Double Tears
Chapter 114
“Change happens very slow and very sudden.”
—Dorothy Bryant, The Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You
15 AUGUST 2020
It seemed so incredibly normal to just go out on a date last night with Rachel and Livy. Desi’s dad picked her up right after school to head back to Kentucky for the fair. I don’t know if she’ll make any of the rest of them except when we all go down for Labor Day weekend. That’s when the show closes. Something just seems wrong about being in school for three and a half weeks before Labor Day. The old man in me says it’s good for kids to be in school longer. They aren’t needed on the farm these days, so keep them out of trouble. The teen in me whines that it’s summer.
So, Rachel and Livy and I went to the school mixer and dance. This is how crazy this schedule is. Usually, the first dance of the school year is after the first football game, a week before school starts. This year, school starts so early the first football game isn’t until next week. Well, we did have fun. Sophie brought Beca and Brittany to the dance before going to Nanette’s with Donna. When we went home after the dance, we took Beca and Brittany to Nanette’s and kissed them tenderly before they went inside. I wonder if Nanette plays around with Britt now that she’s sixteen. Hmm.
The three of us, Livy, Rachel, and I, went to Livy’s house and spent the night. She has the biggest bed. The downside is her bedroom is in the same hall as her parents, brother, and sister, so we had to be quieter than if we’d gone to Rachel’s. But crawling into bed with those two girls is worth any amount of hardship. I love them so much it comes out my eyes.
We have to get up now so Livy and I can get to the track. The team’s first meet is at The Plex today. I just need to kiss them one more time first.
Classes, sensibly, hadn’t started at Purdue yet. So, campus was pretty clear for our cross country race. For the most part, the course is paved except the trail that runs down by the river. We start at The Plex and cross the river to run through campus then along the river to the next bridge and back across. Most of the route is tree-lined and we’d be running at nine and nine-thirty, so it wouldn’t be too hot.
We were on the buses at seven-thirty and at The Plex twenty-five minutes later. The days of riding a bus with Livy draped over me were long gone. Now there was a girls’ bus and a boys’ bus. We got together for instructions with the coaching staff. Jock split us into groups. The girls got instruction from their coach regarding lanes and the start. Unbelievable that there were over thirty girls on our team heading out for this run. I wondered how Livy would fare with the crowd. My attention was called to Jock when he handed me my number.
“All right, listen up, you idiots. We get six lanes—the odd numbered ones. That means nine and ten to a lane. Lanes one, three, five, and nine will be led by Rick, Don, Joe, and Bill. Line up here so we get organized. Lane seven will be Benny the Bunny.” We all laughed. Benny was a hot miler but he couldn’t hold his speed through a whole 5k. He was our rabbit and would set the pace for our front runners off the line. “Lane eleven—way out there on the edge—Jacob leads. He’ll be running just like he does in workouts at six minutes a mile. I want five guys who can run six-minute miles lined up behind him and matching stride for stride. He’ll bring you in ahead of most of the pack. If you’ve got kick left, bring it in the last quarter mile. Don’t start accelerating too soon or you’ll die before the bridge. Everybody got it?”
“Are we running five or ten?” One of the guys lined up behind me asked.
“This first race of the season is strictly 5k and that’s why all fifty-seven of you are running it. Next week in Huntington, we’ll break into five, ten, and JV five, as well as girls’ varsity and JV. This week, get out there and run with the pack.”
At nine o’clock, the girls’ race took off and we cheered our girls on. The boys had to sort themselves out in lanes before the girls started crossing the finish line but we all sent up a cheer when we saw Livy’s blonde ponytail bopping down the chute in first place. I was sure she’d run close to the eighteen minutes we’d been practicing at. We didn’t have time to stop and celebrate as the starter called our attention. At nine-thirty, we took off. I could see the sense in Jock’s strategy. Benny’s pace pulled the strongest runners out of the pack and got them clear. Nearly a hundred other runners started to stretch out behind them. My watch ticked the pace for me and I settled in, working mostly on keeping out of traffic jams. By the time we’d circled campus and hit the river trail, I could see the elite runners a quarter mile or more ahead. Runners who had tried to keep their pace but didn’t have the endurance were slowing enough that my little group of six passed them as we steadily ate up the ground.
