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 ï>¿The Trailer Park: The Fifth Year: Part 1: Words And Music A Story in the
Wynter/Trailer Park Universe by Wizard CopyrightÂ(C) 2007 by Wizard

   Chapter 31

   "The answer is...  ," I hope, "three-x."

   Mrs.  Wayne smiled.  "Now trying saying like you believed it."

   "Three-x."

   "Very good.  Now did everyone get how he got that?  Tony, did you get
how you got that?"

   Robbie giggled from the next desk.

   The door opened, and Tami stuck her head in.  "Mrs.  Wayne, could I
borrow Tony and Robbie for a couple minutes?"

   Mrs.  Wayne hesitated, then nodded.

   Robbie and I glanced at each other, then gathered our stuff.

   "Pages one-twenty-five thru one-twenty-eight for homework tonight," Mrs.
Wayne said, then turned back to the class.

   "Now what?" Robbie asked as we followed Tami out into the hall.

   "Follow me," Tami said without answering Robbie's question.  We walked
up the hall and stopped in front of Mrs.  Conners room.  Tami reached into
her jeans pocket, pulled out a key ring, and unlocked the door.  Robbie and
I exchanged looks again.  "Inside," Tami ordered.

   In the room Tami flipped on the lights, then pointed at Mrs.  Conners
chair.  "Tony, sit." I started to protest.  I have this thing about being
ordered around like a dog, even by the love of my life, but the look in
Tami's eye stopped me.

   Tami pointed at my lap.  "Robbie, sit."

   "With or without clothes?" Robbie asked sarcastically, but sat down.

   "Your choice, but we only have about five minutes.  Tony hold her."

   I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a hug.  I remembered Tami
bringing Kelly to my room once and telling me to make her happy, or make
her purr or something like that.  Then there was the time I tried to make
Tami and Mikee both cum before the new year struck.  I wondered if this was
supposed to be a combination of both.

   Tami set the keys in the middle of the teacher's desk, then set her
books beside them and pulled a newspaper out of her notebook.  It was one
of the Seattle ones.

   "Mrs.  Conners found a story in the paper today and decided that it
would be a good topic for class.  But she thought that Robbie deserved some
advance warning." I started to ask why I was here when it hit me, Tami
thought whatever it was might upset her.  I was here to be a friend.  I
gave Robbie another hug, then patted her butt for good measure.  I think
she figured it out too, 'cause she smiled at me, wiggled her butt against
my hand, then nodded to Tami.

   "The first part of the story is about the Lake High School football
team." I think Robbie and I were both startled by the name of the team we
were playing this Friday.  We'd never played Lake before.  They joined our
league this year when the WSAA re-districted.

   "Apparently they were a powerhouse team back in the sixties and
seventies," Tami said, not reading the article.  "They'd take their league
championship every year and usually place in the top four at state, taking
six championships.  But they've struggled since then.  They haven't had a
winning season in twenty years.  This year, they're three and three."

   Our league had an eight game season.  One more win would make them four
and three and a winning season.  One more after that and it would be
official.  Their first winning season in twenty years.  I still couldn't
guess what this was about.

   "The last half of the article is an interview with Coach Rich and Brian
Moreland for the paper." Tami lifted the paper in front of her and started
to read.  "Moreland: The latest poll places the Rebels as the number two
team in the state.  What does this do to Lake's chances of a winning
season?"

   "Rich: The Panthers aren't about polls.  Personally I think the Rebels
are overrated.  They've been playing in a candy league with no real
competition."

   "Moreland: They've got some talent.  Mike Reed was all-state quarterback
last year.  Tony Sims was mentioned for several positions and Mark Russell
has really come on as their kicker and as a defenseman.  Then there's
Monster Girl."
"Rich: Monster Girl, that's why the Rebels are all hype."

   I felt Robbie tense up and rubbed her butt some more, even giving her
neck a quick kiss.

   "Moreland: You don't think she's a threat?  She received several votes
for quarterback in the all-state balloting last year, and she was one of
only four juniors that ESPN picked as their football players to watch."

   "Rich: Watch.  That's the problem.  She's a pretty girl playing
football. That's why ESPN and a lot of sportswriters are making a fuss over
her.  Most of the boys are afraid to block her or tackle her, that's why
her stats look good."
"Moreland: And your boys?"

   "Rich: If she's on the field, I've drilled them to hit her like they'd
hit anyone else.  Hard.  She'll probably quit after this."
"Moreland: It sounds like you don't think girls should play sports?"

   "Rich: No.  Girls are great at sports.  Look at gymnastics or ice
skating.  But this is football.  This is about hitting and aggressiveness."
"Moreland: What about Title IX?"

   "Rich: Title IX is the law.  Any girl who wants to come out for football
at my school or any other school should.  And they'll get a fair try-out.
But in the end, girls just don't have the strength, the aggressiveness, the
drive to make the team."

   Tami lowered the paper.  "The rest is about the Panthers season so far."

   The bell rang to end sixth period.

