“Best blowjob is—drum roll, please.” Jim patted the table. “Cindy. Best hard sex, Kara Tasman. Best at making love, Suzanne. Most fun, Tracy Dole. Best recipient of oral sex, Cindy.”
Jim gave me a look.
“I’m going to ignore that my sister made your list. But who’s Kara?”
“You know my friend Alan. He goes out with Kara’s sister Gina.”
I got out my phone and found a picture of Kara that I could actually show them. I forgot I’d snapped a few candid shots.
“Here, this one isn’t too bad.”
I handed the phone to Jim.
“Oh my, she’s frickin’ hot.”
He handed the phone to Suzanne.
“You know, David, if you weren’t a nice guy, it’d be easy to hate you,” Jim added.
Peggy looked at the picture. She flipped back to find my other pictures of Kara.
“What are you doing?” I protested.
“I’m looking at the naughty pictures,” she giggled.
“Give my phone back! Those pictures are too much for your innocent eyes.”
“It’s not like I haven’t seen you having sex before,” Peggy scoffed.
I laughed when she realized what she just said.
“I think your next question is going to be interesting. How are you going to explain you and two other women in my room?”
“Shit, this game’s over.”
She handed me back my phone.
“Let me see the pictures. You’re supposed to share with friends,” Jim whined.
“Jim, buddy, careful what you ask for. I might take you up on that someday.”
After the game, I had to leave. I was supposed to be at the school at 9 a.m. to get ready for the bus ride to Beverly.
Saturday November 23
IF I’D KNOWN THIS GAME with Beverly was going to be such a disaster, I might have stayed in bed. Coach Engels’ game plan sucked balls. He felt we could beat them deep. What he didn’t count on was they were just too disciplined to give up a big play. When we ran the ball or took what they gave us, our physical superiority took over and we marched down the field, but Coach just knew we could break them with a big play.
The problem with a long pass play was that you had to hold onto the ball longer. In the first half, I was sacked five times and fumbled once. I also threw three interceptions. They were up 28–7.
In the second half, I brought us back. Without the turnovers, our defense really stepped up and they weren’t able to score. We were up 31–28 with less than two minutes to go. All we needed was one more first down and the game was over. I was reading the defense when the center snapped the ball early. It bounced off my helmet right into the arms of their blitzing linebacker.
When I got back to the sideline, Coach Lambert lost it. He screamed at me in front of the whole team and told me to take a seat on the bench. It didn’t help when Magic went in at quarterback and promptly overthrew his receiver for our final turnover. We lost 31–35.
When we got into the locker room, Coach Lambert gave me an icy stare and then turned his back on the team and walked out. I think he blamed me for losing everyone the shot at the State Championship. I felt like shit because of all the turnovers. It wasn’t my best game by a long shot. I’d taken my eye off the ball for a split second, and we’d paid for it. I wondered why no one pointed the finger at the center who snapped it early. Football was a team sport, and there was plenty of blame to go around for this loss.
What surprised me the most were the glares some of the players gave me. Even Luke and Magic gave me dirty looks. Coach Engels at least had the decency not to look me in the eye. I got dressed and kept to myself. I knew that it was easy to blame me. I also knew I received a lot of undeserved credit when we won. I sucked it up and figured this was part of the game.
I walked out of the locker room to avoid some of the looks. No one had the balls to say anything. My least favorite reporter, who was starting to grow on me, ambushed me. He could see I was upset.
“Tough game?”
“Ya think? I just blew our chances for a State Championship.”
He just nodded and ran off to the pressroom. His first question was to ask if it was fair to blame a freshman for the team’s loss. Coach Lambert, to his credit, ignored the question. I could see he was still upset about the loss, though.
“There have been reports that you’re leaving for greener pastures. Are the rumors true?”
Coach Lambert got up and stormed out.
When I got on the bus, I found an empty seat. I guess I wasn’t surprised when no one would sit with me, which made it a long ride home. It was amazing that this group of guys could be so quiet. On the silent ride, I made some decisions. I wasn’t sure that I was going to play football again, but if I did, it wasn’t going to be for my hometown high school.
Come Monday I would face my classmates. I hoped everything would calm down by then.
Chapter 13 – You’re Going to Get Me Fired
Sunday November 24
I WOKE UP AND REALIZED I no longer felt any stress. The loss, and the team’s and Coach Lambert’s reactions, had taken that away. I actually felt the tension leave my body. I hadn’t realized how much pressure I’d been under since I’d taken over at quarterback. I thought that, in a few weeks, I might even feel human again. Playing that position put a pounding on my body that compounded with each game I played. Between the anxiety of being responsible for the team’s success, and the physical side of the game, I saw now why professionals aged so quickly.
Something else was different at home, though: Sun wasn’t in my living room. I’d gone to bed immediately and just assumed she was out. I actually got a parental twinge as I worried about her. Mom would know where she was; that was the only thing that caused me not to worry more. I took a quick shower and went inside where I found Mom looking tired. In the back of my mind, I was worried something was wrong with her.
“Where’s Sun? She didn’t come home last night.”
Mom gave me a look that told me that was how she felt when I didn’t report in.
“I forgot to tell you that the church found her a family. They actually just live down the street; here’s the address. Why don’t you go down and say ‘hi’? I’ll get breakfast started.”
I took the Post-it and walked down the street, double-checking the address Mom gave me. It was a small bungalow that looked like it was well maintained. I walked up the sidewalk and knocked on their door.
“David! I was afraid you’d forget me once I moved,” Sun answered.
“You know better than that.”
She hugged me tight around the neck. I already missed just holding her hand. The simple human contact seemed to calm her and made me feel better. There never was more than the kernel of friendship, but you could never have too many true friends.
“How do you like your new digs?”
“I miss the hunk sleeping in my bed, but this is nice. The people that’re taking me in have a daughter who just graduated from college. They were lonely. I feel kind of like a rescue puppy. They keep saying it’s nice not having the house quiet all the time.”
She seemed hopeful this would work out. I wanted her to know that, even though she was with us only a week, she was welcome back.
“I just stopped by and to let you know that Dad and Greg are watching football this afternoon. I have a mixer to go to, but they’d love for you to stop in.”
“I might do that,” she said and then frowned. “Have you read the paper today?”
“No. Why?” I asked.
Instead of giving me an answer, she went and brought back the sports page. I looked at the headline and sighed. It read ‘Dawson Blows Chance for State Championship!’ I was sure that wouldn’t go over well. I would just keep a low profile at school on Monday. This would all blow over as soon as someone else did some bonehead move for the masses to focus on.