Chapter 29
Jake's conversation with Charles occupied almost his entire mind as he went up the stairs to see Debbie. She called him in when he knocked on her door. She was folding some clothes she had just washed and dried so Jake flopped down on her bed to watch.
"What's up, Sis? We haven't talked in forever."
"I know, Jake; we live twenty feet from each other and we never seem to cross paths."
"How's your love life; getting any?" he asked.
"Getting a lot, as a matter of fact. I finally got it on with Dad; it is unbelievable how he makes me cum. Cindy, Laurie, and Marisa are a lot of fun, too. Especially Cindy, she loves everything I do to her or make her do. She says she loves you but can't resist me. I like to show her off in public; she acts reluctant but she loves it when I take her panties when she is in a mini-skirt. She told me she isn't worried about you and Melissa, she said when she was ready she was coming to get you."
"Wow, Debs, you have a full plate."
"I took your advice and stopped trolling. I also decided to do like you do; I try to keep my business close to home. Opportunities just keep falling into my lap. I think I'm going after Maria next. I've already started priming her. She looks like a deer in the headlights when I push her against the wall and take liberties but she never voices an objection. I'm working on Mom too, although I'm being subtler. I think she will turn out be as pliable as Maria seems to be. It's funny how I can spot females that are somehow submissive."
"Mom and Maria submissive? You have to be shitting me. They are two of the strongest women I know," he protested.
"Try it for yourself, baby brother; push them a little. I know you have the hots for those two; do something about it. I'd be willing to bet that you could have two Saras to play with if you did."
The mention of the number two brought the Phillips twins to mind. Jake asked Debbie if she had tried anything with them.
"Yes and no," she replied.
She had tried to sound them out about sex when they were here that first day with their mom. The 'do you have boyfriends' type of questions. She said they had told her no, junior high boys were too immature. Then, at the party last Saturday, they had sought her out full of questions about you and Melissa. It was obvious from our conversation that they were not my type, she told Jake. They were too much like her! She said,
"You and Melissa, especially Melissa, had better watch out," she said.
Debbie went on to say that Hope and Faith hinted they were going to double team first Melissa, then Jake. Great, thought Jake, as if he needed the added pressure of two more females buzzing around the flower of his manhood. Jake stood up and gave his sister a kiss. At least, it started out sisterly, and then got a lot hotter. She fell onto the bed, pulling him with her. It felt good to be tupping with Debbie again even if she was rough and demanding.
An hour later, he was downstairs and freshly showered. He had managed to bring Debbie to heel and she was upstairs napping - still bathed in perspiration and mottled with monkey bites and hickeys. Helen was at the sink washing salad vegetables for supper. He walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. She leaned her head back against him so he kissed her neck softly.
"Those are sweet kisses, Jacob," she said.
He nibbled on her earlobe and said, "I've got a million more of them for you, Helen. Where is everyone?"
"Deborah is upstairs and Charles took Angela to see if she likes the car he and Deborah were looking at. Maria and Marisa are coming over for supper tonight."
Jake slipped his hands up to her breasts and fondled them roundly and slowly through her fuzzy blue sweater as Helen softly moaned. "Will you make time for me?" he murmured softly. "Mmmm," she replied as the lettuce slipped from her hands and her mound pressed against the counter. Jake had one exploring hand under her sweater and one under her skirt when they heard the front door open. He disentangled his hands and quickly took a seat at the nook. Helen resumed preparing the salad for supper. Charles and Angie came into the kitchen; Angie sat down with Jake, excitedly telling about the car they had been looking at. Charles gave Helen a kiss on the cheek and goosed her butt. She giggled gaily then set Charles to work helping with supper. It was a happy little domestic scene.
Jake nodded his way through school the next week. Report cards came out Tuesday; he was the number one student in the sophomore class. Diane Phillips made him an appointment at Daytona Beach Junior College to take some College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests. The tests covered first year college subjects and were designed to give you college credit for life experience. If he could pass all five CLEP tests, he would have thirty college credits. Credits from a Florida junior college were automatically accepted at any Florida state supported four-year college or university. Stetson was not state supported but would accept CLEP scores in the eighty percentile and up range. Scores were returned in a percentile form. Your percentile was based on how may correct answers you had compared to how ten thousand college students who passed the course scored. Most schools accepted sixty-six percentile. Jake thought it was arbitrary and pretentious for Stetson to require you score higher than eighty percent of people who had passed the course, but he could live with it. The testing would happen the first week of December with results back around the second week of January. With any luck, his high school days were numbered.