   Robbie kissed me.  "Thank you for being here." She stood, stepped up to
Tami and kissed her too.  "Thank you for finding a good way to break the
news."

   She picked up her books off the desk, then moved to the desk-chair she
used in class and sat down again.  "They are so not even crossing the fifty
yard line on Friday."

   "Everybody finished reading?" Mrs.  Conners asked.  "The article raises
several questions.  Mr.  Sims, see if you can sum them up for us?"

   Damn.  I always knew I was going to hate this class.

   "And everybody knows you're afraid of the two girls sitting next to you,
but do try to be unbiased," she added.

   If everybody didn't know before, they did now.

   I stood.  "Well, leaving aside the question of how any sane person would
think the Rebels are going to lose this Friday," that got a chuckle from
the class and a sharp look from Mrs.  Conners, "the first question is how
in this day and age an educated man, and even though he teaches auto shop
he has to have gone to college, could have these opinions.  It's not really
debatable though.  Anyone can have an opinion.  I can think Mrs.  Conners
is a Nazi war criminal.  It doesn't make it so, but it can be my opinion.

   "I think the questions for debate are, can he air his opinions as a
teacher and a coach, should he air his opinions, and can his school stop
him from airing his opinions?" I sat down.

   "Not bad.  And your take on those questions?"

   "Can he air his opinions?  Yes.  The constitution gives him that right.
Freedom of speech and all," I answered without standing.  "As a teacher and
a coach, should he air his opinions?  No.  Whether he means to or not, he's
speaking for his whole school.  Can his school stop him from airing his
opinions?  Yes and no.  Legally, I don't think they can outright stop him,
but they can make it clear they disapprove, and their disapproval could
take the form of relieving him from coaching or not picking up his next
contract.  Personally, I'd bet that he'll be coming out with an apology
and/or a clarification tomorrow or Friday."

   "How much?" the teacher asked.

   "Excuse me?"

   "How much did you want to bet?"

   "Two bucks," I answered surprised.

   "That's two bucks you owe me.  You can leave it on the desk after class.
He did a radio interview this afternoon and halfway apologized and halfway
clarified his remarks." Mrs.  Conners turned and surveyed the rest of the
class.  "I think Tony's second point is worth some discussion.  If you're a
member of a group and can be considered it's representative, does it limit
your right of free speech and should it?  Miss..." and we were off.

   "All in all, she took it very well," Tami said later that night. 
Football was done and so was play practice, and we were just enjoying the
crisp clear night and each other.  Traci and Peter had joined us but were
drifting along about twenty feet back, lost in their own worlds.

   "Unh huh."

   "You don't think so?"

   "Love of mine, though I've already lost two dollars today..." I knew it
was a joke, but I'd left two dollars on Mrs.  Conner's desk anyway, "I'd be
willing to bet you my car that Friday, if a play comes within ten yards of
the Panther's sideline that a certain coach is getting accidentally
tackled."



   Chapter 32

   I've always heard that when you're drowning, your whole life passes in
front of your eyes.  I wondered if that had anything to do with my thoughts
about the first time I made love to Tami.

   "Tate!  Sims!  You're up."

   I stood, and picked my helmet.  Robbie was waiting for me just over the
sideline.  I put on my helmet and we walked toward the fifty-yard line. 
Normally we jogged out, but I held her back and we walked.

   Mr.  Metzger, an old friend, was the chief referee.  "Gentlemen, and
ladies," he added with a nod to Robbie.  "Shake hands."

   Robbie started to step forward and extend her hand, but I knocked it
down.  "No."

   "No?" the referees and other captains echoed.

   "Your team's a joke," I told the other captains as I took off my helmet.
And we won't share a field with him." I pointed toward the coach on the
Panther sideline.

   I looked straight at Mr.  Metzger.  He was half surprised, half mad and
half amused, and I know that's three halves.  "We forfeit."

   I turned, raised my arm over my head, extended my forefinger, made three
small circles and pointed toward the locker rooms.  On our sideline, the
Rebels started toward the locker rooms without a word, leaving fans and
coaches alike in stunned silence.

   I walked, my head slightly down, wondering if Robbie was following.

   "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN," came over the loudspeakers.  Luke Reese, my old
best friend had taken over for me in the announcer's booth.  "I'VE JUST
BEEN HANDED THIS STATEMENT FROM TONY SIMS, THE REBELS' QUARTERBACK AND
CO-CAPTAIN.  WE ARE APPALLED AT THE NEANDERTHAL ATTITUDES DEMONSTRATED BY
THE PANTHERS' HEAD COACH ALLAN RICH TOWARD GIRLS IN SPORTS IN GENERAL AND
ROBBIE TATE IN PARTICULAR.  WE REFUSE TO SHARE A FIELD WITH SUCH A PERSON.
THEREFORE, WE FORFEIT.  IF THE PANTHERS WANT TO PLAY FOOTBALL, THEY CAN
LEAVE THEIR COACH AT HOME AND WE'LL BE HAPPY TO TEACH THEM HOW IT'S DONE."

