Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 ï>¿The Trailer Park: The Fourth Year A Story in the Wynter/Trailer Park
Universe by Wizard CopyrightÂ(C) 2006 by Wizard

   Chapter 51

   "Damn dance!"

   I looked over at Kelly, who was muttering under her breath as she
chalked her hands for the bars.

   "Did you say something?" I asked.

   "I said, oh never mind." She clapped her hands to get rid of excess
chalk and stepped in front of the bars.

   I looked around the gym.  Miss Calloway was spotting some girls on the
vault, Tami was helping Traci make up a beam routine, everybody was
working. I looked back at the bars and watched Kelly's routine.

   "So how was it?" she asked after she'd landed her dismount.

   "Depends?"

   "On what?"

   "Do you want the spectator answer or the coach answer?"

   "The spectator answer."

   "It was awesome.  I can't believe the way you jump from bar to bar and
then the flip off the bar at the end.  Incredible.  Shannon Miller better
start worrying."

   "She's retired," Kelly informed me dryly.  "What's the coach answer?"

   "Well, one leg was higher than the other on that swing beneath the bar."

   "It's called a glide."

   "Thanks," I said, and meant it.  I was still learning the lingo.  "It
looked like you struggled a little with your kip." I cocked my head at her
and she nodded that I'd used the right word.  "Legs were apart when you
jumped to the high bar." She nodded again.  I think she was agreeing with
my assessment.  "And your dismount did look incredible to me, but I've seen
you go higher."

   Kelly smiled.  "Not bad, coach."

   "Can I ask you something?"

   She nodded.

   "Why are you mad at the dance?"

   Kelly looked surprised, then embarrassed.  "I'm not mad at the dance. 
Well, not really.  It's just that everybody else is going, and they all
want to get ready, so we're cutting practice short.  And it's our last
one."

   I nodded.  I knew that all the girls were going to the dance except
Kelly, but that was Kelly's choice.  Traci said at least half-a-dozen guys
asked her.  And I knew that we were only practicing until four-thirty
tonight, instead of five-thirty.  And since tomorrow was only a half-day of
school, there was no practice tomorrow or during Christmas, excuse me,
Winter vacation.

   "Will you watch me again in a little while?"

   I nodded, then went over to the beam to help Traci with her cartwheels.

   I wished I knew what was bothering Kelly.  At least today she wasn't
biting my head off.  But she didn't seem to be having any fun.  Life is
supposed to be fun.  Especially when you're twelve.

   Then I had an idea.

   I told Tami about it as we stood together while Traci showed me the
routine she and Tami had put together.  Routines for beam and floor are a
combination of dance and gymnastics.  Traci's was mostly dance, but the
fact that she did it four feet in the air on a four-foot-wide strip of wood
impressed me.  I sure wasn't getting up there.

   "Ready to show me your bars again?" I asked Kelly almost an hour later.

   "Practice is almost over."

   "We've got time."

   Kelly shrugged and walked to the chalk bucket by the bars.  Most of the
girls were already putting stuff away.  Since it was a short practice, Miss
Calloway wasn't going to do conditioning drills.

   Kelly clapped her hands and stepped in front of the bars.  She saluted
me as if I were a judge, then started her routine.  Tami and Miss Calloway
came up beside me as Kelly jumped toward the high bar.  We watched together
as she finished her routine and landed her dismount.

   "Your, uh, glide looked a lot better.  Your kip too.  But your legs were
still apart on your jump to the high bar, and I know you can make that
dismount higher.  Do it again."

   Kelly looked around the gym, all the girls were gone.  "But practice is
over."

   "Don't argue with your coach," Miss Calloway said.

   "Yeah," Tami agreed.  The two of them turned and walked toward the
locker room.

   "But..."

   "Do it again."

   "But..."

   I smiled at her confused face.  "Kelly, is there something you'd rather
be doing?"

   "Uh..."

   "Do it again."

   "But my mom will be waiting."

   "Your mom knows that my mom is picking us up at six.  I called her."

   "But Miss Calloway?"

   "Miss Calloway said that we could stay until six.  The school is open
for the dance anyway.  Are you going to do it again, or just stand there
all night?"

   Kelly re-chalked her hands.  "You did this for me?"

   "Nope, for the team.  If you don't learn to keep those legs together,
we're gonna lose points.  Besides, I had nothing better to do tonight."
Which was true.  The high school dance was tomorrow night.  Why they
decided to have the middle school dance on Tuesday and the high school on
Wednesday, I didn't understand.

   Kelly blinked, a tear forming in the corner of her eye.  "You're a nice
guy." She wiped her eye with her wrist, not wanting to use her chalky
hands.

   I was tempted to tell her to remember that the next time she snapped at
me, but decided that it'd ruin the moment.  I just nodded, then folded my
arms across my chest and tapped my foot as if impatient.

   Kelly smiled.  "I'm going already," she said.

   "How was that?" she asked a minute later after she'd landed.

   "Speaking as a spectator, awesome.  Speaking as a coach, awesome.  That
was incredible."

   Kelly beamed.

   "I was thinking."

   "Robbie says that's a bad sign."

   Sigh.

   Kelly giggled, a sound I hadn't heard in awhile.  Then she put on an
exaggerated straight face.  "Sorry.  What were you thinking coach?"

   "That dismount would look even better if you did it with a straight
body."

   "You mean lay-out my flyaway?"

   "I guess that's what I mean." Note to self, look up a gymnastics
terminology site on the internet.  "Do you think you could?"

   "Maybe.  I've never tried.  I'd need a spot."

   "Okay."

   "Do you know how to spot laid-out flyaways?"

   "Not a clue," I admitted.

   "Flyaways?"

   I shook my head.  "Maybe you could talk to your coach in town," I
suggested.

   She started nodding, then froze.  "Nope.  I'm going to teach you to
teach me."

   So Kelly taught me how her coaches spotted flyaways.  Spotting flyaways
or anything else isn't hard.  It's just a question of timing and leverage.
The hard part is figuring out the timing and leverage.  Of course, working
with a gymnast who could already do the skill helped.

   "You ready to try my lay-out?" Kelly asked as she climbed onto the low
bar.

   "I guess."

   Kelly jumped to the high bar and pulled herself up until she was resting
on her hips.  "It's just like spotting a flyaway when I'm tucked, except
I'll rotate slower." I nodded.  "I think," she added under her breath.

   "I heard that."

   Kelly smiled, then nodded that she was starting.  She pushed backwards
and swung down.  Before, she'd swung up almost even with the high bar, let
go, tucked as her body flipped, and landed lightly on her feet.  This time,
she let go almost as soon as her body passed under the bar and shot
straight forward.  I grabbed her as she went upside down and managed to set
her down on her hands and knees.

   I let go, and she sprawled onto her back.  "Thanks," she said looking up
at me.  "I released a little early."

   "Ya think?" Her life had passed before my eyes.  All except that part
about a month ago that had her so moody.

   She smiled and stared up at the high bar.

   "Want to call it a night?"

   "Nope.  I'm going to get this.  Besides, I trust my spotter."

   I wished I did.

