Team Manager COACH!
Chapter 23
THE COACHES didn’t want their teams to lose their edge over the long holiday weekend, so they practiced Friday afternoon. Dennis and the cheerleaders led a full conditioning workout with both dribbling and shooting drills before the coaches took the teams to their respective courts to work on plays. All three teams were looking strong and were back on Saturday afternoon to repeat the practice.
“Is it true you guys suggested no dress code for practice?” Shelby asked Dennis after Saturday practice.
“Old news,” Dennis chuckled. “That was a week ago.”
“So, it’s true?”
“Not exactly. We made a statement that indicated the least rules were the best rules and most clothing decisions should be left to the individual wearing the clothes. We did not, however, attempt or suggest changing the school dress code. It’s worked pretty well for a few years and any change would start people trying to challenge the boundaries.”
“That’s what it’s really all about,” Debbie said. “As soon as a new rule is made, people will try to push the boundaries to see how hard and fast the rules are and whether they’ll be enforced. Dennis was pretty brilliant in getting the athletic wear rules simplified.”
“I think Rick was a big part of that. He was asking if all the rules we suggested were things we were willing to live by and force the next however many years of students at Bartley to live by. It works,” Dennis said.
“Well, I think what we wear for basketball practice is both cool and comfortable. I’m glad the Angelines set the standard last year,” Shelby said. “I thought it was all just to attract Dennis’s attention, but he hardly notices.”
“That’s a fallacy,” Dennis said. “Not responding to how people dress is different than not noticing. And when my attention is called to it, I notice a lot.”
“You notice what I’m wearing?” Shelby teased.
“Absolutely,” Dennis responded. “And if you’re interested in what I think, I think you look incredibly sexy—in addition to looking comfortable and athletic.”
“Well, I am comfortable and it’s nice to know that you notice. Now you can go back to not responding,” Shelby giggled. She quickly ducked into the locker room. Debbie paused to give Dennis a kiss before she went in.
“She’ll be the first to undress if you are in the locker room taping or cutting tape off. She wants to be sexy but still know she’s safe,” Debbie said. “I guess we all do.”
Dennis and his girlfriends, accompanied by his mother and several other members of the Angelines, sat in awed silence Sunday morning as Peg joined her voice to the choir for the first Sunday of Advent. Peg’s voice rang out above the choir singing:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
It took all of them by surprise. Dennis had always thought his sister had a sweet voice, but assumed she just sang the melody of songs she’d heard a thousand times and sang along with on the radio. ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’ was a rather complex hymn and the words were not at all easy either. Yet Peg had the words and music nailed as she sang out blissfully with neither words nor music in front of her. She had truly found a means of expression that transcended her disability.
Lana and Natalie gripped Dennis’s arms as they listened to the rapturous singing. When the song finished, Dennis discovered he’d been holding his breath through the last verse. Both girls gasped for air at the same time. The rest of the service had nothing so riveting as Peg’s singing.
“Mom, when did Peg start singing such complicated music?” Dennis whispered as they stood to leave after the service.
“I’m not sure,” Dot said. “Mrs. Thompson has been working with her two or three times a week. Peg just loves singing the hymns, but I didn’t know she was preparing anything like this.”
“It was so beautiful!” Lana said. “I could just listen to her sing all day.”
“Here she comes!” Natalie whispered. Peg, having shed her choir robe, bounded down the aisle toward her sisters. Dennis caught her in a big hug.
“You sing so beautifully, Peg. I just love to listen to you,” he said.
“Jesus listens,” was all Peg responded. She was busy hugging the rest of the sisters.
It was a different experience to load the bus for Tuesday night’s opening game against the Knights than travel had been the year before. They were trying out riding a single bus with Angelines and Wolverines together. With thirty-three players, three coaches, ten cheerleaders, and four managers, the school bus was full to capacity. The Angelines claimed the front of the bus with cheerleaders separating the two teams and Wolverines in the back. Dennis and Lana were still working on taping ankles for the girls, watched closely by Jaydyn, Bobbie, and Laura, the three Angelines who were not dressed for this game. They’d been assured that they would dress for the next game and a different three girls would sit out.
