Chapter 24: Early Friday Evening

I climbed into the front bus and handed Professor Greenall the letter from Dad. Then I dropped myself into an empty seat two rows behind her and propped my science book open on my lap. The letter basically said that Dad gave permission for me to ride on the college booster buses to and from the game and made Professor Greenall my chaperone for the bus rides. It’s one of the downsides of being a kid. There are so many stupid rules you have to keep following to do anything interesting. I mean I’m allowed to ride a city bus anytime I want, I can audit a college class and nobody raises an eyebrow, but I’m not allowed to ride on a college bus without a permission note and a chaperone. Go figure!

Other people were getting onto the bus, mostly college students, and chatting cheerfully as they made their way down the aisle and chose seats for themselves. I mostly ignored them and scanned over the pages of my science book. It really was straightforward stuff. I was annoyed with myself for not having remembered it properly during that test. I guess I had an excuse though. It puzzled me that my brain could normally understand and remember these things without any problem, but when things got a bit weird around home and in my life, suddenly it betrayed me and went all haywire.

Hopefully I was done getting shocks like that. I couldn’t imagine anything else that I could ever learn would be as surprising as the things I’d learnt this week about my mother and myself.

A couple of young guys climbed onto the bus and handed a note to Professor Greenall. One of them was about a year older than me, the other one a couple of years younger. I’d seen them at games before, but steered clear of them. The way they acted together, I was pretty sure they were brothers. The older boy saw me sitting on my own and pushed his brother into the seat opposite mine so he could sit across the aisle from me. The younger boy was making farting sounds with his mouth. The older one leered at me, checking out my legs and making no attempt to hide the fact that he was thinking disgusting thoughts about me.

I ignored him and went back to my science book. That didn’t last for long. There was a thump beside me and suddenly he was sitting right next to me. He sidled right up beside me and draped one arm over my shoulders.

“Hey, you’re Becky, right? I’m Marvin. You and me should be friends.”

“I don’t think so.” I grabbed his hand, which was dangling dangerously close to my boob – and yes it was on the side where I did have a boob – and dragged his arm off me. I dropped his hand in his own lap before focusing back on my book. Half unconsciously, I raised one hand and gripped the lump on my chest where Nana’s locket lay against my skin. The solid weight of it drove away any doubts I had about my ability to fend off this lecherous jerk.

“Aw, don’t be like that.” He reached out and this time put his hand on my knee, squeezing it and using his fingers to stroke my skin. Then he started to slide his hand up my leg. I grabbed his pinky finger in my fist and bent it back until his hand came up off my knee. The creep cried out in alarm as he realized I could easily hurt him badly like that. Dan had once shown me how to do this. He warned me not to do it too fast or too hard unless I wanted to break the guy’s finger. The good thing, Dan had told me, was that I could do this against a bigger person and it would still work. This jerk wasn’t much bigger than me but it worked like a charm.

While the creep was focused on what I was doing to his hand I suddenly rammed my whole body sideways – effectively doing a hip and shoulder slam right into his side. I know I’m a girl, and I’m a bit smaller than him, but I’m not fragile. I play a lot of sports, and girls’ basketball isn’t really a gentle sport. I’ve also been wrestling with Dan and Tara since I was ... well, since forever. What I’m trying to say is that when I say I slammed into him as hard as I could, it wasn’t a little girly bump. Marvin squawked as he flew sideways off the bench seat. Then he dropped onto his ass on the floor of the aisle with a very satisfying thump. Fortunately, the little arm rest on the seat had been folded up, or that move wouldn’t have worked nearly as well.

I kept sliding sideways to occupy the aisle seat, and leaned over so I could hiss in his ear. “If you lay another finger on me, I’ll break it off. Do we have an understanding?”

Marvin glared at me from his position on the floor. He was wringing his hand where I’d bent his finger and was looking pretty unhappy. I glared right back until, after a moment, he looked away. Then he sulkily hauled himself back into his original seat. His brother had watched him all this time and laughed at Marvin as he slunk back to his own seat. Marvin growled something and the laugh disappeared from the brother’s face like it had been wiped away with a washcloth.

