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Sporting Chance

By: perihelion



Two hours after the school board hired me, I sat with my new principal in his office.

"Jeremy, I'm glad you decided to call me. I just wish you'd done it sooner so we could talk."

"It's like I said, no point in bothering you until I completed the courses I needed to teach in Georgia. I still don't understand why I had to take those extra classes if I didn't need it to teach on the college level."

"Yeah, a lot of us think it's a racket too but that's the way it is. You can teach physics and chemistry to college students, pass or fail it's a done deal but you've got to be trained HOW to teach physics and chemistry to high school students and then if they flunk it you get blamed for it. Go figure."

"It could be worse. At least I don't have to worry about somebody breathing down my back about whether or not I made a justified kill."

"There'll be a few times when you WISH you could make a justified kill," Marcus laughed. "How did the general take your decision not to re-enlist?"

"We haven't spoken in over a year. He hung up on me when I called to tell him I'd left the army and I haven't heard from him since. Mom said she doesn't think he'll ever forgive me and my sister Karen told me they don't even mention my name to him to avoid an explosion."

"It's a hard thing to be the one who ends a five generation military tradition. The general had probably already laid out a plan that would end up with his son another general in the Pentagon."

"The general can kiss my ass. I spent ten years as a Ranger and most of that time was in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't even want to think about how many people I killed and I've got two fucking Purple Hearts. I've more than satisfied the Easton family tradition as far as I'm concerned."

"Yeah, Captain, you have but you're the last son of your line and I guess his expectations of you are higher."

"Bullshit, I've got four cousins and all four of them are military."

"The general doesn't see it that way. You're his only son. His brother went into the Air Force and he doesn't count that as military, at least not in the Easton tradition."

I laughed.

"I know, he and Uncle David spar over that one all the time. That and two of David's sons went into the Navy, his daughter went into the Marines, and David, Jr. went into the Air Force like Uncle David. Not a one of them went army. It annoys Dad more than anything, I guess, and he wanted me to retire from the army."

"Somehow I knew when I was training you back at Fort Benning that a lifetime career isn't in your blood. That's why I told you then to call me when you decided to get out."

"How did you know, Marcus? Even I didn't know then."

"Captain, I was in the army for thirty years and for a good part of it I trained soldiers. You don't succeed at that unless you learn how to weed out the ones who aren't going to make it. You turned out to be a fine officer but I knew your heart wasn't really in it. I guess part of it is that I knew the only reason you were in this man's army."

"One day I realized that I'd accomplished every goal I'd ever really set for myself and I wasn't interested in carrying it any further. I didn't call Dad, I didn't discuss it with anyone, I just didn't re-enlist. That's what pissed him off the most, the fact that I didn't call him and give him the chance to talk me out of it. I don't need anyone's permission to live my life, that's my call and no one else's."

"Jeremy, that one statement's why you were such a good officer and why you'll be a good teacher. You know the right thing to do and you don't need someone else to hold your hand. I could use more like you."

"So what's going on with your teachers? The day I walked into the Board of Education office downtown for my interview I got a sense there's a lot of tension and I could be a big part of it."

"The story doesn't change no matter what line of work you're in these days. It's the budget and not enough money to pay the bills. To make a long story short, we've a mass exodus of families leaving the county to find jobs elsewhere and schools get their money based on the number of students we teach."

"That's nothing new. Even the military has had cutbacks although the general public would never believe it. I just want to know why Mrs. Fowler kept giving me an eat shit look the entire time I was in the office."

"Peggy's sister teaches French at the high school. Pauline got cut back to two French classes a day and she's had to take on English grammar and literature for the other three classes. Pauline was mad as hell but it was that or cut her back to part-time."

"That's all? Are they crazy or what? She's lucky she's got a job."

"You're going to run into a lot more like Peggy and get ready for it. You're what these people call a hybrid teacher and right now there's a lot of them who're scared to death you'll be a huge success. Plus, you actually have a master's degree in chemistry and geography from Harvard and only about a third of the faculty's has a master's degree and they're all master's in education. A degree like yours can open the door to teaching on the college level and a M.Ed. can't do that, not easily.

"It's a master's in geophysics and it's from Columbia. But I've also taken more chemistry courses than most chemistry majors and I've taken enough geography courses to have a major in that, too. And don't forget all those education courses I took at the University of Georgia."

