Chapter 41: Points Of The Compass: North And South

The next few weeks were the most hectic of my life. We were on the home stretch toward graduation, and the pace was picking up.

Two weeks after Prom, there was a banquet scheduled for the athletes who competed on all the school teams. It was held in a large banquet hall, and there were about a thousand people in attendance, students and families, coaches and administrators. The Athletic Banquet was one of the highlights of the school year, because it was the only time all the teams were assembled in one place, and because it heralded the end of the school year.

My sophomore year, my family and I had attended the banquet, and I had watched as Dr. Osgood and Coach Neville solemnly retired Skip Horvath's soccer jersey. Now, this year, I stood with these same two men at the podium and observed them, both in much better moods than that other, sadder time, as they retired Sean Porter's jersey. Nobody else would ever wear my Number Twenty for our school on the soccer field. There was generous applause from the crowd, and raucous cheering from my teammates as Coach showed off the glass-encased jersey, with my name arced on the back, that would be put in a place of honor on the wall of the school, the trophy cases on one side and Skip's jersey on the other. It was only then that it finally hit home: I would never again wear the uniform of my high school team.

Two weeks after the banquet was graduation, in all its pomp and circumstance. All of the seniors lined up in the gymnasium, dressed in our caps and gowns, and marched two-by-two out into the football stadium, where our families were roasting in the hot sun. We listened to a bunch of boring speeches, the words buzzing in and out of our ears without ever landing coherently. It was excruciatingly dull and long, until, quite suddenly, it was time to toss our caps into the air. And, just like that, our high school careers were over.

Concurrently with all these activities, life within the Porter family unit was in turmoil. Stephen's involvement with Tara and the baby continued unabated, so much so that I really did start thinking I was little Kyle's uncle. My mom insisted on helping Tara and Mrs. Jacks plan for Kyle's baptism, working on menus and guest lists as if the baptism were a dress rehearsal for a wedding. And, in a way, I suppose that's what it was. Stephen, Tara and the baby were together as much as they could be, splitting their time between our house and Tara's house. While they were at our house, my mom would watch Kyle, and Tara and Stephen would go over Stephen's homework. They did the same thing over at the Jacks house, too, I knew.

Tara wanted to try to take the finals of any classes she could. Some of her teachers were supportive, no doubt having gotten reports of her progress from her parents. Stephen and Tracy made sure Tara's homework assignments got handed in on time, so the only thing she was missing were scores on classroom quizzes.

The teachers at school also saw a marked improvement in Stephen's grades. Working with Tara on schoolwork paid dividends for him, too. Seeing this improvement made many of their teachers much more willing to give Tara an opportunity to move on to tenth grade with the rest of her class.

And, just to make sure I had absolutely no time for anything at all, my summer soccer camps filled to overflowing. All during May I was scrambling around, recruiting more instructors for the clinics. I called my friend and former adversary, Spencer Goldman, and invited him to join us. I also got in touch with a girl I had met at Duane Olchick's clinic who had impressed me with her play. Posey Smith was from Meadowdale, had been an All-State selection all four years of high school, and was chosen as a second-team All-American her senior year.

Hap Olson, the starting center midfielder on our team, had been enrolled as a student for my summer clinic, but I persuaded him to join my staff as an instructor. His play had matured so much during our season, I knew he would be able to relate to what the competitive kids were trying to accomplish.

Brett Oldman, our stopper, also signed on, as did Anthony Rogers, so I was well represented on the defensive side. The only real gap in my instructor coverage was in the middle positions.

One day after school, I was shooting the shit with Eric and Keisha. Luscious was in the library, and we were lounging on the front steps of the high school while I was waiting for her to come out. I told Eric about my plan for the camps.

"Man, you gonna be one overworked sorry excuse for a defenseman by the time you get to Florida," said Eric. He didn't sound all that sympathetic, however.

"Yeah, well, I think I've got most of the spots filled. I just wish we were a little better represented in the middle," I said.

Keisha was leaning with both her arms on Eric's shoulder, looking bored with our soccer talk. "Why don't you hire on that Weasel kid?" she said.