I looked forward in time to see Professor Greenall turn back. She’d obviously turned around to see what the disturbance was and had decided she didn’t need to interfere. While I was looking, the last few people climbed onto the bus, including a boy a year or so older than me. He handed a note to Professor Greenall and dropped into the seat directly behind her and in front of me.

Lance Jenkins was the brother of the captain. He was blond and blue-eyed and very athletic. I figured he would be playing high school football himself in a year or so. He and I had been introduced once and since then we’d kind of nodded to each other or said “hi” every time we saw each other at a game.

As the bus pulled out of the parking lot, I thought about Dan’s suggestion that I should practice talking to boys and being friendly to them. It seemed to me that since Lance and I were both stuck on this bus for a little while, it was a good opportunity for me to do that. Also if I sat next to Lance, then that might make Marvin leave me alone. The only problem with that plan was that last time I’d gone up and started talking to a boy I’d had Liz with me. This time I was all on my own. I hesitated for a bit, then grabbed my locket. I wasn’t on my own – I had Mom and Nana with me.

Probably looking a whole lot more confident than I really was, I stood up and slid into the seat next to Lance. We said “hi” to each other. I then hesitantly started talking to him about the upcoming game. He smiled at me and responded. Soon we were chatting away. We talked about the game and about our brothers. I found out that he was a freshman at his high school. He played baseball in spring and junior varsity football in fall and was hoping to make both the varsity football and baseball teams next year.

He found out that I was in middle school and he didn’t immediately start treating me like a kid, so I figured he got points for that. He found out that I played basketball and I liked art and was good at math and science. He said he wasn’t so good at those subjects but that he did okay. It was nice talking to him. I didn’t feel as if I was under any pressure to, like, make a lasting friendship with him or anything. After all we probably would never see each other again after this evening. So it was nice talking to him.

One thing I found out about from Lance was that tonight’s game was important to both schools for an entirely unexpected reason. Apparently the two schools had a special connection going – particularly between their sports teams. It started about five years before when a boy from our area, who was a pretty good football player, had moved right after high school and ended up attending their college. He and his high school sweetheart had kept up their relationship, driving back and forth to see each other as often as they could. His girlfriend had gone to our school (I mean my brother’s school) and was a cheerleader. Most of our team at the time had known this boy from high school, either from playing with him or against him.

A few days before the two teams were due to play each other, the two lovers had been killed in an auto accident. The game had been postponed. About half our college, including every single lettered student, had made the drive to attend the football player’s funeral. The locals had been pretty moved by that, and the following day a similar number of them had turned up at the cheerleader’s funeral. The following week, our team had a bye, so every player from our team, plus all the cheerleaders, had driven up and sat in the stands in their full uniforms to support their team. Their cheerleaders had invited our girls out to join them at half time and the combined group had done a couple of unrehearsed routines together.

When the postponed game was played midweek a couple of weeks later, it was standing room only in the bleachers. The two teams and the cheerleaders all mingled together and stood as one group while they had a minute’s silence for their dead friends. Ever since then, the two schools have maintained a very friendly rivalry on the field in all the different sports they compete in. They also support each other off the field in many different ways. For example, when our cheerleaders lost some equipment due to a fire, all their cheerleaders turned up and helped run the fundraising activities to replace the lost equipment. The two baseball teams got in on the act by taking turns hosting a friendly game each pre-season as a fundraiser for kids injured in auto accidents.

Remember these aren’t big, famous schools or anything. They’re two community colleges competing in third division competitions with whatever students happen to enroll. I listened to this story and decided that after hearing so much on TV about what was wrong with this country that it was nice to be reminded that there was a lot right with it as well.