"We cut seven positions, two retired but five we didn't renew their contracts, and that's just at the high school. You represent the loss of four teachers, Jeremy. You'll be teaching chemistry, physics, and geography. That, and you'll be the assistant football coach and you'll be coaching tennis. You're in three departments and you're one of three people on the whole damn staff that can teach in more than one academic department. They're all scared to death that if we lose more students they're going to be let go for more teachers like you."

"That's not my fault! Why don't they just pick up some summer classes or night classes?"

Marcus waved his hand at me diplomatically.

"You know that, I know that, but just take it easy with them, Jeremy. How old are you?"

"Thirty four."

"Well, some of these teachers are close to retirement; they don't even have time to get certified in something else but that cuts no ice with the budget axe. Plus, most of them haven't done anything but their field for so many years they'd have to start on the ground floor to pick up another certification. Just be patient with them, that's all I'm saying."

"I've got you, I understand. I'm just glad you warned me before I stepped into somebody's face. That Fowler bitch had my hackles up and she was just a secretary. I was afraid I was walking into a war zone."

Marcus laughed.

"Well, I'm glad you could get Victoria Moon's place. I vouched for you to Harold so you be sure keep it up like he wants it, you hear?"

"Oh, I will, I promise you. Man, I lucked into a goldmine with that place. The house is in perfect condition and the inside's immaculate. And the lawn and garden, dude, that woman must have worked in them seven days a week."

"She'd had the house remodeled last year and it was her pride and joy, Jeremy. She taught English and Social Studies here at the high school for thirty five years and then after she retired she'd substitute for us when we couldn't find anyone else. Her husband Jacob owned the Over the Moon restaurant and when he died their son Harold took over. She died a month before you got here and almost every person in the county came to her funeral. So keep the place up like she did or you'll piss off a lot of people."

"No problem. Mom likes to garden and I guess I took after her. It'll be a nice way to wind down after a hard day."

The three bedroom country home I moved into was on a half-acre of landscaped lawn with carefully sculptured bushes and flowers. A garden out back had a crop of vegetables that were ready to harvest and I kept expecting to see the Munchkins in this merry old Land of Oz. After Marcus vouched for me, Harold set the rent at a reasonable rate with the added bonus of getting half price at the family restaurant. I'd blindly promised to maintain the house and landscape but now I was beginning to wonder if I'd find myself mowing the damn lawn at three o'clock in the morning.

I started on the payroll the last week in July. Marcus stopped by my house to see me the Saturday before I was to report on Monday for pre-season football training. I was watering the garden and I was startled when I turned around to see him standing behind me.

"Don't go all karate ass on me, Jeremy," he laughed. "I just never thought I'd live to see you working in a garden so I wanted to make a mental picture."

"Yeah, the things we'll do for a little peace and quiet."

"Are you telling me to get lost?"

"No," I grinned. "I'm just wondering what that stack of papers is under your arm. Something tells me that's work for me and I need to finish watering and put this hose away."

"You don't have to rush inside just yet. Just make sure you've got all this stuff read and taken care of by Monday morning."

"You're so good to me, Marcus," I rolled my eyes. "I thought it was crazy filling out all the military forms but this isn't much better. At least I'm not writing home to parents that their son is dead. I filled out a shit load of paperwork the day I got hired. Does it ever end?"

"No, and if you were expecting to have less paperwork as a teacher you must have gone to a different school than the rest of us did. Your paperwork has just begun."

"I know," I sighed. "I'm really looking forward to pre-season football training. Speaking of which, when am I going to meet the head coach, what's his name, Baker?"

"Patrick will be at the first faculty meeting on Monday. He had to go to a conference down in Atlanta and he's spending some time with his girls too while he's there. His ex-wife lives down in Atlanta with her second husband so he goes down when he can to see the girls. You know how it is, when football season begins a coach is a ghost to his family."

"Too bad he wasn't able to be at my interview."

"We don't do that kind of thing here. They used to do it and they had a lot of problems with department heads interfering with hiring and firing. After a couple of bad blow ups they stopped it completely and department heads have no say whatsoever about it anymore."

"I'm sure that goes over with a bang. I hope this Coach Baker and I are on the same page about football."

"Oh, you guys will be on the same page, trust me. If not, you soon will be, I'll see to that."

