Team Manager COACH!
Chapter 2
“I DON’T THINK you’ll need to ted the hay after it’s raked,” Mr. Abernathy said the next morning. “One thing about cutting so late in the season is that the grass is already drier than new mown spring grass. Give it a day’s rest tomorrow and you should be ready to bale on Thursday.”
“Will do, Mr. Abernathy. Do we have all the supplies needed for baling? I mean, like, twine?” Dennis asked.
“Check the store room over there. I believe I put in a new twin pack last year.”
“Yes, sir,” Dennis said, coming from the store room. “There are two 10,000-foot rolls back there. I see a partial still on the baler. As dense as the hay pack is, we might need a third full spool. I can run in to County Seat tomorrow and pick up a couple of spools at Tractor Supply.”
“Not necessary. I need to take Lila to the doctor this afternoon. I’ll pick up extra twine while we’re out. That’s good thinking. You’ll do fine out here. I need to get inside and fix Lila her breakfast now. Have a good working day.”
Dennis mounted the tractor and headed to the field to rake the hay.
By noon, Dennis was washing down the rake and making sure the equipment was clean and maintained. He left the barn to walk over to the school and met Lana walking up the road. She set her pack down and welcomed Dennis’s embrace and kiss.
“I didn’t expect you to be done so soon!” she said. “I was bringing lunch to you. Natalie told me what a nice picnic you had yesterday.” The picnic had been nice, but Dennis didn’t think Lana wanted quite the same kind of treatment Natalie had.
“Raking went pretty quickly. Mr. Abernathy has a cool setup for his baler. He tows a wagon and loads the hay as it’s baled. The problem is it takes two people to make it work: one to drive and one to stack bales. Could I interest you in helping me out Thursday?” he asked as they walked back toward the school.
“I’m bribable. Of course, most of the girls are, but they don’t have the experience driving a tractor. Except Tori. I’m sure she’d come out to help you and she’s probably a good lunch, too. I mean lunch companion. You know,” Lana giggled.
“I know exactly what you mean, little minx,” he laughed. “The hay out there is so dense that with only two of us working, it might take two days of baling anyway.”
“How much do you think is out there?”
“I’m estimating 5,000 bales. Which means we’ll have to stop and unload the wagon after every four or five acres. It’s going to be a long day or two.” They found a place in the bleachers to have their picnic. The first football practice of the day was over and the second wouldn’t start until two.
“You know, all the girlfriends would come out to help,” Lana said. “Why don’t you just ask?”
“Well, this is different than when we baled on your property,” he said. “I’m not getting paid for this. I volunteered. I can’t just ask my girlfriends to volunteer for hard labor with no reward but my scintillating presence.”
“I didn’t know you were volunteering.”
“Mrs. Abernathy is really sick and Mr. Abernathy just hasn’t had the time or energy to tend the fields. This is the only one that was even planted. He’s been really good about providing access for our cross country trail on his property and I just wanted to help him out.”
The kiss Lana gave Dennis took him so much by surprise that he fell backwards with her straddling him. It was deep and sensual and passionate. It was very unlike Lana. He couldn’t help but get an erection as she kissed him thoroughly, and she ground herself against him. Finally, she pushed herself away and looked at him. Her almost white blonde hair was matted against her head from the sweat they had worked up in such a short time.
“I didn’t know you were doing this just to help out. Dennis, I’m so proud of you! Of course all the girlfriends will come out to help us bale and stack. We just love you more every day!”
“Do you know what I heard?” Coach Torvalds barked at the football team during their second day of practice. “I heard the conditioning trainer of the cross country team saying football players weren’t as good as cross country runners. He said you weren’t strong enough or fast enough. And what I’m seeing here today says he’s right! You have to be strong! You have to be fast! Are you strong?”
“Yes!” answered the players.
“Are you fast?”
“Yes!” answered the players.
“I’m going to have you prove it. A week from Saturday, we’re going to have a little challenge match. I don’t expect all the linemen to be long distance runners. Artie there can scarcely run from the sidelines into position. But he’s going to be a wall that defenders won’t be able to get around. But all backfield, the ends, and all defensive backs are going to run in a race against the cross country team. And I’m going to make it worth your while.”
The team straightened up to listen to the challenge. None of them were happy to be considered second rate to the wimps running cross country. Coach had a deal for them.
“Every player who beats the cross country team across the finish line will get a guaranteed playing slot in our first game the next week.”
“Beating their whole team?” Jake Larson asked. He had a good chance at the starting quarterback slot, but he knew there were some fast runners who were going out for cross country. He wasn’t sure he could beat Dave Overman in a footrace.
“Oh, is there a girl on that team you think might beat you?” Torvalds teased. “I tell you what. I’ll make the offer to any one of you who can beat their team manager. Will that do? Coach Byers, what’s that kid’s name?”
“Dennis Enders. He manages girls’ basketball, track, and cross country.” Coach Byers did his best to hide a smile. This was a clear setup. He was pretty sure none of the team had seen the new Dennis Enders who could outrun a pig for over half a mile. Andy said he was going to get him to race as well as manage.