   Kelly climbed to her feet, grabbed the support pole for the high bar,
and shinnied up.  "Ready?" she asked when she was resting on her hips
again.

   I nodded, though inside I was thinking about how Mrs.  Temple had
freaked when I brought Peter home a little bloody.  What was she going to
do when I brought Kelly home with her head hanging off to the side.

   Kelly pushed backwards and swung down.  She passed under the high bar,
then started swinging up the other side.  As she got to about a thirty
degree below horizontal angle, she released and started pulling her toes
over her head.  I reached in, grabbed her hips, and helped her rotate.  She
landed on her feet with one big step forward to catch her balance.

   "That's what I'm talking about," she said sassily.

   We did it eight more times, the last four all by herself.  I just stood
back and watched.  Her form wasn't great, but considering that she'd
basically taught herself in less than an hour, I was impressed.

   We sat on a stack of mats.

   "Feeling better?" I asked.

   Kelly nodded.

   I took a deep breath, held it, and let it out.  "So how come you didn't
go to the dance?"

   I was watching Kelly from the corner of my eye, trying not to be
obvious, and saw her tighten up.

   "I just didn't feel like it."

   "Is it all dances or just this one?"

   "Just this one, I guess."

   "Good."

   I let her sit and think for awhile.  "Why?" she asked after a minute.

   "Well, I need a date for the dance tomorrow, and I was hoping you'd go
with me."

   Kelly stood and pivoted to face me.  "I can't go to the dance.  It's for
high school."

   "So?"

   "I'm in seventh?"

   "So?"

   "You can't ask me to the dance."

   "Why?"

   "I'm a seventh grader."

   I stood up and put my hands on her shoulders.  "Kelly, are you cute?"

   "Kinda."

   "Are you sexy?"

   "I dunno."

   "You're right.  I can't ask you to the dance."

   "What?"

   "My criteria are cute and sexy.  You're kinda and I dunno."

   "I'm cute." Kelly blushed and looked away from my eyes.  "And I'm sexy."

   "Then, will you go to the dance with me?"

   Kelly turned even redder, but looked me in the eyes.  "Yes.  But what
about Tami?"

   "She can stay home and watch television." Now to find out if I knew as
much about girls as I thought I did.

   "You could take her too.  Have two dates.  Like you did with her and
Robbie when you were in the eighth grade."

   Bingo!  Of course, having Tami tell the team that story during the break
today didn't hurt.  First the fish takes the bait.

   "I don't know." Then you set the hook.

   "Tami said Mr.  Parker hated it when you took her and Robbie.  He'll
probably be pissed off if you take me and Tami."

   "Well..." Then you reel it in.  "Okay."

   "I can't believe it.  I'm going to a high school dance.  Everyone will
be so jealous."

   "I just had an idea."

   "What?"

   Good.  She was so excited that she wasn't making a Robbie-style crack.
"Don't tell Mikee."

   "Why not?  She's my sister."

   "Tomorrow night she'll go to the dance.  Think how surprised she'll be
when you show up."

   "Cool," she said with a big grin.

   She was looking and sounding more like the Kelly that I knew and loved.
If only I could keep her that way.

   "One thing."

   Kelly's smile faded.

   "Don't get too excited."

   A frown replaced it.

   "Your mom may not like the idea of you going to a dance with a tenth
grader.  The age difference and everything."

   Kelly grinned.  "She'll say yes.  She likes you."

   Yeah.  She liked me a lot when I beat up her oldest son.  She liked me
even more when I brought home a bloody Peter.  But this one was in the bag.
I'd talked to her about it when I called about Kelly staying for practice.
She'd noticed the changes in her daughter too.

   "Just one thing I forgot to ask."

   I sat back down, and Kelly plopped onto my lap, something she hadn't
done in a long time.  "What?"

   "You do know how to dance, don't you?"



   Chapter 52

   The good news was...

   Kelly had a blast at the dance.  Robbie and Tami grabbed her right after
school, and as the last day before Winter break, it was only a half-day. 
The three of them spent the rest of the day making themselves pretty.  I
stopped by Tami's house about three and was told to "Buzz off!"

   Whatever they did, it worked.  Robbie always looked good at the dances
with her long hair cascading down her shoulders and back, but somehow her
shorter hair accented her body more.  She was beautiful, though I refused
to tell her just how good she looked.  I wouldn't want her getting the idea
I approved of her haircut.

   Tami looked good to me even when she had the flu, so it wasn't hard to
look beautiful in her new dress.  But it was Kelly that amazed me.  She
didn't look like a seventh grader.  She was wearing one of Tami's old
dresses, and she looked like she belonged at a high school dance.

   I walked in the dance with Kelly on one arm and Tami on the other, and
they both got the stares they deserved.  I thought I'd take some flack for
bringing a seventh grader -"you know, cradle robber, that sort of thing
-"but nobody said anything.  I don't think anyone realized her age, at
least not at first.

   Several guys came over and wanted to dance with my spare, whichever one
it was at the time.  Larry did a slow dance with Kelly, and I saw him cop a
feel of her butt.  I couldn't wait to tell him he was feeling up a
twelve-year-old.

   Only two people recognized Kelly.  The first was Mikee.  She was dancing
with her current boyfriend, whose name I didn't know, and did a double-take
worthy of a classic TV show like Dick Van Dyke or Mary Tyler Moore.  Her
mouth hung open as she watched me walk her little sister out onto the floor
and start dancing.

   The other person was Kenny.  He came over about half-an-hour after we
got there.  I was standing by the refreshments, Kelly's hand lightly on my
arm, and we were watching Tami dance with my old friend Luke.  Luke used to
be my best friend, right after I'd moved here, but over the years, we'd
grown apart.  Or maybe Robbie grew between us, but he was still a good
friend.

   "Like 'em young?" I heard behind me.

   I turned and saw Kenny standing there.  "All the Temples are fun to be
with.  Except one." I felt Kelly's fingers digging into my arm in
embarrassment.

   "I'd think you'd be embarrassed to be seen with a twelve-year-old."

   "At least she's female." I nodded toward Kenny's buddies standing behind
him.  They'd all come to the dance together.

   Kenny turned red and his fists flexed.  I waited, smiling.  He stomped
off.

   I grinned at Kelly.  "You know, I use that arm to throw with.  It'd be
nice to have some circulation."

   Kelly blushed, and her grip eased up.

   I was surprised a few minutes later when Robbie came in with Mike Rose.
"What's the deal?" I asked Tami.

   She looked surprised at me.  "What do you mean?  They've been going out
for over a month."

   "But I thought...  I mean...  her and Larry."

   Tami smiled at me as if I was feeble.  "That was just a fling."

   "Oh."

   I spent another three hours dancing with Kelly and Tami.  I even got in
a couple with Robbie, Paula, and Darlene.

   It was a great night.  My only disappointment was that Parker didn't
chaperone.

   The bad news was...

   Kelly's good mood didn't last.  By Friday, she was back to moping around
her house.

   Saturday, Christmas day, was the best Christmas ever.