   I kept walking, wondering if I'd be able to get up if Robbie clipped me
from behind.  Just as I reached the gate I heard one person start clapping,
then another, then more.  I paused, waiting for the team to catch up to me,
and looked back.  Almost the entire home section of the audience was on
their feet applauding.  And maybe a third of the Panther's section.

   "Why'd you do that?" Robbie asked, coming up beside me.

   "It needed to be done.  Besides it was safer than your plan."

   "What plan?" she asked, sounding surprised.

   "Tell me you weren't think about tackling the coach on the sidelines if
a play got close enough."

   "Well, I thought about it, but..." The other players were passing us,
and as they did, they clapped me and Robbie both on the shoulders.

   I waited.  Everyone had passed, Coach Vickers giving me an unreadable
look as he went by.  I looked back at Robbie.

   "Okay.  I would have hit him.  But just a tap.  Just enough so that he
wouldn't have any doubt I could hit."

   "And you figure the WSAA would suspend for the rest of the season or for
life?"

   I loved the look she gave me.  It was the exact opposite of her
you-just-said-something-incredibly-stupid-but-I-won't-say-anything one.  It
was her I-know-you're-right-but-I-really-don't-want-to-hear-it look.  I
didn't see it that often, so I savored it.

   "What about you?  They could suspend ya, you know?

   I grinned.  "That would be a real punishment.  Every civil rights group
in the country would be banging on my door.  Imagine suspending an athlete
for not playing on moral grounds.  I'd have to associate with...  with...
lawyers.  You want to know the best part?"

   Robbie nodded.

   "They've got their winning season."

   "Not yet.  They've got a game next week."

   I shook my head.  "Canceled.  Some kind of scheduling conflict.  So the
Panthers have their season.  They're four and three.  A winning season. 
Should take about an hour before they realize their only winning season in
twenty years happened on a forfeit because their coach is an asshole. 
How's that for salt in the wound."

   Robbie smiled.

   The Panthers jogged past us, some with comments that weren't printable.

   "What about next year?  What about other sports?" Robbie asked.

   "Who knows?  If he's still coaching for Lake next year, I won't step on
his field.  I can't speak for anybody else.  Same for baseball.  Basketball
players, track, and wrestling will have to make their own decisions.  I
know volleyball is supposed to be there next week, and Cassie Grover is
talking about not showing up.  Since's she's probably going to be the
captain of the girl's basketball team, too, it could get interesting."

   "You always say life is complicated," Robbie accused.  "Then you
complicate it for everybody else."

   "Some people try to spread sunshine wherever they go; I spread
complications.  Everybody's got to have a hobby."



   Chapter 33

   "How you feeling?"

   I was sitting, eyes closed, on the floor, my back against my locker and
my feet stretched out in front of me.  But I didn't need eyes to know that
Tami was standing above me.  I lifted my hand out in front of me, palm
down, and wiggled it.

   "Poor baby."

   I felt her sit down beside me.  Then she pulled my head down into her
lap, not that I resisted.  I smiled, thinking that Parker would not have
appreciated the scene, not that he was around anymore.

   "Ever think your mother might have been right?" Tami asked softly.

   Mom had suggested that I should take another day before going back to
school.

   "Of course she was right.  But we can't let her know that.  You know how
parents are.  They get uppity."

   Again, I didn't need eyes to know that Tami was grinning.  "I'll remind
you you said that when we have those three sets of twin girls you want."

   I was saved from answering by Robbie's arrival.  "Cute picture.  I guess
with Parker gone, the public displays of affection rule is gone too."

   I knew I should have a snappy comeback for that, but I didn't know what
it was.

   "This isn't a display of affection, public or otherwise.  This is a
medical prescription." Tami answered for me.

   "Aw, poor baby." It sounded better when Tami said it.  Besides I could
have cut myself on Robbie's sarcasm.  "Having a bad day?"

   I slowly opened my eyes and focused on Robbie.  "Drop it."

   Robbie opened her mouth, changed her mind, and closed it again.  She sat
down next to Tami, and I closed my eyes again.

   "Tony had a stomach flu on Sunday.  He stayed home yesterday and should
have stayed home today too," Tami explained.

   "No, I shouldn't.  The flu's done.  I don't feel bad anymore, I just
don't feel right yet."

   "Been there, done that," Robbie said, actually sounding sympathetic.

   "Tony wanted a nice quiet day, and I don't think it's working out that
way," Tami added.

   "Honey, you ain't just whistlin' Dixie." Damn!  I hate when I channel my
grandfather.

   "Want to talk about it?" Robbie asked.

   I started to say no, but decided it was things that Robbie should
probably know.

   "It started quietly enough.  I was running late because of arguing with
Mom about coming to school at all, and Tami and I got here just before
first bell.  When the bell rang, I went down to the gym to talk to Coach
Vickers about Friday night."

   "What'd he say?  At practice he didn't say anything about it, but he
seemed different."

   "Well, he didn't come out and say it, but he was put out 'cause we
didn't tell him what was going on."

