Chapter 52: Mrs. Ford and Colleen

Orville came to work early on Monday so he could run with us. For a big man, he was light on his feet and comfortable running at the pace I set for Josh. I could tell that Orville thought I was being too rough on Josh.

"Cromwell is a football school. We only practice two hours per day but the other twenty-two hours we eat, sleep and dream about football. First and foremost, Cromwell is a military school. Josh is going to get more crap thrown at him during his first two weeks than you can imagine. I'm just trying to make him as prepared as possible because once we're there, I'm not going to be able to wipe his nose," I said to Orville that afternoon while we were lifting.

"He looks up to you," Orville observed.

"He was just showing off because you were there," I said. Josh had outdone himself that morning, running farther than ever before. He had also lain the 'Yes, Sir' and 'No, Sir, ' on pretty thick. "He was trying to impress you with how much he's learned."

Orville was intrigued with the football program at Cromwell. Each day as we worked out together he wanted to know more about the coaching techniques. I told him about the monitors above tables in the cafeteria, how we studied practice film after dinner and listened to the coaches' critique. I also told him about the spring football program and the makeup of the teams.

"With the emphasis placed on football you would think that we would be good but that's not the case. Everyone is required to practice football their first year and that's why it's important that Josh gets into shape. If he wants to opt out of football his second year he can join the band and march around the field instead of practicing. Seniors who don't make the varsity can join the film crew or the school newspaper staff. But everyone else plays, without exception."

Orville offered to show me some of the linebacker drills that his school practiced and I asked if Josh could be included in the drills. The three of us ran together on weekday mornings and went to a high school football field on Saturday mornings for Orville to take us through the drills. Mrs. Ford didn't like it very much that Josh was going off with us instead of spending time with her on one of her days off but she bought the football pads anyway. She later came to appreciate the drills when Josh fell asleep early on Saturday night.

On Wednesday, Josh invited me to come to their home on Saturday night to play chess, saying that his mother had agreed to the invitation. I wondered if she may have even suggested that Josh needed more exposure to chess. Was she inclined to reverse her decree to never have sex with me? Even if that were the case and she was keeping her distance from me we would be in the same room and I would have the opportunity to view her softness. There was also the possibility that she would wear the short skirt to signal that I would be permitted to investigate her softness after we put her son to bed. Either way, I looked forward to spending the evening in their home. I told Josh that I would teach him how to put a mirror finish on his shoes while we played chess.

With my various activities and full schedule I was finding it difficult to work on my reading list. Every time I looked up, Josh was there. I don't know what he did while I was at the office but it soon became clear to me that Mrs. Ford was using me as an unpaid companion to her son. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, Josh was there waiting for me to resume his training. On Thursday afternoon, my day to work with Orville, Josh was there, keeping me company and when Orville and I left the park to workout, Josh watched us leave, a forlorn look on his face.

I found myself introducing him to my friends. Paula spotted us one afternoon and came over to watch us do sit-ups for a few minutes before she spoke. She said she would be heading off for her first year of college, which according to her was going to be the most exhilarating experience of her life. "I suppose you heard about Grace leaving us?" She asked. I admitted that I had not heard, reminding her that I had been away. "Daddy blames me. He says I was mean to her," Paula said.

"Stay away from her. She's trouble," I said to Josh after Paula left us. He looked at me as if he would obey me, even though he didn't understand the meaning of my warning.

We played doubles with the Baldwin sisters, me pairing off with Jeanie and Josh partnering with Cindy and then Jessica. Jeanie and I won both matches but when the two older sisters teamed up against us they beat us soundly.

"I think they still like you," Josh confided in me later. I don't know what he had heard about the Baldwin sisters and me but I wasn't going to add to it in case he went home and told his mother everything he picked up.

"They have boyfriends," I said in an attempt to defuse his suspicions. They all spoke of their boyfriends at every opportunity. Jessica's boyfriend was an older 'man' she had met at college. Cindy's boyfriend was a neighborhood kid that, according to her, French-kissed better than anyone she had ever been with. Jeanie was the only one that mentioned her boyfriend by name. He was one of the new members of room three C, someone I had not met although I had played a part in their meeting, having written to Charlie to get him to recruit dance partners for her. Jeanie must have forgotten about me writing Charlie on her behalf because she never gave me credit for playing cupid.

Colleen showed up at the park one day and took a seat on one of the benches near where I was weeding a flowerbed. I knew she saw me and she knew that I was aware that she was sitting there, eyeing me. "Come on, I want you to meet someone," I said to Josh. Colleen stiffened when she saw us walking toward her but her expression changed when we got near enough for her to see the mud on my knees.