I stood at the front of the bleachers, scanning for a good spot to sit. Then I spotted Pearl, Faith and Danielle all waving at me. I waved back to them and headed up the stairs to join them. Pearl had saved me a seat next to her. I said hi and found myself being given quick hugs and kisses by all three of them. I wasn’t expecting that after only having met them last night, but we had spent a lot of time together at the game and after it, so I guess we were kind of friends. Pearl offered to put my science book in her bag since I didn’t have anywhere else to put it. I’d planned to sit on it so I accepted gratefully. Pearl’s bag was a big one. It was crammed full with drinks and snacks and even a blanket in case she got cold.

We sat and leaned together so we could talk.

“You know the most fascinating thing happened at lunch time today,” said Pearl.

“Oh really? Do tell.” I responded, thinking this was an odd way to start a conversation.

“Well, there we were, minding our own business, when suddenly this mountain of a man was standing right beside our table.”

I nodded at her to get her to keep going, I still hadn’t figured out what this was about.

It was Faith who picked up the story though. “It seems a certain school jock had gotten sick of sitting with all the other jocks and wanted to sit with us.”

Okay, now I figured out what this was about. I’d actually forgotten!!

“It really was quite a surprise,” added Danielle. “I didn’t think the jocks even knew we existed. We decided this one was probably lost, or maybe a little bit cracked in the head. Why else would he want to sit with us?”

I giggled at that. “It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. You know those football types. They spend half their lives running head first into each other. That has to shake their brains around, at least a bit. Danielle, did this particular half-addled jock manage to remember that he was supposed to give you a message?”

Danielle gave me a warm, friendly smile. “He did manage to mumble something that sounded a bit like a message. I told him it really wasn’t necessary.”

I reached out a hand to her, leaning across Pearl to do so. Danielle gripped my hand in hers. “I really am sorry that I hurt you last night,” I said. “I could see how much it upset you. I wanted Dan to tell you because I didn’t know if I would see you again.”

She squeezed my hand, then let go. “Don’t worry about me. I get all emotional when I think about things like that, but these days I get over it fairly quickly.”

Faith nodded at me. “She really does. When I first met her, Danielle would get all miserable for days over every little thing. Nowadays, the small stuff doesn’t shake her at all and when she does get upset about something, she has a little cry then she’s over it and ready for something new.” The pride for her girlfriend was clear in everything she said.

Danielle turned and looked straight into Faith’s eyes. When she spoke, her voice was quiet – only just loud enough for me to hear. “It’s all thanks to you. I owe you so much.”

Then they kissed each other. It was gentle and passionate. The love between the two of them was obvious. It was beautiful. After a moment they broke off the kiss and cuddled together looking toward Pearl and me with smiles on their faces.

Pearl turned back to me. “Before we got sidetracked by that little display of schmaltz, we were talking about a certain football player sitting with us at lunchtime today. We didn’t finish telling you the story.”

“Oh really?” I raised my eyebrows at her.

“He suggested that I might like to come and watch the game this evening. Since you would be watching it on your own, he thought you might enjoy having me sit here with you.”

I smiled at her. “He can be sweet like that sometimes. Thanks for coming. It’s great sitting here with the three of you.”

“But she hasn’t told you the best part yet,” giggled Faith.

“Yes, indeed. For some strange reason, your brother invited me to go get some pizza with him after the game. It sounded suspiciously like a date.”

“Of course, she said yes,” broke in Danielle.

“Actually, I didn’t say anything of the sort. My friends took it upon themselves to say yes for me.” Pearl gave her friends a mock scowl. They laughed at her.

“What has me puzzled is why Dan would ever have asked me in the first place. I’m certainly nothing like the girls he usually dates. I was wondering if maybe you had anything to do with this.”

“Who me?” I said, trying to play innocent. “I would never! Dan doesn’t ask me for dating advice.”

“Is that so? When I wanted to know why he was asking me out, he said that I came highly recommended by someone whose opinion he had the greatest respect for. I kind of assumed that was you.”

“Well I might have dropped a subtle hint or two,” I admitted with a giggle. “And when I realized he wasn’t getting my hints, I might have thumped him with a baseball bat a couple of times. Just to get his attention, you understand?”

“I understand perfectly,” responded Pearl with a smile. “I don’t know what I’ve done to gain your support, but thank you.”