   Somebody must have been holding the cafeteria door open, 'cause I could
smell food, though I couldn't identify what, a common occurrence with
cafeteria food.  My stomach did a quick back flip.

   "I explained that we, the team that is, discussed it and didn't tell
him, not because we didn't trust him but because we wanted him to be able
to honestly say he knew nothing about it."

   "Plausible deniability.  Did he buy it?"

   I smiled.  "It's a good thing he doesn't have a first period class.  It
took me awhile.  But I think he knows we were protecting him.  He never
said it outright, but I think he was proud of us for what we did."

   "I know I was," Robbie said softly.

   I smiled again.  "Apparently, Coach Rich has quite a few controversial
opinions about women, blacks, and stuff.  But usually he's smart enough not
to air them in public.

   "So what's going to happen to him?" Tami asked, stroking my hair.

   "Probably nothing.  After all, we're kids.  What do we know?" I could
feel Tami shrug.

   "Then what?  That's not so bad." Robbie asked.

   "I was on my way to second period and a freshmen stopped me.  Felicia
something, she was an office aide.  Kinda cute."

   I felt a hand on my forehead.

   "Just slightly feverish," Robbie said.  "Pretty soon he'll come to his
senses and realize he can't handle what he already has."

   She was right, but I sure wasn't going to admit it, so I ignored her. 
"She had a note that Mr.  Reed wanted to see me.  When I got there, he and
Butz were waiting for me in the conference room."

   "Butz?  The superintendent?" Tami asked.

   I nodded.  "That would be him."

   "Where have you been?" Butz snapped as I opened the door.  "We sent for
you an hour ago."

   I stood in the open door and wondered if Butz was channeling Parker.  "I
was talking to Coach Vickers."

   "Instead of coming here."

   "I just got the note."

   Butz looked skeptical.  "Sit!" he ordered waving at a chair across the
table from him and Mr.  Reed.

   "Woof!"

   "Excuse me?"

   "I said, woof.  I figured if you wanted to treat me like a dog, I should
try to respond like one."

   Butz gave me a long look.  I still hadn't moved from the doorway.  "Mr.
Parker was right about you," he said finally.

   I smiled.  "Charlie Parker resigned rather than face a hearing with the
school board.  If you think he was right, you might want to reconsider your
career options." I wondered if there was a rule that every school had to
have a 'Parker', and Butz was going to take over now that Charlie was gone.

   "Mr.  Parker was a dedicated professional who..."

   "Charlie-boy was an asshole," I interrupted, shocking Mr.  Reed.  I
focused on him for a second, "You said that I had to treat every employee
of the school with respect, even Parker.  He choose not to be an employee
any longer, so I can call 'em as I see 'em." I looked back at Butz. 
"Parker had forgotten, or else never knew, that the students in this school
are people.

   "I wouldn't play peon for him, and I'll be damned if I'll play it for
you.  And I don't sit on command."

   "You are very close to being expelled."

   "Then you'll make Charley-boy's week.  Should I go back to class while
you draw up the paperwork, or wait here?" Butz looked flustered, not that I
could blame him.  I decided to put salt in the wound.  "I never wanted to
make my school a laughing-stock, but if that's the direction you want to
go..."

   Butz lifted his arm, his forefinger extended toward me.  I wondered if
it was his official expelling finger.

   Mr.  Reed put his hand on Butz's arm and caught his eye.  Butz relaxed.
"Tony, is there something I should know?" Reed asked.  I noticed that he
emphasized 'I'.

   I smiled.  "Larry King had a hell of a show last night."

   "Friday night lights.  Friday night in October, almost every town in
America readies for football.  But in one town in central Washington, the
lights went off and the fans went home." Larry King's face faded, replaced
by a football stadium, with four football players facing off as a referee
flipped a coin.  "While other teams waited for a coin to land, The Rebels
picked up and walked off their field, taking a forfeit rather than sharing
a field with the coach of the opposing Panthers.  A forfeit that spoiled
their perfect season."

   King's report was fair and balanced.  Tami even said so as she watched
it with me.  Coach Rich got his say pretty much blaming the media for
taking his remarks out of context and the Rebels for making a mountain out
of a molehill.  So did representatives of the Washington and National
Education Associations: they thought we were uppity.  They didn't use that
word, but they gave that impression.

   Some history professor from Georgetown compared us to the students of
the sixties, walking out of classes to protest the Vietnam War.  I thought
he was a little over the top and just liked to hear himself talk.

   Mike Reed was interviewed by phone.  "Sometimes you have to do what's
right and to hell with the game." I wondered if I should shoot Larry an
e-mail that Mike was the only one to vote against walking off.  I was
mentioned.  Larry said that I was sick and couldn't be reached for comment.
I decided that I was never talking to Mom again.  My first chance to be a
smart-ass on national television.

   The last interview was Brent Tatum, the Panther's quarterback.  "I was
mad when the Rebels turned their backs and walked away.  I mean, we came a
long way to play ball, and they just walked.  But the more I thought about
it, the more I realized just what they gave up.