"You're filthy!" She exclaimed, moving her head when I bent to kiss her on the cheek.

"And you're pregnant," I said in return, abandoning my attempt to kiss her.

She looked at Josh and bristled for a second before smiling. "How observant you are," she said, a near-smile crossing her face. "But you're still filthy."

I laughed. "My helper turned on the water and got the place where I was working too muddy," I said, looking at Josh, who was watching us closely, not sure what to make of our exchange. "Colleen, this is Josh. He's going to attend the military academy with me. Josh, this is Colleen. She's in college."

They exchanged nods. I gave Josh credit for recognizing that Colleen wasn't going to talk with him there. He wandered off and I sat down next to her, careful to not get too close because she was right; I was filthy.

Colleen was five months into her pregnancy, her parents were furious and her brother wasn't speaking to her. The boy, she admitted that she had a weakness for younger men, had been a freshman. She wasn't sure how it happened but now that it had, she was determined to keep the baby, even if her parents advised her to do differently. She planned to return to school, eventually but not in the fall.

"Was the sex good?" I asked. What made me ask that? It was just something to say, I thought, not giving a shit whether the sex was good or not.

Colleen looked at me with disdain, thinking, I'm sure, the same thing I had thought, 'what made me ask that?' But then she brightened. "It was the best," she said dreamily.

I smiled, happy for her, something she mistook for smugness on my part. "Oh, Sammy, what happened between us was my fault. You were gentle; I was to blame for what happened."

She must have thought I was fishing for a reason to shift the blame. That was not the case. "I've got to get back to work," I said, rising to my feet and looking around to see where Josh had disappeared. Colleen got up too.

"Thank you for talking to me, Sammy. I could use a friend right now," she said, tipping her lips upward to be kissed.

"Come back any time. I'm here most afternoons, except Tuesday," I said and watched her smile before walking away. Josh came skipping back to my side and followed my eyes to Colleen's ass.

"Did you do it with her?" He asked and I looked at him, trying to appear shocked.

"That's not something gentlemen talk about," I said dismissively.

"Did you do it with the Baldwin sisters?"

"Your mom's going to chew me out for letting you get so dirty," I said, looking at his muddy knees, hoping he would drop his line of questioning.

"She won't know. I'll go home and shower before she gets home from work," he said, confidently. And then he added, "She wouldn't say anything anyway if I told her that you got dirty too. She doesn't object to anything I do as long as I tell her it was your idea."

That was interesting. I prodded him to tell me more about his mother, keeping my questions on a level of casual interest. After his father' death, Mrs. Ford and her son had moved to the neighborhood in order to be near her parents, who lived a few miles away. Josh told me that his mother wanted to be near enough to look after them and to receive help from them when she needed it but not so close that her parents interfered with her and Josh's lives.

On Saturday morning Orville drove us in his beat-up car to the football field. Josh was the only one wearing pads and a helmet but after colliding with Orville a few times I decided I would wear my pads the following week. Orville wore a whistle, which he used to alert us to change positions while performing a sidestepping exercise. I don't think Josh knew one position from another but he heard Orville and I talk about linebacker so much that he decided that he wanted to be a linebacker too. Orville worked us hard for three hours and I was ready for a nap. But I didn't say anything, hoping that Josh wouldn't get the idea to imitate me.

Just before I left for the Ford residence I wrote a letter to my mother, specifically asking if she had heard from Becky and if Mom had delivered my letter to her. I considered mentioning the impending adoption but couldn't think of a way to tell my mother about it.

Mrs. Ford was wearing Bermuda shorts and a halter when I arrived, a clear indication that she was being true to her word; no sex for Sammy. We took our places in the den, Josh and I sitting on opposite sides of a small table with the chess board set up between us and Mrs. Ford in the chair behind me. We played chess and worked on our shoes, talking about everything from the drills Orville had shown us to the importance of pawns in the game we were playing to how much water to squeeze out of your cotton spit-shining ball to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If Mrs. Ford was listening to us, she didn't correct us or add anything to the conversation. By not saying anything, she gave me no reason to turn around and look at her.

As the night wore on and Josh showed no sign that fatigue was overtaking him I wondered if he had taken a nap that afternoon. Mrs. Ford's silence was driving me wild with desire to turn and gaze at her softness. I couldn't take it any longer. I turned in my chair and looked at her, catching her off guard. She was looking at me, her knitting needles idle.

"Mrs. Ford, I noticed you're not wearing a skirt like you wore last week. Is there a reason why you're not wearing a skirt?"