Chapter 69

Laurie held up an "Antz" DVD when we got in the car. "Jack got this for me."

"Super. We'll have to all watch it someday when you come over. Maybe we can play it on Thanksgiving when Annette and Billy are over. I bet they'd like it."

"OK."

Bozo was waiting at the door when we got home but let Laurie get into the apartment before forcing his way through Jack and me. Posie headed directly for the kitchen and drank like she hadn't had any liquids for days.

We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and finished off the ice cream for lunch.

Jack excused himself to get phone numbers for our cell phones on the computer. He took his ice cream with him.

"Did you enjoy doing the karate exercises, Laurie?"

"Uh huh. I goofed up a couple of times."

"That's OK. I think you did real well. My teacher did, too. He thinks you should take lessons when you get older. Would you like that?"

"Maybe. I think so."

"OK. In a couple of years I'll bring you with me and you can see if you want to."

"OK."

Jack came back and gave me a sealed package. "They had a special deal that included both chargers, the case and a hands free unit for just a little over the price of the phone and charger alone so I got two of them. Here's the extra stuff that came with yours. This is your phone. He held it out with the back side up. I printed out tags with our names and the phone numbers."

It had JILL and a phone number in big letters. Under it was Jack and a number with the same prefix in smaller script.

"If you press and hold down the 1 key, it will call your voice mail. I programmed my number as 2 and our land line as 3. It's real easy to program it. You just..."

"Jack, I've programmed cell phones before. If I have any questions, I'll ask. Where's the power button?"

"This button. It ends calls and turns it on and off if you hold it down for over two seconds."

We washed up, used the bathroom, I grabbed my gym bag and we took off.

I played around with my phone as he drove to the playoffs, programming Daddy's cell, car and house, Mom's cell and house and Wanda's and Charlie's cells. It really was a vanilla phone, pretty much dial, talk and listen with texting thrown in. Of course, Jack wouldn't miss not having a camera.

He was turning into the parking lot before I knew it. It seemed more crowded as the teams that were playing got nearer the championship.

We entered the gym and I checked around but didn't see Daddy or Wanda. It was a little early for them, anyway. I went into the dressing room and changed into my uniform. Some of the girls had seen some of the players from Basset. Listening to them, they were all over seven feet tall. We'd find out soon enough.

We headed out to the field for our ten minute practice. Jack and Laurie were in the stands with Mary and Charlie but I didn't see Mom or Daddy or Wanda anywhere. I knuckled down and worked on the ball placement drill Coach used to warm us up.

When our time was up, I glanced up in the stands but there wasn't anybody new. We were almost to our locker room when the other team passed by on their way to the court. I had to look up to see their faces. All of them. They also looked tough. 'I wouldn't want to run across them in a dark alley' tough. Looking at them, I couldn't help but think of what Don Imus got fired for saying out loud over the air. I'm sorry, but there's something intimidating about a six foot, 200 pound girl with tattoos all over her arms and face and rings in both ears, her nose and her upper lip with arms bigger around than my legs. These girls happened to be black but it would be just as intimidating if they were pink.

The mood was less than exultant when we reached the locker room. Coach gave us a pep talk and everybody agreed to give it her best shot, at least out loud. But I could see that all of us where scared.

Believe it or not, I was the kick in the ass it took to get us playing for blood. When the game started, we were doing little more than just going through the motions. I decided if there was ever a good time to center myself, this was it. Not to be alone in the universe, contemplating my navel or anything like that; I needed to push all the distractions away and concentrate 100% on the game.

Shortly after that, Marie hesitated on a spike by the other team. I dove for it, arms outstretched, just managing to get my fists on the floor before the ball hit. Becky scrambled for it and was able to set it up for Roberta to spike for the point.

At least that's what I heard happened after diving for the ball. I didn't personally see it because I was lying flat on my stomach with the wind knocked out of me. Let me tell you, it's terrifying when your body needs oxygen and you can't make it breathe. I felt like I needed someone to kickstart me, get me going. I figured twenty thousand volts would do it. It seemed like forever but was probably only ten or fifteen seconds before I felt Jack's strong hands on me, carefully rolling me over on my side, lifting my head up to rest on one leg. Seconds after that, Daddy was in front of me on one knee, telling me to just relax and let it happen, his strong hand reassuring on my shoulder.

I've got to tell you. That's much easier said than done when you think you're going to die and nothing can be done to stop it.

But the human body is a wondrous thing. All of a sudden I shuddered and took half a breath. It must have liked it because the body did it again, this time less shudder and more breath.

"Careful. Don't hyperventilate," my father said.

My body said 'Hyperventilate my ass. I want air.' It proceeded to gasp in breaths until it settled down into a normal breathing rhythm.

My two men helped me to my feet and that's when I discovered that the lack of air was the least of my worries. Both knees hurt when I tried to walk. I looked down to see that both of them were scraped up pretty well. Something I expected to see on someone Laurie's age, not myself. I checked my elbows. They weren't physically damaged but I could feel it when I tried to move them.