We crossed the bridge back toward The Plex and I was surprised to see Bill, one of our elite runners, flagging as we passed him. I wondered if he was sick. I glanced at my watch for distance and saw we had a thousand meters to go.
“This is it, guys!” I yelled. “If you’ve got a kick, do it now. I’ll see you at the finish line.”
I picked up my pace, certain that I could complete this in under eighteen. One of the guys who had been running step-for-step with me poured on the speed and entered the chute a dozen steps ahead of me. I was happy to see, though, that all the rest of my pack made it ahead of any trailing competitors.
Rick placed first with a time of 15:42. The guy was going to be a serious contender in the state this, his senior, year. He was the only runner under sixteen minutes. Our teammates Joe and Don placed third and fourth. There were three more Snider runners and then Tom, the runner who passed me in the last thousand, and then me and the other five in our pack. I’d come it at 17:56, a personal best, and good enough for fifth place on my team and nine points. We won the meet 25-30. The girls won as well and we were all pretty happy with our first outing.
We hadn’t settled where to study on Saturday afternoons. My place and Beca’s place were both kind of cramped to get everyone in. Livy could have hosted everyone in her family room, but Saturday afternoon was college football time as far as her brother and dad were concerned. First Notre Dame, then Purdue, then IU and finally, anyone else in the Big 10 except Ohio State. Don’t ask.
We could have met in Rachel’s bedroom but even as cozy as we liked to get, having more than three in her room got crowded fast. Desi’s parents would still be out of town for four more weekends and preferred we not use their house. And Desi was working weekends with them in Kentucky. That left us with Brittany’s house Saturday afternoon. The only thing it lacked was privacy with her mother, father, two sisters and grandmother constantly coming through.
“You know, I don’t mind if you all come over to my house to study on Saturday,” Nanette said. “Just because I’m not in school doesn’t mean I don’t want to hang out.”
“Nan, we just didn’t want to make assumptions about your home when this is such a high school kind of thing,” I said. “You know I love to come over to your place.”
“It’s another of those activities that people in a relationship do that isn’t sex,” Nan said. She raised an eyebrow meaningfully at Sophie. “I think Sophie and I are going to play Scrabble while you all study this afternoon. Are you in, Donna?” I’d been delighted when Donna showed up at Brittany’s this afternoon.
“My life is far more in sync with our younger pod members,” Donna said. “I have papers to read and classes to prepare. Even with only three days of classes this past week, it seems I’m already behind.”
“I never understood how you got through all our literary journals in the weekend,” I said. “I can see why Mrs. Chambers doesn’t require us to keep a literary journal.”
“But…?” Donna probed.
“We keep one anyway,” Brittany chimed in. This year, all four juniors had managed the same English Lit class. Desi and I also had Chemistry together but that was all the class overlap I had with my girlfriends.
“She’s a lot different in Expository Writing. I didn’t realize I’d have the same teacher for both classes. It seems like everything for English Lit has to be done outside of class so we can discuss the literature during class. In Expository Writing, we have to do the reading outside class but all the essays have to be done during class. I really feel the pressure to write cleanly and concisely during our timed exercises,” I said.
We talked some more about our classes. Donna was teaching freshman and sophomore honors classes at Huntington, like she had at Mad Anthony, but this time she was also in charge of the department. Huntington was a slightly smaller school than Mad Anthony, but there were still a lot of teachers in the English Department.
“Are you headed back to New York soon, Sophie?” Beca asked. She set her books aside and perched on the dancer’s lap. Sophie hugged her and petted her.
“Would it be okay with everyone if I stayed in town?” Sophie asked.