Marcus grinned but I heard the distinct threat in his voice. No bullshit will be tolerated.

"So what's this stack of paperwork you're bringing me? Come on in and have a Coke."

We went inside and sat down at the kitchen table. I got us two Cokes while he spread the paperwork into different stacks.

"Most of this is memos and forms for coaching; parent releases, student insurance, codes of conduct, and all the things you need to be familiar with when you walk on campus Monday. The rest of it involves your other teaching duties; your official roll book, memos, lesson plan requirements, curriculum for physics, chemistry and geography, things that make my head pound thinking about them."

"Didn't you teach before you became an administrator?"

"Yeah," he grinned, "but American history ain't nothing like chemistry and physics."

"And I need to know all of this on Monday? Pardon my French but why in the hell didn't you give me this a week ago, Marcus?"

"Now don't go getting your panties in a wad, Jeremy. I got most of the academic material yesterday and official teacher pre-planning doesn't start for three weeks. We're only having a faculty meeting on Monday because most of the teachers are going down to Georgia State for a two week conference before pre-planning starts. You've got plenty of time to digest that stuff and the coaching material is pretty basic. You saw a lot of this same stuff when you played sports in high school so it shouldn't take you more than a couple of hours to review it and get up to speed. Are you already getting cold feet?" he grinned.

"No, are you joking? Just for curiosity, why am I not in this two week conference?''

"Your priority is pre-season football. The university's going to send all of the printed material and an overview synopsis to my office. I also contacted a buddy of mine at Georgia State who told me the whole thing is a crock of bullshit anyway. It's just a scam so Georgia State can pocket some money."

"That's comforting to know. How are you paying for if you're so broke?"

"We're not," he grinned. "They're getting a federal grant to teach it. One hand washes the other, remember?"

"Who exactly is my supervisor? I'm in three departments with three different department chairs and then there's you. I'd like to know before I meet the others."

Marcus snorted.

"I'm your boss and don't forget it. If the others try to pull rank you can diplomatically tell them to fuck off. You call me if you need to be absent, I approve leave days, and if you've got a problem you come to me. Baker's athletic director and his responsibilities as director are to oversee the operation of the entire athletic program, supplies, planning, that sort of thing. Don't forget that while he's the head football coach you're the coach of the tennis program."

"Yeah, but you and I both know it's going to be a real bitch if the two of us don't get along together. And what about my other department chairs? You haven't told me much of anything about them."

Marcus was silent for a moment and I knew there was a lot more he hadn't told me.

"Look here, Jeremy; when you were interviewed we told you there's some friction at the school about having to let some people go last year. We lost two teachers in the Social Studies department and two in the Science department. The Social Studies department chairman is Steve Curtis and he's a real asshole. He's paranoid as hell and thinks his department was hit too hard in the cutbacks."

"So he's going to be on my ass?"

"Let's just say he's extremely aggressive, nothing that a six foot five former army Ranger can't handle. Just don't back down to him from the start and if he gives you shit give it back to him in spades. He won't have the balls to mess with me about it."

"Okay, and what about science?"

Marcus rolled his eyes and laughed.

"You really want to hit me hard today, don't you? The science department's a horse of a different color and I don't know if you're going to like me too much after you hear what I've got to say. It's one reason why I came over to see you today."

"Stop, stop," I laughed. "Do I need to get some vodka to put in my Coke?"

"No," he chuckled. "But that's another thing. Never even hint that you drink alcoholic beverages and if you want some be sure you pick them up in Atlanta. One of our math teachers got fired because he picked up a six pack of beer on the way home at the corner deli one night and the community said he set a bad example for the students, that maybe he was drinking while he was driving."

I shook my head and said nothing.

"Back to the science department, Jeremy. The department head retired last year and you took his place. You've got two other teachers in the department, neither of whom can teach physics or chemistry. Ann Russell teaches biology and physical science and Ruth Williams now teaches in two departments. She's taught home economics for the last few years but after the cutbacks we asked her to pick up two physical science classes. She's really good, Jeremy, and you'll like her. Be nice to her, she's one of the best people on my staff."

"So what's the problem you're hedging about here?"

"Ruth Williams is faculty advisor for Future Homemakers of America and the Student Council. Plus she's the cheerleading squad coach. Her back's against the wall and she can't take on anything else. Yesterday Ann Russell called me to tell me she's four months pregnant and she'll be going on maternity leave in January, maybe earlier depending on if the baby is premature. We need a Science department chairman and I'm afraid you're all I've got."