Eric glanced at her in surprise. "That's a good idea, babe," he said.

"It is?" I asked.

"Sure," said Eric. "You've said yourself that Weasel's a good player, he just needed some calming down."

"True," I admitted.

"He played just like we wanted him to, all through the playoffs," he pointed out.

"Again, true," I said.

"He got the game ball in the finals," Keisha reminded me.

"You're right. He's good. You think he'd do it?"

"Ask him and see," said Eric.

I called Adam that night, and just like that, my team of instructors increased to ten members.

Once I had that nailed down, I could work on scheduling the groups and organizing my worksheets. Once the news got out among the soccer- playing crowd that my summer clinics would be instructed by two All- Americans, three All-Staters, and the core of the state championship team, the telephone began ringing off the hook. Parents from all over the metro area were calling to see if they could enroll their kids. I took as many of them as I could, until there just wasn't any more room or time slots available.

Trent and Danielle were back for the summer by mid-May, and they helped me get ready. It quickly became apparent to me that I needed a hierarchy to make it all work. Trent and Eric became my senior instructors, and the other instructors would work for them.

My dad and Mr. Lehigh both gave me some help and suggestions as I was setting it all up. Mr. Lehigh helped me open a checking account at his bank for my school, and he gave both Danielle and me some basic accounting instruction. Danielle had worked a couple of summers as an assistant bookkeeper for a small construction company, and she became my bookkeeper and office manager. We set up a small office in our basement, with a desk, a calculator, and a file cabinet, and Danielle spent a lot of time down there with me as we geared up. After the first couple of weeks, we were confident she would be able to keep up with her end of things by coming over two or three times each week, spending maybe ten hours working on my stuff.

As it turned out, my brand-new organization, facetiously called Sean Porter Enterprises, created more spare time for me than I had the previous summer. We had a lot of drills and scrimmage plans that we had painstakingly created that first year that we were reusing. Posey and Spencer brought new drills with them we were able to incorporate, and Trent also brought some new ideas from his first year playing at the college level that we could use, especially with the competitive groups. With Danielle keeping the paperwork straight, and Trent and Eric moving the instructors around as needed, I actually had less to do than before.

I rented a tent that I could open up the sides on, and set it up on the sidelines between the fields we were using. I had a cooler that I filled with ice and stocked with water and sodas every morning for the instructors, and I had a card table with folding chairs. I was able to spend my day observing the kids, making notes about each of them, and dropping in to help the instructors. I could pull one or more kids out of practice so I could work with them on a more individual basis, and I still had the time to organize my notes from each day. That first year, all that paperwork had to be done after the day on the field was over, but now, with more instructors and better lines of communication, I could get that work done during the clinics. It was less work and more fun for me, and the instructors seemed to work well under the new organization, too.

By the end of June, Spencer and Posey had fit right in with my local friends, and we were all enjoying our summer outside, teaching the game we all loved so much. All month long, I kept on getting calls from all over, asking about openings. Some callers even were willing to enroll for a week or two, if any of our campers were headed out on vacation. The way we had our drills set up, working on progressively more difficult skill sets based on proficiency in earlier practices, I didn't feel it would be fair to anybody if I agreed to plug in players for just a short time, so I turned them all down. It did get me thinking about setting up clinics beyond our own little community, however. During one of our weekly meetings, I broached the possibility of branching out to my management team. Danielle, Trent and Eric were surprised that I was thinking ahead already, but they thought the idea was workable. I made a note to talk to some of the others about the possibility.

The Fourth of July that year fell on a Monday, so we all got a nice, long weekend out of the holiday. Kayla had to work at the drug store on Saturday, but she had Sunday and Monday off, and we spent both days at the beach, being lazy with friends. We staked off a section of beach for ourselves, and people would wander in and out as they wished, with at least a couple of people manning the barricades all day long. Usually, Eric and Keisha were there with us, and Trent and Danielle joined us for most of the day on Sunday. Stephen and Tara came for a few hours on Sunday, too, and they set up a portable swing under a beach umbrella for little Kyle. Kayla and I watched Kyle so that Stephen and Tara could splash around in the lake for a while, reverting easily back into teenagers as soon as they stepped into the water.