Football practices were one hour long. Thirty minutes of conditioning and thirty minutes of simulated games with Lake Wales. While Coach Nelson refined his game plan, Coach McClelland got with the offense and defense to go over his scouting results. Apparently, his ability to focus had been strong enough to not be derailed by his seductive trip companions. McClelland had Jake's defense in some strange formations but they were uncannily effective against the simulated Lake Wales offense. The reverse was also true. Carl McClelland had a future in the NFL if he ever tired of science.
After practice one day, Jake asked Coach McClelland why he was teaching high school with an advanced degree from MIT. McClelland told him that his current position gave him the time to experiment without the scrutiny and interference he had encountered while teaching college. He was looking for something that would help mankind and make him very rich. Jake said, "I have two words for you: impotence and baldness." Then he suggested Coach check out a couple of chemical names he had seen in the fine print of Rogaine and Viagra literature; as Jake mentioned 6-(1-piperidinyl)-2,4-pyrimidine diamine 3-oxide and 1-[[3-(6,7-dihydro-1-methyl-7-oxo-3-propyl-1H-pyrazolo[4,3-d]pyrimidin-5-yl)-4-ethoxyphenyl]sulfonyl]-4-methylpiperazine citrate, McClelland thought he was a quite remarkably amusing intellectual joker and almost laughed out loud. Then he wondered how Jake had learned to speak IUPAC.
No real mystery there, Jay had nursed his terminally ill wife for almost three years. She was in constant pain and steadily lost control of her nervous system. Jay bought a used three volume set of the 1990 edition of United States Pharmicopedial Convention's 'United States Pharmacological Dispensing Information'. By the time she passed away, he was a walking pharmacology.
Jake's home life that week was interesting to say the least. Monday night Charles drove off with his daughters in the Falcon and returned with a Calypso Blue 1970 Boss 302 Mustang. Debbie smiled knowingly while Charles extolled the virtues of the car. He was especially proud of the fact that he had talked the girls into picking out a small V8. "It shows," he said, "we are serious about safety and economy instead of fast driving." Debbie must have really put a good one on ol' Charles to addle his brain so thoroughly. The Boss 302 was about the quickest thing on the road. Jake was salivating at the thought of a turn behind the wheel of that rocket-powered roller skate.
Tuesday night was telephone night. Erika called and made nice on the phone. She told Jake that, just because they were not going together did not mean she did not want to see him. She danced around the topic waiting for Jake to take the hint and ask her out. He never did. Then the ne plus ultra -- Jay Reynolds called for Helen. They talked for half an hour with Helen laughing and talking animatedly. You could tell he was saying something she liked hearing. Jake remembered that he had had a convalescent job while he was between operations working at the base telephone exchange; he had made many a call to a variety of girls. He had had a good rap on the phone and women seemed to eat up his southern accent. He guessed that Helen was evidence that he was a silver-tongued devil. Jake wondered if Helen thought it unusual for Jay to have been so sociable at his father's funeral. Jake remembered that day, sans Helen, clearly. He was there solely for his mother's sake. Jason Reynolds had been a mean and nasty drunk and he and Jay could not stand each other.
Then, suddenly it was Friday, TGIF. Jake was in a great mood -- looking forward to a free weekend. He was walking down the hall when he heard his name being called. When he turned to see who was calling, he crashed into the worst mistake he had ever or could ever make.
"Watch where you're going, pretty boy, or I'll kick your balls up under your chin."
Jake froze, afraid to turn towards the face and the voice. He recognized the voice immediately; only one person in the world could wrap that much evil in a voice of velvet. It was Susan Jean Jones aka Susie Jean the Love Machine. He did finally face her though, secure in the knowledge that he knew her and that made him immune to her. Wrong.
"Excuse me, I wasn't paying attention," he apologized lamely.
She fixed him with those hypnotic gray eyes and he could almost see the flicker in them as another one of her multiple personalities kicked in.
"It was really my fault; I am ever so sorry," she said, "My name's Susan Jean; I just started school here today."
