Chapter 5

Sunday breakfast was fun. Kenny plus several of the first five and the bench were there, plus a bunch of cheerleaders came with Misty, Cherry, and Susie. There were so many we had three tables pushed together end to end. We talked about early basketball practice and who wanted to go to the library later. If we kept this up, the library would have to open a conference room for us. There were going to be about fifteen there as a group. Misty, Cherry, Susie, Kenny, and I walked to the campus chapel for the early service. Everybody was happy with themselves for being good little girls and boys for going to church.

After church we walked back to the girls dorm picking up a Sunday paper on the way for us all to read. We camped out in the parlor until it was time for Kenny and I to go to practice. Practice was from ten-thirty to twelve-thirty or one depending on how fast you did your free throws.

I was finished with my twenty-five straight and was shagging rebounds for Kenny before he had a dozen sunk. I made him settle down and do the motion. You know, the gentle push using your fingertips to make the ball gently spin in reverse so it would either come off the backboard into the basket or if it hit the back rim it would spin into the net. He finally did twenty-five in a row, but he was at ninety when he did it.

A quick shower and we were off for the dining hall. The same group was there so we again pushed our tables together and had a great time stuffing ourselves.

When we went into the library we sat in a group at several tables clustered in a corner. The staff, who were sure to bitch, eyed us to watch if we were rowdy, but all of us needed to study; we could be rowdy later. I was surprised that Sarah didn’t show up. Guess I would see her later or at breakfast.

After four hours of studying we were all yawning and stretching, so we left. Sunday night the only people who could get food were the guys eating at the training table. Everyone else had to shift for themselves, so the bunch of us agreed that we would put our books up and go dutch to Mac Donald’s for supper.

Now we were rowdy. We had a great time walking the mile, or what seemed like a mile, to the red and white tiled restaurant before nearly taking over the place. (Mickey D’s used to be small.) After eating we all walked back to campus. Some of us went to the student union lounge, while some went back to their rooms. Susie, Kenny, Misty, Cherry, and I went to the student Union and shot some pool and listened to the jukebox. They had free coffee and cookies, so Kenny and I had crumbs everywhere. About nine, we all agreed that we needed to go back to the dorms. The girls and I went into the parlor for a few minutes and sat on a loveseat hugging - one on each side of me. I got some kisses, then they told me it was time to go, no playing in the room tonight. When I stood to leave, Kenny stood at the same time at another loveseat hidden along a wall. A dreamy eyed Susie stood with him. Kenny and I walked back to the dorm to crash early so we would be fresh for a new week. While getting ready for bed, I was wondering about Sarah, so I walked down to Adrian’s room, but he wasn’t there. His roomy said he hadn’t seen him all weekend.

Monday morning breakfast was a repeat. It seemed we now had a steadily growing group who ate together, laughing and joking, making meal times fun. I didn’t see Adrian or Sarah but figured on seeing Sarah at the library after supper.

The day sped by, including practice. Most of the group who had gone to the library on Sunday showed up Monday evening. Again, no Sarah, wonder what was up.

Tuesday night was a home game, so I went with the two girls. They were talking about being selected to be in the rotation for basketball cheerleaders because some seniors had to study, so they were going to start back to practice. The JV did okay as did the varsity. The team looked pretty good. They were not hitting that well from the field, barely fifty percent.

Wednesday morning I saw Adrian at the dining hall, but when I went to go ask him about Sarah, he had vanished. He probably didn’t see me, so he left before I could get to him.

Wednesday evening, still no Sarah at the library. Guess she has a new place to study. Oh well, I thought sadly, it was fun while it lasted.

Thursday morning I noticed one of the football guys on crutches with his face bandaged up. Looked like he had been in a car wreck. I didn’t see Adrian though, so I thought I would go to his room later before practice.

After my last class and before practice I put my books in my room, and then went down to Adrian’s. I knocked, a voice yelled to come in, and I walked in. Adrian was at the table along with his roomy with their books spread out. Adrian’s right hand was bandaged up and he took it off the table and put it underneath as soon as he saw me. He wouldn’t look at me.

“Whaddaya want?” he grunted.

“Wondered how Sarah was. I haven’t seen her around,” I said.

“Whaddaya wanna see her fa?” he grunted again.

“Adrian, Sarah and I are friends, I miss seeing her,” I said with exasperation.

“Leave her alone, she’s not here right now and may not be back. If she does come back, leave her alone,” he said still not looking at me.

I went over to the table and put my hand on his shoulder turning him to me. “What’s wrong Adrian, is Sarah okay?”