Again, my minor celebrity in town paid off for something. Any undue stares or rude comments that might have been directed at my brother and his girlfriend, along with the baby, were usually cut short when the gossipers saw they were there with me. It was a small advantage, but we took it. Stephen accepted it, too, though he was not about to embarrass himself by acknowledging it, which was altogether all right by me. If my small amount of local fame could give them a curtain of peace for a time, I was all for it.

By dinnertime on Sunday, I had had enough of being outside. I wanted nothing more than a nice, air-conditioned room to spend the evening in, with my Luscious by my side. We drove over to DQ and grabbed a burger on our way out to the mall. We spent that evening at the movies, my arm wrapped around Kayla's shoulder as we watched Tom Cruise dance in his underwear, Rebecca de Mornay run an enterprising home business, and Joe Pantoliano, as Guido the killer pimp, take it all away in Risky Business.

As we were walking back to my car after the movie, Kayla said, "I dare you to drown your car in the lake, like Joel did."

"Maybe if my dad had a Porsche, I would," I retorted.

She stood aside as I unlocked the passenger door. "Maybe we could reenact the subway scene sometime," she said with a smile.

I waggled my eyebrows at her. "Anytime, my dear, anytime at all," I leered. "All we need is a train, a night, and a drunk to watch us."

"Ugh. Maybe not, then," she said as she slid smoothly into the car.

On Monday, after another day playing in the water and in the sand at the lake, we skipped the carnival and opted to go out with friends to Mike's Pizza. Now that I was done with high school, I was ready to put activities I associated with those days behind me, including hanging out at the carnival. It really didn't occur to me that Kayla, in the middle of her high school years, might not be ready to do the same. That thought wouldn't intrude and cause trouble until a couple of weeks later.

Eric and Keisha were among the group already at Mike's when we got there, along with Anthony and Ayesha, and Trent and Danielle. There were two pitchers of Coke on the table, and as Kayla and I sat down, Ayesha poured us each a glass.

"You guys look thirsty," she said with a smile as she set the full glasses in front of us.

"It's warm out there," I said. I took a big drink of soda, and almost immediately started hiccupping.

Kayla pounded on my back. "Are you okay, there, tiger?"

I gasped. "I'll be okay in a minute. Damn, that's cold," I wheezed. Eric and Trent just laughed at me, friends that they were.

"Are you going back for the fireworks?" asked Anthony.

"I think I'm experiencing them right now," I coughed. Kayla slapped on my back a little more, laughing.

"Don't expire on us, Porter," said Eric. "Paramedics charge time and a half on holidays."

"Yeah, if you're gonna die, at least have the good grace to do it after midnight, when the rates go down," said Trent. "We're just poor college kids, you know."

"Thanks for all the sympathy," I grumbled as I stared at them balefully, each in turn. "Always good to know who my true friends are."

"Hey, we're just asking you to be a good friend, and keep our wallets in mind as you're giving up the ghost," remarked Anthony. "Is that really too much to ask?"

"Yeah, I think it is," I said. I could still feel the onset of a hiccup attack hiding in my chest.

"Oh, all right," said Keisha with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "If you're not going to cooperate about waiting to kick off, here." She handed me a packet of sugar. "Open this, and eat it."

"Why?" I asked.

"You look like you're in pain, Sean," she said. "It's a cure for hiccups. Just eat the damn sugar."

I tore open the paper, tilted my head back, and poured the sugar into my mouth. As it melted against my tongue and dribbled down my throat, I felt the hiccups draining away.

"Hey, neat. I didn't know that worked like that," I said. "Thanks, Keisha."

Now it was her turn to give me the Groucho eyebrow waggle. "You can thank me better during the fireworks," she vamped.

"Hey! What about me?" said Eric, feigning unhappiness.

Keisha rested her chin on her hand and her elbow on the table, leaning in toward Eric and batting her eyes. "You? I done tried that. Now maybe I want to sample something a little paler."