She had switched to his favorite personality, the refined southern belle. Never mind that she and her family were itinerant fruit pickers moving around like gypsies following whatever crop was in season. She was as fucked up as a soup sandwich and, during his Christmas leave, Jay Reynolds was going to fall helplessly in love with her.
"Jake, Jake Turner, pleased to meet you," he said.
"And I you, Jake," she said, pinning him with her eyes.
Even though he knew almost exactly every move she was going to make, he was nearly wilting as she gazed at him. Thank god Melissa came tooling by. She took one look at Jake and the creature he seemed mesmerized by; she quickly wrapped her arms around him.
"Hi, Baby, who is your new friend?" Melissa said.
"Melissa, this is Susan Jean; she just started here today. Susan, this is my girlfriend Melissa."
Jake could see the nictitating veil drop over Susan Jean's eyes as she appraised Melissa.
"Charmed, I'm sure," she said, still in belle character, "Bye-bye, Jake; I hope we run into each other again."
Once Susan Jean sashayed off, Melissa said, "The 'have fun' rule definitely does not apply to that person. Stay away from her, got it?"
"Got it," he answered with the utmost sincerity.
Jake sat in study hall dredging up the painful memories that were Susan Jean. Early in December of 1971, Jay was released from the hospital for a six-week convalescent leave to coincide with Christmas. He drove home in the sporty 1970 AMX he had bought earlier that year. Susan Jean Jones was the daughter of an older couple that had moved out on State Road 415 near his parents' house. Susan's father had been hurt when a stack of eighty-pound boxes of cabbage fell on him and put him permanently out of the picking business. Social security disability was affording them a better life style than working ever could.
When Jake's father was killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver, Susan Jean's mother Audrey had stayed with his mother through some of the tougher times. Susan Jean had married this guy, Kelly Jones, when she was sixteen. When her marriage did not seem to be working out well, she left Kelly in New Port Richie to move in with her parents. When Sergeant Reynolds came home on leave, he met Susan Jean on one of Audrey's visits to check on his mom.
It took Susan Jean Jones fifteen minutes to wrap Jay Reynolds around her little finger. Little wonder, as she was whippet thin, yet had big dense breasts. Her perfectly shaped ass sat jauntily upon her sculpted legs. Masses of brown sugar colored hair hung to her waist. Her facial features were regular and attractive, except for her eyes. Her eyes were beyond beautiful; granite gray, they were the most expressive he would ever see. She could fuck like a Bangkok hooker and she could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch. When she wanted you to cum you came, it was almost clinical.
The problem was that Susan Jean Jones was as unstable as a man-made radioactive element. She was heartless, and as cold as a mother-in-law's love. Jay took a week of leave in February 1972 and proposed to her on Valentines Day, undeterred by her mercurial nature. He was blindly in love and ecstatic when she accepted his proposal. He put her on his checking account; she would move to Fayetteville, North Carolina as soon as he was released from the hospital to go back to duty at Fort Bragg. He was on cloud nine when he returned to the hospital to start out-processing. It was the last time he ever saw her. On payday, she cleaned out his back account and went back to her ex. As the song goes, 'She got the Ring; He Got the Finger'.
Jake was going to avoid her like the plague in this lifeline. It was impressive how Melissa saw her for what she was in fewer than ten seconds.
Saturday morning Jake woke up looking forward to doing relaxing nada. His little love muffin was curled up against his back; she had stolen all the covers again, leaving only a corner of the sheet for him. He was out of the bed and in the shower singing the Allman Brothers 'Whipping Post' when she sleepily stumbled into the bathroom. She filled a tumbler with cold water and threw it over the shower curtain. Jake yelped and flung open the curtain.
"It's six-thirty, Caruso; and Duane Allman has only been dead a month -- have a little respect," she said.
Jake jumped out of the shower and chased her to the bedroom. Dripping wet, he sat on the bed, pulled her across his lap, and spanked her butt. Five minute later he was back in the shower, this time, he had company. The red-bottomed Melissa was impaled on his rod, legs wrapped around his waist, and singing a song of her own.
Jake was downstairs making coffee when Helen came into the kitchen. He kissed her good morning and she lounged in his arms as they waited for the coffee to perk.
"What are your plans for today?" she asked.
"Spending quality time alone with you," he replied.
"Good answer. I think we will have the house to ourselves."