   "They walked out on a perfect season.

   "If you're not an athlete, that may not mean much, but perfect seasons
don't come around often.  My school's never had one.  The Rebels just
missed last year, losing the state championship by inches.  They had a
chance to do it again this year, and they walked away from it.  They gave
it up to make a point.

   "That made me think about the point they were trying to make.  Robbie
Tate is a hell of a football player.  I watched the championship game last
year from seats on the thirty-yard line, and she was something else.  Yet,
if she went to Lake, Coach Rich would try to make her a cheerleader or
something.

   "I'm glad that our season's over and that I'm a senior, cause I don't
think I could play for him anymore."

   "Yeah.  Thanks for telling me about King by the way," Robbie said, her
words dripping with venom.

   I shrugged.  "Sorry.  Tami and I were in my room when Mom yelled.  We
came out just as he introduced the story and kind of got caught up in it.
We didn't think to call anybody."

   "I guess I understand.  What about Butz?"

   "He dismissed me after I mentioned King.  Mr.  Reed found me later and
said that Butz was dropping the whole thing."

   "What did he want anyway," Tami asked.

   "He was going to read me the riot act for embarrassing the school.  But
now..."

   "But now he doesn't want to end up on Larry King explaining why he
expelled a student for having a conscience," Robbie finished.

   I nodded.

   "So tomorrow you have to win?" Tami asked, changing the subject.  We
were playing on Wednesday because of the Halloween Bowl this weekend.

   "Nah, we could take the day off and forfeit if we want," Robbie said.

   "The leagues down to us and North Lincoln," I explained.  "If we win,
then we win league, seven and one.  If we lose, we're six and two.  If
North Lincoln loses of Friday, they're five and three and we still win the
league, but if they win, then we're both six and two, but we win cause we
beat them head to head."

   "So the games don't even matter," Tami summed up.

   "Pretty much," Robbie and I said together.  We were happy that we were
going to state, but neither of us liked seasons that were settled before
the final gun.

   "TONY SIMS, TO THE OFFICE PLEASE."

   I looked up at the P.A.  speaker in disgust, then back at Mrs.  Conners.
"We could pretend we didn't hear it," I suggested.

   For a second she looked like she was considering it, then shook her head
and nodded toward the door.

   I grinned, stood, and started packing up my stuff.  Then I changed my
mind.  "I'm coming back," I told Robbie and Tami, not sure whether I was
trying to convince them or me.  I slipped out of the classroom and started
toward the office.

   In the office Mrs.  Hatcher pointed me toward the conference room and I
wondered if this was going to be a repeat of yesterday's bout with Butz.

   I knocked.

   "Come in," Mr.  Reed's voice called.

   In the conference room Mr.  Reed sat at the head of the long table, and
three adults I didn't know sat along one side.  "Mr.  Sims?" said the one
in the middle.

   I nodded.

   "Please sit down," he said indicating a chair across from them.  Well at
least he said please.

   "Tony, this is Mr.  Spalding from the Washington School Activities
Association," Mr.  Reed introduced.  The guy in the middle nodded.  "And
his associates Miss Lee and Mr.  Trunt."

   Another bureaucrat who wants to get his name in the paper I decided.

   "Tony, we just have a few questions," Spaulding started, shuffling some
papers.  Why do bureaucrats always think shuffling papers gives them
authority?  Either you're prepared or you're not.  For this I was missing a
debate on lowering the voting age to sixteen?  "We've already talked to
Mike Reed.  He said, this walkout was your idea."

   So much for his 'You have to do what's right and to hell with the game.'

   Spaulding leaned across the table at me.  "What I want to know, is who
put you up to it.  Was it Coach Vickers?"

   "No, it wasn't Coach Vickers.  He was probably the most surprised man on
the field.  And it wasn't Principal Reed or Superintendent Butz.  Coach
Rich is a prejudiced S-O-B, just like you are, and we decided to take a
stand."

   "Prejudiced?  I'm not prejudiced," Spaulding sputtered.

   "Sure you are.  Rich doesn't think girls belong on a football field
except in short skirts and clingy sweaters, and you don't think that
sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds can have moral convictions or act on
them." I stood.  "If you or the WSAA were embarrassed, that's too bad.  The
Rebels decided we wouldn't share a field with a loud-mouthed idiot, and I
don't feel like sharing a room with one.  I stepped to the door and opened
it.  "You want to suspend me, then suspend me."

   I almost slammed the door on my way out, but Mom would have had me shot.
At least I'd make it back to debate.

   "I have a topic."

   I looked up from my notes.  Mr.  Reed had come in.  We'd been tossing
out topics for future debates.

   "Yes, Mr.  Reed?" Mrs.  Conners said, looking amused.

   Reed stepped in front of my desk and looked down at me.  "Resolved,
there are a lot of people in the world that we'll never respect, but an
in-your-face attitude may not be the best way to deal with them."

   I smiled and shrugged.

   "If they suspended Tony, none of us will play," Robbie announced.