I took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Just exactly what does this entail and how much more money will I get?"

"It's not too bad. You'd have to order new textbooks, plan the department curriculum, set class schedules, that sort of thing and you'll get paid the grand sum of twenty five dollars a month more to do it. Before you get your hackles up you need to know the bulk of your chairman work has already been done for this year."

"The two women didn't want the responsibility, did they?"

"No," he shook his head. "It's not what you think though. Ruth has too much to do already plus she doesn't really consider herself in the science department, just helping out. Ann Russell's afraid of her own shadow and has only been with us for a year. If you don't do it, Jeremy, I'm going to have to ask another department head to do it and I can assure you whoever it is won't have your department's best interest at heart."

"I'll do it, I'll do it. Why not? It's not like I don't have plenty of time on my hands," I replied sarcastically.

"That's the team spirit, Captain. Now let me get out of here because I need to go see Alicia Martin about helping me out when Ann goes out on maternity leave."

"Good luck with that."

He stood to leave and stopped.

"Before I forget, I've got your keys. It's everything you need access to and I shouldn't have to tell you to guard them well. The only people with more keys than you are the maintenance people, me, and the assistant principal. If you lose your keys it'll cost over five hundred dollars to change your locks and you'll end up paying it.

It looked like maybe thirty keys or more, all labeled and on a key ring big enough to wear on your arm like a bracelet.

"MY locks? And I have to pay? Bullshit!"

"Bullshit, hell! We're having to let teachers go because we don't have the money. If you think you can jackass around and lose those keys and we're going to pay your freight then you're crazy. Every person on staff has the same responsibility."

The bastard was serious.

"Wow," I deadpanned. "I fell really special. Now where's my top secret decoder ring?"

As Marcus left I could see the tired stress in his face. He was putting on a good front but his body was betraying him and suddenly I felt sorry for him. No way in hell would I want his job; I didn't think teaching was going to be a cake walk but I was beginning to see there was much more to it than I expected. Budgetary cutbacks definitely weren't new to me and I certainly understood what happened if I wrote a check when I didn't have money in my account to cover it.

Monday arrived sooner than I expected and I arrived to work early. I didn't feel comfortable using my key to open the front door on my very first day because if there was an alarm system Marcus hadn't given me the code. After about thirty minutes Marcus's car pulled in.

"Still an early bird, huh? That's good. I have to constantly stay on some of the teachers about being late. Come on into my office; Coach Baker should be here any minute. He's probably already over at the gym but he'll stop by my office around seven forty five."

We'd barely sat down before a man in cleats with athletic shorts and a tee shirt bearing the school logo arrogantly strode into the office.

"Jeremy Easton, meet Patrick Baker, the head coach."

Baker smiled and extended his hand for me to shake.

"Call me Rick. Everyone else does."

"So what do you think of your new coach, Patrick?"

Baker briefly flinched and I instantly sensed the friction between the two men. Baker was a couple of inches shorter than me, maybe 6'2" and looked like a handsome blond surfer. His skin was tanned with faint wrinkles, and he was probably in his forties but he probably still had women beating a path to his door.


Sporting Chance



"Marcus showed me your resume. It looks like you've got an excellent background in sports and that's good. My last two assistant coaches were long on talk and short on doing and that's why they're no longer here."

"Right," Marcus cleared his throat. "Well, Patrick, I'll leave you to go into that with Jeremy. Bring him up to speed on the way the athletic department works here. Just try not to run him off on the first day."

He laughed but I could tell he wasn't joking at all. The phone rang and we stood up to leave.

"Patrick, why don't you take Jeremy to the lunchroom for the faculty meeting and on the way maybe you could show him his classroom. Tell the others I'll be along in a minute, I'm taking a call from the superintendent."

I watched Coach Baker gritting his teeth as we left Marcus's office and walked out into the school building. The school had four buildings, the main building that we were in and three smaller buildings surrounding behind it. The gym and another small building was across the street along with a football field, baseball diamond, track, and tennis courts. Hall Street was more like a dead end cul-de-sac road coming from a main street into the school complex.

"Here," Baker said abruptly.