Charles arrived about then prepared to sacrifice a dozen golf balls to the gods of hook and slice. He was giving that shitty game one last, last chance again today. He gulped down a cup of java and kissed Helen on the cheek as he headed out the door.
"Have fun, kids," he flung over his shoulder.
Jake's sisters and Melissa arrived one at a time. Angie came down first; Tyler was arriving today, and she was on anticipatory pins and needles. Tyler had a week off for Thanksgiving break; Angie was going with Maria to pick him up at the airport. Debbie bounced down next. She was going to keep Marisa company while Maria and Angie went to the airport. She casually told Jake that Cindy and Laurie were also going to the Thorntons' house. Maria had taken Melissa up on her offer of renting the estate; Vivian had wasted no time in clearing out and, by Tuesday, Maria had started moving in. Melissa came down last, dressed for work. She had on a tailored suit with her hair up. She looked every inch the professional businesswoman.
By nine, Helen and Jake were alone at the table. Helen stood up and held out her hand; Jake stood up and took it. Hand in hand, they walked up the stairs to Jake's room.
"Can you wait here for me, Honey? I'll be right back," she said.
Jake nodded and sat on the bed; his stomach did flip-flops as he realized that their moment had finally arrived. She kept him waiting for fifteen minutes but it was worth the agonizing interlude. She walked smoothly back into his room wearing the long white negligee he most loved seeing her in. Her coal black hair shimmered. She was the most beautiful woman in Palmdale, no contest. Her nipples marked a rapid rise and fall of aroused breathing. He rose from the bed and took her into his arms.
"You are too beautiful to be real," he said, looking deep into her eyes.
"Thank you, Honey, but I am as nervous as I was my first time."
"Relax, sweet Helen; there is no pressure on you here and it's not a contest."
She gracefully lay down on the bed, her head propped on one arm; she patted the place next to her. He sat down; she took his hand and pulled him to her.
"I'm nervous because of what comes after; this is irrevocable, Jacob. How are we going to handle that?"
"We are going to continue loving each other no matter what. I'll leave everything else up to you," he said as he moved to be horizontal with her.
"Good enough," she said, holding out her arms.
He descended on her and captured her lips with his. If this was the only chance he had with her, he was going to make it memorable for both of them. Long, deep, and deliciously memorable. Jake kissed under her ears, then spoke loving words softly into them until Helen shivered. He slipped the straps of her gown off first one and then the other shoulder and kissed and nuzzled his way across her creamy flesh. He took his time and she lay semi-passively, fully enjoying the tactile sensations of his feathery kisses. It felt so good, so loving, that she could not help moaning. Thanks to his wake-up tune-up with Melissa, Jake knew he would have no need to rush anything; expectation and anticipation were his trusty tools for today.
"Your kisses set me ablaze, my darling," she whispered.
Jake pulled the straps further down; the silk hung on her large turgid nipples for a brief instant, then fell free. He attached his lips to the skin just exposed and went back to work. He loved her breasts; they were succulent orbs just on the large side of medium sized. Her nipples were long and fat, no doubt from nursing three children. They sagged to the side slightly but were firm and resilient to the touch. They were sensitive too, that made them even more fun. As Jake followed a kiss with a gentle nibble, Helen felt his teeth and caught her breath. Jake took a nipple in his mouth and bit it lightly, she moaned so he bit a little harder. He squeezed her breast as he bit and her moans ramped up a notch.
"Ohhh Honey, Honey, Honey, that feels good right down to my toes; harder, please harder. No one has ever been that rough with them."
Jake obliged her; he bit and squeezed harder, molding her beast with both hands as she shuddered through a mini orgasm. He switched breasts and used his free hand to tug the gown down. Helen helped him by lifting her derriere and pushing the bunched up garment off her hips and down her legs. Jake threw the white silk to the floor as he started trailing his kisses down her stomach. He meant to skip her pussy and move down her legs but, as her approached her center, he could not restrain himself. Her pussy was as pretty as the rest of her; fat, pink, and inviting -- it would not have been out of place on a teenager. He separated her labia majora with his thumbs and licked her inner lips with long lingering full-slit sweeps of his tongue. She had douched for him; he could taste the vinegary tang mixing with her sweet natural nectar. Her juices were thick and slightly fragrant; you could smell her arousal which was heady, albeit not as over-powering as Erika's.