   First of all, I was in love with Tami, and Tami was in love with me, and
nobody was mad at anybody.  Mom and Dad gave me a new mp3 player.  Not one
for my soon-to-be car, but a Creative Nomad Jukebox that would fit in my
pocket.  Thirty gigs of music that I could take anywhere.  I figured that
if I ripped every cd that I, Robbie, and Tami owned I might have 5 to 7
gigs worth.  I decided that I needed to expand my musical horizons.

   Traci gave me a couple of computer games and I gave her a turquoise
bracelet.  I thought she was going to faint for a minute.  She tackled me
with a hug that Robbie would have been proud of.

   I don't know if my grandparents understood the concepts of mp3's and
ripping, but all of them gave me CDs.  Lots of CDs.  Granny Vickie gave me
the Time-Life collection of Jazz.  Granny Carol also Time-Lifed me, but
with a collection of country.  Grandpa John sent a dozen and a half new age
cd's, including some Cusco, David Lanz, and a lot of Yanni.  But it was
grandpa Doug, the colonel who surprised me.  Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath,
Leonard Skinnard, the Who.  There was no way that I was going to believe my
favorite marine even knew who they were, let alone listened to them.

   I gave Tami a sapphire necklace, admittedly a small sapphire, but those
things aren't cheap.  She gave me a new watch.  The one I had, I'd been
wearing since sixth grade, and it definitely showed the wear and tear of
years of football, baseball, and generally being an active kid.

   Tami and her mom came over for Christmas dinner.  And we're not talking
some dumb turkey who didn't move fast enough, my family does prime rib. 
>And not just any prime rib, my dad's prime rib.  Dad doesn't cook much,
but he knows how to do a prime rib.  He says if I don't get suspended more
than once or twice between now and graduation, he'll teach me.

   After dinner, Tami, Traci and I took a walk while the adults sat and
complained that they'd eaten too much.  It was a great night.  It'd been
raining for several days, but now the rain was turning to snow.  There was
a light dusting everywhere.  It would have been nice if it started last
night for Christmas eve, but you take what you can get.

   We wound up at Tami's where Traci sat and watched Miracle on 34th Street
on TV and played lookout while Tami and I gave each other one more present.
I was beginning to be glad that I hadn't talked Mom and Dad out of a new
baby sister when I was three.

   Like I said, the best Christmas ever.

   Sunday I was out on the front lawn with Traci making a snowman.  It
wasn't easy, the snow was too dry to pack good.  Tami was with her mom
picking up her grandma at the airport.  Tami only had one grandparent and
that was hard for me to imagine.

   I had four, and they all seemed like they planned to go on forever. 
Grandpa John and Grandma Carol were in Mexico helping an Aztec
archaeological dig.  Grandma Vickie was in Houston helping a friend open a
new restaurant, they were planning to have beer from over thirty different
countries.  And the colonel had just left for New Zealand, where he was
going to hop a Navy C-130 for Antarctica, where he was going to consult on
cold weather survival.  No rocking chairs in my family.

   I'd just put the head on our snowman for the third time.  And watched it
crack and crumble for the third time when Mikee walked over.

   "How's my favorite freshman?" I called.

   "If I'm your favorite, how come you took my sister to the dance?" she
said with a small pout.

   "One, she's not a freshman, and two, you had a date."

   "I could have dumped him."

   "Would you have dumped him for me?" I asked as seductively as I could,
as I tried to pack a fourth head for frosty.

   Mikee grinned.

   "Would you two like to be alone?" Traci asked.  "I could go home."

   The snowball I threw disintegrated on its flight, but enough snow landed
on Traci's face to make my point.

   "So how was your Christmas?" I asked Mikee.

   "Okay, I guess."

   "That was enthusiastic," Traci said.  "You sound like you got socks and
underwear."

   "No, I got a great mp3 player."

   "Me too," I told her.

   "Mine's better," we said together.

   We both had ours in our pockets, so we pulled them out and compared. 
Hers was an Ipod with twenty gigs.  I liked my Nomad better.

   "So with a great present like that, why aren't you more excited?" I
asked as we put them away.

   "I don't know, it's just..."

   "Kelly," Traci and I said together and Mikee nodded.

   "She was so happy Wednesday after the dance, she was bubbling.  It was
like having my sister back again.  Then yesterday she might as well have
been a mannequin."

   "Mannequin?"

   "You know, they have them in stores, they put clothes on them."

   "A mannikin."

   "Whatever.  I called them mannequins when I was younger and I think it's
cute.  So sue me." I shrugged.  "I think Kelly said one word yesterday. 
After she unwrapped her big present, she got an Ipod too, she said
'Thanks.' A few minutes later, she took her new Ipod, went to her room, and
spent the day reading and staring out the window."

   "Maybe if she'd gotten a Nomad?" I suggested.

   Mikee stuck her tongue out at me, but I was ready.  I shoved a small
handful of snow into her open mouth.  Mikee sputtered as she spit out snow
and glared at me.  I made a mental note not to turn my back on her anytime
soon.

   Mikee reached down, picked up a handful of snow and started packing it
tightly between her hands.  "I want my little sister back," she said as she
inspected her work.

   "You know, I'm getting real tired of your mannequin." I backed up about
ten feet.

   "Nah-nah-na-na-nah," I said as I stuck my thumbs in my ears and wiggled
my fingers.  "Nah-nah-na-na-n..." her snowball hit me just over my left
eye.



   Chapter 53

   I took a deep breath and turned the door knob.

   The backdoor opened into a hallway.  There was a door straight in front
of me, one to my left about eight feet, and another to my right the same
distance, with a fourth door at the very back end of the hall.  I knew the
door I wanted was the one in front of me.

   I stepped into the hall and closed the door behind me.  I took another
deep breath and considered retreat.  After all, there was no shame in
retreat.  Most famous generals retreated at one time or another.  Wasn't it
Patton who said, "I'm not retreating, I'm advancing to the rear"?  Or
something like that.

   But, I decided, this isn't the time for retreat.  I stepped forward to
the door.  As I reached down for the doorknob, I remembered General Custer,
who hadn't known when to retreat.  I opened the door.

   She was sitting next to the window staring out, watching the snow fall.
I thought about retreating one more time, then cleared my throat.  "Hello,
Kelly."

   Kelly jerked and spun around, looking wide-eyed.  "What are you doing
here?"

   I smiled, hopefully reassuringly.  "We need to talk." I'd known that her
Mom had gone to lunch with Alana and that her dad had gone bowling with
Mikee and Peter.  Kenny was off doing whatever it was he did, so she was
alone.

   "Why?"

   "Cause you're not happy, and I want to know why."

   "I'm fine," she said, turning back to the window.  "Just fine."

   "No, you're not." I crossed the room and laid my hand on her shoulder.

   Kelly jerked, spun again, and stood.  "I said I'm okay.  You can go
now."

   "Kelly, I want to help."

   "I don't need any help.  Go away." She pointed toward the open door.

   I grabbed her wrist and pulled her down to the floor and sat on her. 
"I'm staying here until you decide to talk to me." After all, it worked
with Tami.