"Sheee-it, girl, you go," drawled Ayesha, and the whole table broke up in laughter.

Just before dark, we all left Mike's and headed back over to the park. We had to leave the cars in a shopping center parking lot across the street, since the lot at the park was full. I opened the trunk and grabbed my cooler, and Kayla took the big blanket out of the back seat. We walked across the street in a big group, and started looking for a spot for the eight of us. We managed to squeeze in between a couple of families, over near a small stand of trees, and we spread our blankets out and lay back against the prickly grass poking up through the cloth, anticipating the fireworks display.

Kayla snuggled up against me, resting her head comfortably on my shoulder, and we oohed and aahed through the first salvos. We pointed at displays we particularly liked, and I could hear my friends doing the same.

About halfway through the show, there was a lull, presumably as the workers were reloading their charges. I heard Keisha, laying next to me, groan softly. I turned to look, and she turned toward me at the same time. There was just enough ambient light for me to see that Eric's fingers were busily exploring up the leg of Keisha's shorts. Keisha stared at me for just a moment, and then reached up and pulled my face to hers. Our lips met, and I felt her mouth open, and her tongue snuck out and wriggled into my mouth, searching for my tongue. I instinctively opened up, and our tongues engaged in an ages-old battle of dominance. She broke our kiss just as the next rocket flared up, and turned back to watch, a small and secret smile on her face. By then, Eric's hand was just resting on her thigh, the very picture of innocence. Confused, I turned toward Kayla. She was watching me and smiling, but she, too, turned to watch the continuing display without saying a word.

Whatever was going on was way beyond my limited faculties to understand. I watched the rest of the fireworks in silence and confusion.

After the grand finale, Eric and Keisha seemed anxious to go, so they gathered up their things and, after hurried goodbyes, strode off toward the exit hand in hand, melting quickly into the crowd. I was sure they had some unfinished business they were intent on addressing. Trent and Danielle and Anthony and Ayesha started picking up their blankets, but Kayla, with a gentle hand on my arm, encouraged me to remain sitting.

"See you tomorrow, Sean," said Trent, and they all waved as they departed.

Now that the fireworks display was over, the only lights in the park were walkway lights and the floodlights in the parking lot, away from us. All the families around us had already gathered up their belongings and were headed out. Kayla stood, and I scrambled up to pick up our stuff, too. She bunched up the blanket in her arms, but instead of walking toward the exit, she stepped away toward the trees. She glanced back over her shoulder and smiled at me. Her pale hair was the last of her I could see before she blended into the darkness. I grabbed the cooler and followed her.

She had only gone a few yards into the protection of the trees, and she had spread the blanket back out again. She was kneeling on it, watching as I approached. As I set the cooler down, she reached down for the hem of her tank top, and pulled it over her head. Her movement froze me in my tracks, and all I could do was stand there and watch. Her unfettered breasts quivered slightly with her movement as she placed her shirt on one corner of the blanket. She shimmied out of her tight shorts, pulling her panties down at the same time, and she gracefully shifted her legs over so she could push them down and off. She lay back, propping up her head with her arm, and raised her eyebrows in a questioning look.

The spell was broken, and I shucked off my shoes, my shirt, and my shorts as quickly as I could. My briefs got hung up on my swelling cock, and I struggled for just a moment to extricate it. I heard Kayla softly giggle at my predicament, but I finally managed to get completely undressed. I dropped down onto my side, facing her. She reached up and put her hand on the back of my neck. She pulled my head toward her, and she kissed me.

I reached out and pulled myself closer to her. My hand went from her back quite naturally around to her soft breast, and I kneaded her pliant flesh with my fingers. She twisted slightly in my arms to give me better access to her charms, and her soft kisses got hotter as she opened her mouth in invitation. The tip of my tongue met hers at the portal, and our kiss was suddenly hotter, wetter, and more demanding.

