Team Manager 2: SPRINT!
Chapter 36
FOR TWO WEEKS, the kids worked almost every day. Not all showed up each day, but another five or six, including some boys, showed up on some days or for part of a day. Even Dennis’s girlfriends needed days off to tend to family matters, fulfill other commitments, go to part time jobs, and rest. Dennis couldn’t blame them at all. If it weren’t for the fact Randy pressed a pay envelope into his hand each week, he’d probably have sloughed off a few days, himself. The feeling of obligation and the pressing deadline of his next eye surgery kept him motivated to show up every day and work hard. Some days, he was the only one working.
They resolved the problem of the uneven fencerow by plowing and leveling it. Unfortunately, that meant freshly turned soft dirt as a surface. Mr. Abernathy had Dennis mow the first section of his hayfield. When the hay was dry and baled, they mowed again and rerouted the course onto the mowed hayfield while the newly turned soil was seeded and fenced off.
Having a break for the Fourth of July weekend was the perfect excuse for the kids to have a party. This time, the party was at Tori’s house out in the country north of town. The girlfriends all agreed that they would start the party in the afternoon with everyone who had worked on the new cross country course and then send people who weren’t Dennis’s girlfriends home after dinner. The Fourth was on Sunday, so they decided to have the party on Saturday afternoon. They themed the party as a barn dance and after a lot of discussion, invited Coach Andy and Coach Graves for the early part. They were, of course, welcome to bring their families.
The McDonalds were long-time residents and supporters of the athletic program and had their own ideas of what should happen at the party. Tori got her first indication when she woke up Saturday morning at six to the sounds of a crew setting up a smoker in the yard and getting the coals lit. She looked out her window scowling at the crew and the truck with its bright logo for Finest Quality Iowa Pig Roasts. The girlfriends and Dennis had all contributed to funding the party, but they’d only planned on a basic hamburgers and hotdogs cookout. This equipment looked serious.
“Hullo?” Natalie answered her phone groggily as she rolled away from Dennis and her sisters in his big bed where they’d had a very long and active night.
“Sorry to wake you, sugar,” Tori said. “I think we’ve got trouble.”
“What?” Natalie sat straight up in bed, disturbing the other sleepers so they rolled over to listen.
“I don’t think we’re going to be alone at our party today. My parents are setting up everything in the yard for a full-scale pig roast,” Tori said.
“There’s only like eighteen of us coming. That won’t cover the cost of a pig roast. We gave the money to your parents, didn’t we?” Natalie asked. Dennis, Daniella, and Roberta started whispering together as Natalie tried to focus on the call. Somehow, the whispers turned to kisses and then caresses. It was getting harder for Natalie to keep from being distracted.
“Yeah. I haven’t gone down to find out what’s going on from the parents, but I thought you should be prepared. The last time my folks threw a pig roast, there were a hundred people.”
“OMG! Can we just like go to your hayloft and hide out all day?”
“We could try, but the loft is going to be damn hot today. Temps are supposed to be in the high 80s.”
“Okay, Baby. Why don’t you find out what’s going on and call me back? We’ll contact everyone else when we know what’s up. Um… Call in an hour, okay?”
“An hour? Okay. What’s up?”
“Dennis!” Natalie squealed as the other three attacked her.
“I want to be there!” Tori shouted.
“Soon, Baby. We aren’t holding out on you. It’s just been hard to get together when we weren’t all sweating like pigs. But… I… really… have to go now.” Natalie disconnected as her sisters latched onto her breasts and Dennis dove between her legs.
“You guys are so evil. You nearly made me orgasm while I was talking to Tori. The poor girl is envious enough as it is. Dennis, we’re going to have to take care of her. She’s in deep,” Natalie said as the four of them lay in bed after their morning romp.
“I’ve never even taken her on a date,” Dennis sighed. “Neither of us have a driver’s license.”
“We could double date!” Natalie said. “I can drive us.”
“Who would you take?” Dennis asked.
“Um… oh… well… By double date, I was thinking we could both take Tori out,” Natalie said.
“Oh!” Dennis’s voice registered in three octaves and ended up a rumbling bass as he swallowed the idea. “Yeah. I guess so. Wow!”
