Senior Year Box Set

We had a good talk at Monical’s. I would miss seeing Halle every day. When we got back to her house, I made sure her video chat was set up. She had a box of Bandit’s things. He wasn’t too sure what was going on when I took them to the car. Halle was worse than I was when I left Duke with someone. She went into detail about what he liked and how I was to take care of him.

It was soon time for Halle to go. Rita came out of the house to wish us goodbye. I hugged her and could tell she was feeling better.

Bandit complained about being put into the pet carrier for his ride in the car. Brook wanted to take pity on him and let him out, but I explained it was safer for him this way.

When we got back to my place, we carried all of Bandit’s gear up to my apartment. When Brook let him out, he trotted right over to Duke’s water bowl for a drink. Then he stuck his head into my hound’s food bowl and stole some dry dog food. It was apparent Bandit was home.

“I could tell that was hard for you to do,” Brook said out of the blue.

“Yes, it was, but that was what she needed.”

“Halle explained it to me. I just wanted to tell you that I understand and am okay with what you did. I hope you never feel the need to spank me like that. It was almost violent.”

“It was. I hate that part.”

“I think if I hadn’t watched it, I would have had a real problem,” Brook admitted.

“That’s good to know. If I have sex with another girl, you have to be able to watch,” I said and acted like I was writing it down.

“Keep dreaming.”

“You seemed to enjoy our threesome with Halle,” I teased.

Brook thought about it for a moment.

“I don’t know if it was the tequila or what, but it wasn’t as bad as I imagined it would be.”

“So, you might be up for a little girl-on-girl action?” I asked like a ten-year-old who’d been told he was going to Disneyland for Christmas.

“I thought you wanted it to be just the two of us,” she countered.

“Well, yeah, but for special occasions …”

“Like Wednesdays?”

That made me laugh.

“Honey, I’m just teasing. It was sexy as hell to see you go bi, though,” I said with my deep sexy voice.

She kissed me to shut me up. I think Bandit was scarred for life after he saw what we did to each other. All I know is I had a smile on my face when I took Brook home.

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Chapter 4 – Orange/Blue Game Friday September 2

Chuck dropped me off for early morning practice. Word had gotten around, and nearly thirty boys were waiting for me on the practice field. When we started to draw a crowd, I talked Tim into coming in each morning to act as our coach. All the quarterbacks were here, so I had them do what Coach Mason had taught me. We got into two lines, and one quarterback threw to one side of the field while the other quarterback would toss it to the other side. That way, we could step up, throw the ball, and then get back into line.

Tim’s job was to keep everything moving and call out the pass he wanted to see. I would occasionally stop practice and share my knowledge with my teammates. It quickly became evident that a couple of boys stood out in the underclassman group. I made it a point to help them out a little more because I saw them as the future of our football program.

Each day, I invited two quarterbacks to join me when I spent time with Coach Mason reviewing the practice footage. I wanted to expose them to Coach’s insights on what to look for in film study.

Coach Mason was happy because he saw that I’d shaken the rust off my game with the extra morning practices. That allowed him more time to explain why a play worked. I think it helped all of us when we understood that each man played a role. Everyone began finishing plays instead of going through the motions or taking off plays if the ball wasn’t going their way.

◊◊◊

After practice, we all trekked to the cafeteria. Because of my agreement to pay off outstanding balances for families that couldn’t afford school lunches, the school now had enough funds to do breakfast. It wasn’t anything fancy. They always had cereal, oatmeal, and fresh fruit. Today, they had scrambled eggs and bacon to go with it.

I hoped that we could at least provide two meals a day for the kids who needed it. I’d been appalled to learn that we had children going hungry right here in my community. The sad part was there were programs available to help them; the problem was getting the information out to the ones who needed the help.

I used my breakfast time to study or just to reflect. I’d been thinking about what my uncle had asked me: what did I want my legacy to be? Something I knew for certain was that I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. There were four specific groups I focused on.

After my mom’s cancer scare, fighting that terrible disease was something that I wanted to work on. Maybe not by being a doctor, but by making sure they had the resources to research cures and help the families affected. The second was pregnant teenagers and teenage moms who needed a safety net.