“That little twerp?” Si Goodman snarked. “He couldn’t beat a fly.” Si had some evidence of that. He’d been one of the JV basketball team accused of abusing Dennis their freshman year. It was some fast work by Si’s father that got him and the other boys to testify against the gang of three in return for not being prosecuted themselves. He’d tried to extend a hand of friendship to Dennis during basketball season, but the dweeb had given him the cold shoulder.
“Okay. Here’s the deal. Any player, offense, defense, line, backfield, or special team who can beat ‘that little twerp,’ as Si called him, gets a guaranteed playing spot in our first game.” He wasn’t too worried about that. He intended to play every boy in the first game regardless. It was far more important for parents to see their babies play than to win the first game. This was just motivation to get them focused. “Let’s hit those calisthenics and speed drills. We’ve got a challenge to meet!”
Dennis worked all afternoon mowing the trail. Since there was cut grass on the trail from the big mower, it took longer for the garden mower to cut and mulch the grass down to the proper length. He was definitely not going to finish in one afternoon.
Dennis put up the tractor for the night and went home to shower, eat, and get ready for cross country practice. When he got back to the school, Coach Byers was waiting to talk to him.
“Dennis, how did the mowing go today? Is it going to take that long every week?”
“Hi, Coach. I don’t expect it will take as long in the future, but we’ll need to watch the growth pattern as we move into fall. The grass could grow faster. Right now, I’m mowing at a slower speed and I’m collecting the clippings. That’s because the grass was so long that leaving the clippings would smother what’s under it. In the future, I should be able to mow at about seven to ten miles per hour. But like I said, we might have to mow more than once a week when the grass starts growing strong again,” Dennis said.
“How long to do the football field and the infield?” Coach asked.
“Oh. Well, we could have the same problem with the first cutting. Our football field hasn’t been maintained aside from a twice a year chop job to keep the weeds down. It will probably take a few hours to get it all to playing length. Then about an hour per mowing, I’d guess. Maybe two.”
“You are quickly becoming our resident expert on mowing. George Samuels comes out in the spring and starts mowing the baseball diamond, just because he’s a fan. But when baseball season ends, he quits mowing,” Coach said.
“Well, there’s a lot of acreage around the school to get mowed,” Dennis speculated. “There are bigger and better mowers than this one Mr. Stackhouse is loaning us. He’ll need this back by the weekend to mow his mammoth yard. I’m not sure why he wants five acres of grass to mow, but it’s how he spends his Saturdays. Mr. Abernathy told me about an attachment for the regular tractor that could mow a lot faster and I know professional mowers for sports fields can run anywhere from $5,000-$10,000. It’s a big job.”
“Those are good numbers to have. We may have a booster who is willing to invest in a better tractor. But we really need to get at least one pass over the football field. Right now, everything is drills and exercises. When we start scrimmaging next week, we’ll need the field in playing condition. I’m pretty sure we’ll have a budget for getting it cut, if you are interested.”
“I might be, Coach. Right now, my plate’s pretty full.”
“I can imagine. We’ve been working you pretty hard. Now about the challenge you made to the football team…”
“What? What challenge? I didn’t challenge the football team to anything?”
“Hmm. That’s not what everyone heard. They distinctly heard you say the football team couldn’t keep up with the cross country team. So, we’ve decided to have a little contest,” Coach grinned.
“Oh, no. I don’t expect the team will be ready for a race for quite a while yet. We’ll be well into the season before everyone is ready.”
“I expect the same of the football team. But you have your first meet in two weeks. We have an extra four days before the first football game. But you should get your team prepared. The football boys are going to want to put you in your place.”
“Coach, would you object to us joining the cross country team for conditioning?” Amy asked Coach Fisher at volleyball practice.
“Why would you want to do that? They are doing running exercises. Volleyball is about agility and jumping. We have exercises for that,” she answered.
“That’s just it,” Natalie joined in. “The jumping and agility exercises will be great for volleyball, but I don’t want to be out of condition when basketball season starts.”
“Out of condition?” Coach Fisher was flabbergasted. She’d never had a team ask for more conditioning exercises. She had to admit, the basketball players were in better shape than the other fifteen girls she was working with. Except her daughter. But it was only the first week of practice.
“Coach, we’re used to following Dennis and he works us harder than anyone else,” Roberta said. “And not maliciously. Every exercise he puts us through has a specific purpose. And he does every exercise with us, so we know he’s not just piling stuff on us that he doesn’t want to do himself.”
“I see. I’m not going to lighten up on our conditioning for volleyball, but if you think you can take on another hour, I’ll talk to Coach Graves. I don’t want to see any of you too tired to do what’s necessary in our practice because you’re changing focus to hers.” Pat was definitely going to have a chat with Ardith. She couldn’t believe her girls wanted extra workouts. Sure, she worked Daphne extra, but she expected her daughter to be the best of the best.
