Senior Year Box Set

“Nope. He was also a fourth. It was a family name, and he insisted that everyone use his full name,” Ava said, and then turned to her daughter. “Who was your first?”

I love Brook. She was quick on her feet.

“David, just now,” she said with a straight face.

“What about you, David?” Ava asked.

“I just remembered that Dad wants me to mow the yard,” I said, getting up and almost dumping Brook onto the floor.

As I rushed out of my apartment, I couldn’t get the image of Mike’s dad and my mom bumping uglies out of my mind. I sure hoped that Mike and Luke never found out because I might have to kill them if they ever said anything.

Dad and Ian were messing with the grill when I pushed the lawn mower out of the garage.

“This can’t be good,” Dad said.

“Why?” Ian asked.

“If David ran out of his apartment with our wives and Brook up there, and he’s going to mow the yard, it has to be something bad,” Dad observed.

“They’re sharing stories about losing their virginity.”

“Yeah, I might need something stronger than beer,” Ian predicted.

I was with him on that. I was afraid that Ava and Mom might just cause me to need therapy if they continued to torment me.

Five minutes later, Brook fled my apartment with a haunted look. I probably shouldn’t have bailed on her, but at that point, it was every man and woman for themselves. Mom and Ava strolled out, and their eyes landed on Dad and Ian. I suddenly had two eager helpers. Mom had a satisfied smile as she saw us taking care of the yard.

◊◊◊

Chapter 9 – Form vs. Substance Monday September 12

Alan was a no-show at school. Word was out about what he’d done, and it was probably best that he didn’t come to school. Yuri was so mad that I’d bet he would take one for the team and get suspended for three days for beating on Alan. I predicted that someone would punch him before the week was out.

I also found out from Cassidy that her dad and our athletic director had had a long talk. Coach Hope had offered to resign, but Mr. Hicks had turned him down. I liked the idea of Coach Hope remaining a friend. But in some ways, it was good to take Coach Hope off his pedestal and realize he was just a man with his own flaws like everyone else. That didn’t mean I wasn’t still a bit upset when I thought of how close we’d come to disaster.

Coach Mason was right, though. I had to respect Coach Hope in front of the team. They needed to be confident in his leadership, and I honestly didn’t have the time, energy, or desire to undermine him.

◊◊◊

At football practice, we skipped the film session and trotted out onto the field. Coach Mason’s plan to rotate skill players had kept us fresh and injury-free, so there was no real need to go easy.

Halfway through practice, Coach Rector called all the defenders together. I saw Cassidy there and wondered what this was all about.

“Coach Hope and I were talking about hand-to-hand combat, and the topic of how we could use that for football came up. I’ve come to embrace the concept of not meeting force head-on, but redirecting it instead. It’s that principle that’s helped you all get off your blocks and not get tied up.

“I was telling Coach Hope that I wanted to win the turnover battle and cause more fumbles. That was when Cassidy told me about using pressure points. I wasn’t convinced until she tried them on me,” Coach Rector shared.

Coach Rector invited me to be Cassidy’s test subject, but I refused. Dan Ball was dumb enough to go up front.

“The arm has two nerves that are tied to the hand that I want to focus on: the ulnar and radial,” Cassidy taught.

She had Dan hold out his arm.

“The ulnar runs on the inside of the arm and controls the ring and pinky fingers,” she explained.

Cassidy pointed to three points: the inside of the top of the arm, inside the elbow, and then inside the lower part of the arm.

“The radial nerve controls the thumb and index finger, and you can find it along the outside of the arm.”

She then handed Dan a football and had him tuck it like a running back would.

“Coach Rector has taught you to try to rip the ball out of a running back’s hands,” Cassidy said. She demonstrated, trying to punch it out of Dan’s grip with no success.

Dan made some smart comment about a little girl not being able to make him fumble. Tim, Yuri, and I cringed when she smacked him inside the elbow. Dan let out a yelp and dropped the ball.

“What the hell,” he complained as he shook his arm.

That was precisely why I hadn’t volunteered.

“Now, it’s illegal to punch someone on the football field, but if you’re making a play on the ball, it’s okay to hit them,” Cassidy said.

She had us pair up and try to knock the ball loose. I’d worked with her on this in my self-defense classes, so I was her star pupil. She then showed us how to hit the back of the hand or grab their hand and dig your thumb into the meaty part between the thumb and index fingers.