Helen reached down and wrapped her fingers in his hair. She had always loved sex but all this extended foreplay was new to her. Her two previous lovers had satisfied her without any frills. Charles had kissed her vagina a few times but nothing had prepared her for the amorous assault she was now experiencing. Involuntarily, her hips rose off the mattress to assist in chasing his maddening tongue. He removed her hands from his head and placed them on her breasts. Slightly embarrassed to be doing this in front of him, she none-the-less started plucking her nipples between finger and thumb. His oral assault had reached the top of her slit; when he flicked his tongue across the hard button of her clit, her moans and hips climbed higher. She was worried that he would find the size of her clit revolting. It was long and thick, the size of her pinky from first knuckle to fingertip. It did not seem to bother him, however, as he sucked it completely into his mouth and flicked it with his tongue.
Her large clit was the reason she came so easily during intercourse. Its size and prominence on top of her mound ensured it got well stimulated. One reason she wore dresses almost exclusively was that tight pants invariable over stimulated her. She saw stars as she came for the first time with Jake; she stifled her scream with her hand and thrashed about on the bed. Her sweet young lover did not slow his attentions and he soon had her climbing from peak to peak, each orgasm stronger than its predecessor.
Jake was thrilled at the size of her clit and her capacity for multiple orgasms. He jammed his finger into her molten core and massaged her g spot. She came harder still. He uncorked his finger and held it to her lips; she looked at him and slowly opened her mouth, captured the slick digit, and sucked it. He would have happily munched her for another hour had his dick not throbbed so violently. He jumped up and tore his clothes off -- never taking his eyes off hers. She was almost delirious when he stopped and stood up to undress for the main event. She had a wild look about her as she absently continued to stretch her nipples away from her breasts. Constricting clothes dispensed with, he climbed between her legs. She moved them further apart for him in welcome. She eagerly reached down and guided him to her pink portico, panting in anticipation. He slowly slid into her, savoring the moment. When their hips were tightly together, he felt her wiggle around a little lining up that amazing clit so that it could ride along the top of his dick. She established a rhythm that suited her and Jake went along for the ride.
Helen was in heaven as Jake held himself above her and picked up her pace. She was amazed at his control and stamina as he gradually took charge of the rhythm and started pounding her. Sweet Jesus, it was good to be held down and ravished, she thought as the strongest orgasm yet rolled over her. She was as limp as a dishrag as he flipped her over and entered her channel from the rear. He played with her clit and they came together in a soul shattering mutual climax. His erection never flagged as he repeatedly took her, changing positions again so that she was on her back, weight on her upper back, legs draped over his shoulders. For Jake it was a transcendent experience; she was not the tightest or the best he had ever experienced, but she was the most enjoyable. He bit her nipple hard as he gushed his second load into her. She held her breath as the orgasm of a lifetime took her; it was so long and so intense she fainted from holding her breath.
Jake went for a warm wet towel, returned, and bathed her face and chest. Her eyelids fluttered open and she turned her eyes toward him. For Helen it was a mind-altering experience. She had cautioned herself that expectations seldom match reality; it did in this case to the positive side of the scale -- Jake was a recherché lover; she was permanently captivated. She pulled him to her and kissed him.
"I'm yours, Jacob; anything you ever want from me is yours."
Jake pushed a finger into her swollen pussy and got it wet with their spendings; he held the milky member to her lips like before. "Anything?" he asked.
She slurped the finger into her mouth and licked it clean. "Yes," she said.
He ran the finger back into her then placed it against her anus. He looked at her questioningly and she pushed her rosebud down on his finger.
"Even that anything," she said timidly.
From now on, all he would have to do is hint that he wanted her and she would drop whatever she was doing. She was too exhausted to give him her cherry ass today, but she would soon, she thought, as she licked the fresh cum off his dick. She tottered to her room half an hour later and drew herself a hot bath.
Now that she had experienced something so exhilarating and wonderful, she was more determined than ever to increase the vista of her and Charles' sexual outlook. For starters, Charles was taking her and Maria dancing tonight, she decided; she had just the right outfit already picked out. As she sat in the steamy Calgon bubbles, she was already planning on how and when she could get Jake alone again.
Elsewhere in Palmdale that afternoon, the precocious duo Faith and Hope were working on their plot to seduce Jake and Melissa. They had come to the realization that they had been hasty in announcing their intent so soon. They decided to lay low until their birthday and try to pass off what they had said earlier as only a joke.