I shrugged. “It’s only pizza after the game. It’s up to you and Dan if it goes any further. If Dan likes you, you’ll know it. He doesn’t do subtle. He won’t pretend to like you simply to please me.”

“Okay, I can live with that.”

At that moment I saw a familiar figure walking along the path in front of the bleachers looking for a seat. It was Dad. I jumped out of my seat and waved at him. He didn’t see me, so I yelled out “Dad!” Several older guys sitting in the stands turned to look at me, then turned away. Lots of dads around apparently, but the one I wanted still hadn’t found me. In the end, I had to yell out “Peter Freeman” to get his attention. It felt really strange to yell his name like that, like I was another person instead of his daughter.

Dad finally heard me and came up the stairs to join me. He was still wearing his suit and tie from work, so I figured he must have driven straight here from the power station. The girls and I all crammed up a bit on the bench to make space for him to sit next to me. I told Dad I was happy to see him and he said he wasn’t sure if he was going to make it in time for the start of the game which is why I had to come by bus. I introduced my dad to the others and said they were friends of Dan from his school. Dad wanted to ask me about my day, but I quickly changed the subject to the basketball game we’d seen last night, because that way I could include the other girls in the conversation.

“Now what are those two up to?” said Dad, interrupting our conversation.

We looked in the direction he was looking and saw Dan and Al Jenkins, the team captain, walking along the front of the bleachers looking up into the crowd. They were both in their full game kit, except for their helmets. It was nearly time for the teams to run out onto the ground so they shouldn’t be out here walking around like they were. At that moment Dan saw us and pointed straight at us. He and Al then climbed up the steps towards us. As they came towards us, people in the crowd were calling out to them and they shook hands with quite a few people as they climbed the steps. A couple of college girls even gave them quick hugs, but the two boys quickly brushed them aside and headed towards us.

There were some quick hellos and handshakes and introductions – polite but rushed. Then Al looked directly at me.

“I hear that someone is having a birthday this Sunday.”

I nodded, wondering why he would take the time so close before a game to come and talk to me about that.

“Our normal water boy has mono and we don’t want to let him anywhere near our drinks. We asked around the team for suggestions and a few different guys suggested you. Kind of like a birthday thing, you know? From the team – to say happy birthday.”

“Huh?” I think I understood what he was saying, but I wanted him to say it again just before I made a complete idiot out of myself. Oh, wait. Maybe I did that by sounding stupid – damn.

“We want you to be our water boy for the game.”

“Uh, okay. I mean thanks. I’d love to. Um, thanks for thinking of me.”

“Well, come on. We need to show you your stuff and get you set up and we have to get back inside.”

“Sure.” I was trying to stay cool on the outside, but the inside of me was jumping up and down and screaming. I was going to be right at the edge of the field, in amongst the team, for the entire game!! OH MY GOD!!!

I turned to Pearl and her friends and muttered quick apologies. I felt bad because I’d promised to sit with them but now I wasn’t going to. They shushed me and told me to go enjoy myself.

Dad had stood up so I could get out. I leaned close to him and said in a whisper loud enough for everyone to hear, “Enjoy talking to the pretty girls, Dad. But keep your hands to yourself or I’ll tell Mum and then you’ll be in a world of trouble.”

Everyone laughed, even Dad. I like these people, they get my jokes.

I followed the two guys down the stairs to the front of the bleachers and then through the little gate out onto the grass. They introduced me to one of the assistant coaches then disappeared back into the rooms to rejoin their team. The assistant coach’s name was Arnie and he was trying to be nice but he seemed a bit stressed. He took me to the table where the drinks were waiting to be set up and ran through what I had to do. It was mostly set up already. I had to keep things organized during the game and have some filled cups waiting each time a group came off the field.