If anything, the bus was quieter than when only one team traveled. The players seemed more reserved with players of the opposite sex on board. The coaches occupied the front row, observing the interactions. None of them was sure this was a good idea.
“Dennis, could you tape a cheerleader?” Tori asked, passing a message forward.
“Sure, I guess so.” He checked around quickly and stayed low as he slipped back four rows to where the cheerleaders were seated. Rae passed him in the aisle and took his seat. “Who needs tape?” he asked when he was with the cheerleaders.
“Me, I’m afraid,” Sara said. “Remember when we did the new lunge routine for the video Friday? I think I went too far. It’s been tender ever since.”
“I wish you’d let me know earlier. We’ve been leading workouts and you should have been taped up for them,” he said while examining her foot and ankle. “Have you been icing?”
“Yes. And I’ve been wearing a compression sock. I thought that would be enough,” Sara sighed.
“Hey, I’m not reprimanding you,” Dennis said, rubbing her foot to get her to relax. “I just want you to know you can come to me anytime you need to. I want you healthy and injury free.”
“Thank you. You know, last year when Debbie started chasing after you, I thought it was just weird. Stripping the color out of her hair and going blonde again, and then running on the track team seemed like she was making huge changes to impress a boy we hardly ever noticed before. But now that we’ve worked with you for a few months and do exercises with you, it seems so logical that she’d fall in love with you. It would be so easy to do.”
“Don’t,” Dennis responded. “Please, don’t.”
“I won’t. It would be easy, but I don’t want to be one of many. I’d rather date Fred, knowing he’s gay. And while I appreciate girls and like to spend time with them, more than a cheek kiss grosses me out,” Sara said, while Dennis efficiently wrapped her ankle and smoothed out the tape. He tested the flexibility and slid her sock on over the tape, then her shoe. She leaned forward to tie her shoe and patted his hand. “Thanks, Dennis. You really were a hidden gem.”
The bus pulled up at the Knights and the teams filed off the bus.
It might have been because the Angelines were so charged up they were about to burst. It might have been that the Knights were a class 1A school with only 130 students in the high school. It might have been the gods of basketball smiling at them for their first game of the season. The Angelines rolled over the Knights in a 67-11 victory. Ardith regretted having dressed some of her top starters instead of playing Bobbie, Jaydyn, and Laura. As it was, few of last year’s Angelines played more than two quarters.
When the boys took the floor, it looked like the Knights would have their revenge for the loss to the Angelines. It was close and by some miracle, Donnie Oswald sank a three-pointer just before the final buzzer to give the Wolverines the victory, 68-66. It was the first time in anyone’s memory that the Wolverines carried more victories than losses with 1-0.
The bus ride back was considerably more exuberant. Noisy chatter filled the air as they relived high points of the game. Dennis got some tape off, but once they were back at Bartley, he was pulled into the locker room.
“I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable,” Dennis said. “I can take off tape in the hallway or something.”
“We worked out a new system,” Natalie said. “You’ll work in this aisle. All the new girls will be in the next aisle over toward the showers. They can come over here to get taped or untaped. And the cheerleaders are in the next one over on the other side, including Doc and Fred. They’ve all been naked with you and are fine with it. So, we have a good understanding. You won’t try to peek in the first aisle and will only work in these two.”
“Oh. Um, sure.” He set to work on Daniella to get her tape off.
“Everybody, listen up!” Lana called out. “We’ll wash all the uniforms. Make sure they go in this bag, not the towel bag. You’re responsible for your own underwear and socks. If you toss them in the laundry, Dennis is going to have to play Cinderella with you and come around trying the bra on each girl to see who it belongs to. I know some of you think that would be great, but it slows things down. Okay? Be sure no personal items go in the towel bag. It’s going out to the loading dock.”
“Thank you, Team Manager,” several girls chimed.
“Assistant Team Manager,” Lana laughed. “I’m not yet qualified to wash uniforms.”
“You can wash ours if you want,” Claudia said. Team A cheerleaders had cheered the Angelines and Team B cheerleaders cheered the Wolverines. Both teams had worked up quite a sweat.
“Hmm. When I cheered, we had to wash our own uniforms. Are they still just cold water wash?” Lana asked.
