Chapter 3 – Tracy’s Birthday
Saturday September 13
Even with icing my balls all night, they had swollen a tad. They were also a little tender, to the point I didn’t run. I hoped the trainers still had some of my pain pills from last year. Okay, they might have been muscle relaxants, but I felt great when I took them. I asked my mom to drive me in; that gives you a hint as to how much they hurt. Mom helped me into the training room. When Paige saw me being helped in, she ran and got Jill and Becky.
I could tell Mom and Paige weren’t leaving, so I just dropped my shorts when Jill asked. Paige’s eyes got big. I wondered if she’d ever seen one before. Jill took one look and sent me to the hospital. Becky said she needed pictures for my file. I flipped her off.
At the hospital, Mom had fun with this.
“Doc, he has to play today. Would it be better if you just snipped them off? If you need me to sign a form, let me know,” she offered.
The Doc said I was fine, what I’d been doing by icing them down was the right course of action. He gave me some Vicodin. They had some samples, so I didn’t have to wait for a prescription to be filled. He told me to take one now, and one right before the game.
Then he told me the possible side effects. I could get dizzy or lightheaded; not so bad. Then he gave me a laundry list: back, leg, or stomach pains; black, tarry stools; bleeding gums; and it went on from there. I wished I hadn’t swallowed it when he told me my eyes and skin could turn yellow. I think Mom took notes.
I went home, iced my nuts down, and waited until I was ready to go to the game. The pills did the trick. Luckily, I didn’t have a one of the hundred-odd side effects.
THE U-HIGH GAME WAS brutal. They had as many as ten guys in the box in the first half to stop the run. Coach Hope was playing position football. Ed dinged his shoulder, so Mike and Jake were being pounded. On defense, they didn’t need me. University High was totally outmanned.
The second half was going just as bad. Late in the fourth quarter, we were pinned back on our 8 yard line. Coach had called another dive into the teeth of their defense. I looked over at Bill, and his guy wasn’t even close to him. They were planning an all-out blitz.
“Bingo, Bingo!” I called the audible.
“Down, Set ... Hut!”
I took two steps back and just chucked it in Bill’s general direction. They were draped all over me, so I had to get rid of it. Bill tracked it down and sprinted 92 yards for the score. That was how the game ended. My stats were one for one for 92 yards of passing. I guess you could say we won, but no one was happy about it.
TRACY’S PARTY WAS PACKED when I showed up. Tom and Mary were hiding in the den.
“I thought I’d find you guys in here. Does your homeowner’s insurance cover having wild parties every other week?” I asked.
“She knows this is the last one for a while. We can’t take too many of these,” Mary shared.
“What was Coach Hope doing today? Did you just throw the one pass?” Tom asked.
“He’s getting us to the playoffs. Coach would rather we win ugly now, and be fresh later,” I told him.
“I think it also helps your offensive line. They need game experience, and a chance to work together. Think about it: if you had been your normal pass-happy self, how many times would you have been sacked today?”
He had a point. If they couldn’t block for the run, I didn’t need to get killed passing. Tracy came waltzing in. She came up to me and kissed my cheek.
“Hey, David, thanks for coming,” she said, and then turned to her dad. “Can you start the grill, Daddy? The boys are hungry.”
“Boys are always hungry,” her mom said.
“Come on, Tom, I’ll be your assistant. Do you have any beer?” I asked.
“Shut your mouth! That’s the last thing we need. The law firm would kick me out if they heard I was serving minors,” Tom said.
He had me use the metal brush on the grill while he brought the cooler out with the hot dogs and hamburgers. Once the grill was going, Mary had me help her get all the buns and fixings brought out. They had a box of foil precut into squares. Tom put the cooked burgers and hot dogs onto a serving tray. I would get a bun and put the meat in it, and then wrap it in foil to keep it warm. When I had a batch done, Tracy or her mom would come and take it to the buffet table. After everyone had eaten, I helped Tom and Mary break everything down and clean up.
I then realized I hadn’t eaten. Mary gave me a couple of burgers and I cooked them. I decided to make it a double so I wouldn’t eat as much bread. I was drinking Mountain Dew and eating when the freshman cheerleaders found me.
“Hurry up and eat. We want to dance,” Gabriella said.
“Can’t you guys just dance together?” I asked.
Holy cow! All seven of them gave me ‘the look.’ I just stuffed the burger in my mouth and followed them to where Tracy had the music playing. As soon as we started dancing, several girls and Jeff and Alan joined us on the dance floor. When the first slow song started, I figured the freshmen would fight over who got to dance with me. I was surprised when a girl I didn’t know was ushered into my arms.
I wondered if she went to Lincoln High. If I’d seen her before, I would’ve made a point of meeting her. She had auburn hair parted on the side and hanging straight down to a couple of inches below her shoulders. She had light blue eyes that held mine. I would guess she was no taller than five-five because she was almost a foot shorter than I was. I was surprised when she wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder. I carefully placed my hands on her waist and we began the high school sway.
As we slowly moved around the dance floor, I smelled her hair: cinnamon. It was different. Usually, girls’ hair smelled of flowers or herbs. When the music stopped she looked up at me and smiled. She just walked away, leaving me wondering. I was enjoying the view when another slow song started and the birthday girl was suddenly in my arms. With Tracy, I just slid my hands into the back pockets of her jeans, and she did the same to me.
“Can I come over tonight?” Tracy asked me.
Mr. Happy had been confused by the last girl. He knew Tracy was nice to him, and he said hi. My balls weren’t as sure if this was a good idea. She just giggled as we danced. It felt good not to have to worry about what anyone thought about me potentially spending some time with Tracy. I never realized how stressful it had been to try to please everyone.
Then I was rocked by the sudden realization that I hadn’t thought about Tami in several days. How could I not have thought about my best friend? It scared me that after only a few weeks I was seemingly moving on. I never thought that would happen. Tracy caught my mood change. Maybe it had something to do with me going soft.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I just discovered I haven’t thought about Tami in a while. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad,” I confessed.
“Wasn’t that the point of her leaving?”
“Yes, but I didn’t think it’d happen so fast. It makes me sad to think nine years of friendship could be forgotten in just a few weeks. Am I that shallow?” I asked.
“No, you’re not. You’ve just been adjusting to a lot of change. Tami not being in your life is something you’ll have to get used to. I’m sure she’s adjusting, too.”
“I’m just afraid we’ll never be best friends again. We’re going in different directions. I can now see that going to college together was just a fantasy. She needs to focus on her dream of being a doctor.”
“David, what’s your dream, besides playing football? You do realize you can’t plan your life around a game. I know you could model, but even that isn’t forever. What is it you want to be when you grow up?” she asked me.