   Kelly didn't struggle, she just glared.  "I'm not your fucking
girlfriend.  And I'm not a fucking little girl.  And I'll decide who I want
to talk to, and when.  Now get your fucking hands off me and go away." Her
words were so cold that I almost imagined icicles hanging from them.

   I stared down at her.

   "You're right." I got off her and stood up.  I reached a hand down to
her, but she ignored it and stood on her own.  "I'm sorry.  That was out of
line.  But I really think you need to talk to someone.  Your mom, Mikee,
Tami.  There's a lot of people of care about you."

   Kelly turned her back and went back to the window.  I watched her stare
out for several minutes, then left.  Man had I blown it this time!

   I mean, if you can't learn life lessons from George Custer, who can you
learn them from?

   As I walked down the street, I wondered if Robbie was home.  Maybe she
could use me as a tackling dummy.  Better yet, she could use my chin as a
pitching target, since baseball was coming up next.  All I'd done was make
things worse.  I should have respected Kelly's privacy and let her talk
when she wanted to.  Instead, I charged in like the damn knight on the
white horse that I keep telling Tami I don't want to be.  Hell, Robby could
pitch at my balls.

   I don't think I've ever felt lower.  I wished that Tami was around so I
could at least talk to her about it, but she, her mom, and grandma had gone
to Seattle for a couple of days.

   I let myself into my empty house.  It was the middle of the week, so Mom
was at work, and Dad was looking for work.  Traci was at the gymnastics
club, doing an open gym.  I picked up the phone and tried Robbie but didn't
get an answer.  She was probably out with Mike Rose or something.

   I wandered around the house.  I looked at my computer, but there wasn't
anything in cyberspace that I cared about right then.  My homework and
reading were all done.  I thought about reading for fun, I was up to book
five in the Mission: Earth series, but just wasn't in the mood.

   I drifted back to my parent's room, I noticed the stack of bills on
Dad's desk was bigger than usual, there was also a stack of resumes that
he'd printed up.  I grabbed the clothes hamper out of their closet and took
it to the utility room and started a load of clothes.

   I thought about cleaning the house from top to bottom, but Mom had
gotten used to me being helpful, and that kinda took the fun out of it.

   Finally, I decided to run.  I'd do about five miles.  I hate running, so
that could be the start of my penance.  It was still snowing but fairly
warm, so I went to my room and changed into shorts and a t-shirt.  I went
back to the living room and started stretching.  Maybe I'd do ten miles. 
That'd teach me.  One thing, my New Year's resolution was clear.  I wasn't
going to get involved in anyone's life but mine.  Maybe Tami's, but that
was almost the same thing.

   I finished stretching.  Maybe I'd try for a marathon.  Was that
twenty-one miles or twenty-six.  I opened the door.

   Kelly was standing there.  It looked like she'd been there a few
minutes. She looked surprised to see me.

   "You don't have to say anything," I told her.  "I'm sorry I tried to
interfere.  I'll make sure I respect your privacy from now on."

   Kelly nodded.  "Can I come in?" she asked in a little girl voice, she
sounded about ten.

   I opened the door wide.  "You're always welcome here, you know that."

   "Were you going out?" she asked as she came in, she stopped in the
middle of the living room looking uncomfortable.

   "I was going to run."

   "It's snowing."

   "Yeah, but it's not that cold.  I hate running, but it keeps me in
shape." I didn't add that I could stop thinking when I ran, and that right
now I didn't want to think.

   "I wanted to say I'm sorry." Now she sounded about six.

   "You don't have anything to be sorry about.  I was out of line.  I tried
to force you to do something that you didn't want to do."

   "I..." She rushed forward and hugged me.  Hard.  "I shouldn't have
yelled.  And I shouldn't have said fuc...  those words you don't like."

   "You're a big girl.  I shouldn't have tried to make you tell me
something you didn't want to."

   Kelly buried her face in my chest.  "I don't want to be a big girl," she
said, her voice muffled.  Then she sobbed.

   I wrapped my arms around her and just held her for a long, long time.

   "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked twenty minutes later.  I was
sitting on the sofa, and Kelly was sitting on the edge of the coffee table,
facing me.  Mom wouldn't have been happy about that, but right now I didn't
care.  I was holding both of her hands.  She squeezed tight.

   "I..."

   "If you don't want to talk to me, you could talk to Tami or Robbie. 
They both care about you a lot."

   "I don't know."

   "Or Mikee.  She's real worried about you.  She told me that she wants
her old sister back.  Or your mom."

   "I don't want to talk about it."

   "Okay." See, I can be taught.  I wasn't going to try to force anything.

   "But I have to," she added, her voice a whisper.

   'I shot a man just to watch him die.' I almost wished she'd said that.
It would have been better that the three words she did say.  Three words,
nine little letters.  "I was raped," she said, her voice flat and
emotionless.

   Some knight in shining armor I am.  My first instinct was to tell her to
go back to sulking in her room, and I'd pretend she'd never said anything.
Still it made a kind of sense in a senseless world.  For almost a month,
she hadn't wanted to be touched.  But how could anybody be so horny that
they'd force a beautiful, innocent girl like Kelly?

   "Are you okay?"

   "It's been a month and a half.  I'm...  I'm fine."

   "Did you tell anyone?"

   Kelly shook her head and wouldn't meet my eyes.  "I couldn't"

   I tried to remember who she'd been going out with back then.  Tami had
told me once.  "Was it Tyler what's-his-name?"

   Kelly shook her head.  "He's harmless," she mumbled, still not looking
at me.

   "Who was it?"

   "It's...  it's not important."

   I thought it was.  She needed to tell it all.  "Kelly, if you're afraid,
there's a lot of people who'll protect you.  Your dad, me, Peter, even
Kenny." Her head jerked up and she looked straight at me.  "You know we're
all here for you."

   "I don't want to talk about this anymore." She tried to pull away but I
held onto her hands.

   "You don't have to." I smiled and stared into her eyes.  Fuck!  I was so
in over my head.  And I knew she was going to make me promise not to tell
anyone.  And I might have to break that promise.

   "Thanks," she said as she looked back down to the floor.

   Now what?  Do I push, or do I back off?  Psychologists get their
bachelors, masters, and doctorates.  That's like eight or ten years of
school.  Psychiatrists add medical school to the equation.  All I do is
read an occasional Psychology Today.

   Kelly looked up and smiled weakly.  "You're a good friend."

   I smiled back.  "Remember that when I ask you again who did it." Kelly
shook her head.  I suppose it could have been a stranger, but then Kelly
would have said so.  It had to be somebody she knew.  One of the guys she
dated.  I wished I'd kept track.  I made a mental note to start keeping up
on the guys Traci was going out with.  Better yet, I was going to chain her
in her room and dig a moat.

   "I don't..." she said dropping her head again.

   "Kelly." I let go of one hand and put a finger under her chin and
lifted. She didn't resist.  "It's not just about you.  If he did this to
you, he could do it to someone else.  Traci, Zoe, the girls in gymnastics."

   Kelly blinked hard and the tears started flowing.  "He wouldn't do
that."

   "Why?"

   "'Cause I deserved it.  He said, I asked for it." Kelly pulled her hand
away from my finger and twisted her head as if she was trying to cry on her
own shoulder.

