Team Manager 1: SWISH!
Chapter 4
“OKAY, LADIES. Thank you all for coming to the tryouts for the Bartley High School Angelines basketball team!” The girls on the bleachers cheered, happy to be able to try out for the team. Ardith was a little disappointed that only fourteen girls signed up. She could, of course, just take them all on the team, but she wasn’t really sure why a couple of them were there. They showed no sign of ability or interest. And there was a cheerleader among them as well. That wouldn’t work. Well, she had to work with what she had.
“First, before you set foot on the court, you need to hand your permission slip to our team manager, Dennis. Those of you who make the team will need the medical form, also given to Dennis.”
“Isn’t he a bit young for a team manager? What is he, ten?” Carol Reston asked with a laugh.
“Let me tell you something ladies,” Ardith said. “Dennis has already earned a place on this team. You are all trying out for one. Figure that out.” There were nods and Dennis blushed when Natalie shot him a thumbs up. “We’re going to start with your basic stats. I will be measuring your height and body mass. Then we’ll do some general warmups. Following that we’ll do a few speed and jumping tests. You’ll get two chances at each test and we’ll take the average of the two for your score. Line up at the scale and give Dennis your name and age before you step on.” The girls lined up and started toward the scale where Ardith measured height and weight and gave the numbers to Dennis.
“This is embarrassing,” Judith Long whispered to Dennis after she gave him her name and age of fourteen. “Don’t you dare tell anyone how much I weigh!”
Dennis made a zipping motion across his mouth. “It’s no one’s business but Coach’s,” he said. “I won’t even remember.” That wasn’t precisely true.
Ardith had put Dennis through the tests earlier in the week so he would know what was needed and how to help the girls trying out to perform their best. The SPARQ test included lane agility, standing vertical jump, kneeling power ball throw, three-quarter court sprint, multi-stage hurdle, and max touch measurement. Dennis was exhausted by the time he was through all six stages, but his results weren’t bad for a guy his size. The girls who were the least athletic, of course, fared the worst, some not managing to throw the 2-kilo power ball more than three feet. The three-quarter court sprint saw times from 2.5 seconds to 5 seconds. Then Ardith turned to some of her own tests.
Dennis had given each girl a practice jersey with a number pinned to the back so he could follow Ardith up and down the sideline taking notes as she spoke to them.
“Now, we’re going to do some ball handling exercises and I’ll be watching you dribble, run, shoot, and pass. These are more subjective exercises and I’ll be evaluating what I see on a general quality scale of one to five. I want to see how you handle the ball. I’m also looking at your endurance. Basketball is a game of running. On average, players run a little over two-and-a-half miles during a game of thirty-two minutes. The running is almost always sprint and stop, sprint and stop. Any questions?” No one raised a hand. Ardith pointed out seven girls. “You seven are first up. Grab a ball from Dennis and line up under the basket at this end of the court. Now, dribble the ball as quickly as you can run down the court to the other end. Then turn and dribble back. Remember, I’m looking for both speed and ball handling.” She blew her whistle and the girls took off. One bounced the ball off her foot and ended up chasing it all the way to the end. She did better on the way back.
When they all reached the end line again, Ardith blew her whistle to stop them. “This time I want you to back up down the court while dribbling the ball. Ready?” She blew the whistle again. There was really only one of the girls who maintained control of the ball while she ran backward down the court. Two actually fell on their butts. When they returned, she blew the whistle again. “Rack the balls and second seven come to the court.”
Dennis followed Ardith taking notes for about two hours before she had the girls sit on the bleachers and listen to her. Dennis handed towels and water bottles to the sweaty girls.
“That does it for today. I’m going to have a little discussion with you about why you want to play. Think of it as a job interview. I’ll call you to my office after school Monday and Tuesday and show you your tabulated test results. It may take us that long to get them figured out. Please give some thought about why you want to be on this team and the schedule that will be posted on the team bulletin board next to my office. Your appointment time will also be on the board. You are responsible for checking the board for your timeslot. If you don’t show up, you won’t be on the team. Yes, this is a test. If you’ve decided after this little practice today that you don’t want to be considered for a place on the team, it would be courteous of you to let Dennis know so he doesn’t schedule you for an appointment. Okay, that’s it. Hit the showers and get dressed. Drop your towels in the bin by the locker room door and be out of here in twenty minutes. We want to go home, too.”
“Well, you aren’t the shortest any longer,” Ardith said to Dennis when they sat to go over the interview notes Wednesday afternoon.
“You’re putting Brenda Grant on the team?” Dennis asked. She was the only girl who tried out who was shorter than Dennis at just five feet even. “I thought she was a cheerleader.”
“Says she’d rather play basketball than cheer for someone else playing. And her numbers were all good. She’s powerful and in good shape.”
“Yeah,” Dennis agreed. Brenda was petite but one of the prettiest seniors in the school. She had a great shape.