   He looked over at her, then back at me.  "Robbie, save your breath to
tell me things I'm not sure of, like whether the world will keep spinning
tomorrow."

   "Fourteen, thirty-two, seventeen, thirty-one."

   The ball snapped back into my hands.  Robbie was in motion.  I spun to
the left and slapped the ball into her stomach without letting go.  I took
a couple steps with Robbie, then planted my right foot and fired a short
pass to Zach on the other side.  It seemed like the whole Bulldog defense
was keyed on me and Robbie.  Zach pulled in the ball and took off for the
goal without a defender in sight.  I saw him crossing the fifty as someone
hit me and knocked me to my butt.

   I didn't bother getting up until I heard the whistle and the cheers that
signaled Zach crossing the goal line.

   "Hurt or lazy?" Robbie asked standing over me.

   "Just lazy," I said sitting up.  "I knew he'd score."

   Robbie reached a hand down, and I pulled myself up.  "It isn't supposed
to be this easy," she muttered glancing at the scoreboard.  We were up
twenty to nothing with over two minutes left in the first quarter.

   "There's no pleasing some people," I muttered.  "You complain when it's
too hard, like the championship last year.  Then you complain when it's too
easy."

   "Something in between would be nice."

   I nodded.  Though I was giving her a hard time, I knew exactly how she
felt.  Wednesday our last regular game had been a rollover.  Forty-seven to
six.

   Mike had QB'd the whole game since the coach knew there were scouts
there to look at him.  The easy win gave him a new state passing yards
record and left him short of yards rushing by nine.  Robbie and I had
played about a dozen minutes between us before the coach started rotating
in some of the second and third string.

   Today should have been different.  The Halloween Bowl was about matching
some of the toughest teams in the state.  Teams who wouldn't normally play
each other.  But either we were too good or the Bulldogs were over-rated.

   "What do you think, steal Mike's new record?"

   I grinned.  "Monster Girl, that would be mean."

   The rest of the team looked at us like we were nuts as we did rock,
paper, scissors in the huddle.  From then on, I passed and Robbie ran as we
built our yards.  Coach Vickers figured out what we were doing in the third
quarter and pulled us.



   Chapter 34

   "Tony, we got you a..."

   I could never decide if Sunday was the first day of the week or the
last. My job at the club and my old job at the restaurant used Saturday as
the end of the week and Sunday as the beginning, but biblically Sunday was
day seven.  And calendars seemed split on the subject.

   If Sunday is the end of the week, then this was a great way to end a
not-so-great week.

   On the other hand, this could be the beginning of a great week.

   I decided that this week, anyway, Sunday was day one.  A week with no
confrontations or problems.  Just the good things in life.

   "I could stay like this forever," Tami murmured, seeming to echo my
thoughts.

   "Let's."

   Tami sighed.  "You may have forgotten, but I haven't.  You have a coach
who expects you to be on the football field tomorrow..."

   "And a slave driving director with play practice right after," I added.

   "And I have an editor who thinks I actually have something to say in my
column tomorrow, and we both have history papers due Tuesday."

   "Stop!  You're depressing me." I lowered my head and nuzzled her
breasts. "We have this afternoon.  My parents won't be home till at least
five."

   Tami grinned, then pushed me onto my back and straddled me.  "And I've
got you in my power till then." My limp cock was nestled against her ass.
"For all the good it does me."

   I felt my cheeks burning.  "Woman, we've done it five times," I said in
my defense.  "Want me to see if Peter's available, since Trace went with
the folks?"

   Tami leaned down and kissed my nose.  "Nope, I'll wait.  I know my guy."

   I wondered if I could live up to her expectations.  We'd shared my bed
since one, with only occasional bathroom breaks.  It was our first
opportunity in over a week.  "How much time have we got?" I asked, looking
up at her.

   Tami turned her head to check my alarm clock on the dresser.

   "Tony, we got you a..."

   Traci and Mom stood in the open doorway.

   Mom turned crimson and retreated toward the kitchen.

   Traci looked like she couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry.

   "I think our time just ran out," Tami said as she buried her face
against my chest.

   "What's going to happen?" Tami asked as she pulled her t-shirt over her
head.

   "I figure I have to learn how to turn invisible, run away, or convince
Mom that she's having hallucinations," I said as I zipped up my jeans. 
"But one of us is going to have to learn to tell time." The clock on my
dresser said six-fifteen.

   "How bad, really?" Tami pulled on her tennis shoes and stood up.

   "Well, two years ago Traci got caught making out at a dance, and I got
The Talk for two hours.  I figure we're talking two week seminar, minimum."

   "Grounded?"

   "Maybe from you."

   "Tony, I don't want to sneak around on your parents."

   I stood and hugged her.  "Me neither.  Let's just take this a step at a
time."

   "Think she'll call my mom?"

   "I honestly haven't a clue."

   I let Tami out the front door.  I'd thought about walking her home but
decided that was stalling the inevitable, and the longer I stalled, the
harder it'd get.  I walked quietly through the living room to the dining
room.  Mom was sitting at the table paying bills.  I knew she was a lot
happier now that she could pay them before they were due.

