When did Tracy get this knowledgeable about football? Then I grasped what a stupid question that was. Tracy was motivated and smart. She’d watched a lot of football when cheerleading. She was also a Daddy’s girl. She would spend time with him watching football.
“But...” I stammered.
“No buts. You already are showing leadership abilities. Luke is amazed at how you’ve brought the team together just by your example. The next step is to accept the mantle of a leader. You took a big step towards that on Monday by almost running the defense off the field with the scout team.”
“Okay. You’ve obviously figured this out. Will you help me?”
Her whole face lit up. I instinctively knew Tracy wanted to find the right guy to get her out of this one-horse town. It wasn’t that she couldn’t do it herself. She was looking for a partnership where her talents would help them both become more successful. Tracy wanted to be part of the it couple.
“You were born for this, weren’t you?” I asked.
“You know what, I think I was. We, you and I, working together can make a formidable team.”
“Do you have any thoughts on where to start?”
“Yes, actually, you need to shine on scout team. Why don’t you see if you can’t get some upgrades at a few of the key positions? From watching yesterday’s practice, if you had a decent center and another receiver, they’d never have touched you.”
Okay, I didn’t know any other girl who would have been able to figure that out. I was quickly realizing there was more to Tracy than I knew.
“I’ll talk to Coach before practice. Maybe I can use a couple of the backup cornerbacks.”
“Now you’re thinking.”
The bell rang for first period. I walked Tracy to her class and then hurried to math. I had some things to think about. The biggest issue I had with this was it seemed too self-serving. I understood that mindset was more Tracy’s. I needed to figure a way for this to work for me. I had to convince myself that excelling on the scout team was going to benefit the team as a whole. If I could see this helping everyone get better, I think I’d be fine with it, but if it was just about me I knew it wasn’t going to work.
BEFORE LUNCH, I SENT a text to Tracy and Tami inviting them to spend some time with just the three of us. We only had a few days left before Tami left, and I wanted to spend as much of it together as we could. Both girls thought it was a great idea, and we ended up doing that for the rest of the week.
For the majority of it we tried to keep it light and happy. We scheduled out when visits and video chats would work. Then there were times when the realization of what was happening hit us, and there were some tears. Tracy helped us keep it from getting too gloomy, and we appreciated her help.
TUTORING TOOK AN UNEXPECTED turn. Suzanne was helping me with World History when I noticed she was acting funny. She was distracted and squirmed in her seat. Then it hit me: she was horny.
“Emperor... What are you looking at?” she asked suddenly.
“Okay, enough studying. You need my help more than I need yours today.”
“What are talking about?”
I picked her up and sat her on the edge of the desk. I dropped to my knees before her, and with one swift motion, I reached under her skirt, hooked my thumbs over the top of her panties and yanked them to the floor. She gasped as her v-shaped patch of trimmed white pubic hair was exposed. The sight brought memories of our first session flooding back. I lifted her thighs and rested her calves on my shoulders.
“Scoot forward,” I ordered.
I looked up and she panted in anticipation. In a flash, it came to me: she wasn’t trying to stop me.
Suzanne moaned as I got to work. She reached down and ran her fingers through my hair. She was so responsive to everything I did.
It was a magnificent thing to see. She’d thrown her head back and her hands fluttered, not knowing what to do. I wanted to just rip my pants down and have my way with her. I knew I couldn’t do that to Tracy. Somehow that would be crossing a line I wasn’t ready to go past. This was about helping a friend in need.
We started to come back to our senses when I realized I smelled as if I just came from a whorehouse. She looked down at the mess and laughed at me.
“It’s your own fault.”
“Laugh it up, Chuckles. You wouldn’t be happy if the tables were turned.”
I sat down on my chair in a huff. She slid off the edge of the desk and straddled my lap. She took both her palms, put them on my cheeks, pulled my face to hers, and kissed me.
“Thank you. I needed that.”
She crawled off my lap and gave me another kiss.
“See you tomorrow.”
I RAN INTO THE OUTER locker room and Ms. Kim stopped me. Oh, crud!
“Hey, slow down. How was your Pilates class?” she asked, and then she smelled me. “David! You nasty boy. What have you been doing?”
I just snorted at her.
“Give me a minute. I’ll be right back.”
I washed my face and changed into my shorts and a t-shirt. I came back out with an awkward grin. I owed her for sending me to Pilates. I was still sore from Saturday.
“I can’t believe you made me pay for that torture. And where did you find that sadistic instructor, anyways?”
“You are such a wuss. Linda said she took it easy on you.”
“The hell she did. By the end I was hoping she’d just shoot me and put me out of my misery.”
“Give it time. The results are worth it.”
“I know, but the soft tranquil music and the slow stretching and controlled breathing kicked my butt. I should trick some of the other guys into going. There’re a lot of hot chicks there.”
“I see your plan. After Linda’s done with them they won’t even be able to look at all the women.”
“You think I’m a wuss. Just imagine Magic. He’ll be crying like a little girl.”
“Better yet, Kevin. You have to let me know when you’re doing this. I want to be there to watch the aftermath.”
She was as evil as that instructor was.
“Okay, deal.”
She smirked at me.
“Nice deflection. Who were you banging before you got here?”
I raised my eyebrows. I liked her. She talked like a guy.
“Let’s just say a friend needed a little help.”
“You’re a little man-skank!”
I just grinned as she retreated to her office.
BEFORE PRACTICE, I shared Tracy’s ideas of how to improve the scout team with Coach Lambert. He agreed this was a critical week and he would get us some players to help test the defense. I was a little surprised he took our ideas seriously. Most teachers don’t seem to take a student’s suggestions well.
“Y’all think you can push the defense?”
“Give me two or three more guys with speed that can catch the ball, and I can give the first team defense a serious challenge. Coach, Eastside is dangerous because we’re not used to someone putting the ball up 40 times a game. If they get our defense on their heels, we could be playing catch-up all game long.”
“David, I like you. Now don’t go repeating that.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I also like what I saw yesterday. At our coaches meeting, we watched the film, and we’re going to be making some changes where you get to throw the ball a couple of times a game. Bill shined also. Now I don’t see him as an every-down receiver in our offense, but on pass plays he makes a hell of a deep threat.”
“Coach, to be honest, Bill makes me look good. He catches everything thrown to him. In addition, if you’d change the blocking assignments and not make him pick up a linebacker, he can more than hold his own on the defensive backs. He just needs to learn how to screen them. He doesn’t have to muscle people to be effective.”