“Of course, we have the Armors. They feel in some ways responsible for the team and its success. If Natalie isn’t voted the team captain, it will only be because she’s a sophomore. With only Roberta, Daniella, Brenda, and Carol in the upper grades, they might go with one of the older girls. The other six are all freshmen and sophomores, which speaks well for our team’s future.”
“Only six? Did you cut four?”
“Two were told they had to try out by their parents but weren’t really interested. One came just to see what it was like. And one didn’t bother to show up for her interview. Here’s something, though. There were twelve playing at the noon scrimmage today. I talked to some of the girls and they said they wouldn’t mind playing intramural but couldn’t make the time commitment for the team. You know what that means?”
“Really? Do you think there are enough of them to have intramural teams?”
“We’ll have to test the waters. I don’t want to turn anyone away who wants to play. I’ll talk to Jim and Andy. Maybe we should make intramural mixed teams,” Ardith mused.
“Wow! We’re really becoming a progressive school,” Dennis said. “Why I remember a time when girls could only cook and sew. Now look. They think they can play on boys’ teams.” Ardith was shocked. He said it with such a straight face that until he started laughing, she thought he was serious.
“You are going to either become my best decision at this school or my constant nightmare,” she breathed.
“May I apply for both positions?”
“Go home! Get the roster ready to post tomorrow morning. And don’t forget to tell your parents about the manager training session Saturday. We’ll ride over with Jim, Andy, and the four boys’ managers. I can’t believe the school is giving us a bus for the trip.”
Dennis headed out and started the walk home. On the way, he thumbed Natalie’s phone number and sent her a text. *Guess who made the team?*
It was only a few seconds before he got a response. *Don’t tell me. They let u play, too?*
*No. Shorter than me.*
*Really? Brenda gave up cheer squad?*
*Yeah. I’ll send the rest of the roster as soon as I get home.*
*Can’t wait. CU.*
Dennis was elated. Just a few weeks ago, Natalie Armor was someone he worshipped from afar. Now he was texting with her. Life was pretty damn good.
Until he saw three boys walking ahead of him. He recognized them at once. All three had been suspended or expelled, but as far as he knew, they were still just hanging around town. He knew Lee was working part time at the Phillips 66 station. And Jerry was working at the C-Store. He’d heard rumors that Jerry thought he was the drug kingpin. He never could remember the other boy’s name but they spelled trouble if you ran into them. He looked around quickly, hoping they didn’t realize who he was, and cut through Mrs. Davis’s yard to get to the next street. Her dog put up a fuss and Dennis caught a glimpse of the boys speeding up to chase after him.
Fuck! If he took time to call for help, they’d catch up to him before he got the call made. He poured on the speed and cut back through the Klienfelters’ yard to hide behind their storage shed.
“You’re sure it was him?”
“I’d recognize that little shit a mile away. He owes me a world-class blowjob and I’ll get it even if I have to beat him unconscious and then fuck his mouth.”
“He must have cut back to Maple Street.” The boys left through the yard and headed back the way they’d come. Now Dennis had time to make the call. He ignored 911. The county sheriff could take hours to get there. He called Coach Graves.
“Coach, it’s Dennis. I’m being chased. They’ll kill me.”
“Where are you?”
“On Oak Street headed toward home.” Just then he passed the gap between two houses and the boys on the next street over saw him.
“There he is!” They started after him and he took off running again.
“They’re right behind me,” he gasped. He didn’t hear Ardith saying she was on her way. He just clutched the phone in his hand and ran as hard as he could. He’d run the three-quarter court sprint in under three seconds, but he had to get a lot farther than seventy-five feet to be safe from these thugs. He could hear their feet getting closer and then felt the shove on his backpack. He stumbled forward sliding on his knees.
“Think you can run away forever, punk?” Lee spat. He kicked Dennis in the stomach, doubling him over. “You owe me for getting me kicked off the team and expelled. I’ll start with the blowjob you owe and then I’m going to beat the crap out of you.” He unzipped his pants.
“Are you crazy, man?” one of the other two demanded. “Right here in the middle of the street?” The one Dennis couldn’t remember the name of looked even bigger than he had last year.
“Who’d see?” Lee snapped. “Okay. Okay. On your feet pussy. Let’s find someplace more comfortable. For me.” He was dragging at Dennis’s backpack strap, trying to get the boy to stand up. Dennis had just gone limp. He was too scared to move. He heard tires squeal behind them and someone laying on the horn.
Ardith slid to a stop and slammed her car into park, jumping out and snapping pictures as quickly as her feet hit the ground. The boys looked at her as if she was a madwoman and began to run. At that moment she was. She pulled Dennis to his feet.