Kayla reached down and took my hard cock into her small hand, gauging my length and girth, and then allowed her fingers to slither down to caress my tight balls. She hefted them in concert with the way my own hand was hefting the small weight of her wonderful breast. If I squeezed, she squeezed; when I caressed the underside, she let her fingertips delve down further between my spread legs. The only action for which she opted not to reciprocate was when I pinched at her nipples. Instead, she pinched at the base of my cock, her fingernails raking and tickling the tender skin of my scrotum on their way toward their target.

We broke away from each other, gasping for air. Kayla began nibbling at my earlobe, and continued down my neck. I lay back, and passively let her take her time.

And she did take her time, tasting and licking the salt from my skin as she slowly made her way down my neck to my collarbone, part-way down my sternum and across to nibble and bite at each of my nipples in turn. She knew what she liked when I played with her, and she applied that knowledge on my body, spending a lot of time playing with a part of me I had never really realized was so sensitive.

All the time she was exploring with her mouth, her hand stayed busy, working my stiffened shaft, spreading pre-cum around the head, and playing with my balls. Her efforts had their desired effect, as I was sure she could feel the beating of my heart through the pulsing in unison with my swollen cock.

She finally relinquished her oral ministrations to my chest and continued on her journey, nuzzling my stomach until my abdominal muscles twitched. She bent at the waist, looking directly at my cock as she held it in her hand, her head resting for a moment on my stomach. I had my hand on her shoulder, and as she stuck out her tongue for her first taste of my fluids, she let go of my cock just long enough to reach up and grasp my hand on her shoulder. She gently pulled my arm across her, and pressed my palm against her breast. She sighed contentedly, and then went back to concentrating on teasing my cock some more with her tongue, taking my length once again in her fist.

She took long, loving licks up and down my rigid shaft, and alternated between licking across the head and flicking her tongue around the edge of my helmet. Her hand pumped me intermittently, more to keep my hardness from decreasing than to provide me with any anticipation of release. That's not to say that I was in any danger of deflating, of course, not with my Luscious doing all she wanted to me. I was happy to let her have her way with me.

In fact, I wordlessly encouraged her by playing with her soft boob, just the way I knew she liked. I squeezed her, pinched at her distended nipple, and caressed the small weight with the palm of my hand. I tickled the swelling mound of her other breast with just my fingertips, but couldn't reach it the way we were lying together, so I contented myself with teasing her the best I could.

After licking off my pre-cum and tasting the entire shaft, Kayla took the head into her warm mouth, and sealed her lips against my stiff rod. She kept on teasing me with her tongue as she applied suction. Slowly she dropped down, taking more of me into her mouth. Her fingers were wrapped around my cock at the base, and she jacked me just a little as she took me as deeply as she could, my head hitting the back of her throat. When I felt the tip against the constriction of her throat, I pinched her nipple hard, rolling the nub between my thumb and index finger. She moaned, and the vibrations from her vocal chords raced through my shaft and directly into my aching balls, nearly setting me off.

She pulled her mouth back off me, and then began bobbing her head fast, her lips scraping along the taut skin of my cock. Up and down, deep and then back, alternately sucking hard and letting go, her tongue in constant motion against me. She would take me to her throat, and then back off, occasionally lifting off me altogether I could feel her teeth just pressing against me as she took a couple of quick, shuddering breaths before plunging back down on me, resuming her intense suction.

Before long, she achieved her goal. I managed to stammer out, "K ... Kay ... I'm gonna ... uh..."

It was just enough warning. She backed off quickly, until just my little head was still encased in her mouth. My hips pumped up, pushing my cock a little deeper into her mouth, and I shot off.

That first spurt must have been a powerful one, because she coughed twice, and my come spilled out of her mouth and down her flexing hand. She clamped back down on me, however, and took the rest that I had to give her, another six or seven pulses of seed. Her jaw clenched and she reflexively swallowed each time I jetted into her mouth. She worked my cock with her fist, pumping every last drop out of my system and into her mouth. When I was finally done, she sucked on me for a moment longer, making sure she had coaxed the last of my spend from me, and then she tenderly licked up the remains that had escaped when she coughed. She even cleaned off her hand, swallowing every pearly drop of my semen.