“Okay? It would be wonderful!” I said. Maybe my enthusiasm over holding that lithe body in my arms was a little excessive but everyone agreed they’d like Sophie to stay.
“Well, I’ve accepted a position teaching at the Fort Wayne Conservatory,” she said. “And will dance with the resident troupe in The Nutcracker.”
“That’s wonderful,” Beca said, kissing Sophie. “Will you be staying here with Brittany?”
“Yes, for the time being.” Sophie dropped her voice so only those of us closest could hear her. “I’ve told her if she ever closes her legs to me, I’ll move out. She’s still getting used to having the shoe on the other foot.”
“You could move in with me,” Beca whispered back.
“Uh… you know, you could all come out to the farm to study sometimes,” Donna said. “It might be hard in the winter if we get snow this year like we did last year. But I have to study on Saturday afternoons, too. It wouldn’t be an inconvenience.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Donna,” Nanette said. “Maybe some of us could get a run in while we’re out there.”
“Jacob? Perhaps you three could come out for a run early tomorrow morning,” Donna suggested. “You could clean up before a little breakfast and then do your morning concert from the sunroom.”
“Really? That would be great. Will you be in the video with me?”
“Well, I think I need to be careful about images of me cuddled up with any of you. Even though you are no longer my students, wagging tongues could create all kinds of problems if a parent from my school district saw it,” she said. “Do you think it would be okay to simply be sitting nearby reading or grading papers as you play? I would like to be in it with you.”
“I think that would be fine. Livy and Nanette can adjust the camera for us.” I saw Nanette shoot a quick glance toward Livy.
“I think Livy and I will leave as soon as we finish our run. Your morning concerts are always much better if they have the feeling of intimacy you get from shooting the concert from a static position.”
“Really?” I asked. I looked around and everyone was smiling and nodding. Except Donna. She had her face down, looking at a literary journal. I thought perhaps she was blushing a little.
“I need to see if I can do the full 10k at the six-minute pace,” I said as Livy, Nanette, and I warmed up and stretched in Donna’s drive. We hadn’t seen anything of her but she’d been clear about us running and then coming to the door rather than the other way around.
“I could use the distance work but I can’t maintain that kind of pace,” Nanette said. “I still plan to run the Noblesville Half Marathon again this year and the Bloomington Marathon. I know that means I won’t be able to come to Kentucky for Labor Day weekend, but those are my races. Livy?”
“We should talk about that race,” Livy said. “Maybe I’ll come for the 5k again. It was fun last year and you shouldn’t have to go alone. Maybe Rachel will do it, too, now that she’s started running. We aren’t needed as part of the crew at the fair.”
“That would be great. You know I love to hang out with you and Rachel,” Nanette said. She grinned as Livy stepped up to her and kissed her. The kiss didn’t look like it was going to break up any time soon.
“Well, I’m ready to run,” I said at last. “Anyone coming with me?”
“Yeah,” Nanette said. “I’m coming.”
“Mmmhmm,” Livy responded, still not letting go of her.
“So, I’ll do the 10k this morning but I can’t run it at your pace. Set it up and I’ll see if I can catch you when you run out of steam,” Nanette said.
“I’m going to do the 5k trail we plotted through the woods,” Livy said. “Let’s get this moving. It’s already getting hot out here.” I was going to tell her she was the one heating things up, but instead, I set my pacer and took off.
10k is six country miles plus the quarter-mile of Donna’s driveway. There was no sense waiting around for either Livy or Nanette. I turned right at the end of the drive and ran to the next corner, right again for a mile, right again for two miles, right for a mile, and back the mile and a half to Donna’s driveway. That mile and a half was murder. The last mile took almost ten minutes. It was a personal best time for 10k at 40:27, but was a long way from the target of thirty-seven and a quarter. I saw Livy stretching in the back yard and just kept walking. She caught up with me and we walked out to the woodlot and back so I could cool off. Nanette came running into the yard ten minutes after I did and we did the walk again. This time, I kissed my girlfriends goodbye and they got in Livy’s Jeep and left. I opened the truck and got out my guitar and change of clothes. I had to go back to the truck for my equipment. Donna was waiting at the back door for me.
