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Welcome to the Church of The Reverend Cotton Mather.  This story is
the sole property of the author, and may not be copied or downloaded 
for the intent of profit. Permission is freely given for anyone to 
download or copy for their personal pleasure or use, as long as 
there is no intent to charge money or barter for the privilege of 
acquiring this material.

   (Copyright 2005, revisions c. 2007, R.C. Mather)

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THE COMPETITIVE EDGE:
PLAYING THE GAME III

A Novel

by R.C. Mather



- 30 -

CONNECTIONS



I tried to not let it bother me. I really, really tried.

But the thought of some snot-nosed high school boy drooling over my
Luscious was almost too much. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I
couldn't concentrate on anything all weekend long. My mind kept on
seeing a pimply, scrawny kid forcing kisses on her. Or worse. In the
middle of the night I would jerk awake, hauling myself out of my own
personal nightmare, envisioning her unknown prom date sliding the
zipper of her prom dress down while she smiled over her shoulder.
Sometimes, the scene was the back of a limo, just Kayla and her date,
and she was trying to keep his hand from sliding all the way up
beneath her dress. Was she really fighting his advances?

It took me a long, long time to fall back into uneasy sleep after
those dreams.

Jaimie and Jake were going to the dance on Saturday. Jake promised
me he would look out for his sister. I knew he would, and not just
because she was his sister, but it didn't stop me from imagining the
worst. Jaimie wasn't nearly as sympathetic as Jake was, but that was
to be expected. I knew she was aware of our history, since she was
Kayla's best friend. She would be on Kayla's side no matter what. Her
attitude didn't bother me. In fact, I would have found it odd if she
didn't resent me a little.

And so on Saturday night, prom night, I found myself in strange
company. My brother Stephen, along with his girlfriend Tara and their
little boy Kyle, all went out for pizza with me. It was very odd
watching Stephen and Tara being parents. I felt like an outsider, and
they were a family. 'Or,' I reminded myself, 'as much of a family as 
two fifteen-year-olds with a baby could be, anyway.'

Kyle was a handful. He was beginning to walk, and was trying to
exhibit some independence. Tara looked very tired, and she seemed a
little bit irritable with the baby, but Stephen was very tolerant. He
tried to watch Kyle so Tara could relax a little, but Tara still was
obviously in charge.

"How are things going with you guys?" I asked.

Tara gave me a tired smile. "It's very hard, Sean," she said.
"School all day, and then taking care of Kyle. It doesn't leave much
time for anything else."

"So much for being a kid, huh?"

She snorted and shook her head. "I can't hardly remember what it was
like to be a kid anymore. The past year has just been a blur of
diaper changes and feedings."

"Mom and Mrs. Jacks both help," said Stephen. He reached over and
took a spoon away from Kyle, who had begun banging it against the
table. Kyle was in a sling seat that fit directly on the table, and
he was bouncing up and down as he gurgled and laughed. "But Tara's
really got the bulk of the workload. It's been tough on her, but
she's been a great mom."

"And your brother is pretty good at holding Kyle in one arm while
he's doing homework," said Tara. "I never would have been able to do
it without his help." She smiled at Stephen affectionately.

Stephen just shrugged shyly, concentrating instead on Kyle. I felt a
surge of pride wash through me. My little brother was a stand-up guy.

"It's too bad you guys didn't call me before," I said. "I would have
been happy to baby-sit for you so you could go to prom."

Tara looked up at me in surprise. "Oh, thank you, Sean, but we
couldn't go anyway."

"Why not?"

Stephen was laughing. "We're not old enough yet," he said. "We're
only sophomores, and prom is for juniors and seniors."

Old enough to be parents, but not old enough to go to a high school
dance? It boggled me. All I could do was shake my head in
astonishment.



* * * * * * * * * *



During the next several days I worked with my core group of
instructors from college - Eric, Trent, Jesse, Spencer, and Posey
Smith. We met at my house to work out schedules, and we drove over to
the park to stretch our legs and practice our newly designed drills
and tests. I also spent part of each day just with Danielle and
Trent, getting rosters of students set and making sure we had
completed applications on all the kids, including medical information
and emergency contacts. We wanted everything to be in top form on the
first day of soccer camp.