She scooted back up to lie with her head back on my shoulder. I put my arm around her and held her to me. She dropped her hand and touched my shrinking cock for just a moment before cupping my balls possessively as she snuggled up against me.

"I think he liked it," she whispered with a smile.

I rolled over toward her and showered her eyes and cheeks with tiny kisses.

"He liked it," I confirmed. "He liked it a lot."

It was my turn to give. I kissed her softly on her lips. She closed her eyes, smiling, and let herself relax under my attentions. I nibbled on her ears, just the way she had done to me, and took care to lick at the tender spot behind her earlobes. I had one arm still around her, and my other hand began circling her boob, exploring her soft flesh. I took my time tasting her skin along her neck, and showered the hollow of her throat with kisses. I teased her skin across her chest with my tongue and lips, traveling back and forth, inching ever so slowly toward her rosy peaks, until my arm slipped from behind her neck.

My fingertips spiraled around her soft mound, closing in on the goal of her swollen nipple, as I dropped my head down between her breasts and tasted her salty flesh. I licked around her left breast as my hand teased her right one, circling her swollen areola and nipple, but never giving her the satisfaction of my touch. I sucked at her soft mound, moving my lips around and around, getting closer to the prize. She moaned, and arched her back, trying to will her breast into my mouth, but I resisted for as long as I could.

Finally, in a last assault, I clamped my lips on her nipple at the same instant I grasped her other swollen bud between my fingers. I pinched and bit simultaneously, and she screeched and tensed up as the sudden onslaught washed in waves of pleasure through her. Her leg began rubbing up and down my body, but I didn't think she was even aware she was doing it. I put my leg between hers, and pushed my knee up against her crotch. Almost immediately I could feel her hot oils leaking from her pussy, dribbling onto my knee. She unconsciously hunched her crotch against the hard bone of my knee, imparting lightning bolts of pleasure from her middle up into her brain.

She clutched my head to her breast, and I opened my mouth and sucked in as much of her breast as I could. Kayla was panting hard, unable to catch her breath, and I didn't want to give her any respite. I could feel her distended nipple against my tongue, and I worked that rough nub back and forth as I sucked.

I let go of her other breast and let my hand wander down her tummy. I found her belly button, her stomach heaving as she panted, and I tickled her a little there. I abandoned her breast and let my mouth follow my hand down as I repositioned myself between her outstretched legs. My fingers found her patch of sparse hair, and continued down until my fingertips felt her dewy slit. I stuck my tongue into her belly button as I spread my fingers and lightly rubbed along the outside of her swollen pussy lips, tickling the tender skin of her inner thighs, from the top of her opening to her little puckered anus.

Her leg muscles were quivering by then, and I hadn't even gotten to the really sensitive spots yet. She was on edge, and just the slightest stimulation was going to send her over, so I slowed down and let her ease back from the precipice just a little. I wanted to keep her balanced on the pinnacle for just a little while longer.

I ran my palms up and down her inner thighs, from her drooling pussy to her knees, and followed my hands with my lips. I kissed the soft skin of her legs, and used my thumbs to press against her big leg muscles just a little, trying to ease her twitching tissues. Once I felt the tension in her lower body relax just a little, I started working my way back up that long expanse of leg. This time, I didn't retreat from my goal, though. My lips continued tracing a path along her sensitive skin until her short pubic hairs were tickling my nose, and my tongue was exploring her outer lips.

I cupped my tongue and delved in, searching for the well of her hot lubrication. I found it, and lapped up that tangy oil, breathing deeply of her clean, intoxicating scent. I used my fingers to spread her open just a little. My index finger traced a path from her vagina to her hooded clit, picking up a coating of moisture on the way. My tongue followed my finger, and when I got to her swelling clitoris, I played with the little nub with the tip of my tongue.

At the same time, I drew my finger back down her, and twisted it into her tight opening, to the first knuckle. She hunched at me, perhaps trying to get my intruding finger deeper into her, and the movement of her hips bumped her sensitive clit against my mouth. She cried out softly, and nearly toppled once again.