“Just use my bath,” she said, leading me to her bedroom. I’d seen it on a tour of the house but somehow being taken through to her private bath seemed much more intimate. “Everything is set for you,” she said. “Towels, shampoo. Anything else?” She turned toward me and I raised an eyebrow. She closed the distance and kissed me lightly. “Not this time, sweetheart. But it is no longer out of the realm of possibilities.” She slipped past me and left me in the bathroom to deal with matters myself.
Donna and I had a light breakfast together before I set up to record. Fruit and yogurt were the dominant ingredients, but Donna was always diligent about providing protein when we came in from running. This time it came in the way of turkey sausage patties. They were a nice complement to the lighter side of breakfast.
I’d chosen to wear my new black shirt and slacks for the session this morning. Donna looked me over and then removed a strip of plastic from the right leg that said what size the slacks were. The plastic was clear and the type was black. It’s likely I’d have worn the slacks to school for a week before I discovered the tag.
At the Ren Faire, there was a haberdasher—a hatmaker. Riko and Riley had a selection of costume hats they sold but this hatmaker sold quality hats. I couldn’t imagine someone getting enough wear out of one of the flamboyant Renaissance hats to make it worth the price, but I found a nice black leather hat and fell in love with it. It was mostly flat, a low pill box crown surrounded by a wide flat brim. The right side of the brim, though, was turned up and fastened to the crown. I put the hat on and turned to Donna. She adjusted the tilt slightly.
“Dashing,” she whispered. She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed me again, this time a little longer but not passionately. “I was thinking I would just curl up here on the couch with my papers and you can use the straight chair in front of me facing the windows. I think there’s just enough ambient light coming in from that direction to illuminate the scene nicely.”
I checked the framing as Donna settled onto the sofa. The lamp over her shoulder highlighted her blonde hair. She was so beautiful. She had chosen a soft blue blouse and gray slacks, somewhat demurely posed with only her bare feet suggesting how relaxed she was. When I was satisfied I had the framing right and had taken a couple of candid photos on my cellphone, I tested the sound levels and recorded a minute or two to play back for sound. Even after such a short introduction last week, I could tell the difference between my microphone pickup for the guitar and the pickup John had used on my lute at the fair. I was going to have to get me one of those.
I’d chosen a program of transcriptions from the music of Isaac Albéniz, a Spanish composer of the late nineteenth century. He mostly composed for piano but an incredible amount of his music had been transcribed for guitar, including ‘Leyenda,’ ‘Cataluña,’ and ‘Sevilla.’ Those were the pieces I focused on this morning.
The program went just a little longer than my usual half-hour, but I was satisfied when I was finished with it. It only took me about ten minutes to have the video posted and put my guitar away.
Donna was still relaxed on the sofa but she’d set her papers and her teacup aside. I walked over to her and started to say thank you when she simply held out her arms to me. That was the most beautiful invitation I’d ever seen. I settled on the edge of the couch and she pulled me to her as I stretched out beside her. This time when our lips met, they were unrestrained.
Our kisses were sensual and exploratory. Only once or twice had we simply relaxed into a kiss with no impending time limit or departure. As we kissed, I began to let my fingers explore as well, drifting to her breast. She shifted slightly, not to get away from me, but to give freer access. We held each other tightly, not humping against each other but relishing the feeling of our bodies pressed together. I couldn’t help but think of the brief hug we’d had when nude just a week and a half ago.
Eventually, we calmed and I just held her with her head on my chest and her arms around me. I dozed off.
A bit later, I felt her kiss my cheek and slip out of my embrace. A few moments later she was back, holding a glass of iced tea to my lips.
“I have more work to do,” she whispered. “If not, I’d ask you to stay. I’ll expect you back soon.”
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