At the Thornton residence, Tyler and Angie were curled up on the couch talking while Debbie and her pussy posse were cavorting in the pool like water sprites. Debbie had even convinced Maria to join them. Maria was both humiliated and excited at the way Debbie touched her with impunity in front of the other girls.
At Thornton Development, executive Melissa was reviewing the status of the TFA Superstore project. Her assessment: if TFA took off the way her Honey thought it would, it could become their most lucrative investment. They would recoup their initial investment in four years or less with depreciation factored in. All of that while still maintaining ownership to the land and building.
Out on a road off Route 415, Susan Jean Jones was sitting on the porch of her parents' cracker box house thinking what a drag school was. She had just decided she simply would not go back; she knew all she really needed to know anyway, she thought with a shake of her head.
The nineteenth hole at the country club was the scene of much celebration as his playing partners congratulated Charles for breaking ninety for the first time and enjoyed the drinks he was buying for them.
Everyone noticed a difference in Helen Saturday evening. Charles was the only one who suspected the root cause of her sudden blossoming. When she and Charles left to pick up Maria for a night at the club, she amazed them all with her daring outfit. Never had she left the house with so much skin exposed. Her low cut black dress showed plenty of first-class cleavage and the hem was four inches above her knees.
Monday morning the high school was gearing up for the big game with Lake Wales. The furor over the elections had died down. Jake did not press the issue of holding new elections. The dissension and animosity such a move could cause would focus too much of Principal Leonard Skinner's wrath on him. Little did Jake know that Skinner's goose was cooked anyway. His antics and authoritarian manner would get him sent packing before the end of the school year. Skinner would find a position at Lee High school as assistant principal. His unrepentant ways caused a number of his students to transfer to another school. One of the students, Ronnie VanZant, immortalized Skinner by naming a band after him, albeit with name much misspelt.
Football practice stepped up a notch on Monday and Tuesday. By five o'clock Tuesday afternoon, the Panthers were as tuned and ready as they would ever be. The team got Wednesday off. Busses would be leaving for the Tangerine Bowl at eight o'clock Thursday morning; game time was noon.
Life at home was marvelous. Since Melissa was spending a lot of time at Thornton Development, she told Jake to find a way to amuse himself for a few weeks until she was fully up to speed. No problem, he told her, he would think of some things to do.
True to her word, Helen let him have his way with her however and whenever the mood struck him. The mood struck him often. Today, trainee Helen was concentrating on learning how to successfully suck dick under Jake's tutelage. He told her that his was the only salami going in her mouth until her lessons were complete. She did not mind the instruction and did not mind swallowing; as a matter of fact, she loved it. Moreover, she loved his frothy cream on her skin. Her favorite technique was finishing up with her kneeling before him, half his load in her mouth, and the other half a pearl necklace dripping into her cleavage.
Helen was the one to broach the subject of a threesome with Maria to Jake. He was taking her bent over the pedestal sink in the downstairs powder room when she brought it up. He had a good stroke going but she brought him to a dead stop. She explained that she would feel better if Jake were there for her first girl-girl time. He told her that they should keep their relationship low profile and made the counter-suggestion that the threesome be with Charles. Helen was only slightly disappointed and saw his reasoning immediately. She said she would talk to Maria about it; if she agreed they would make it a surprise for Charles.
Thursday morning Jake and Melissa boarded one of the busses bound for Orlando. Jake was positive this would be his last football game for dear old Kennedy so he planned on going out with a bang. He was going to give it hell for sixty minutes, walk away, and not look back. At ten, they rolled into the massive Tangerine bowl. In Jake's later life, it would become the Citrus bowl; it seated over fifty thousand spectators. Jake helped unload the equipment for the trainer and the team tromped to one of the auxiliary locker rooms. Coach told them when to be back and they left to watch some of the Division One game in progress. He found Melissa with her cheerleading teammates talking to their Lake Wales counterparts.
She broke away from the gaggle when she spotted him. The incongruity of the perspicacious super-charged CEO of a major land development and holding company bouncing and flouncing around in her cheerleading outfit cracked him up. She grabbed his hand and they walked out of the end zone tunnel to check the crowd. Only about five thousand people had shown up for the early Division One game. Not surprising, since Division One was for small, mostly private, schools. A team from Tampa was playing a parochial high school from Miami. It looked like a good even game.