I restocked my first-aid kit, and I stopped in to see Mr. Lehigh
about getting three more. I wanted Jesse to have one, and my
instructors in Merrillville and in South Bend each would need a kit
and first-aid training. Danielle had already contacted the local Red
Cross offices to schedule training in all our locations. I hoped we
wouldn't need to call upon that training anytime during the summer.

Eric, Trent, Jorge, and I were going to go to Merrillville and South
Bend to train our new instructors. I figured we would need two days
with each group, just to make sure they understood what we were
trying to do. The timing of training and the start of the camps meant
I was not able to schedule one trip. Instead, I set it up for
consecutive weekends. It made for some extra driving, but school was
still in session for the high school kids who were going to be
instructors, so I really didn't have a choice.

We had six hours each day scheduled, but these were sharp kids,
skilled and accustomed to picking up the essence of a soccer drill.
About half the time scheduled would be getting to know the
instructors, as well as allowing them to get to know us. I made sure
to include down time for everybody, an hour set aside for lunch and
relaxation and casual conversation. I felt it was the best way to
cement the group together.

Spencer wanted to come with us when we went down to meet with
Jesse's team of instructors. Jesse already had his group lined up,
being very familiar with soccer programs in his area. It also helped
that both he and his sister were well known in the community at
large, as well.

So, with the help of my supervising instructors and my office
manager, my working life for the summer looked like it was going to
go smoothly.

If only I felt the same way about my personal life.



* * * * * * * * * *



On the Tuesday after Prom weekend, just after our dinner dishes had
been cleared from the table, our telephone rang. I was in the family
room with Tara, Stephen, and Kyle, helping them with their American
History assignment, when I heard Mom pick up the phone. I didn't pay
any attention, since she seemed like she was talking with an
acquaintance, and so I was surprised when, about ten minutes later,
she called me.

"Sean? Telephone for you."

I glanced over toward the kitchen. Mom was holding the phone away
from her as she leaned out the kitchen door to make sure I had heard
her.

"Okay, I'll get it here," I said.

"Why don't you use this phone, dear? That way you won't disturb the
kids while they're working."

I shrugged. "Okay," I said as I got up from the floor.

With no expression, Mom handed me the telephone and quietly closed
the kitchen door as she left the room. Puzzled, I put the handset to
my ear.

"Hello?"

There was a moment of silence, and then Kayla's soft voice came over
the line. "Hi."

It was a good thing there was a chair behind me, because I would
have hit the floor hard when my knees gave out at the sound of her
voice. I struggled to find something intelligent to say, but couldn't
come up with anything.

"Hi. How are you?"

"I'm good," she said quietly. "How are you?"

How was I? I was miserable. I missed her so much, and yet I wanted
to yell and scream. I wanted to know who her prom date was so I could
go looking for the asshole and take a baseball bat to his family
jewels.

I also knew that was the wrong path to tread.

"I'm okay, I guess."

Silence.

I took a deep breath and held it while I sent up a silent prayer to
whichever of God's angels was assigned to look after fools and
idiots. "I miss you," I said.

Silence again.

"Kay? Are you there?"

Her voice betrayed nothing, neither disgust, dismay, nor affection.
"Jake said you called and wanted to talk to me."

"Yeah, that's right," I said. 'No, I don't want to talk to you,' I
silently screamed. 'I want to hold you, I want to beg your
forgiveness, I want things to be like they were before.'

I was feeling physically ill. My dinner was sitting like a huge
brick in my stomach, making me feel distended, weak, heavy, slow.

I tried sitting up straighter. "Can we get together?" I asked.

"I... I don't think that's a good idea right now," she said.

"Oh... okay." I was struggling to not panic. "When?" 'She didn't want
to see me? She didn't want to see me?'

"Maybe after school's out," she said.

"What? School's out now," I said stupidly.

