately. Have you had actual sexual intercourse with a female?"

"Yes ma'am," I said, really enjoying Miss Baker's reluctance to ask me what she wanted to know.

"My God, Sammy! What kind of women were they?" Miss Baker asked her voice raspy like she was having trouble breathing.

"They're all very nice. Well, except Paula. She wasn't so nice to me."

"Was she your first? This Paula, did she mistreat you?"

"No ma'am. Paula was my second and she didn't mistreat me."

"Perhaps we should start from the beginning. Tell me everything. Then we'll sort out what's troubling you and deal with each occurrence."

"Nothing's troubling me. There's nothing that needs to be dealt with." What did she want from me?

"Let me be the judge of that. You're going to have to tell me everything Sammy. That's the only way I can help you."

"Miss Baker, we have a curfew, even on weekends. I have to go in now," I said, opening the car door.

"Alright Sammy, you can go. We'll take this up on our next meeting." I got out of her car and Miss Baker drove away.

The kitchen table had been cleared of the debris and the kitchen was in fairly good order. I knocked on Heather's door but there was no answer. I slept through the night undisturbed and felt refreshed when I got up. Both my mother and sister had come in without disturbing me so I left the house without disturbing them either.

Mr. Olsen greeted me with a warm handshake. "Did you play last night?" He asked.

"No Sir. I didn't get to dress for the game but I was there. It was pretty bad."

"What are the chances you'll play next week?"

"Not good. The coach doesn't even know I exist," I said, feeling depressed about the prospects of me playing at all, unless it was with the B team. There were two B team games scheduled for later in the season, but I had been warned that interest in those games was low and only parents of the players would be in attendance.

Mr. Olsen produced a small oval-shaped object. "I thought you would be interested in seeing this. It's the thing that caused me to lose control of my truck that day," he said. The burr was about three-quarters of an inch long by a half-inch in diameter. I held it in my hand and felt the sharp spikes sticking out of all sides.

"This is the thing that changed my life," I said, more to myself than to Mr. Olsen. He seemed to understand what I was saying. "If it were not for this little burr I would probably be in a reform school. That's how the dominos were bound to fall," I said to Mr. Olsen. We both smiled. He must have thought I was being overly dramatic but to me, I was stating a fact.

That afternoon Heather tried to engage me in a conversation, asking about the house and the people where I lived. I gave her a very brief description of the house and the people who had become my family. I told her that I was only there on weekends, preferring to talk about the military school and my classmates.

"Can I borrow some money?" She asked, getting to the subject she really wanted to talk about.

"Sure. How much do you need?" I said, happy to be finished with her questions about my year away from home.

"Can you spare twenty, just until payday, mind you?"

I opened my footlocker and found a twenty-dollar bill while Heather looked on. "Here you go," I said, reinserting the combination lock in the hasp and snapping it closed.

"I'll pay you back on payday," she said, taking the money and heading for her room, our conversation over. Heather went out that night and was very quiet when she came home. The weekend was uneventful and I decided that Heather's friends were not going to cause me any more trouble. I wrote letters to Alice, Suzanne, all three Baldwin sisters; Charlie and Russell, telling the funny things that I saw at school and football practice, omitting the disappointment I felt about my home life and Miss Baker's insistence that I tell her everything about my sexual encounters. Alice would be the only one to see humor in the childcare worker's curiosity about my sexual encounters. My discovery about the cocklebur that changed my life would be better told in person.

Freddy didn't show up at school on Monday. I had lunch in the cafeteria with Sid, Becky and Bobby.

"What did Gina want to talk to you about at the game?" Becky asked me.

"We're going to the dance on Saturday night," I said, assuming Gina was the name of the girl who had asked me to take her to the dance.

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," Becky said with Sid watching closely.

"She seemed nice to me," I said, wondering what she could be talking about.

"Be careful. She's Kelly's girl. They were an item last year, but now he's gone to college. She's using you because she thinks you're a lowly sophomore and she'll be safe with you."

"She's right," I laughed. "I'll keep her safe."

I got a chance to talk to Gina before biology class, but she acted as if she didn't want to be seen with me. She said she would arrange for transportation. "Do you have something decent to wear?"

She must have found out where I live, I thought. I assured her that I would dress appropriately and she dismissed me, saying she would see me on Saturday night.

A tall kid with a hairy chest approached me in the shower after practice. Without introducing himself he told me Gina and I would be riding with him and his date Saturday night. "We'll go parking after the dance. Don't try anything with Gina, okay? Bev won't do it if she hears Gina fighting you off, got it?"

I found out his name was Kenneth Stewart and he played tight end. Becky became my source for social information, informing me who was dating whom, who just broke up and who to stay away from. She told me Kenneth was a senior, had a 1980 two-door Olds and started dating Bev, another senior, over the summer. Bev and Gina were best friends and that's why I was privileged to have a ride to the dance with Kenneth.

"Is Gina a senior too?" I asked.

"Now you're beginning to catch on, Gina's taking you to the dance for appearance sake. That way she gets to go to the dance but it won't look like she's really on a date or anything."

"Are you guys going to the dance?" I asked, looking at Sid and then to Becky. They looked at each other and then at me, giving me the impression they had not even thought about going together before I mentioned it.

Gina hardly acknowledged my existence in biology class for the rest of the week and Kenneth Stewart didn't speak to me until we were on the bus, heading for the game on Friday night. "Hey kid, remember what I told you. Stay in the back seat and be quiet. I don't want Bev thinking Gina's in any trouble, understand?"

I sat by myself on the bus; glad to be there but wondering if I would ever fit in. Coach Nelson had called my name after practice on Thursday, telling me to sit at the end of the bench and be ready in case I was needed. Coach Thomas patted me on the back and wished me good luck but all the other players were on their way to the shower and I don't think they knew I was making the trip with them. Hell, I had not even practiced with the varsity.