During all this time, the other school’s marching band had been parading around doing their thing. I hadn’t paid much attention to them. I guess I’d had more important things on my mind. What they did next grabbed my attention. They’d split into two equal groups and the group closest to our side of the field suddenly flipped their cloaks inside out and we saw they had our colors on the inside of their cloaks. Half their band had suddenly literally become turncoats. That half played a verse of our school song. That got enormous cheers from the bleachers behind me. Then the other half played a verse of their school song. Then they both started playing at the same time. I don’t know how they did it, but the two half-bands were playing the two school songs simultaneously and it all melded together into one piece of music. At the same time they all slowly marched back together until the whole band was together in the center of the field with alternating cloaks. All the time they were playing this weird mixture of the two school songs, and it never seemed to clash. The two tunes somehow supported and reinforced each other. By this time the entire crowd on both sides of the field were standing and clapping.

Then they did something even more amazing. A third tune appeared out of the middle of the melded music. I think it started with a single trumpet player, breaking free from the final verse of the two songs. Then others joined in and soon the new tune soared out over the closing phrases of the school songs. Without any noticeable transition, the entire band was playing the new tune. It was “America the Beautiful” and the entire crowd, already on their feet, started singing along with the band. It was awesome. It was mind-blowing. It sent shivers right through me. Dad always says you haven’t lived until you’ve stood in an English soccer stadium and heard the crowd singing. If what Dad’s talking about is anything more awesome than that then I don’t know if I’d be able to stand it.

And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!

As the last phrase rang out, the singing dissolved into cheering and whistling and clapping. The band stood perfectly still in the middle of the field as the crowd roared out its approval. There had been nothing subtle about the symbolism. It was in your face. I don’t think anyone could have missed it. Two schools joining together in brotherhood. As American as apple pie!

When the noise of the crowd started to die out, the band split again and moved towards each side of the field. The ones wearing cloaks with our colors came right over to our bleachers and to where our cheerleaders were already lined up waiting for our team to run out. The two bands then simultaneously played fanfares to announce the teams. This time, they didn’t meld. Each half played its own fanfare and they competed with each other, brash and loud, hurling their musical challenges across the field at their band mates on the other side. The cheerleaders were whirling and pom-pomming (is that a word?) and the roar of the crowd swelled again as the two teams ran out onto the field.

In most games the two teams keep away from each before the game starts, but this time every single player ran directly to the center of the field where they all started shaking hands with each other. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but there were quite a few slaps on shoulders and friendly greetings. Then they separated and it was all business from then on.

After all the usual preliminaries were finished, the officials blew their whistles and it was game-on.

Living in a house with Dan and Dad I thought I was used to being around big guys. Standing on the sidelines surrounded by the shifting numbers of footballers not currently on the field, I realized I was only half right. Dan is a big guy, but not the biggest on the team. Those linemen are like walking mountains. And with all the guys wearing their pads, that only makes them bigger. I felt like a midget standing amongst them. I felt like Gulliver must have done when he landed in the country of the giants. I’m not complaining by the way. I was thrilled to be there. It was like I was filled with bubbles that were pressing everywhere against the inside of my skin. It was all I could do to stop them from bursting out of me. It was all I could do stop from jumping up and down and shrieking like a little girl. I stood amongst these guys and tried to act cool. I doubt if I managed to hide my enormous grin though.

In the opening part of the game, nobody needed any drinks so I didn’t have anything to do but stand amongst these guys and hang out. They all knew me and knew why I was there so I got a lot of greetings and quite a few high fives. Mostly though, they were focused on the game. They were watching the plays, watching the opposition players, trying to pick where their problems would come from.

We had the kick off, so the first main set of plays was their offense driving up the field and our defense trying to stop them. The noise when two guys in pads and helmets hit each other is a bit scary. The noise when an entire line of scrimmage smashes into each other is even worse. I’d thought it was bad when I was sitting in the bleachers. Standing by the sidelines, the noise sounded so much worse. I’m pretty sure I flinched every time. After one particularly loud crash, I felt a large hand grab mine. I turned and saw Dan sitting on one of a row of seats along with several of his teammates. He pulled on my hand firmly until I ended up sitting in his lap. He wrapped his big arms around me and squeezed me a bit.