At eleven, Jake reported back to the locker room and suited up. He put lamp black under his eyes to cut down on the glare and taped down his forearm pads like Dick Butkus. Then he sat down to focus himself. That was who he was going to be today, Dick Butkus. It was ironic that the following Sunday, Butkus would sustain the knee injury that eventually ended his career.
The crowd was much bigger for the Kennedy-Lake Wales game. Both communities were an easy drive from Orlando and it seemed that most of the residents of both small cities had their butts parked in the stadium. Jake estimated there were at least fifteen thousand people at the game. Behind the Kennedy bench, Debbie, Melissa, and the other cheerleaders faced and exhorted a sea of maroon-covered fans.
The Lake Wales coach suspected he was in for a long day when Kennedy score on the opening drive. The Kennedy offense was metronome efficient; four minutes, six plays, seven points. He immediately assigned one of his assistants to keep count of the number of players on the field for Kennedy and one to scrutinize their formations for anything illegal. Something fishy was going on out there, but he could not put his finger on it.
The Kennedy kick off did not do anything to get the aroma of mullet out of his nose as the kick stayed in the air for what seemed like thirty seconds. When the ball finally came down, it appeared as if his black clad receiver was standing in a maroon huddle. On Lake Wales' second offensive play, Jake made his day even longer by stripping the ball from a running back behind the line of scrimmage. An alert Wales player finally jumped on the ball but it was third down and sixteen on their own ten yard-line. Figuring Kennedy expected a pass, the Lake Wales coach sent in a draw play. Jake was blitzing on the play and piled into the quaterback and the fullback right after the exchange. Three and out, not an auspicious start for reigning state champions. And the bad news kept coming, as Kennedy fielded a good punt at their forty and marched steadily back down the field. A questionable call on a fumble at the three is all that kept the score from being fourteen zip at seven minutes into the first quarter.
Lake Wales was lucky to go to their locker room at half time trailing by only two touchdowns. Lake Wales had to switch to a ball-control, time-consuming offense that went for it on fourth down three times in order to limit Kennedy's scoring opportunities. After the third straight Kennedy touchdown, some borderline interference calls on the Kennedy secondary had allowed Lake Wales to finally score with three minutes left in the half. Both teams made adjustments at the half and both coaches gave their best Knute Rockne speech. An official told each coach 'ten minutes until kick-off' and the teams filed back onto the field.
Lake Wales received the second half kick off; their first offensive play was run from a shotgun formation to buy their quarterback some time. Then it was bombs away. The Lake Wales coach had decided that if the referee was going to call pass interference so closely he had nothing to lose by going for it. It worked for two big gains then Coach Nelson signaled frantically for a time out. Jake called one and trotted over to the sidelines where Coach McClelland outlined a novel prevent defense he wanted to try. When Jake went back to his position, the other two linebackers were pulled and replaced by Ray Robinson and Scott Hughes, the two fastest men on the team. They each took a Lake Wales wide receiver to cover man-to-man. Jake started blitzing on every play; even though he was expected, he disrupted the quarterbacks timing or made an opening for Erik to get in the signal caller's face.
Lake Wales tried to re-adjust by throwing running plays against that strange defense with only one linebacker. They broke a couple of good gains; the Lake Wales coach was double and some times triple teaming Jake on every play. Thankfully, the down linemen took up his slack. Erik Johansson stepped up and played the game of his life. The big man showed his quickness as he was in on almost every tackle. With the speedy Ray and Scott to watch their backs, the cornerbacks were filling admirably for the missing backers. Erik was also kicking the ball a country mile; every time he put his foot to the ball it was as if it was filled with helium. The end result was a second-half shutout of Lake Wales and a dominating 35-7 performance by the Kennedy Panthers -- satisfying revenge for the earlier loss. A jubilant team carried Coach Nelson and Eric to the locker room on their shoulders while the long suffering Kennedy faithful celebrated victory at full volume in the stands. Eric was named the MVP of the game. Jake rode home on the team bus, the last time he would be with the team as a group.
The family had a nice traditional Thanksgiving dinner at home; as
Charles said grace, Jake said a silent, heartfelt amen for the many
things they all had to be thankful for.