   I let go of her other hand and grabbed her head gently with both hands.
I turned it until our eyes locked together again.  "Kelly, nobody deserves
to get raped.  Nobody asks for it.  If you walked naked into the boys'
locker room, you aren't asking for it.  You deserve to walk out again."

   Kelly tried to drop her head again, but I wouldn't let her.

   "Kelly, if there's a guy out there who thinks he knows more about what
you want than you do, he's dangerous.  And not just to you.  What if he
decides that Tami is asking for it?  Or Rachel Clark?" Of course, if
there's any justice in the world, he'll try Robbie and she'll rip his nuts
off and feed them to him.

   "He wouldn't."

   "Are you sure?" I asked and let go of her head.  Her head dropped, and I
watched as tears flowed freely down her cheeks and dropped onto her legs.

   I wasn't helping, I was making everything worse.  I tried to imagine
what she was feeling.  What it must be like to have someone hold you down
and force his cock into your most private area.  At least she hadn't been a
virgin.  Maybe that made it easier.  Then I felt ashamed of myself for
thinking that anything could make it easier.

   I reached out and gathered her into my arms and pulled her across my
lap. I just wanted to hold her, as much for me as for her.  I sat and
rocked, holding her, and let her cry.

   She pressed her face into my chest, and the force of her sobs shook me
to my very soul.

   "Itwsmibraw" she mumbled after awhile.

   "What?"

   She lifted her head and looked straight at me.  She took a deep breath.
Her tears made fresh tracks down both cheeks, replacing those she'd wiped
away with the front of my shirt.  "It was my brother.  It was Kenny." She
let out the breath that I hadn't realized she'd been holding and turned her
head onto my shoulder and rested it there.

   I held her tightly as her heavy sobs continued, slowly dying out.

   If she'd said it was George W.  Bush or Tom Cruise, it would have made
more sense.  Hell, if she'd said John Lennon or Elvis, it would have made
more sense.  He was her brother.  A brother couldn't do that.  I mean,
Kenny was a shit, but rape his sister?

   "I..." I had absolutely no idea what to say.  I wondered if Kelly could
wait while I got my degree in psych.  If I worked really hard, I could
probably cut it down to five years.

   "It's okay," she said, her head resting on my shoulder.  "You don't have
to say anything." She sat there for about a minute, then continued softly.
"It was just after Halloween.  I'd been going out with Tyler McMartin for a
couple of weeks.  He came over one day.  No one else was home, and e kinda
started making out on the couch.  We were kissing, and he was feeling me up
through my shirt when Kenny came home.  Tyler jumped away like he been
shocked and left a few minutes later."

   "Kenny started making a lot of jokes about me and Tyler.  And asked a
lot of questions about what we'd been doing and how far I'd gone with him
and other guys.  I ignored him and went to my room.  He followed me and
came in, even after I tried to push him out."

   "You don't have to..." I started.

   "Yes, I do, so shut up.  When I tried to push him out and close the
door, he pushed me hard and I landed on Mikee's bed.  He came in and stood
over me.  'So how big is Tyler's weenie?' he asked.  I didn't know.  We
hadn't gone that far yet, and I wouldn't have told Kenny if I did.  I just
ignored him and tried to get up."

   "He pushed me down again.  'It's time you saw a real cock, ' he told me
and pulled his fucking cock..." She looked up at me.  "Sorry."

   I smiled.  "No, this time I think it's appropriate."

   "...  his fucking cock..." she laid her head back down again, "...  out
of his jeans.  It was about the same size as yours."

   Damn!

   "But I laughed and asked why it was so small.  He got mad and slapped me
with the back of his hand.  It really hurt."

   "I'm sorry."

   "Then he said since I'd gotten it so hard with all my slutting around
with Tyler, that I could take care of it for him.  He grabbed me by the
back of the neck and pulled me up until his pecker was right in front of my
face, and then he pushed my cock in his mouth."

   I remembered some old western where the Indians had tied some guy to an
ant hill, poured honey on him, and let the ants eat him alive.  I wondered
if we had the right kind of ants.

   "I bit him."

   I laughed.  "You bit him?"

   She looked up and nodded.

   "Good for you."

   She laid her head back down.  "Not real hard.  I didn't want to hurt
him, just make him go away."

   "You should have bit it off."

   "Yuck.  He pulled back real fast, and my teeth scraped him.  He slapped
me a couple more times and called me a bitch and a slut and some other
things.  That's when he held me down by the throat and pulled off my jeans
and panties.  Then he..."

   "That's enough.  I get the idea."

   Kelly nodded without lifting her head.  "Afterward he said it was all my
fault.  That I was a cock-tease and asking for it.  And that Mom and Dad
would send me to a girl's school, cause I was such a slut."

   "You're too smart to have bought that."

   "I know, but..."

   Yeah, it's the damn 'but' that will get you in trouble.

   "And you've been keeping it inside all this time?"

   She nodded.  "I couldn't tell anybody.  I mean, I almost told you after
the Monopoly sleepover, but..."

   Fuck!  But I snapped at her, and she went home instead.  I decided that
letting Robbie throw baseballs at my balls wasn't enough.  I deserved
worse.

   She lifted her head and looked at me.  "And you can't tell either."

   "Kelly, I think we need to..."

   "You can't tell!  And you can't hurt Kenny."

   Damn!  Now she's learning to mind read.

   "I...  we, have to do something."

   "You can't hurt him.  He won't do it to anybody else."

   "Kelly, if he'd..." I couldn't bring myself to say rape.  "...  force
his sister, he'd force anybody.  What if he sees Tami at the pool and
decides that her bikini is so small that she's asking for it?"

   "He wouldn't.  He's afraid of you."

   "What about Zoe?  Or Paula?"

   Kelly bit her lip.

   "What if he comes after you again?"

   "He won't."

   "Kelly if he, uh, did it the first time, he's going to decide that you
not telling means you liked it.  He's going to think that's an invitation."

   "He won't."

   "How about if I talk to him.  Explain that I wouldn't like it if he..."
Damn, there's that word again.  "...  bothers you again."

   "It's not necessary."

   "I think it is."

   "You can't tell him.  You can't tell anybody."

   Damn!  Double damn!  I'm a believer in self-determination.  A firm
believer.  I thinks kids can make their own choices.  One of the reasons
that Parker and I clash so much is he's the type who believes he knows
what's best for everyone.  Especially everyone under twenty-one.  Now my
theory gets the test 'cause I know Kelly is smart.  And I think she's
mature enough to make her own decision, but...  Here's the damn 'but'
again. But, I don't think it's the right decision.

   Can I really stand back and let her make it?  And what about all the
other girls around?

   There are times when I wish someone would make my decisions for me. 
Where's Parker when you need him?

   "Here's the deal.  I won't talk to your brother.  And I won't hurt him
as long as he doesn't bother you again.  And YOU have to promise to tell me
if he so much as looks at you funny.  No promise, no deal."

   Kelly hesitated, then nodded.

   "And if I find out he's bothering anybody else, all bets are off and
he's mine."