“Yeah. We really got them messy at football games,” Roz said. “I think the Team B uniforms are in much nicer condition.”
“We didn’t have to cheer in the rain,” Doc said, “But we had twice as many volleyball games as football games.”
“Okay, don’t fight over it. I’ll get another laundry bag and wash your uniforms for you,” Lana said.
“Really? You’d do that?” Rae asked.
“Of course. We’re all on the same team.”
Dennis took Lana home with her laundry bag.
“It’s nice of you to volunteer to do the cheerleaders’ uniforms,” Dennis said. “Next year, we should probably consider having a team manager for the cheer team.”
“Might be a good idea. I just thought it would be something nice to do for them. They’ve really been nice about doing all the exercise videos with you and it didn’t seem fair to not be supporting them,” Lana said. “Besides, if I find a jock strap in the bag there’s only a choice of two it could belong to,” she giggled.
“You don’t suppose the girls are going to do that trick this year, do you?”
“I’d even bet you’ll get a full set of eighteen. Maybe nineteen if I can decide on a pair of mine to give up.”
“Lana! You don’t have to play that game. None of the other girls do, either. I need to let them all know.”
“Hush. Just remember that game panties have to be returned to them. Anything else that ends up in the laundry bag is yours to keep. And Dennis, I’m not afraid of you. I’ve held you when we’re naked and you’ve had your fingers in my pussy. One day—maybe sometime this year, who knows?—I’m probably going to ask you to put something else in my pussy. I know that I was hurt last year and didn’t think I’d ever want a boy to touch me again. I still don’t want to be touched by a boy. Just by you. You’ll definitely get my panties in a laundry bag.”
“I love you, Lana.”
“I know. Now kiss me so I can take my laundry in the house. It’s getting late.”
The kiss was sweet and filled both teens’ dreams all night.
Brenda was upset when she talked to Dennis after class Wednesday morning. She’d lost her starting position and would be sitting on the bench when the team met the Tigers at 5:00. Dennis wanted to go, but they were once again traveling halfway across the state for the game.
“It’s still early in the season,” Brenda said. “I shouldn’t be so upset about losing a position I was never promised in the first place. I just thought I had it nailed.”
“Believe in yourself, Bae. You said it: It’s early in the season. Even starting on the bench doesn’t mean you won’t play. Coach moved you girls around all the time, with different starters in every game. It looks like she’s going to do the same this year,” Dennis said. “It sucks that we can’t be there to cheer for you, but we’ll be listening to the game.”
“You’ll barely be out of practice when the game starts. Even if we were playing at home, you’d never make the game by the time you could get to Boone.”
“What’s worse is that we’re playing at the same time on Saturday. Neither of us can make the other’s game,” Dennis said. “Just know that we’re all cheering for you, okay?”
“Thanks, love. I need to head to the gym. We’ll be leaving in an hour. Love you.”
The crew did get together to listen to the game after practice. It was a thriller. Brenda didn’t start, but she went in early in the fourth quarter with the Bears trailing 31-46. She nearly turned the game around. She was hot from everywhere she shot, hitting six of nine shots for 13 points—making her the top scorer of the game. Her stats were good enough to change the flow of the game and the Bears ended up losing by only 56-60. Brenda alone had scored as many points in the last quarter as the Tigers did.
The Angelines had only two practices before they met the Panthers. It was their first home game and the girls were really psyched. So were the fans. No one could remember the last time a game in the Bartley gym had attracted such a large crowd. The Panthers were only fifteen miles from home, so their side of the stands was just as packed as the Bartley side.
At six o’clock, Daniella easily controlled the tip-off and Leanne brought the ball downcourt at point. Judith had been blocked from making a fast break, so they slowed the action down. Unable to find an opening, Leanne launched the ball and swished it for a 3-0 start to the game. And that spelled the beginning of the Angelines’ second victory of the season. They led 23-12 at the end of the half. The younger players got a chance to have some quality court time. Not all had a profitable time. Bobbie was still having difficulty dribbling the ball without kicking it, but by the end of the game, the Angelines led 56-26.
