The band finally stopped playing at a quarter to one. When I saw the guys, I was glad Bonnie was the designated driver. She got us home in one piece and took Uncle John to bed.
Sunday June 8
I GOT UP AND FOUND the coffee on and a note from Uncle John saying he was taking care of the cows. I went back upstairs and put on my running clothes. When I got back from my run, everyone was up. I took a shower and packed. We all went into town to have a last meal at the diner.
Grace seemed irritated with me. Before we could order, she asked me to come with her. I looked around the table and got shrugs from everybody. What could Uncle John say with Bonnie there?
I followed her out back.
“I thought you liked me,” she started off.
“I do like you. You’re a great gal,” I told her.
“Then why the dancing around? I think I made it pretty obvious that I was interested. I was interested even if what we’d have had was a one-night stand.”
“Grace, John and I talked.”
The look on her face was one of confusion, and then she got it. She blushed and then began to cry.
“I’m so stupid. I knew I shouldn’t have been with him. He’s with Bonnie and I made a fool out of myself. And I just did it again with you.”
“I was a little mad you told Mary that all I was after was a one-night stand. You don’t know me very well if that’s what you think.”
“You’re right, I was a bitch.”
“Look, you and my uncle need to talk.”
I left her standing out back, went in and sat back down.
“Are we going to get to eat?” Greg asked.
“Probably,” I answered.
Grace did show up and take our orders. We went back to Uncle John’s house, loaded up and hit the road. I’d really enjoyed my time with the guys. I was hoping we would do this every year.
Chapter 7 – Football Camp – Kentucky
Tuesday June 10
MOM DROPPED DAD AND me off at the school. We were meeting the bus at the football stadium at ten o’clock. Coach Hope and Brad were the first two there. I could tell something was up.
“We wanted to get you two together and clear the air. We’re a team come this fall, and if you two are not on the same page we have a problem,” Coach Hope told us. “Who wants to start?”
Brad shot off his mouth before I had a chance to react.
“David thinks he’s God’s gift to football and needs to be knocked down a few notches so that he can play within the scheme my dad is bringing to Lincoln. It might do him a world of good to ride the bench for a year and learn from someone who has actually run the offense.”
I could have said that this particular ‘God’s gift’ could outplay him any day of the week, but that would have been childish.
“Maybe you missed the memo. Your dad has declared you as our starting quarterback. I’ve already said I’ll play wherever I’m needed. My goal is for us to win State this year. If that means I need to play another position, so be it. I’m still waiting for you to make a similar commitment,” I shot back.
“What? You think I have to be part of your workout program to be a team player? Kiss my ass.”
“That right there is your problem. You’ve decided the program is worthless just because you’re not in control. Where you’re missing the boat is I don’t control anything. You constantly make derogatory remarks about me and anyone who’s not in your little clique.”
“You’re no better. Calling us a bunch of ass-hats is being committed to the program? You’re so full of self-righteous shit that you think the world is brown. We are the core of next year’s team, and the sooner you accept that the better off you’ll be.”
“I apologize for calling you a bunch of ass-hats. It was a sophomoric reaction to your bunch of benchwarmers who think that just because they’ll be seniors, they’ll start.”
“Okay, that was a good beginning,” Coach Hope said. “I think we may have to get you two into couple’s therapy.”
“Coach, I for one feel much better. I think open dialogue is what we need,” I said as Dad dragged me away.
How dare he! I was just getting warmed up. I guess Brad and I wouldn’t be roommates. When we were separated, Dad shook his head.
“I swear that you inherited too much of your mother sometimes. Do you think Brad knows what half the words you were throwing at him even mean? Derogatory? Sophomoric? Hell, he’s a Neanderthal.”
I burst out laughing.
“What?” he demanded.
“Neanderthal? Next, you’ll be saying he has a truculent personality.”
“We should never have gotten you that word-a-day calendar,” he teased me.
“Hey, Tami used those words on me. I’m just happy I looked them up and now can use them in a sentence.”
WE HAD THE BUS LOADED by ten-thirty. I sent the guys—minus Brad, who had to sit next to his dad—to the back of the bus. We had a forty-minute drive to Washington High. I got into the aisle and faced them.
“I have three topics to discuss. The first is we can no longer call Brad or his buddies ‘ass-hats.’”
“We could call them assets,” Mike suggested.
“I like that. They’d never know we thought they were jerks.”
“We can hear you up here,” Dad told us.
“Oops. We’ll have to think of something else. The second thing is I wanted to talk to all of you ass-hats and find out why the hell you broke up with your girlfriends. I heard a strange rumor that I was responsible in some way.”
“We thought they would want to do ‘friends with benefits’ with us,” Ed offered. “We see you do it all the time.”
“You bunch of dorks. How’s that working out for you?”
“Not so good. Cassidy told me she might have to hurt me if I don’t quit calling to apologize,” Jim said.
“I was afraid of that. Are any of you having any luck with your plan?” I asked.
No one would meet my eye.
“You’re all dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to women. Here’s the new rule: from now on, before you do something like this, you will talk either to me or to another woman. Mike, I’m not a woman! We’ll use this week as a team-bonding experience. When we get back, we’ll work on getting you ready to date again. Are we clear?”
They mumbled.
“I said, are we clear?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Third and final is Washington is coming as our guests. It’s okay to let them know we’re superior in every way. But they’re like small children. We need to help them learn to be better. Plus, they’re a lot of fun.”
They chuckled at that.
“Brad, get back here!” I called.
“What do you want?” he grumped.
“You have a choice: sit by your dad for the whole trip, or become part of the team.”
“I want to be part of the team. I’ll go nuts if I have to hang out with Dad the whole time.”
“I heard that,” Coach Hope told Brad.
“Team, meet your starting quarterback for next year. I want you to make an effort to get to know him. If you want to have hours of fun, ask him about his Prom date with Lisa Felton.”
That got their attention. I went up front and sat by my dad. Brad needed to get to know them without me around.
“Just so you know, you don’t drive me nuts,” I told my dad.
“Same here,” he said as he messed up my hair.
WE PULLED UP TO WASHINGTON and they were all milling around. I jumped off the bus.
“I thought we were picking up a football team,” I teased them.
The bus driver got off and opened the storage under the bus. Ty came over and hugged me.
“Are you trying to start trouble already?”
“Of course.”
Coach Hope and my dad got off, followed by Brad and the rest of the team. Everybody introduced themselves. I introduced Dad and Coach Hope to Darryl Wilson—Ty’s dad—and Coach Crouch. I was surprised that Washington’s head coach was going. Ty had told me that one of the assistants would join us. The two coaches got us quieted down and paying attention.