Dennis was surprised to see his girlfriends show up for cross country practice.
“You’re not quitting volleyball, are you?” he asked Natalie.
“No way. It’s really fun,” Nat said. “We just want to work out with you, too. Amy kind of needled Coach Fisher about not working us hard enough.”
“Me? It’s you who told her we wouldn’t be in condition to play basketball,” Amy laughed.
“That’s not going to win me any friends,” Dennis said, shaking his head. “Well, if you’re here to work out, let’s get to it.”
With the addition of half the volleyball team to the cross country team during their conditioning, Dennis had almost as many people to lead as he’d had during track season.
“Okay, stay on your feet, guys,” Coach Andy said. “Good workout, Dennis. You all need to be walking and getting your water bottles. We’re going to do some running today. This is a slow day. We’re not trying to set a course record or anything. We’re going to do 3,000 meters at a jog and then walk the last 2,000 meters home. I’ll lead out to set the pace. Don’t pass me. Coach Graves will be in the middle of the pack, giving encouragement and passing on tips. Dennis, I’d like you to run drag and make sure no one gets left behind.”
“The first part of the course has been groomed and is in great running condition,” Ardith said. “The rest of the grass course is still a little rough, but Dennis plans to mow it tomorrow. That’s why we’re walking the second half. We want to make sure there are no hidden ankle-twisters. It won’t hurt you volleyballers to take this lap with us. Take one more swallow of water and let’s move out.”
Most of the run divided up pretty evenly with the boys clustering right behind Coach Andy along with a couple of the girls, like Janice Goodman. Janice had already run two marathons over the summer and was likely to lead the women’s team in the meets. If they were all racing today, she’d probably beat the guys. She would be a sophomore this year and Dennis was willing to bet she’d dominate the long races.
It was a pretty easy run. Dennis stayed at the end and encouraged runners who were behind. One guy was running back with the girls and seemed to be having a lot of problems breathing. He made it to the 3k gathering point but didn’t look good at all.
“Coach!” Dennis called. “We have a problem.”
Both Coach Andy and Coach Graves ran to where the boy was sagging on the ground gasping for breath.
“Inhaler. In my bag,” the boy gasped. “On the bleachers.”
“What color is your bag and does it have your name on it?” Dennis asked. He was standing next to the coaches.
“Red. Darrel King.”
“Go!” Ardith barked at Dennis. Dennis took off running. Almost the same route he’d taken when fleeing the hog. He didn’t look back and didn’t slow up. He ran to the bleachers where they’d all tossed their bags. He needed to figure out a better way to store the bags while they were all out on the track. He spotted Darrel’s bag and instead of opening it, simply took off running with it, back to where the coaches and rest of the team were waiting. Dennis didn’t have time to think. He just ran as hard as he could. In a few minutes, he slid to a stop beside where Darrel was still gasping. Ardith opened the bag, found the inhaler and handed it to the boy. He took two deep puffs from the device and began to relax.
“How did you do that?” Natalie whispered as she walked Dennis around getting his breath back. “It’s a long way back to the stadium. You were only gone five or six minutes.”
“I guess,” Dennis said. “I don’t know. It was like having the pig behind me. I just had to run it. From almost the same place, too,” he said.
“You’re amazing, boyfriend.”
An EMT from the fire station was waiting for them at the edge of the woods where the path ran parallel to the road. They checked Darrel out and made sure he was breathing okay. His parents arrived a few minutes later. Andy stayed with the boy as Ardith led the rest of the group around the path to the bleachers and dismissed them. Dennis and his girlfriends picked up their things and headed to their homes.
“You need to run in the meets,” Tori said as they walked through the parking lot. Diane and Judith were taking Debbie, Tori, and Lana home tonight.
“Don’t know if I could run that fast for the whole three miles,” he laughed. He had a deep and luscious kiss with each of the five girls piling in that car. The rest of them headed into town and each got a kiss at her door.
Wednesday afternoon, Dennis was headed toward the school to see about a portable cage to lock the cross country bags in while they were out on the course. That’s how Janet Mills happened upon him in the locker room hall.
“Dennis! I’m so glad I’ve run into you. I’d like you to work with the cheerleaders on their conditioning. We have a good group and I know they’d respond well to you. Do you have workout clothes you can change into?” she said. That wasn’t the way Dennis had planned to spend the afternoon, but he was curious about the newly revived cheerleader team.
“I can change. I’ve been working outside and brought all my different clothes for workouts in. I have a locker in the coaches’ locker room.”
“That’s great. We start in the gym in fifteen minutes.”
Dennis shrugged and unlocked the door of the coaches’ locker room. There was some sign that the football coaches were actually using the locker room. Torvalds was very much a hands-on coach and led most of the exercises himself. Dennis liked that about the man. Most of the coaches told the teams what to do, but didn’t do it themselves. Dennis sniffed himself when he pulled off his clothes and decided it would be a good idea to get a quick shower before meeting a new team of girls to lead in exercises.
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