“Having a problem?” she asked.
“I just can’t get the proportions right. The fingers are too big.”
“Let me teach you a trick I learned to help me get started.”
She showed me how to measure my hand and then create a stick drawing based on the measurements. She then had me draw around the stick figure. It ended up looking ten times better once I got the sizes correct.
“Now try drawing it without the guide.”
It still wasn’t great, but much better. The bell rang and she packed up.
“Thanks. I’m David, by the way.”
“Stacy, Stacy Clute.”
She gave me a shy smile and was gone. I made a mental note to remember her name.
THE AFTER-SCHOOL WORKOUTS were attracting more and more people. Once word got out that it wasn’t just for football players, we were starting to get a mix of boys and girls from other sports. I was surprised to see Magic and Kevin show up. When I asked them, they said they were getting in shape for their freshman year at State. I had a talk with Cassidy about going too hard. I didn’t want people quitting, so she had dialed it back some. Don’t get me wrong, she was still working us hard, but no one was puking afterward.
After school, I invited myself to Alan’s for dinner. Jeff and Gina tagged along. Last year, before I became a jerk, it wasn’t uncommon for the four of us to show up at one of our homes and hang out. That group had included Tami instead of Gina.
We were all sitting at the kitchen table, playing cards, when Paul and Phyllis Douglas came in together. Phyllis owned a florist company and Paul helped her. We got a double take, but they just smiled at us and went to change clothes.
“I miss this,” I announced. “Just hanging out with you guys is a lot of fun. We need to do this more often.”
“Of course, you have to quit cheating at cards,” Jeff complained.
I had won the last three games. I was just having a run of good luck.
“I can’t help it if you all suck,” I declared.
“David, language,” Phyllis scolded me.
“Sorry, Mrs. Douglas, they just aren’t very good. Do you want to join us and teach them how this is played?”
We were playing gin rummy and she had joined us when we were younger. She pulled up a chair and we dealt her in. I got lucky again and won. They were all giving me the eye.
“See, I told you. Maybe we should Google how to play for them.”
“Someone’s too full of themselves,” Paul said as he joined us.
As we played the next hand, Paul ordered delivery and came back to the table with a beer. I gave him a funny look.
“What?” he asked me.
“Aren’t you going to share?”
This was an old joke between the two of us. He went and got me a beer. I popped it open and took a big swig. Gina’s eyes got big. She knew I wasn’t a drinker. She also knew that no parent would give me a beer. Everyone started laughing at her.
“Okay, what’s the deal?” she asked.
I showed her the bottle. It was a nonalcoholic beer. Paul didn’t drink, but he liked the taste.
“When we were about ten or eleven, David, being the adventuresome one of the group, asked Dad if he wasn’t going to share. Dad didn’t even bat an eye and gave David a beer,” Alan shared.
“Then after he finished it off, David thought he was drunk,” Jeff added the embarrassing part.
“Laugh it up. Turns out I had an inner ear infection and got dizzy. Luckily Phyllis got concerned, checked my forehead and it was hot,” I told Gina.
“Ever since then, David always bums a beer off of Dad. You should have seen him at the block party we had. Here’s this twelve-year-old, shooting the shit with my dad, drinking a beer, when his mom shows up,” Alan said. I cringed, remembering that day. “I thought she was going to kill both Dad and David before it was over. When they finally explained that it was nonalcoholic, she just shrugged and walked away. Man, your mom can be scary.”
We all nodded at that. I beat them again and Jeff threw the cards at me. I had to pick them all up. They were all saved when the food arrived. Over dinner, we were talking about my mom and modeling when Jeff asked about baseball.
“I plan on playing this year,” I told them. Then I got a great idea. “Why don’t you come out too? We could have some fun.”
Jeff was a good outfielder in Little League. Alan was hopeless. Our coach had a rule that everyone had to play. Alan got to be our leadoff strikeout and then would leave the game. He just liked hanging out with us and keeping stats.
“Do you think they’d let me do the stats?” Alan asked.
“I don’t see why not.”
“Let’s do it,” Jeff said.
They were all smiling. It really felt like the old gang was back. I suddenly really missed Tami. It wasn’t quite the same without her.
Chapter 9 – I Have that Effect on Women
Tuesday January 28
COACH HOPE PULLED ME out of lifting before school. He had me sit down in one of the chairs across from his desk. I could tell that this wasn’t going to be good. Why else would I be in here? As soon as I was comfortable, he started.
“I wanted to know if you were interested in playing in a seven-on-seven tournament.”
“Sure, it sounds like fun.”
“Here’s the deaclass="underline" the school won’t sponsor a team. I talked to Brad and he’s putting together a varsity team.”
“Am I invited to be on the team?”
I had to ask. I really didn’t want to play on it with Brad and the boys, but I wasn’t going to be a jerk, either.
“No, he says he already has his team,” Coach told me and raised his hands before I could say anything. “I need to take care of this. What Brad and the juniors are doing doesn’t bode well for the upcoming season. I’m aware of some of the crap that they’ve been saying to the underclassmen, you specifically. Cassidy has kept me in the loop.”
“What do we have to do to get a team in the tournament?” I asked, choosing to ignore what he’d said about Brad.
“Tell me you want to do it, and we need an $80 entrance fee.”
I pulled out my wallet and gave him four twenties.
“Shit, you have more cash on you than I have.”
“Shit, I have a better job than you do.”
He just shook his head at me. He wasn’t going to argue.
“Who can I get to be on my team?” I asked.
“Anyone who isn’t on this list.”
I scanned the list and it was all current juniors, who would be seniors next fall. I wasn’t happy to see Bill Callaway. He was my favorite receiver last year. I quickly jotted down seven names.
Mike Herndon – Freshman Quarterback
Tim Foresee – Freshman Linebacker
Bert Nelson – Freshman Fullback
Jake Holcombe – Freshman Tailback
Wolf Tams – Varsity Tight End (freshman)
Jim Ball – JV Tackle (sophomore)
Ed Pine – Varsity Tailback (freshman)
“Who do you want as your coach?”
I thought about it for a moment. It was obvious that it wasn’t going to be Coach Hope.
“Could I use Magic?”
“I don’t see a problem with that,” Coach said. “You do realize that we’re going to kick your butt.”
“I see how it is.”
Coach just smirked at me. Then he got more serious.
“You’ve been showing a lot of leadership with organizing the workouts. The juniors decided to work out at a local gym.”
That was news. At least they were doing something.
“I want you to take your leadership further. I want you to start creating other leaders,” Coach Hope said.
“Okay, what do you need me to do?”
“Take three or four people and put them in charge of some stuff. For example, you have Cassidy leading the evening workouts. Put someone in charge of the mornings. Get the idea?”