“I’ve told you before, the noise is mostly from the pads and the helmets hitting each other. That’s what they’re for. Mostly those sorts of hits don’t hurt at all, so stop fretting.”

“Okay, I’ll try.” I leaned forward and kissed him lightly on his cheek. “That’s for luck.”

Al Jenkins, sitting next to Dan, saw me do that and grinned at me. “We could all use some of that sort of luck.”

I didn’t hesitate. I leaned over from my position on Dan’s knee and kissed his cheek as well. I wished him good luck and giggled a bit. Then I giggled some more as half the offensive team started asking for their share of luck. I decided I didn’t have anything better to do right then, so I hopped off Dan’s knee and worked my way down the line of guys, giving them each a kiss on the cheek and solemnly wishing them good luck. It was fun. It was hard not to laugh at these enormous guys getting all silly about getting a little peck on the cheek from little me before they ran onto the field.

Our attention was drawn back to the game because one of our cornerbacks was able to scoop up a fumble and trundle a few yards downfield before he was forced out of bounds. The offensive team put their helmets on and ran onto the field, exchanging high fives with the defense as they trooped off. A few of the guys scooped up one of the paper cups I’d set out on my drinks table and walked off as they drained the cup. I was shocked when they dropped the empty cups on the ground and started to walk off. Obviously they expected someone else to pick up after them. Was that me? Was it my job to crawl around and pick up the discarded cups? Hmmm. What would Mum do?

The answer had me moving before the thought had made its way to the front of my brain. I scooped up an empty basin and marched down to where the defensive team were gathering to watch the next play. I stopped next to the discarded cups.

“HEY! CARTER, JOHNSON, MAKERVICH, WHAT’S WITH THE LITTERING?” I decided it was useful that they had their names on their shirts. “DO YOU THINK I’M YOUR MOTHER THAT I’M GOING TO CRAWL AROUND AND PICK UP AFTER YOU?”

I was prepared to keep going at them, but they looked all shamefaced and shuffled back to the cups they’d dropped. I closed my mouth and kept glaring at them as I held out the basin. They picked up the discarded cups and dropped them in my basin, with a few muttered apologies. There was some good natured chuckling at the three red-faced defenders so I gave them a pert little smile and turned back to the drinks table. I quickly filled and set out some fresh cups and put the basin in an obvious place for the discards.

I stood beside my table and watched the game. During the next few downs, a few of the defensive team wandered over to claim a drink. I made sure to stare at them and tap the discards basin meaningfully. They all got the hint pretty quickly and disposed of their used cups properly. I grinned quietly to myself and said a silent word of thanks to my mother for teaching me by her example all those important life skills, like how to get a guy to do what you want him to do.

Arnie, the assistant coach, wandered over to me and chuckled, saying, “I think we should’ve signed you up earlier in the season. It seems a shame to have left it to the last game before someone whipped these louts into shape. You’ve made my day.”

I grinned at Arnie, then went back to watching the game. I love coming to watch Dan play, but he’s a tight end. That means virtually every time he gets the ball, he’s right in the middle of a pack of defenders. That means he nearly always gets crunched pretty much as soon as he gets the ball. From this distance, those crunches sounded pretty bad. I know Dan said not to fret because the noise was mostly the padding, but I’ve seen the bruises on his back and legs after a hard game. He obviously enjoys the game, but when he says that getting smashed like that doesn’t hurt, I flat out don’t believe him. Mind you, I’ve found bruises on myself after a basketball game that I didn’t remember getting, so maybe he’s telling the truth.

Eventually our drive up the field got stopped. It was well within kicking range though, so the team set up for a field goal attempt. My view was suddenly blocked by the kicker standing in front of me. He said, “I’m here for my good luck kiss” and leaned down towards me. I grinned and puckered up to kiss him on the cheek when suddenly his lips got in the way and we were kissing – as in, k-i-s-s-i-n-g, kissing! It didn’t last long. One second we were kissing, the next second he was running onto the field to take his kick at goal. I stood there blinking in surprise.