The real surprise of the night came after nearly half the Bartley fans had left the gym. The Wolverines stormed onto the court determined to show the home crowd they were now a winning team. And, in fact, they did just that. When people heard the next day that the Wolverines had won a 74-57 victory, the idea of leaving after the girls’ game no longer sounded so good.
Saturday morning, the teams loaded onto two buses instead of one. The coaches had all complained that the bus was too crowded on Tuesday. Some of the girls were also thinking they could slip out and come home without waiting for the boys to play.
In the locker room, they had a radio tuned to the Bears station for Brenda’s game. She was back in a starting position, and popped a three-pointer in, just as Leanne had the previous night.
The cheerleaders traveled with the Angelines, though they knew they’d need to return with the boys’ team. On the bus to the Saints, an hour-plus trip, Dennis had plenty of time to be sure each girl was taped securely, including Sara.
Tori, Bobbie, and Roberta took their turn sitting the game out, which might have been the team’s undoing. The Saints came out strong in the first quarter, controlling the ball and outscoring the Angelines 7-13. The girls settled down and had a much more even second quarter but still trailed by four at the half. The third quarter was back and forth, played mostly by the defense. Trailing by five at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Daniella led the quarter with a slam dunk that charged up the Angelines to close the deficit. Natalie sank a three-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game. The Angelines headed into their first overtime. And the difference came down to a missed free throw. Natalie sank the first of two but missed the second. When the buzzer sounded, the Angelines trailed 49-50.
Natalie was the high scorer of the game with 21 points but, of course, all she could focus on was the one point she missed. The disappointed girls’ team headed for the bus and Natalie sat beside Dennis as he tried to console her. Lana had made the brave choice to stay with the cheerleaders and ride back with them on the varsity bus.
“Now listen here,” Ardith said when they got back to their locker room. Dennis was in the second aisle with his girlfriends and girls came over one at a time to have the tape cut off if he hadn’t managed it on the bus. “This was a good lesson for us. We’ve been pretty cocky with two big wins and thinking that we were the big school controlling the little schools. Well, we met a class 1A team that wanted this win as badly as we did. Don’t let it get you down. Natalie, great game. Twenty-one points! Fifteen rebounds and three steals. There is nothing there to be ashamed of. Daniella, twelve points, thirteen rebounds, four steals, and two huge blocks. Roberta, maybe this was the game you would have made a difference in if I’d had you dress. That’s on me. Even a coach can get cocky and underestimate her opponents. And guess what. We don’t even have another practice before our next game. Monday night in our gym, we meet the Bearcats. And what are we going to do?”
“Beat ’em!”
“How are we going to do it?”
“Run, run, run!”
“Who are we?”
“Angelines!”
“Let’s make sure everyone in Bartley remembers that!”
When they got the news about Brenda’s game, they found she’d scored ten points in the Bears 85-70 victory over the Storm. She joined the girls at Dennis’s house just as Dennis went back over to the high school to pick up Lana.
“It wasn’t too bad,” Lana said. “Coach Griffith keeps a pretty tight rein on the guys. And I was in the middle of the cheerleaders up front on the bus. The hardest thing was having them win.”
“Win? The Wolverines won a game against a school the Angelines lost to?” Dennis said. “That’s going to be hard to take.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t even close: 63-48. They are a little insufferable now. All I heard was how they had a better record than the Angelines,” Lana said. “I wonder how long this is going to last.”
“Well, we’ve sure got our work cut out for us this weekend. Which means tonight and tomorrow, I guess. We need home uniforms for Monday night and away uniforms for Friday,” Dennis said.
“How would you like to spend a nice cozy night doing laundry?” Lana suggested. “I don’t think anyone plans to leave your house tonight.”
“Um… Wow!”
“It still overwhelms you to find twelve naked girls in your bed, doesn’t it?” Lana teased.
“I hope it never becomes so commonplace that it doesn’t overwhelm me,” he said. “I know Natalie needs some special attention tonight, though.”
When they got back to Dennis’s house, they found Natalie was already getting some special attention from Brenda and Amy. Dot and Peg had gone to Ames and told the kids not to hold up dinner for them. Dot was getting Peg some makeup and a new dress for her church music in the morning. She promised to call home before they arrived.
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