   "Mom, I, uh..." What do you say at a time like this.  'Hi, Mom, I know
you caught us fucking, what's for dinner?' I wondered for a second if I'd
doomed poor Traci.  When she got caught, I got a lecture too.  Was she in
for it now?

   "My son, tongue tied?" Mom said without turning around.  uShe took off
her glasses and set them on a pile of envelopes.  She'd only had them a
couple of weeks and didn't look like Mom wearing them.  Fortunately, they
were only for reading.

   "Mom, I..."

   "Tony come sit down.  I'm not mad."

   "You're not?" I guess I wasn't all that surprised.  She wasn't mad when
Traci got caught making out, just concerned.  I walked into the dining room
and sat down across from her.  I could feel the heat in my cheeks.  After
all, Mom had just caught me naked with my girlfriend.  Somehow 'awkward'
just didn't cover it.

   "I suppose we should get the big stuff out of the way first.  You're not
in trouble.  You're not grounded.  And you're not forbidden to see Tami."

   I hadn't realized I was holding my breath till I let it out.

   "I've known that you and Tami were, uh, physical for a long time, though
it was something I tried not to think about."

   There was no right thing to say about that, so I kept quiet.

   "I know you and Tami think you're in love..."

   I opened my mouth to protest but Mom held up her hand.  "No, that's not
right.  I know you and Tami are in love."

   I couldn't believe Mom had said that.  She'd always said I was too young
to feel that way before."Mom, I..." Mom held her hand up to stop me again.

   "I know what I've said, but..." She reached up and wiped the back of her
hand across her eyes.  I thought I saw a tear in the corner of one. 
"Remember just before school started, when you and Robbie were in that
talent show?"

   I nodded.  The Red Cross fund-raiser, when we helped raise money that
got shipped off to the Gulf Coast.

   "Remember the song Robbie sang?"

   I had to think about it.  There'd been so many songs and so many shows.
"She's in Love With the Boy."

   "There was one line in the song, toward the end, the mother talking to
the father, 'Katie looks at Tommy like I still look at you'.  Robbie sang
that, and I realized that I recognized the way that you and Tami look at
each other.  It was the same way my mom and dad look at each other, even
after fifty years.  It's the way I look at your dad."

   "Remind me to send Trisha Yearwood a thank you note." Even now I
couldn't resist being a smartass.

   "Did she write it?"

   "Not sure.  But she's the one who sang it."

   "A thank you might be appropriate." I didn't know Mom had it in her.  "I
know you and Tami plan to get married, though you might want to wait awhile
after you finish college."

   I debated a few seconds.  This had been a pretty adult conversation.  I
decided I trusted Mom enough to keep it that way.  "Even if we don't get
married, we'll live together."

   "I know."

   Damn, parents can still surprise you.  "You know, her parents didn't
think that Grandma Vickie should get married right after college."

   "My grandparents didn't think Mom should get married at all.  At least
not to a Marine."

   I grinned.  "And I seem to remember a few stories about your parents not
wanting you to get married before you finished college.  That seems to be
working so far."

   Mom laughed.  "If I'd known you actually listened, I'd never have let
Mom tell you those stories."

   I grinned.

   Mom smiled at me for a few seconds, then her face turned solemn.  "I,
uh, didn't look very close.  Were you wearing protection?"

   'Damn, we were doing so well.' I thought as I felt the heat return to my
cheeks.  "No, but Tami's got the patch."

   Mom nodded.  "That doesn't help against other things."

   "Tami's only had one other partner, and that was three years ago."

   "Peter King," Mom said to my amazement.  I remembered telling her.  We
were talking about the fight.  I hadn't come right out and said that I
caught Tami fucking Peter, but Mom's a smart lady.  I knew she put it
together from what I said and what I didn't.

   I nodded and wondered if she'd ask how many partners I'd had.

   Mom hesitated, and I knew that's what she was thinking.  I wondered what
I'd say.

   "Your little sister didn't seem all that surprised."

   "She kind of got used to it on our road trip."

   Mom sighed with a half smile.  "You know, I sent her on the trip to be a
chaperone.  Little sisters are supposed to get in the way."

   I grinned.  "You were a couple of years late.  Traci's not the brat she
used to be."

   "Because of your good influence?"

   I grinned gain.  "Or in spite of it."

   Mom shook her head.

   "Do I need to talk to your sister?"

   "I don't think so.  She's pretty smart, and she knows she has people she
can talk to if she has questions."

   Mom nodded.  Behind her eyes I could see the debate raging.  She wanted
to ask if Traci was sexually active.  I waited and could tell when Mom
decided to let it be.  She knew how I felt about confidences.

   "Uh, Tami wondered..."

   "I'm not going to say anything to Bonny, if that's what you're
wondering. Though I don't think she'd be any more surprised than I was.  I
think she accepted you and Tami a lot sooner than I did."

   I didn't ask if she was going to tell Dad.  They didn't have many
secrets.  I stood.  "Mom, I'm glad we had this talk." And I was too.