“Get in the car. We’ll run them down,” she shouted. Half a block away the three looked back and saw the car headed toward them. They cut through yards to get to the next block over, taking advantage of the gaps between houses that were mostly open and unfenced. That’s just the way it was in their small town. Ardith raced to the next cross-street and squealed around the corner. There was no sign of the boys.
“Do you know who they were?”
“Yeah. I don’t remember the name of one of them. I know the other two.”
“Call the sheriff on 911. We’re going hunting.” She slowly cruised up and down the town’s few streets as she held out her hand for Dennis’s phone.
“911, state your emergency please.”
“I want to report an attempted mugging in Bartley. I’m taking the victim home but we’ve lost the attackers. We have pictures and at least two of their names.”
“The sheriff is half an hour away from Bartley. It will be dark by the time he gets there.”
“Have him come to 425 Elm Street. I’m taking the victim home and will wait there for the sheriff.”
“I’ll have him put you on his patrol list and he’ll get to you soon.”
“On the list? I called with an emergency!”
“You have stated that the victim is safe now and you’ve lost sight of the perpetrators. The sheriff will get to you as soon as he can. Have a good day.”
The line went dead and Ardith swore beneath her breath as she handed the phone back to Dennis. She drove up and down the streets one more time and then took Dennis home.
“Mom! Coach Graves is with me.” Peg came running down the hall and threw her arms around her brother.
“You’re late,” she chided him. “I want dinner.”
“I’m sorry, sister. We’ll get dinner right away. But Coach Graves needs to talk to Mom.” Their mother came into the room from the kitchen.
“What happened?” she demanded. “Your pants are torn and you’re all scraped up.”
“Lee Smith,” Dennis said. “He and Jerry Unger and that other kid that runs around with them. They met up with me on the street and I couldn’t outrun them. Coach came to rescue me.”
“I called the sheriff,” Ardith said. “He’ll come here to get statements if you don’t mind my staying a few minutes. I’m just glad I was close enough to respond when Dennis called.”
“Oh, dear. If your father finds out about this…”
“If I find out about what?” Will said coming in from the garage. He took one look at his son and said, “That boy again? I swear I’ll kill him this time.”
“Take it easy, dear. Please don’t do anything rash. The sheriff is coming. Let’s let him take care of it.”
“Bunch of do-nothings. The Smiths have the sheriff in their pocket. He won’t touch them.” Will was stone-cold sober. He was like that when he was working and the grain elevator had hired him early in September for the late-season harvest. Corn had started to come in from around the area. It was good work, even if it only lasted a month or two. But nothing got him upset like his boy being attacked by that Smith kid.
“Dinner’s ready to be served. Are you hurt more than the scrapes, honey?” Dot asked.
“No, Mom. I’ll have a sore side where he kicked me, but that’s all.”
“Well, go wash up then and come to the table. Ms. Graves, I’ll set another place if you’ll stay.”
“Thank you. I suppose I’d better wait for the sheriff.”
Dinner was quiet. Ardith tried to engage in conversation, bragging about what a great help Dennis had proven himself already. His dad reached over and ruffled his son’s hair. Peg copied the gesture and giggled. After dinner, Ardith watched Dennis read to his sister and send her to bed. The sheriff finally showed up about nine, three hours after it had been called in.
He took the statements from Ardith and Dennis and closed his note pad.
“Well, I can drive by and give Lee a warning. It’s really just your word against his,” the sheriff said.
“What about the photos I took?” Ardith demanded.
“They don’t really say a thing. Looks like three boys helping a kid who fell down. I can’t really blame them. You’re the reason he got expelled and has to go to North Fork to finish school. Something like that is going to cause hard feelings.”
“Dennis didn’t get him expelled,” Will exploded. “His abuse and bullying got him expelled. Don’t you dare blame my son for that.”
“Well, be that as it may, I’m just saying. I’ll go over and have a chat with the Smiths.” The sheriff turned and left without another word.
Ardith saw a cold look come across Will’s face and shuddered. She didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that kind of look.
Dennis got the new team roster posted first thing the next morning. His hand was wrapped in a gauze bandage. He’d spent half an hour picking pieces of gravel out of his hand after everyone had left and it bled freely. His side hurt and it was difficult to stand up straight.
He tried to stay out of sight from the new friends he had on the team and went home with the departing crowd right after school was out.
He was surprised at the text message he got as soon as he was home.
*What happened?*
*Who’s this?*
*Amy. Put my number in your contacts.*
*I fell.*
*It was my brother, wasn’t it?*
*…&*
*I knew it. He was weird all last evening. Didn’t go to work.*
*Not just him.*
*LMG Lee Smith n Harry Conway.*
*…*
*Okay. LMK if you need anything, teammate.*
That was quite a message and Dennis scrolled through the conversation again. He didn’t know Amy very well. She was a freshman but he’d figured out she was Jerry Unger’s little sister. He’d kind of avoided her because of that, but she called him. He wondered how she knew something happened.
It turned out the whole team did.
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