Daddy sat me on the bench and I realized it was quiet now. As I hobbled off the field, the audience had given me a hand. I'd been concerned with getting off the court and the silence is what let me hear the applause. Beth came over with a first aid kit and Daddy held his hand out. She looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"It's OK. He's a doctor. And my father."

She blushed and handed over the kit. He dug inside and pulled out a bottle of alcohol.

"This is going to hurt you a lot more than it is me. Sorry I don't have a bullet for you to bite on."

"Oh, Daddy, just go ahead and do it."

For such a big man, my daddy is unbelievably gentle. He soaked some sterile gauze with alcohol and gently cleaned the abrasions. There was some mild stinging but it wasn't any worse than when I first started walking.

"There. That should be clean enough. You're lucky you weren't playing in the schoolyard on blacktop. I would have had to dig out the pieces with my pocket knife after the way you hit and slid on the floor."

He reached into the kit again and pulled out a small can. Removing the cap, he held it up for me to see. Bactine. Just like the old days when he made my boo-boos all better.

Daddy's not one for conserving medicine when it will make a difference. He sprayed each knee for at least six or eight seconds, moving the can back and forth as if he was painting a car.

He put everything back in the first aid kit and handed it over to Beth.

"Here you are, Honey," he smiled.

She turned redder than when she found out who and what he was.

"Aren't you supposed to carry around a little black bag or something?" she said.

"I'm an OB/GYN, he said. I found one that fit the examination table but the stirrups kept getting in the way when I tried to close the zipper."

She giggled and said, "OB/GYN. That's good to know."

"Should I be expecting a call from you?"

"No ... I ... Uhhh ... I mean ... It's nice to meet you."

She was redder still. She turned and stumbled away, putting the first aid kit in her gym bag.

"Daddy! That wasn't very nice."

"Whaah ahht?" he said, making it into two words. "I was just talking to her."

"You know very well what you were doing."

He changed the subject, taking my right arm. "You came down pretty hard on your arms, too. How do they feel?"

"They hurt when I tried to move them when we were walking back. More like a funny bone than a break."

He had one hand on my wrist and the other on my bicep. He slowly bent and rotated the arm, then the wrist.

"Anything?"

"Nah. It seems fine."

He took the other one and we repeated the procedure with the same results.

"What about your breasts?"

"They're fine. I think my arms broke the fall."

"Don't be surprised if you hurt in the morning. Both your knees and your elbows. There may be some bruising of the breasts, too. Take a couple of aspirin if you need to. Put some lotion on those knees when you get home."

"We have some Aloe Vera."

"That'll be fine. You know enough to call me if anything new hurts or the pain lasts more than a day or two."

"I will, Daddy. Are you OK?"

He looked surprised. "Me? I'm fine. I just wish I didn't have to pull you from the game."

"Aw, come on, Daddy. Once I get moving around, I'll be OK."

"You can move around tomorrow. Today, I'm pulling your card."

"Daddy! It's the playoffs."

"Tough. You can play next week, if there is a next week. That's what you get trying to fly across the court. Can you guys come out to dinner with me later? I have some things I need to talk to you about."

"Sorry, we already have plans with June. She's cooking a roast and says there will be plenty of food. Why don't you invite yourself and come over to our place before? We can talk in the living room."

"Hmm. Maybe I'll invite June, too. She needs to know. But it's not something I want spread all over the place."

"You know Mary's going to find out sooner or later. And Charlie won't be far behind. And there will be all kinds of wild speculation until they do find out."

"I know," he sighed. "It's good to make the effort, though. Just on general principles."

"OK. I've got a meeting with someone here after the game about a web page. I call you when we're on our way home."

"How are you going to do that? You can't find a pay phone these days."

"My boyfriend bought me a cell phone," I stuck my nose in the air. "It has Caller ID and everything. I'd give you the number but I don't remember it."

"OK. I'll save it when you call me."

"All right. Just don't get into an accident."

"I won't."

He walked behind the bench to the other end where Beth was sitting and put his hand on her shoulder. She seemed to jump a few inches, then turned around. He said something to her and she glanced over at me, her face red once more. She nodded her head and he climbed up into the stands. I noticed Mom was there but Wanda wasn't. As soon as he sat down, he pulled Laurie over onto his lap. That must have been what she needed because she didn't look concerned at all anymore.

Beth came over to me. "I can't let you back into the game, Jill. Sorry."

"It's OK. I already knew."

"That's your father? Why didn't you tell me?"

"What? That I had a father or that he's a doctor?"

"No. That he's a hunk."

"Beth, he's my father."

"I know, but still..."

"That would be incest."

"With him around, I wouldn't mind a little incest."

"Is there some school board or someone I should be reporting you to? Aren't you supposed to present a good moral example to all of us innocent children?"

"Innocent, my ass. He's another one I wouldn't mind taking for a roll in the hay." She nodded over at Jack.

To be honest, I hadn't paid any attention to him since I noticed him in the stands before the game. He'd appeared at my side soon enough when I got hurt but I had other things on my mind than to ask where he came from.