The roomy started to get up when Adrian used his bad hand to push my hand off his shoulder. I put my hand up for the roomy to sit still. “Adrian, you have to talk to me and tell me what’s up. It’s not like I’m a stranger.”

Adrian looked up at me with a pained expression, “Just leave it for right now, okay. I’ll talk to you soon. Man, just leave it, I can’t talk about it right now.”

I could see the pain in his eyes and couldn’t figure out what was going on but decided I best “leave it” like he asked.

“See ya later,” I said as I left.

While I was at practice there was a buzz about a couple of the football guys having a big fight. Seems it was bad enough that both of them may lose their scholarships. Wondered whether that was the guy from the dining hall and the other was Adrian. No one had the details, just the glorified rumors.

I was feeling like I could go full out at practice, so was checked out by the doc and the trainers and told to see how I would do.

No sweat. I was out of shape but had no problem handling the ball and could still hit the basket from the corner as always. Even my jumper from twelve to fourteen feet was working.

The coaches had me do some drills with the varsity, and then we did some scrimmaging using me in my natural positions. It worked pretty well. Kenny was a great center. He would block out the defender and position himself for a clean pitch in and had a smooth hook shot that was deadly. He was good on the defensive boards too. You had to be careful on the offensive boards with him as his elbows were always flying around. I passed on too many shots from the corner and was yelled at by the coaches to take the shots when I was open. I started taking the shots and hit most of them.

After that practice, it took me forty-two shots before I had my straight twenty-five. I shagged the balls for Kenny until he got his, and then we showered and went to supper.

That night after getting back from the library, Adrian was waiting for me in my room.

“Sorry about not talking to you. Come on down to the day room and talk to me, okay?” he asked.

We went to a small room with a couch, tables, and chairs between sections of rooms. They called it a day room, as guys could use it for study, or table games, or just to sit and gab.

We sat at a table, alone in the room. “I don’t want you to hate me, but something really bad happened.”

Adrian looked at me to say something, but it was probably best if I waited until he said what he needed to say.

“The guy I fixed Sarah up with messed us up. Sarah, Mandy and me, he messed us all up, he hurt us all,” Adrian was staring at the tabletop.

“How did he mess you up, how did he hurt you.” I asked concerned.

Adrian looked at me, grimaced then stared back down at the table. “This is hard, Chuck. If you weren’t a stand up guy, I wouldn’t even begin to tell you. Please don’t hate Sarah or me either.”

“So tell me, what is so bad?” I asked.

“You’re going to hear about it soon enough anyway cause it’s now on public record. Benny, that’s the guy that I fixed Sarah up with, gave us the clap.”

“Huh?” I was stunned.

“Last Friday night we all went out, then to Mandy’s. We stayed Friday and all day Saturday. Sarah had said she needed somebody to take care of her itch, so Benny did that,” Adrian said still looking down.

“Okay, so how did he give you and Mandy the clap?” I asked wondering how that could happen.

Adrian was shaking his head. “Sarah and I fool around some times. We were each other’s first. Mandy left the apartment to go shopping Saturday evening, so Sarah and I played around. Then later Sunday night, Mandy and I got it on, and I gave it to her.”

“Oh my!” I said in wonder. “How did you find out you had gonorrhea?”

“Easy, my dick was dripping by Monday morning, and Mandy said she had some kind of infection Tuesday. I went to the clinic to find out what was wrong. They make you tell them who you’ve had sex with and to have them come in. That meant I had to tell Mandy, then get Sarah to get Benny to come in. Benny said it couldn’t be him, as he insisted he was clean. I convinced him to go in, so he had to get bandaged up while they checked him out. He was some kind of carrier that didn’t show all the characteristics of the infection.”

“So where’s Sarah?” I asked.

“Home,” Adrian stated. “The clinic called home to tell them about the two of us. Dad showed up a few hours later and took Sarah home without even getting any of her clothes. He wasn’t happy with me either.”

“Did you tell him that you two had been fooling around?” I asked.

“No, Dad just thinks the four of us were swapping around and that’s how we all got it.” Adrian was still looking at the table. “The clinic didn’t go into how we all came down with it, just our contacts. Sarah didn’t name you as a contact, as she was afraid that Dad would find out. Besides you’re clean, it was Benny.”

“So how’s Sarah and Mandy?” I asked.

“All of us got shots and will have to have two more. Mandy’s okay with Sarah and me. She already knew about us. Sarah is the one I’m worried about. She’s only nineteen, but Dad still thinks she’s ten. I don’t know what he’ll do when he sees me. I don’t know what he has said to Mom.”