She giggled, the first hopeful sign she gave me. "Not for the day,
Sean." I could almost hear the smile fading from her face, however.
"I mean after school's out for the summer."

"Oh." The brick in my stomach got heavier.

"You remember how busy it gets the last few weeks of school. We've
got finals coming up, too, and I don't want to be distracted."

I couldn't help myself. My anger bubbled out. "Is that what I am
now? A distraction?"

"Frankly, yes," Kayla snapped. "At the moment, that's exactly what
you are." She paused, and I could hear her sigh. 'Nice going, idiot,' 
I chastised myself. 'Whatever happened to keeping your freaking mouth
shut?'

I didn't have time to apologize, though. "I'll call you when things
aren't so hectic, Sean." And then, all I heard was the click as she
broke our connection.

I sat there, feeling numb, feeling dumb, hoping our connection, the
one that truly counted, wasn't really broken.



* * * * * * * * * *



And so I cooled my heels. I wasn't good at it, as most of my friends
would attest.

I buried myself in my work, driving my team nearly to distraction.
Eric, ever my compadre, finally put his arm around my shoulder and
steered me away from the group so he could talk to me. I tried
shrugging his arm off, but he was implacable.

"Bro', you're driving us fucking nuts," he said intently. His
enunciation was perfect, an indication of how pissed he was. "Let it
go."

"Let what go?" I mumbled.

"Your anger," he replied. We reached a park bench. Eric sat on the
edge of the back, his feet on the bench, and he rested his arms on
his knees. I stood in front of him like a kid sent to the principal's
office, waiting for the doom to fall.

"I'm not angry," I tried.

Eric snorted derisively. "That's a load of Grade A horseshit, and
even you know it, Porter."

He was right. I did know it. I just didn't want to admit it.

"You got a situation," he said. "You got two options. Fix it, or
throw it away. It's time to choose."

I looked up at him bleakly. "I want to fix it, but I don't know that
it's fixable."

He shrugged. "Then give it up," he said. 

"That's pretty fucking heartless," I said with some heat.

Eric didn't flinch. "You love her, right?"

I nodded reluctantly. He was perfectly aware of my feelings for Kayla.

"Is she worth the effort to try to fix it?"

"Of course she is," I said.

"Then?"

I couldn't look at him. "She won't talk to me," I mumbled.

"She what?" That one caught him by surprise.

"She won't talk to me right now," I said.

"No shit," he said, wonder in his voice. I glanced up at him, but he
was looking off into space, digesting this latest tidbit.

"No shit, indeed," I agreed.

Eric jumped down from his perch. "Then give Alex a call," he said.

I looked at him in shock. 'How does he know about Alex?'

"Or call Erin, either one."

"How... When... How do you know about Alex and Erin?" I stuttered
suspiciously.

He laughed out loud. "Shit, man, ain't we your best friends? Of
course Trent and I know about Alex and Erin. We met them, remember?
When I saw that little girl in your lap, I knew it wasn't just the
beer flowing that night, dude."

"But... but... nothing happened that night..."

"Yeah, and I know that, too. But it did happen, didn't it? Ain't no
use denying it, Porter." He looked at me happily, knowing he'd caught
me.

"Well... yeah. It happened."

"And how is Kayla going to take that news, dude? Maybe it's time to
give it up. Cut your losses, lick your wounds, and when you get back
to Florida take comfort where you can."

"No." I was angry by then. "I'm not going to cut and run. I've done
that too much in my life. I've learned the hard way that doesn't
solve anything. Forget it, Eric."

"Okay," he said. Then he smiled, a real and infectious grin, as if
he was anticipating the coming task with relish. "Then let's get it
fixed." He looked at me and shook his head. "You are a real piece of
work, Porter. But we friends, you and me. We'll find a way."

I felt a rush of emotion. I didn't deserve such loyal friends, but I
was enormously grateful I had them. I held out my hand and Eric shook
it, and then he pulled me in and gave me a hug for support. It was
the warmest feeling I had experienced in a long, long time.





(Continued in Chapter 31)


  
CE30