Junior Year Box Set

“I made the cut to the next round. I’ll have to survive one more round of cuts to make the national team and go to Mexico. Everything being equal, I expect I’d love to play baseball full time, but I’m sure I’d miss the contact of football,” I admitted.

“Yuri said it would be shame if you not play football. He said you have ‘special talent.’”

I felt myself blush. I hadn’t expected Yuri to even think that, let alone say it to his grandmother.

“Though I’ve sort of put it on the back burner this summer to explore baseball, I won’t let Yuri or my teammates down. I plan to win state my senior year.”

She looked perplexed.

“Back burner?”

I remembered how different English was from her native language and explained it to her. She smiled and left Duke and me to our game of catch.

Once Duke finally began to tire out, we walked down to the river. We then climbed to the bluff and sat down under my favorite walnut tree. Duke wanted some serious loving. I think my grandma needed to be trained on ear rubbing and chest scratching.

It was relaxing to sit on the bluff and gaze out over the river. Caryn had sent me an email that said they’d dug out several feet of silt from the riverbed. The next step would be to line the shores with riprap, or stones, to prevent erosion. I’d agreed to have them put smaller gravel in the river’s bed to firm it up. The hope was that cleaning up the river would make it healthier and less likely to flood.

I received a text from my mom saying she was ready to go, so I convinced Duke that we should jog back to the farm. Mom had a plastic tub full of tomatoes, green beans, new potatoes, and lettuce. I was happy to haul it to the Jeep.

Duke claimed shotgun, but Mom boosted his butt and sent him to the back seat. On the ride home, I received a text from Brook to meet her at the small local airport. She wanted to take me flying. I didn’t tell Mom about the flying; I didn’t want her to worry. Anyway, that’s my story, and I was sticking to it.

◊◊◊

“Hello, Brook Davis,” I said as I spotted my friend.

“Why, young Mr. Dawson. So good to see you,” she said, acting regal.

“What’s the plan for today?”

“I’ve got a flying lesson. I told them you’d eventually be joining me, so you get to ride along with me today to see what it’s like. Come with me, and I’ll introduce you to my instructor, Roy Tyro,” Brook said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

I could tell that she enjoyed flying, and I was sure if she liked it, I would too.

“Roy, this is my good friend David,” Brook said by way of introduction.

“I’ve watched you play football and took in both your movies. It’s a pleasure to have you here today. Brook says that you might also want to learn to fly. If you do decide to try it, I would love for you to pick us as your instructors.”

Roy showed me the aircraft they used for training. It was a newer Cessna 172, and he proudly pointed out its advanced G1000 avionics. He shared that the Cessna 172 was a four-seater with a high wing and single engine. The first one flew in 1955, and more of these aircraft were built than any other. He explained that Lincoln Flight School had picked this proven training aircraft with the most up-to-date avionics available with safety in mind. The G1000 Avionics System was state-of-the-art, commercial-level flight instrumentation.

I stood back as Brook had her lesson. She and Roy walked the airplane as part of the preflight checklist. I sat in the back as she took control of the plane and took us up. I could see the joy she experienced as we rose into the blue sky overlooking the area farms. Brook had found another thing we could do together. I would have to wait until after this summer to join her.

After the class, we snuck into the back of her property and to her cabin by the lake.

“Want to go skinny-dipping?” Brook asked with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

I took her up on her challenge and began to lose my clothes. We were soon roughhousing in the lake when Cassidy came walking up.

“You two are terrible. You do realize your parents are up at the house. I think Ava would pay good money to see our boy naked,” Cassidy observed.

“Join us,” Brook dared her friend.

Cassidy looked around and began taking her clothes off. She was soon in the water, and the three of us acted like the teenagers we were. The girls wanted me to toss them into the air so they could splash into the deeper part of the lake. I aimed for where the natural spring was because the water was colder in that spot. The cold water did interesting things to their nipples. Brook finally figured it out.

“You’re such a bad boy. I think he just wants to see these,” Brook accused me, and Cassidy gave me a dirty look.