“I think that’s called ‘double team’ not ‘double date’,” Roberta laughed.
“We need to get up and make breakfast,” Dennis said. “I want to make sure the house is all clean before we leave for the party. I kind of promised Mom.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll help,” Daniella said. “Then you can come to our house and help us clean there, too.”
“Does it seem to you like we’re working awfully hard for being teens? I don’t think Zoe and Eva ever did anything in the summer but shoot baskets,” Roberta said.
“I’m sure they cleaned their room,” Natalie said. “But why haven’t we been shooting around more?”
“We can do some in the back yard if you want,” Dennis offered.
“If we have time, sure. I was thinking, though; we’ve been spending hours at school working on the cross country course and there’s the outdoor basketball court right next to us. We could be shooting around and playing after work or during lunch,” Natalie concluded.
“Well, I’m out for a week starting Tuesday,” Dennis said. “You can spend all day playing basketball if you want.”
“Why…? Oh! Your next surgery is Tuesday! I forgot,” Natalie said. “We need a celebration!”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing at Tori’s today?” Roberta laughed. Natalie’s phone buzzed as they busied themselves with breakfast.
“Hey, Babe. What’s the news?” Natalie asked.
“My parents are opportunists!” Tori said. “They decided it was more economical to have a party for their friends at the same time I’m having one for mine. So, they ‘invited a few people over’ for a pig roast this evening. They said with our group, there’d be about a hundred people!”
“Oh. Well, you’ve got a big farm. We can hide out.”
“I’m thinking more and more about your suggestion to go to the hayloft. See you in a little while.”
“Now you need to get over and help set up for your party,” Dot said as Dennis put the vacuum away. “You kids have done a wonderful job this morning and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. It goes so much faster when we’re all working together. I’ll fold the last load of clothes when the dryer stops.”
“Thanks, Ms. Dottie,” Daniella said. “I’m glad we can help out when we come over. It must seem like having a dozen extra kids with as much time as we all spend here. It wouldn’t be fair to have you or Dennis clean up after all of us.”
“You are sweet, Number Eight. Or are you Number Nine today? Anyway, you get going and Peg and I will see you this afternoon at the party,” Dot said.
“You will?” Dennis asked.
“Well, I was invited. I think I can attend.”
“Of course! I didn’t… I mean none of us knew it was going to be more than the few of us who worked this summer. I’m glad you all get to have a good time, too,” he said quickly. He glanced at Natalie and she shoved him out the door, even as he was buckling on his emergency kit. Even this summer, it had never been far from him.
“We need to run home and do our own chores,” Natalie said. “Do you want us to drop you out at Tori’s first?”
“No! Why would you do that? You helped with my housework. I’ll certainly help with yours,” Dennis said. Besides which, he wasn’t sure he wanted to be ‘dropped off’ at Tori’s. Much better if he arrived in the company of a few girlfriends.
When the kids finally did start showing up at Tori’s farm, they were all a little stunned. It seemed the McDonalds had invited all their parents and all were planning to attend the pig roast. Well, Amy’s grandmother was coming, but she was her guardian. Even Brenda’s parents were planning to attend.
They set up a volleyball net and Tori had marked out the ball diamond with fresh lime. Her younger brother put a new rope on the tetherball as several of his friends were coming to the party with their parents. Well, at least that should mean the older kids wouldn’t spend the entire party being bugged by younger ones.
“Are we still overnighting?” Diane asked when she arrived with Judith and Debbie. They hesitated at pulling their bedrolls out of the trunk.
“Yeah,” Tori said. “Mom and Dad promised they’d clear the barn dance at ten o’clock. Ten-thirty at the latest. That means people will pack out of the barn, though some might still be sitting at the fire. Those with younger kids will probably be the first to take off. Just means that we won’t have the fire to ourselves until midnight if at all.”
“The younger kids are all heading to our place at sundown,” Lana said. “People will start clearing out with kids about nine o’clock. That’s going to keep a lot of parents busy for the night.”
