“Get her a letterman’s jacket. If they see you and Tracy wearing them, the rest will get them,” Dad told me, reminding me of my promise to Coach Hope.
“Thanks, Dad,” I said, and then hung up.
I knew I could count on him.
IN PE, COACH DIAMOND wouldn’t let me lift. He made me go to the trainers because my back was bruised. I came strolling in to find a new girl. She was cute and looked young. She was about five-nine and had blond hair.
“Hi, I’m your eight o’clock,” I told her.
She looked confused. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
“Didn’t they write down my appointment? Dawson, full body massage with a happy ending,” I said helpfully. “Do you want me to just strip now, or how do you want to do it?”
That didn’t go well. She took off to tattle. I just took my shirt off and waited for Becky and Jill. I knew they’d be in to torture me. They were trying not to laugh as the new girl told on me. No one likes a tattletale.
“David, you have to be nice to our new charges, or they’ll quit,” Becky told me.
“Aw, let her. I don’t need her ratting me out every time I come in.”
“I agree, but you don’t need to hit on her, either,” Jill said.
“Sorry, new girl, I won’t flirt with you anymore,” I said, and then turned to the two trainers. “Coach Diamond said I had to get a treatment.”
Jill found my folder, which was thick. She got out a new sheet showing the human body and she started taking notes of the location of each bruise and abrasion. While Jill took notes, Becky was prodding all my dings. I think she was doing it because I had teased the new girl. I started to not like her.
“Any more injuries?” Jill asked.
I raised my eyebrows at her.
“Yes, but I’m not comfortable showing you while she’s in the room,” I told them.
“Bite me. I’m training to do this kind of work. I see better butts than yours on a daily basis,” she chewed me out. “Just take your shorts off so we can get this over with.”
“Paige, sorry, but you’ll have to leave. If a patient isn’t comfortable with you in the room, then we have to respect their wishes,” Jill told her.
When Paige left, I just stripped down to my jock and got onto the table. The bruise on my butt hurt; that was where the guy had speared me. I didn’t say a word after that, and Jill and Becky didn’t try to talk to me. They just treated my injuries and sent me on my way. I went back and had Wolf help me stretch. I needed to work the kinks out. When I was done, it was time for my next class.
On my way to class, I thought about what had just happened. I looked for the reason why I was being so touchy about how Paige acted. I didn’t like how I reacted.
AT PRACTICE, COACH Hope made it clear we were going with the conservative approach for the next game. I decided to keep my mouth shut because U-High wasn’t very good. We should be able to beat them with our run game.
What I wasn’t fine with was they weren’t letting me play defense. I asked Moose about it.
“Coach Hope made the call. He said he didn’t want to get you hurt.”
“Come on, Moose, I only have some bruises. Plus, if we’re going to just to run the ball, Mike can hand off, and I’d rather play defense. At least there I can make a difference,” I complained.
“Simmer down. Let me work on this. We’re all worried you’ll be injured. We need you to last the whole season, not just the first half. Plus, I’ve met your mother.”
“Okay. I’ll trust you guys to do what’s best,” I said.
While the defense practiced against the scout team, the other coaches were working with the JV and freshman teams. I got Bill and worked on strengthening my arm. I stood in the middle of the field, had him stand on the sideline ten yards down, and just threw him the ball. Once my arm was feeling tired, I then showed him my new rainbow arcing pass I had learned at Elite camp. I wanted to learn to throw better when I was tired.
We ended practice with thirty minutes of hell. It felt good to get the blood pumping.
I WENT TO THE SPORTING goods store and got a letterman’s jacket for Tracy. Her jacket looked good. It was navy blue with cream-colored leather sleeves. It would look good with her orange cheerleading letter.
Friday September 12
I MADE A POINT OF RUNNING hard and stretching before I went to school. I wanted to get a good report from the training staff so Coach Hope wouldn’t worry about me. When I walked into PE, Coach Diamond sent me straight to the training room where Paige was waiting for me. I just got on the table and waited for Jill and Becky. I was trying not to be a jerk today.
I waited for five minutes, got up, and went to go get them.
“They’re not here right now,” Paige told me.
I started to leave.
“If you don’t get treatment, you can’t play tomorrow. They told me what to do,” she said.
I just wanted to get this over with, so I took my shirt off and got on the table. She treated me and then told me to take my shorts off. I just did it. Getting treatment was never fun, but I used to try to keep the mood light. I felt like I’d been manipulated into allowing Paige to treat me. I was even more pissed when Jill and Becky came out of their offices as I was getting dressed. My initial goal had been not to be a jerk. That went out the window.
Jill looked at my chart.
“We need you to come in tomorrow morning to get treatment.”
“Based on whose opinion?” I asked.
“Paige’s,” Jill told me.
“Is she qualified to make that determination?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” Jill asked.
“Just that, is she qualified? Does she have a license or the training required to decide if I need further treatment? Does she even have the qualifications to massage me? Is she certified?” I asked.
“No, I don’t have any certification yet. I’m in training,” Paige told me.
“I thought training had to be supervised,” I said, then sighed. “Look, I’m being a jerk because you set me up today. She lied, said you weren’t here and I had to be treated or I couldn’t play. I used to like to come in here. Right now, it’s my least favorite place in this school.”
They tried to interrupt me, but I held up my hands.
“I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. Getting treatment is necessary if I want to play. I’ll do what I have to. I’ll even let Paige practice on me if that’s what it takes for me to play. What time tomorrow?”
Becky stepped forward and touched my arm.
“David, you’re right. I need to check you to see if you need more treatment.”
She had me strip off and both she and Jill checked me. The whole time they were teaching Paige what they were doing. After they were done, they both agreed I needed to be treated again. I didn’t say a word and left.
EVER HAVE ONE OF THOSE days? I think PE set the tone for the day. Every class, except art, had a pop quiz. I mean, how do you have a pop quiz in art? At lunch, the freshman cheerleaders wanted to set me up with another freshman. I had to explain again that I didn’t date younger women. Then, during practice, I was talking to Coach Diamond when Mike tossed the ball back and hit me in the nuts, and not a gentle grazing, either: a twenty yard pass that split the twins dead center. I actually went fetal and threw up. I mean, empty-the-stomach, seriously. We were in shorts and t-shirts, walking through plays; who thinks to wear a cup?
When I got home, Dad told me to mow the yard. It had gotten a little high, so I had to rake it and bag it. Then I figured I needed to do laundry. Mom thought I should do theirs, too. That’s how I spent my Friday night, doing laundry with my mom supervising, while I iced my balls. It’s great to be a football star/model. I had to grin ... or blow my brains out. Dang, I was horny.