We'd stopped outside a large classroom with large lab tables and scientific equipment, much better than I'd expected for a small town high school science classroom.

"This is great," I said. "I didn't expect the classroom to be..."

"You didn't expect us hicks to have lab table, right?" he said dryly.

Baker's attitude seemed to have soured.

"Not exactly, no, and certainly not in the critical sense you're implying. Most of my education was in military base schools all over the world and they ranged from great to what looked like left over barracks with army surplus furniture."

"I'm sure the students here will enjoy the stories of your travels and adventures. Not a one of them has ever been out of the state of Georgia and only about half of them have ever left the county."

Baker said this with a hint of mockery in his voice. He was an incredibly handsome man with a face that I could read like an open book. His sky blue eyes were incapable of disguising his emotions and it was clear that something was wrong.

"If you've got something else you need to do, Coach, I'm sure I can find my way to the lunchroom."

"No way," he laughed shallowly. "I'm on the way to the meeting too and I need to show my new coach his academic classroom."

His last phrase was definitely delivered with the tinge of bitter sarcasm. He smiled but his eyes didn't although when I looked into them he didn't betray animosity directed to me specifically. The internal twinge that was my response to him startled and confused me. His smile revealed teeth that were perfect, his wavy blond hair that was perfect, his tan, his muscled body in the school logo white tee shirt and shorts with football cleats, all new; every damn thing about the man seemed perfect and for the first time in ages I felt jealous inadequacy and I think he knew it.

"The classroom shows the input of a real science teacher," I laughed tensely.

Where the hell did that fucking laugh come from?

"Most science classrooms I had in school" I continued, "were makeshift rooms put together by someone who didn't know squat about science or what a science teacher needed."

"You're lucky, that's for sure. Al Sumner designed this room when they remodeled this hall a few years ago. He's got a master's in physics and he taught at a junior college near here at nights."

"He did a great job here."

"Yeah, he did."

That simple statement revealed everything to me. Baker liked Sumner and he resented me for taking his place.

"Do you know if Marcus plans for me to teach my geography class in this room?"

"I doubt it. Social studies is taught in building two and all the maps and stuff are in the geography classroom."

Baker was going to say something else but a bubbly little fat woman with red hair raced up and hugged him.

"It's so good to be back!" she squealed. "I missed it SO much over the summer."

"You need to get a life, Marcie," Baker laughed, a real laugh from deep down his chest.

"Who's this handsome guy here, Rick?"

"Marcie Croft meet Jeremy Easton. Jeremy meet Marcie. Marcie's the band director; she teaches music and band in that little building across the street. Jeremy here is my new tennis coach and my new assistant football coach."

"And you're going to teach science too, right? Or is it math? I can't remember, Rick."

"Physics and chemistry, Marcie; he's taking Al Sumner's place."

A brief dark look flashed in her eyes and then the smile returned.

"You're a lucky man, Jeremy. Al got all new textbooks last spring and a lot of new equipment, too. He was looking forward to..."

Rick cut her off. "Marcie, I think we'd better get to the lunchroom. I saw Wolfe leave his office and go down the other hall and he's going to be pissed if we're the last ones to get there."

"Oh, fuck him," she cursed.

Baker cleared his throat.

"Ummm, Marcie, Coach Easton here is Principal Wolfe's good buddy from the army. They were at Fort Benning together."

"Oh, really?" she smiled as we walked down the hall.

Really she didn't give a shit.

Three other teachers, a woman and two men raced up behind us, wanting to join us so they were not the only ones late to the faculty meeting. The conversation turned to stories about their summers and as we walked into the lunchroom we knew we were not late because Marcus hadn't arrived yet. I got my first real lesson in faculty politics. My hallway companions darted off to various tables leaving me standing alone in the doorway. No one asked me to sit with them so I walked to an empty table at the front and sat alone, my back to them all. So this was the way it was going to be.

"I see we're all here!" Marcus roared.

He'd walked through the door with a beautiful blonde who looked more like a centerfold than a teacher. They were laughing and as Marcus walked to the podium at the front she sat near a slim effeminate looking man with balding brown hair. I looked into his eyes briefly and he smiled, a closet queen for sure. I'd seen that kind of knowing smile before on people I'd learned not to trust, usually the hard way.

"Good morning, welcome back! I hope you had a great summer and that you're ready to hit the ground running!"