“Well, just remember rule number three,” Dennis said, giving Amy and Brenda a hug as they arrived. “Not in front of the children.”
“Or the parents. Yuck!” Debbie added.
“I’ve got a stall cleared in the barn where we can dump all our stuff until we’re ready for it tonight. Then we have to start decorating the tables. Getting a party ready for adults is a whole lot more work than getting one ready for teens!”
“Yeah. We’d just roll out our sleeping bags and get naked,” Rosie laughed.
“I promise you’ll get that opportunity, Slim,” Daniella whispered, slipping an arm around Rosie and squeezing her.
The ‘old barn’ had been designated for the dance and use by the teens after. It was usually used for storing older farm equipment and miscellaneous supplies since the McDonalds no longer kept horses or cows. A wagon was parked at the far end with extension cords running from the power box. While Tori would have had Alexa pump in music, her parents had hired a country dance band who were setting up on the wagon. Half a dozen floodlights were hung in the barn that were usually used at night, when maintenance on tractors and equipment was done. The teens lined the sides with bales of straw brought over all the way from Lana’s farm.
They worked to spread plastic tablecloths on the tables that had been borrowed from the church, along with folding chairs. They decorated the tables with red, white, and blue ribbons, flags, and streamers, then made sure they all had salt and pepper, ketchup, and various hot sauces and barbecue sauces. People started arriving at three and the kids immediately organized a softball game. A couple of parents joined in as did Janet Mills, the new cheerleading and softball coach. The kids were all surprised to see not only Janet, Ardith, and Andy, but also Pat Fisher, the volleyball coach. Both Janet and Pat had managed to find places to live in the area, and had moved just that week.
About five-thirty, the dinner bell rang and everyone lined up to get paper plates piled high with roast pork. All the families who came brought their favorites to put on the serving table. There were kettles of baked beans, bowls of potato salad, dozens of deviled eggs, another kettle of chili, bags of chips, and freshly baked rolls. At the end of the table were dozens of strawberry-rhubarb pies, apple pies, peach pies, blueberry pies, and cakes. A dozen ice cream freezers stood ready, with the canisters filled and the buckets packed with ice and salt, waiting for the cranks to be turned.
This was a group who knew how Jesus fed the 5,000. Some kid offered five loaves and three fishes and everybody just went to the fridge and pulled out whatever they had to put on the table or make a casserole. And there was always more left over than they started with.
Nor was roast pork the only meat. For those who wanted it, there were hamburgers, hot dogs, and chickens on the immense smoker. This was not the kind of meal at which people sat to eat and started clearing the tables a half-hour later. The food, the company, and the atmosphere led to a long mealtime. Many of the younger kids got up to play, but most people stayed at the tables except to go back for more food.
“Dennis, have you met Howard Larson?” Randy asked. “He owns the farm just down from ours a mile or two. That’s his little girl Liz talking to Lana.”
“Glad to meet you, Mr. Larson,” Dennis said, looking up at the big red-haired and bearded man.
“I hear you’re the person who watches over the Angelines,” Howard said. “For some reason, that little redhead thinks she wants to play basketball next year. I trust you’ll watch over her.”
“I’ll do my best, sir. The whole team looks after each other.”
“So I hear. So I hear. The tall brown-haired girl is Coach Fisher’s daughter, Daphne. Liz adopted her as her friend when they met at church last Sunday. They’ll make a good addition to the team,” Howard said.
“We’ll look forward to tryouts. In the meantime, you should encourage them to participate in volleyball or cross country. The Angelines run. A lot. It will help them if they are in good condition,” Dennis said.
“You’re off next week for your next eye surgery, aren’t you, Dennis?” Randy asked.
“Yes, sir. The doctor wants me to avoid any strenuous exercise after the surgery. I pretty much sit around the house and cook when I can.”
“Well, get lots of rest. The following week will be a long one for you.”
“It will?”
“I’m harvesting the wheat field next week. That will leave the straw on the ground. We should get it baled up as soon after that as we can. I’m going to have you disk the stubble down then and we’ll reseed with red clover to recover the nitrogen,” Randy said.
“You on that Sheffield Farms program?” John McDonald asked. The three men were the only full-time farmers at the party.