   Kelly nodded slowly.

   "I'll tell you something else.  I don't think we should leave it here. I
think you need to talk to your parents or someone." Kelly started to
object, but I continued.  "But for now, we'll do it your way." And if I
didn't see the old Kelly in the next couple weeks, we'd do it mine.  I
didn't tell her that, 'cause I didn't want her to try and fake having fun.

   "Will you do me a favor?" she asked, the little girl back in her voice.

   "Anything."

   "Will you make love to me?"

   "I'm not sure..."

   "Please.  Not just sex.  I want you to make love to me.  Like you do to
Tami."

   I smiled.  I thought I felt some moisture in the corner of my eye. 
"No."

   She stiffened.

   "I won't make love to you like I do to Tami, but I'll make love to you
like I do to Kelly."

   I stood, picking her up as I did, and carried her toward my room.

   "'Cause Kelly is very special to me too."



   Chapter 54

   Luck was on my side.  Or fate.  Or God.  The Goddess, Odin, Isis,
whatever.  Things worked out.

   Kenny was gone until after New Year's visiting friends, so I didn't have
to worry about breaking my promise to Kelly.  And Tami was busy with her
grandma, so I didn't have to worry about her.

   I spent almost every waking moment with Kelly.  Mikee gave me some
strange looks, and so did their mom, but I think they both figured out it
had something to do with Kelly's mood, so neither said anything.

   And Kelly was becoming more and more her old self.  I didn't take any
credit for that.  I figured it just helped to say the words.

   Friday I went with her and Traci to her gymnastic club for an open gym,
and she introduced me to her coach, Gary.  While the girls played on the
trampoline I explained about helping with the middle school team, and he
took a lot of time showing me how to spot some of the tricks the girls were
working on, or would be.

   That night, Kelly and Traci went back to the club for a New Year's Eve
sleepover, and I had a chance to hang with Tami.  About six my parents
left. They were going to the party at the Holiday Inn and going to spend
the night, so the house was ours, for a little while anyway.

   "Paula says you're dumping me for a seventh grader," Tami said as she
settled on my lap.

   "Damn!  I wanted to break it to you gently."

   "I've always wanted to scratch somebody's eyes out."

   "No you haven't."

   "I haven't?"

   I nodded.  "Nope, too nice."

   "Damn," she said in mock frustration.  "Aren't you turned on by the idea
of a cat-fight?"

   "Not even a little.  I'm weird.  I also don't see the appeal of two
girls wrestling in mud."

   "You're not weird, you're evolved."

   "Unless it's with me," I added.

   "I withdraw my comment."

   I grinned, and we sat there, looking out the big picture windows at the
gently falling snow.  I rubbed the ass of her jeans with one hand and
traced designs on her thigh with the other.

   "Want to tell me about it?" she asked after almost ten minutes.

   "Yes."

   "Well?" she asked several minutes later.

   "Can't.  Not my secret to tell."

   Tami nodded.  "Kelly." I didn't acknowledge her guess, but I knew she'd
know she was right.  "She seems a lot better."

   "She's getting there, but it's going to take some time."

   "I'm glad she has a friend who can help her." Tami laid her head on my
chest and hummed something I couldn't make out.

   I thought about Kelly and my promises.  Not to tell.  Not to deal with
Kenny.  Breaking a promise was worse than lying, but I didn't see how I
could keep either of them.

   As I thought, I watched the snowflake fall, and eventually my mind
cleared and the snow was all I knew.  Each snowflake different, unique. 
Each, insignificant, but put enough together and they could stop the world.

   I think Tami sensed my changing mood because she asked, "So if you keep
asking me to marry you...  ?"

   I smiled.  "Will you marry me?"

   "Not today.  So if you keep asking me to marry you, and if I say yes
someday, where are we going to live?"

   "Metropolis."

   "Metropolis?"

   "You're Lois Lane.  That means you have to go to work for the Daily
Planet."

   I felt rather than heard Tami giggle.  "You'd live in New York?"

   "Not my first choice, but if that's where you are..."

   "Don't you have to live in Houston?  Or Cape Kennedy?  I mean, you ARE
going to be the first G-Y-N in space aren't you?"

   "Nope."

   Tami lifted her head and looked at me.  Studied me.  "You've decided,"
she announced.  "You know what you want to do."

   I wondered of University of Washington or Washington State had a
parapsychology lab where I could get her tested.  I nodded.

   "What?"

   I hesitated.  I'd kinda known for a while, but had never put it into
words.  "I want to coach.  I want to work with kids and teach them about
sports and all the things that sports can do for them.  So I guess that
means I'll probably teach too."

   "Tony, that's perfect."

   Tami laid her head down again.

   "So do you think a Pulitzer winning reporter and a middle school
baseball coach can be happy together?" I asked.

   Tami didn't get a chance to answer because right then, there was a knock
on the door.

   "Come in!" I called.

   Mikee opened the door and stepped inside, shaking snow off her coat. 
"Hi, guys," she said looking at us.  "I'm kinda tired, so I'm just gonna
lie down on Traci's bed and read a little." She hung up her coat and took
her bag to the back.  Mikee hadn't wanted to go to the sleepover with
Kelly, and all of her friends were busy or out of town, so she was spending
New Year's Eve with us.  Her parents were going to the Holiday Inn party
too.

   "You do know she's lying, don't you?" Tami asked.

   "Yep."

   "Are you going to go get her?"

   "Someday."

   "Anthony Marion S..."

   "Tami, my love, that very nice girl is trying to give us some alone
time. Do you really want to waste it." I slipped my hand under her shirt
and cupped her breast.

   "I..."

   "The night, as they say, is young." With my other hand, I lifted her
shirt and covered her other nipple with my mouth.

   "Here?"

   "Unless you have someplace better in mind."

   An hour later, I went back to get Mikee.

   "You gonna stay back here all night?" I asked as I opened Traci's door.
"Or join the party?"

   "I didn't want to be in the way," she said, looking up from the book she
was reading.

   "Mikee, my girl, if we didn't want you here, we wouldn't have invited
you."

   "I thought that was because my mom asked."

   I grinned.  "If that was the only reason, I'd be charging her seven
bucks an hour to babysit." Mikee bristled at the thought of being babysat.
I stepped into the room, reached down, and scooped her into my arms.  She'd
been lying on her stomach to read, so as I straightened up, I tossed her
into the air with a one hundred and eighty degree spin and caught her
again, right-side-up.

   "It wouldn't be a party without Michelle," I told her.

   "I thought you'd rather have Kelly."

   I tossed her into the air again, spinning her so that I caught her
stomach-side-down, then lifted my foot and put it on Traci's bed.  I laid
her across my knee, let go so that she sagged into an inverted V, then
smacked her hard on her upturned butt.  Before she knew what was happening
I had picked her up again, spun her right-side-up, and was carrying her out
of the room.

   "There are less than five hours left in 2004.  There WILL BE NO sibling
jealousy allowed."

   Mikee giggled and nodded.  "That hurt."

   "It was supposed to."

   "I'm not really jealous of Kelly," Mikee as said as I carried her out of
the room.  "I know you've been spending time with her to make her feel
better."