   Mom put her glasses back on and looked at the next bill in her stack. 
"Tony," she said without looking up, "just because I know doesn't mean it's
open season."

   "You want us to keep sneaking around?" I blurted before my brain caught
up to my mouth.

   "You've been discreet for three years.  Another year-and-a-half won't
hurt you."

   I nodded, though she couldn't see me.

   "By the way, we got you a laser printer.  It's in the van."

   "I can't believe it.  I've been wanting one."

   "It was on sale at Wal-Mart.  It was your sister's idea."

   I was plugging the printer cable into my computer before it hit me that
Mom said three years.

   She'd known almost the whole time.



   Chapter 35

   "Good practice." Coach Vickers looked happy as we knelt in a half circle
around him.  "Captains, anything to add?"

   "Yeah," Robbie said without standing.  "You almost look like you deserve
to be in the first round of playoffs.  But we have a ways to go if you want
to look like state champions." She nodded to me.

   I stood.  "Don't forget.  The list for drug testing gets posted
tomorrow." I caught Luke's eye.  "It's usually up by third period.  Last
week, a kicker who shall remain anonymous," Mark turned red, "almost missed
his test and wouldn't have been able to play." Luke looked like he was
going to say something, then nodded.  "Anybody missing their test, I'll
turn over to Monster Girl for memory drills."

   "What if she misses her test?" Mike Reed asked with a smirk.

   "If Robbie blows a chance to play football, it won't matter.  The
Earth's falling into the sun anyways."

   "Good practice."

   Robbie closed her notebook.  "Almost everybody has their lines down."
She glared at Peter.

   "I would point out that Peter got most of his lines dead on, and that he
does have more lines to learn than anyone but Traci.  And she only learned
all of hers 'cause she's afraid of you." I grinned at Robbie, and she
transferred her glare to me.

   "Next week Romeo and George plays on Tuesday, with The Accidental
Detective on Wednesday and us on Thursday.  We..."

   I stepped behind Robbie, clamping my hand over her mouth.  "Don't have a
chance, so we're going to have fun.  Right madame director?" Robbie nodded,
my hand still over her mouth.  "Go home and happy Halloween."

   "Where to, my captain?" I asked as Tami snuggled in my lap.  We were in
the passenger seat of Robbie's Honda.

   "Somewhere." Robbie smiled evilly.  "You like surprises."

   "I do?"

   "I rented your house," Robbie mimicked.

   I decided that silence was my best answer.  A minute later we pulled
into the elementary school's parking lot.

   "What are we doing here?" Tami blurted.

   "You'll see." We followed Robbie into the school.  "Here's two more
volunteers," she said as we approached Mrs.  Archer, the principal.

   Volunteers?

   "Thank you," she said, spreading her arms to indicate all of us. 
"You're just in time, we have three groups left."

   Groups?

   Mrs.  Archer led us into the gym where three groups of about eight kids
each waited.  In costume.

   "What?"

   "Trick-or-treating, pickledick," Robbie said softly so that only I
heard.

   Pickledick?  I had to keep my friends away from my cousins.  At least my
Hawaiian ones.  Then I had a flash of Robbie and Cinnamon working together
and decided to include my Coloradan ones too.

   "Here's your routes," Mrs.  Archer said and handed us each a sheet of
paper.  "Robbie made them up last week."

   I looked at my paper.  Robbie had set up eight different routes, so I
assumed there were five other groups that had already left.  We were
covering the same territory, but Robbie had set it up so that, hopefully,
we weren't all hitting the same houses at the same time.

   "Robbie, why don't you take that group.  Tony, that one.  And, I'm
afraid I don't know your name?"

   Tami smiled.  "I'm Tami Sharp."

   "Oh!  You write that column in the paper."

   Tami nodded.

   "I never miss it.  You take that last one please."

   Tami nodded again.

   "If I'd known, I would have brought a costume," I said as the principal
left.

   "I almost forgot." Robbie reached into the white plastic shopping bag I
hadn't noticed she was carrying.  A second later she tossed me something. I
grabbed it out of the air and looked at it.

   "A Nixon mask?  You got me a Nixon mask."

   Robbie grinned.

   "He was a politician and a lawyer."

   "Live with it.  Here's yours." She tossed another mask to Tami.

   Tami opened it up and showed it to me, The Bride of Frankenstein.  That
would make me...

   "And you?" I prompted.

   Robbie reached into her bag again and pulled out a tall black witch's
hat and a long rubber nose with a black wart on it.

   I wanted to say 'missed by one letter, ' but I also wanted to live till
morning.

   Trick or treating was fun.  I'd forgotten how much, even if I wasn't
getting any candy.

   My group included Robbie's two ex-sisters, Betty and Jo.  They'd moved
into their new house over the weekend.  It also included a boy who'd come
prepared with a few eggs that I confiscated, then wondered if our route
included Parker's house.

   "Have fun?" Robbie asked when we got back to the grade school.
   "Almost as much as you had with the Bradley girls I stuck you with."