“I contracted this year’s crop at seven dollars a bushel, delivered to their elevator. They pay an additional $25 an acre for planting a cover crop if it’s a legume. And I can still bale and sell the straw. If this all works well, I might turn more land into wheat or oats,” Randy said.
“Seems the best market these days is to go on contract,” John said. “I’m rotating corn and soy beans and AgCentral buys it all for their pigs. I grind the stalks on both crops and turn them right back into the ground, then switch the fields the next year.”
“I don’t trust those guys,” Howard said. “You heard about Art Johnson’s pigs? I went over there to try to help round them up. That fence had been cut. The factory farm upriver was responsible if I’m any good at guessing. He’s still missing some. They’ll be feral by now.”
Dennis managed to excuse himself from the farm talk and was caught up in the basketball game being organized.
“You know, that boy doesn’t look anywhere near as innocent and harmless as he did when he started managing the basketball team,” Drake Vining said. The dads standing around all nodded.
It looked like the junior high kids and some of the older teens were getting into a game of volleyball. Dennis saw Coach Fisher joining the game. Her daughter joined the basketball players, though.
“Dennis, this is Daphne and Liz,” Natalie said. “They’ll be with us in high school next year and want to try out for basketball. You’ll help them, won’t you?”
“Second time I’ve been asked that. Daphne, Liz, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Dennis said, shaking their hands.
“Mom told me I can’t be one of your girlfriends,” Daphne said immediately. “I mean, really. Right out of the blue. I hadn’t even met you.”
“I didn’t know Coach Fisher had an older daughter. I met Grace and Zeke at church a few weeks ago,” Dennis said.
“Yeah, I was at camp. When we moved last week was the first time I’d been here. Might be better here, though. My school in Cedar Falls was a zoo. I met Liz, like right away at church. She’s great.” Daphne was talkative, but the girls wanted to get started playing. Tori’s basketball hoop was set up on a decent-sized concrete pad. Dennis asked about how that came to be.
“Oh, Grandma and Grandpa had that put in years ago to park their motorhome on. We still can’t play here when they come to visit. They’re camping somewhere out in New England this summer, though,” Tori said. “Are you going to play?”
“Why don’t you ladies play and I’ll ref. Pick up sides.” Of course, Dennis had his whistle in his first aid kit and the girls got right into playing. In addition to refereeing—which wasn’t much of a job—Dennis coached the girls as well. He blew his whistle. “Liz, tuck your left elbow closer to your side when you go for the jump shot. Your hand position is deflecting the ball off to the right. Try it once.”
Liz looked at him strangely, but Brenda handed her the ball and whispered, “Try it.” She launched the ball and it hit the backboard and bounced off. The difference, though, was that it hit above the rim instead of off to the side. Natalie passed the ball back to her and on the next try, she sank her shot.
“That’s all it was?” Liz squeaked. “I thought my eyes must be off and I’ve been trying to shoot farther left than what it looked like.”
“Does he, like, coach the team?” Daphne asked Amy.
“He’s in charge of conditioning, but he also runs drills and helps us with technique,” she said. “And he made my boobs grow,” she snickered.
“How?”
“You’d be amazed!” Amy laughed.
“Shit. Even if I can’t be his girlfriend, maybe we can mess around some.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay spending the night here?” Lon Stackhouse, Debbie’s father, said. “I’d feel better if it was all girls.”
Debbie got an evil look in her eye and told her dad, “I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m bi-sexual.”
Lon started to straighten up but Ruth, his wife, put a hand on his arm to help calm him.
“Are you really that upset, Dad?” Debbie asked. Lon collected himself together and sighed.
“No. I’m not that upset. It’s just that… I was hoping you were a lesbian.” He said it in such a deadpan manner that it took a moment for what he’d said to soak in. Debbie’s mouth dropped open and she turned red. Both Lon and Ruth started to laugh.
“Just remember rule number two,” Lon said. “Never without protection.” He and Ruth gave Debbie another hug and turned to get in their car. Debbie watched as they disappeared down the road and then went to join her girlfriends and boyfriend in the barn.
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