   "I've been spending time with her cause she's my favorite."

   "That's okay, I don't mind being second."

   "What makes you think you're even in the top ten?"

   I saw Mikee's mouth open and knew her tongue was about to make an
appearance.  I made as if to flip her again.  Mikee reconsidered, only the
tip of her tongue showing as she closed her mouth.

   "Kelly seems better."

   "She has a ways to go.  Be patient.  And do me a favor: let me know if
Kenny gets on her case." I tried to say it casually, not giving away too
much.

   "Yeah, he can be a pain.  I wish there was a place to trade in your
brother."

   "If there was a place like that, do you think Traci would still be
around?"

   "You can't fool me," she accused.  "You like your sister."

   "Yeah, now.  It's taken me years to civilize her enough to be out in
public."

   "I'm telling her you said that."

   "Feel free.  I've told her enough."

   When we got to the living room, Tami was dressed, though in shorts
instead of the jeans she had been wearing, and was sitting in Dad's chair.
I dumped Mikee into Tami's lap, took one of Tami's hands, and put it on
Mikee's tit, noticing for the first time that Mikee's tits were actually
bigger than Tami's.

   "Have fun," I told them, then retreated to the kitchen to work on
dinner.

   Dinner was my specialty.  Rib-eyes.  I'd seasoned them with my own blend
of spices, then marinated them in a herb/garlic butter sauce, then broiled
them to a perfect medium-rare.  I only did medium-rare.  You want them more
done than that, I'll loan you a lighter.  Giant baked potatoes with
one-part whipped herb butter to one-part potato.  A small tossed salad with
a garlic vinaigrette, also my own recipe.

   And last, something new, lobster tails.  I know the best cooks say to
drop live lobsters into a pot of boiling water, and lobsters may be related
to bugs, but I ain't doing it.  Dad picked me up some fresh lobster tails
from a seafood place in town, and that would have to do.

   Throw in some King's Hawaiian rolls -"I don't bake, so sue me -"and you
have a dinner fit for a king.  Or actually, a dinner fit for two of the
cutest girls in the state.  After dinner we were so stuffed that we passed
on the homemade brownies that Mikee baked and brought with her.

   We played three-handed pinochle and listened to music while waiting for
the ball to drop.

   "Thirty seconds," Mikee announced.

   Nothing like a little more pressure.  I thrust faster with my hips and
tongue.

   "Twenty seconds." This time it was Tami with the countdown.

   Tami had decided that bringing the New Year in with a bang meant her and
Mikee having orgasms at the stroke of twelve.  More than a second either
way and the whole year was shot.  Have you ever tried to give your partner
a orgasm by a time-clock?  Hell, a lot of guys don't even care if their
partner finishes, and I'm supposed to time it to the second?

   "Ten seconds," they said together.

   A whole year down the drain if I didn't do this right.

   "Nine seconds."

   They'd tossed a coin for choice of position.  Mikee won, but decided to
let Tami have Big Tony.

   "Eight seconds."

   If this worked, I could write a book, How to Schedule Your Pleasure. 
There were sillier titles out there.

   "Seven seconds."

   I was pretty sure both girls were getting close, but seven seconds
close?

   "Six seconds."

   Even trying to make two girls cum at once was hard enough.

   "Five seconds."

   Big Tony was close, that was something.

   "Four seconds."

   Damn!  Damn!  Damn!  This was never going to work.

   "Three seconds."

   I was sure that Mikee was on the edge as I worked at her clit with my
tongue, but I didn't know about Tami.

   "Two seconds."

   I thrust my hips upward as hard as I could, trying to fill Tami.

   "One second."

   Now or never.

   "Happy New Year!" they yelled, but they didn't cum.

   "One second," Tami said, her voice slightly strained.

   Maybe we could try again for the Hawaiian time zone and the year
wouldn't be a total loss.

   "Two seconds," Mikee announced.

   I wonder if Hallmark has a card for this: Sorry you didn't cum at New
Years.

   "Thee..." Mikee started.  "Oh boy, oh boy, oh my God!"

   Well, three seconds late, maybe the year was salvageable.

   Tami was rocking back and forth on Big Tony, and as Mikee rolled off my
face, I saw Tami's face and knew she was close too.  Maybe the sound of
Mikee's orgasm helped push her over, because a second later she was moaning
too.  Big Tony decided he was done and joined the party, coating her
insides with baby batter.

   I might have been a few seconds late, but I had a feeling that 2005 was
going to be a hell of a year.



   Chapter 55

   Now this is the way to start a week.  School first thing Wednesday
morning.  We should do this more often, get Monday past that blah
reputation.

   I knew Kenny had come back, but he wasn't at the bus stop, so I didn't
have to deal with him.  Everyone was pretty subdued about starting school
again, everyone but Mikee and Kelly.  They were pumped and ready to go. 
Behind Kelly's back, Mikee pointed at her sister and flashed me a high
sign. I guessed that Kelly was becoming more her old self.

   The ride to school was pretty quiet except when Robbie got on the bus.
"Are you ready to be educated?" she yelled, before sliding into the seat
with Tami and me.  The responses she got were rude and semi-pornographic.

   Tami and I had art third period.  Not by choice.  It was a required
subject.  It hadn't been so bad in o-four, but now it sucked.  Last year we
got a lot of early art history: Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Michelangelo.  Plus
our own pathetic attempts at drawing and painting.  But now Mr.  Kincaid
was onto abstract art, an art form that he thought was the height of human
endeavor, but which, I thought was a waste of paint and canvas.  Fifty
minutes of listening to why Pablo Picasso was the greatest artist ever
definitely fell under the cruel-and-unusual punishment provision of the
constitution.

   Afterward, Tami and I escaped to the middle school.  Thursday was the
first meet of the season, and since the girls hadn't practiced, officially
at least, for two weeks, Miss Calloway had made arrangements that we could
be in the gym all day to supervise anyone who had a free period.  Since I
got almost all A's and Tami got A's and B's, none of our teachers minded
our missing today and tomorrow except Mr.  Kincaid.

   It was a pretty slow day.  The girls showed up in ones and twos and
worked on their routines.  All of them managed at least one trip to the
gym. Most did two of three.  Traci showed up four times.

   Thursday was a lot like Wednesday, except that after art we caught a
ride to the middle school with Mr.  Mulino, who had a meeting, instead of
walking.

   Our first meet was at Stoner Middle School, about seventy miles away, so
the bus loaded a little before three.  The girls were all excited.  They
all looked good in their practices, and I had visions of a state
championship.  Kelly had looked especially good.  She still worked her
routines hard, but now she wasn't trying to murder them.

   Tami and I sat together and talked the first hour on the bus.  She
actually liked some of the art that Mr.  Kincaid had showed us today.  I'm
sorry, but a square girl with three breasts isn't art, she's a circus
freak. And I never liked the freak show.  We also talked about college.  I
was thinking Stanford.  She was thinking Harvard.

   "You going to go talk to her?" Tami asked in an unexpected change of
direction.

   "Who?"

   "Your sister."

