“Okay. It sounds like you and Cindy have this under control.”
She snorted at my blind acceptance.
“Cindy and I have been friends too many years. We’ll try and not gang up on you.”
“I’m not worried about that. To be honest, considering how busy I am right now, it’ll be a big help if you guys figure out my social calendar. I promise to tell you if I feel like you’re pushing me around, but it’s a relief not to have to plan everything, and to really be honest with you, I trust you both. For some reason I never trusted Tracy 100%. But you and Cindy have always looked out for my best interests.”
Cindy came up.
“What’re you guys talking about? You look so serious.”
I turned to her and pulled her into a three-way hug.
“We were talking about how you and our Princess are going to run my life. She’s just laying down the ground rules.”
Her eyes got big and she looked at Suzanne.
“Spill it.”
I jumped in.
“It’s pretty simple. You two will tell me where and when to be somewhere, and then we have awesome sex.”
Suzanne tried to keep a straight face.
“I think he has a grasp of the situation.”
Cindy didn’t look like she was buying it.
“I think our Princess and I will have to catch up on this talk some other time. Right now, I’m beat. Let’s get everyone home and get a good night’s sleep.”
We made our way to the parking lot. I crawled into the back seat and let my two girls sit up front and talk. To be truthful, I wasn’t really paying attention to what they said. They talked in hushed tones and dropped me off first. I leaned over the seat, kissed them both goodnight, and thanked Cindy for winning the auction for me. I went up to my apartment and found my mom had waited up for me.
“Hey, Mom, what’s up?”
She closed the book she’d been reading.
“I just wanted to see if you were okay. I know we talked about Tracy before. I just didn’t expect it to end this badly.”
“Mom, I was listening to you, and I agreed with you for the most part. If I’d known it would end like this, I would have broken up with her that night, but I try to see the best in people. I made a mistake. I have no one to blame but myself. I knew things were bad; I just had no idea she would react the way she did.”
“Do you even know what set her off?”
“That’s what’s bothering me: I have no idea. I don’t know what caused such a reaction. I’m going to talk to her tomorrow to get some closure. Can we talk afterward?”
“Okay, but you do know you can come to me or your dad, right?”
“I will. Goodnight, Mom. I need to get to bed. I’ll see you in the morning for church.”
Mom kissed my cheek and left. It took me quite a while to get to sleep, because I was thinking things over. Mom might be a little rough around the edges sometimes, but she always has my best interest in mind. Not once did she say, “I told you so.” I eventually fell asleep with no idea what to do about Tracy.
Chapter 23 – Are You Off Your Rocker?
Sunday October 13
I woke Sunday morning to my stupid cell phone chirping at me. Tami had texted me to jump onto video chat. I was a little surprised it had taken her this long to figure out my life imploded yesterday. I guess her network of informants must not be working. I pulled out my tablet and logged in. Tami was waiting for me.
“David, you look like shit.”
“What do you expect first thing in the morning? Why am I talking to you at this hour? What time is it anyways?”
“It’s six-thirty. I wanted to talk to you before you went to church.”
“It’s a good thing I like you. Church doesn’t start until nine,” I reminded her.
“I know, tough guy. You had a busy day yesterday. You get spectacularly dumped in front of over a hundred people. Then you get Cindy to bail you out of that mess. I hear you were seen with both Cindy and Suzanne at the party. Rumor has it you’re taking them both to the Homecoming dance. Then Tracy and her date get beat up. Does that about sum it up?”
“You’re missing that Beth professed her love for me and gave me a blowjob at the party.”
She laughed at me. I just shrugged my shoulders. I was too tired to get irritated. Her laughter was infectious. I soon started to chuckle at my own predicament as well.
“Oh, I forgot. Then I saw Tracy when she was leaving the emergency room and I forgave her. I’m meeting her later today to work things out.”
Tami howled, which made me laugh hard. The sad part was it wasn’t funny, but it was either laugh or cry.
Between gasps, Tami let me have it.
“‘Stupid boy,’ I leave you alone for a couple of weeks and you accomplish this? I may have to move back home just to watch you dance through life. I can’t believe you might actually end up better off after all this. How did you get a blowjob from Beth and that not blow up in your face?”
“She swallowed,” I said with a straight face.
Tami’s eyes got big as she took a moment to figure out what I just said.
“You’re such a pig.”
It took us a little while to calm down enough to talk. I had to wipe tears from my eyes.
“Beth scared the shit out of me. She cornered me in the bathroom, professed her love, and then she showed me how much. She’d had a few drinks. Luckily I talked her into waiting until we’re both free before we do anything else.”
“I bet you had no idea she was into you, did you?”
“No. I was completely shocked.” Tami had an evil grin. “Dang it, Tami, why didn’t you warn me she had those feelings?”
“If I told you about every girl that was hot for you, your ego would be so big I couldn’t stand to be around you. You’re better off not knowing.”
“Hmmm, do tell. What I really need right now is more women in my life.”
“Yeah, that would solve your problems. I’m glad Beth’s feelings weren’t hurt. She’s a good friend. What are you planning for Tracy?”
I suddenly got serious. That was the question. I knew I didn’t want her back, not right now. My emotions were still too raw.
“Tami, I had a friend tell me I need to start looking out for my own self-interest. Someday Tracy and I may be more than just friends, but not anytime soon. My biggest concern is that if she got pissed at me, she could do some damage. I’ve had her handling all my recruiting and press stuff.”
“You don’t have time to do that mess. You need to find someone you trust to help you. What about your mom and dad?”
“You know them; they don’t pay attention to sports. They haven’t even been to see me play. They’ve no idea what a circus my life is right now.”
“Greg?”
“No, he has his own problems.”
“Who do you trust?”
I looked at her, and she shook her head no.
“David, talk to Tracy. She might have a solution.”
I smiled. Wouldn’t that be ironic if she could figure this out for me? She was one of the smartest girls I knew. It was dumb enough that it might work.
“I’ll ask her this afternoon.”
“Call me after.”
“I will. Hey, thanks for getting me up this morning. I really needed to talk to you. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I HAD TO DRAG MOM TO church again. Uncle Jim had gone home on Saturday and she was still a little on edge from his visit. His consulting job was done and the whole family was relieved to see him go. I think she hoped to sleep in, but we’d made a commitment, so she agreed to go.
I almost wished we’d skipped going. It started in the parking lot when a group of teens swarmed me and wanted to talk about football. One thing that I liked about Mom was she doesn’t put up with much, and everyone knows it. When she rounded on the growing horde and she saw the look of panic in my eyes, she quickly scattered my well-wishers. She put her hand on my arm and walked me into the church. I could tell that people wanted to talk about football, but one look from Mom and people allowed us to enter the church unmolested.