“Did she say what happened?” Tim asked him.
“All she knows is that there was a big fight in the parking lot. Cassidy went to help Brad and she was unconscious when they loaded her into the ambulance.”
I hugged him and we both had tears in our eyes when we let go. He got dressed and left. I felt like I needed to throw up. I really didn’t feel like playing the second half. It took an extra thirty minutes, but the ref came in and told us that we could come out and warm up for the second half.
When we came out, we could hear sirens and see flashing lights as ambulances left the parking lot. I felt a cold determination as I got ready. Someone from Eastside had hurt one of my best friends. As I warmed up, I felt myself focus and drop into ‘the zone.’ I hadn’t felt that in quite some time.
In the second half, I was a man possessed. On defense Moose just cut me loose to blitz on every play. I ended up with five sacks and three more tackles behind the line of scrimmage. By the end of the third quarter, their backup quarterback was playing.
On offense, they couldn’t stop us. We ended up winning 63–7. Moose had tried to take me out, but I wasn’t having any of it. This was the only way I could make Eastside pay for what had happened to my friend.
After the game, I spent some time with the Wesleyan girls, saying goodbye. The freshman cheerleaders looked like Cheshire cats that had some good scoop. I knew them talking to the Wesleyan girls was a bad idea. Moose finally made me come into the locker room so we could change to go home.
COACH HOPE CALLED MOOSE on the way home. Brad had several broken ribs, and his shoulder had been dislocated. Cassidy had a big lump on the back of her head, but she was okay otherwise. Five other former Lincoln players had various injuries. Two Eastside students had been hurt. Ten other Eastside students were under arrest. They’d used bats as weapons. I sighed in relief when I heard that Cassidy was going to be alright.
Saturday September 27
I WAS OUT RUNNING WHEN I saw Peggy Pratt. I felt like I owed her an apology. Then I saw who she was running with: Mitch Evans. He was the captain of the boys cross-country team. At first, I thought they were just running, but when they stopped and he grabbed her and kissed her, I changed my mind. I made a point to say ‘hi’ to let her know what I’d seen.
“David!” I heard her call.
I slowed down to let her catch up. Mitch didn’t look happy. When she was even with me, I just looked at her. I figured I would take the high road and apologize.
“I just wanted to say I was sorry for the comment I made the other day. I was just teasing you and saw by your reaction that it was hurtful. I hope we can still be friends.”
She looked confused.
“Oh, I thought you were being a jerk.”
“I guess I was. Again, I’m sorry. I’ll let you get back to your date ... or run,” I said.
“It’s not like that ...” Peggy started.
“Don’t worry about it. I understand. I’ll see you around,” I said as I ran off.
I got about a block when I realized I’d done the same thing the varsity cheerleaders had done to me: I hadn’t given her a chance. I turned around to find Peggy sitting on a bench, alone. She looked up at me with pain in her eyes.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I cut you off, and I shouldn’t have. We’ve been friends too long for me to pull that crap. I’m sure you’re sick of me saying this, but I am sorry.”
She gave me a weak smile.
“Can we talk?” she asked.
“How about we go home and take a shower. I’ll take you to Granny’s for breakfast.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
I ran home.
PEGGY AND I FOUND A table in the corner so we could have our conversation. Granny came over and I introduced her to Peggy. Granny brought us each one of her giant cinnamon rolls. We ordered and then Peggy was ready to talk.
“I’ve been biding my time until you were free to date. I have a couple of questions before we go any further with this,” Peggy said.
“Okay, shoot.”
“Do you still have any ‘friends with benefits’?” she asked.
I guess we needed to get the hard one out of the way. How do I answer that?
“That’s a good question. The only person at Lincoln I would put into that category would be Tracy, but even that’s complicated. We only get together about once every six or eight weeks.”
“You said at Lincoln; who else are you thinking about?”
“Well, there’s Beth, Suzanne and Cindy. We agreed that we might hook up if we saw each other and if we’re not dating anyone. Then there are my friends at Wesleyan, but we don’t really have an arrangement. I did promise them that I’d see them and to go to their Christmas Dance. But that could be anything from just hanging out to spending time with each other.”
She nodded and then got quiet for a while. I just ate my breakfast. She seemed to come to a decision.
“Could you give them all up?” she asked.
“All but Tracy,” I told her.
I could see that was the wrong answer.
“Can I explain?” I asked.
“Please.”
“Tracy’s been through some stuff that messed her up pretty badly. Before you ask, it’s not my story to tell. She’s been working to straighten her life out for almost a year. She and I are friends, and friends only. Last spring, she came to me after a date. She had gone on the date to help her get relief, sexually. She figured out that she didn’t want it getting around that she was easy, because she isn’t. She came to me to help her out.”
“Have you been with her recently?”
“Monday I helped her out at school, but I kept it in my pants,” I answered.
“Oh, I just assumed ...” Peggy started.
“There are more ways to help someone out than that,” I shared.
“Oh.”
I figured I should get my questions answered.
“What’s up with you and Mitch?”
“We went out once, but he doesn’t know what the word ‘no’ means. I’m not going to go out with him again.”
“Are you still a virgin?” I asked.
“Yes, and I plan to stay that way. Do you have a problem with that?” she asked.
“Not as long as we can do other things.”
I might as well be honest. If this meant just holding hands, I wasn’t sure I could survive that.
“Here’s my biggest worry with you: I’m afraid that if you get me going, you’ll take advantage of me. If I knew I could trust you not to take my virginity, I’d be dating you, even if you need to help Tracy out now and then. But I couldn’t handle you spending time with anyone else.”
I smiled at her.
“What time am I picking you up tonight?”
No sense in stringing this out.
“Six,” she answered.
I got up to pay Granny’s bill, and Peggy grabbed my arm.
“What just happened?” she asked.
“You’re my girlfriend. Oh, and tell Mitch that I’ll pound him if he ever grabs you like that again,” I said, and went to pay.
WHO KNEW WHAT A SHIT-storm would occur as soon as I got home and changed my Facebook relationship status from ‘single’ to ‘in a relationship.’
One of the first calls I got was from Sandy Range.
“Say it ain’t so, David,” she teased me.
“Yep, I’m off the market.”
“I might have to tell Devin we need a new guy.”
“Who would he get to play with his new toys?”
“I think he and Lou have that covered.”
“No, they don’t. They’re too timid to fully test these gadgets. They need someone like me to take them to the limit.”
“We all saw how well you did on the jet water board. You about killed yourself. I made him promise not to get you hurt,” she told me.
“What! You can’t do that to me,” I begged.
“So, who is this girl?” Sandy asked.
“Her name is Peggy, and she goes to Lincoln High.”
I had several similar calls. I even had a text from an anonymous sender, wanting details. I got on Twitter and said that it was Peggy. That at least seemed to satisfy Tami, since I didn’t get any more texts from Ms. Anonymous.