   I looked behind us.  Traci was sitting by herself, staring out the
window a few seats away from the rest of the team.

   "What's wrong with her?" I asked, and Tami gave me a look that told me
I'd just asked a stupid question.  But if it was a stupid question,
shouldn't I know the answer?

   "She's nervous.  Haven't you ever been nervous before a game?"

   I shrugged.

   Tami sighed.  "Go," she said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder.

   I shrugged again, but got up and walked back to Traci.  I sat down in
the seat in front of her and hung over the back of the seat.  "Hey brat. 
Why so quiet?"

   She looked at me, then back out the window.  "Just thinking about the
meet."

   "Everyone's worked real hard.  You realize that if we lose today, it's
all your fault."

   "It is?"

   Okay, wrong approach.  "Trace, do you know how we get scored?"

   "Sure," she said, looking at me again.  It was the same stupid question
look Tami had given me.  "The judges score us up to ten points for
difficulty and grace and mistakes and things."

   "No, I mean the team."

   Traci shook her head.

   "Each school can put up to six girls on each event.  They add the top
five scores, then they add all the events together.

   Traci shrugged.  "So?"

   "So, how many girls are supposed to compete on beam today?"

   "Five.  Kelly, Rachel, Stephy, Maria and me."

   "How many on bars?"

   Traci gave me another stupid-question-look.  "Five.  Kelly, Stephy,
Susie, Miranda, and me."

   "So what happens if you totally screw up and get a two on bars and
beam?"

   "We lose."

   "No, we have four points more than if you weren't here."

   Traci thought about it.

   "So as your coach, I have a goal for you.  I want you to try and get at
least two points on bars and two points on beam."

   "That's easy."

   "If you think it's so easy, do better.  But that's your official goal."

   I started to get up.

   "Tony."

   I looked back at her.  She was almost smiling.

   "You're not the worst brother."

   I thought about Kenny.  "Second worst, maybe."

   The meet was incredible.  All perfect tens.  We scored two hundred out
of a possible two hundred and the TV people said we'd be on ESPN.  It
was...

   It was not that good.

   Stoner scored one hundred and fifty-three point two.  And beat us by
over twenty points.  I thought our girls were good, but they were just
better.  They did harder tricks and did them better.  And they had six
girls on each event, which gave them a cushion.

   There were two high points.  Kelly scored a thirty-three all together
and won the all-around, beating Stoner's two all-arounds by more than two
points.  And Traci got a six on beam and a four point three on bars.  Not
bad for a girl whose been in gymnastics two months.

   The bus ride to Pizza Hut after the meet wasn't fun.  Most of the girls
were complaining, either about the judges, or their teammates.  Mostly
their teammates.

   The bus pulled into the parking lot and stopped.  I got up and blocked
the aisle, my back to the girls.  "Miss Calloway, would you and Tami go in
and snag a couple of good tables?" The coach looked like she was going to
object, but changed her mind.  She and Tami got off the bus.

   "Joe, you look like you need a drink.  Go on in and have a Pepsi on me."
The bus driver nodded.  He was a pretty good guy.  I would have bought him
a Coke, but since Pepsico used to own Pizza Hut, we were stuck.  "Would you
mind closing the doors for a minute?" He pushed them closed when he was
outside.

   I turned to the team, who were all standing in the aisle and staring at
me.

   "SIT THE FUCK DOWN!" The girls all looked at each other and me.  "NOW!"
I bellowed, and they quickly sat.

   "I was very happy after the meet." Damn, I'm getting good at lying. 
"But I'm not happy now.  Can anyone guess why?"

   No one said anything.  Even Traci and Kelly looked shocked.

   "You ladies have spent the last twenty minutes tearing each other apart,
and it's ridiculous.  With one exception, all of you have competed in
sports before.  And with one exception, all of you have gone to meets
before.  And that exception is my sister."

   "Maybe if your damn sister had done better than a four point three and a
six..." Brianna Lane started.

   "What?  If my sister, in her first meet in her life, had gone out and
scored perfect tens, we still would have lost.  And lost by more than ten
points.  Maybe if you had done better than a seven eight on vault..."

   "The top of their vault was slippery."

   "The fact is, we lost as a team.  But there are a few things you might
want to think about.  One, Stoner has had a gymnastic team for over twenty
years.  This is our first.  Two, Stoner has eighteen girls on their team.
We have eight.  Three, Stoner has at least ten girls working every event.
That means they can pick the top six for each meet.  We have five girls for
each event, so we can't even drop our low score.  And four, Stoner has two
coaches who were both college gymnasts and three assistants who are level
eights and a nine.  You have Miss Calloway, who learned some gymnastics in
college, and Tami and I, who know nothing." I'd had a chance to talk to one
of Stoner's assistants during the meet.

   "So here's your last fact.  If we work really, really hard every day,
we're probably going to lose every meet."

   From their faces, none of the girls wanted to hear that.  "But..." I
looked around.  They were all listening hard.  "But, we can start cutting
that margin down.  The only way that'll happen is if you work together as a
team.  Instead of complaining about what your teammate did wrong,
compliment her about what she did right.  If you see mistakes, tell them.
Not to cut them down, but so they can fix it.  It would really help if we
had six girls on each event, but to do that, some of you will have to do
events you don't like.  Traci doesn't like bars, but she did them so that
we could have a fifth score.  And you may not think a four three is very
good, but it's four point three points more than we would have had without
her.  And Monday, Trace is going to learn to vault."

   "I am?" she said, surprised.

   "Either that, or I'm copying your diary and handing it out all over
school."

   "I'm gonna vault," she said proudly.

   I looked directly at Traci.  "Go tell Miss Calloway that we'll be in, in
one more minute."

   Traci hesitated, then got up, squeezed past me and went into the
restaurant.

   "I don't know what you're like on your other gymnastics team, but this
is unacceptable.  I'm going to talk to Miss Calloway.  There won't be any
practice tomorrow.  I want you to think about whether you want a middle
school team and whether you want to be part of it.  If you show up Monday,
I'll consider that your answer."

   "You might want to give each other a hug before you come in to eat," I
suggested.  Then I turned my back on them and walked out.

   I was sitting between Miss Calloway and Tami when the girls trooped in a
few minutes later.  Miss Calloway had scored two long tables, one for us
and the parents who'd come to watch, and the other for the girls.

   Traci was sitting by herself at the other table nursing a root beer. 
Brianna Lane led the girls in.  She walked up to Traci and said something I
didn't hear.  Traci stood up and Brianna hugged her, then all the rest of
them hugged her too.  I did my best not to smile.

   The girls, including Traci, all came over and stood behind us.  Stephy,
who'd been elected team captain before the meet, cleared her throat, "Can
we ask you something?"

   Miss Calloway, Tami, and I all turned around.  "Sure," Miss Calloway
said.

   "Can we please have practice tomorrow?"

   "Uh, okay," Miss Calloway stammered, since I hadn't told her about
canceling it yet.

   "Thank you," Stephy said and hugged Miss Calloway.  Then all the girls
hugged all of us.

   Kelly was the last one to hug me, and as she did she whispered in my
ear, "And you and I are going to have a long talk about your language."