Marcus was a good speaker, personable and funny, a tall handsome man in his fifties with salt and pepper hair, a man who was a woman magnet and his past life reflected it; he was currently on his third wife. I watched the crowd as he spoke and while a few responded well to him, there were more who clearly disliked him. The meeting lasted about two hours as introductions were made for the new teachers and general business was discussed. 

Marcus dismissed us all and I walked with Coach Baker as he led us out across the road toward the football field and gymnasium. He didn't speak a single word, nor did he look at me. Office politics on my first day; same shit, different location. 

"Am I supposed to know some kind of secret hand shake to fit in here? I've only been here three hours and already I feel like I've shit in somebody else's sandbox. What's going on?"

"I'm sure you know better than I do and if you don't you'll soon figure it out," he laughed.

"Well I don't know and I'd appreciate it if you'd let me in on it. There's some kind of friction between you and Marcus and I don't want to be a part of your turf war."

He stopped and his eyes bored into me.

"I thought you'd already chosen your side. Well, if you think I'm going to work with his spy while you constantly undermine me then you're wrong. You know your duties. You coach tennis and I don't give a damn about tennis. When it comes to football you just stand on the sidelines and look pretty for the ladies. Stay out of my fucking football program and away from me as much as you can."

I was stunned. The smiling Rick Baker had been replaced by a total bastard that reminded me of Marcus at his worst. I fought the desire to knock him on his ass but I had to make it clear to Baker that I didn't intend to take any shit from him.

"We can play it this way if you want, Baker. I can stay away from you as much as I can but let's get this straight. I've been hired to coach football and tennis that's exactly what I intend to do, with or without your goddamn help. If you think I'm going to put up with your candy ass shit because of some jackoff fantasy you have about me and Marcus then you'd better hang on to your nuts. You can either bring me up to speed and we can work together or I'll do it my way and leave my footprints on your back."

His laugh was nasty. "You can try."

Baker turned on his heel and stalked off. I couldn't believe that I stood there admiring his body as he left me. 'Goddamn, I'm going fucking crazy,' I thought. 'Looking at his ass when I should be stomping it into the ground.' I was debating going back to hash it out with Marcus but as I turned I saw him driving away with the blonde, Lou, that was her name. I didn't like her. Suddenly a teenager walked out the gym door with the field striping equipment and motioned me to follow him. I walked with him as he striped the field.

"My name's Roger Harris and you're Jeremy Easton, the new coach, right? I heard you and Baker get into it and I'm going to give you a head's up here. If you don't want to hear it that's your prerogative."

Roger looked like that savvy nerd kid in so many movies who saves the day, without the bottle bottom glasses, and I decided to hear him out.

"Your ass is screwed because Baker and Wolfe hate each other and there's no fixing it. The school board and the superintendent's office support Wolfe because he's really turned this dead ass school around. The community supports Baker because he's got the best Single A athletic program in the state of Georgia and they don't like the heavy handed way Wolfe cut those teachers. And in that community that likes him is Baker's sister, Darlene, the mayor, and his daddy, a state senator. The old man's slick as owl shit and dangerous as a rattler if you piss him off." 

We were walking the field as he chalked the lines. 

"So far I haven't heard any advice from you and you haven't told me much that I didn't already know. And since when do they let high school students curse?"

"I'll shut up if you like," he offered.

I said nothing and he continued.

"'You need to distance yourself from both Wolfe AND Baker, just do your job, smile, get along with people and don't eat lunch with either of them. I'd sit wherever there's an empty seat at the faculty table, if I were you. Don't get known for hanging around with anybody. Most of them are back stabbing bastards anyway as far as I'm concerned."

"That's it, that's all the advice you've got?"

"No, but I'm going to let you figure the rest out for yourself for a while. I hear you're a big Ranger man. You ought to know how to recognize when somebody's got a goddamn gun pointed at you."

"Thanks for the heads up, Roger. I'll try not to disappoint you," I grinned.

"Oh, you won't disappoint me either way you go," Roger laughed. "This is going to be fun to watch."

"This is my first year teaching, you know. You kids needs to give me a break."

I was half joking and half pleading.

"The students are to eat you alive with that attitude, Coach. YOU set the tone and kick ass if someone steps out of line. And if you need to discipline a kid go through Wolfe not that moron assistant principal. Cravey's one of these praise and ignore assholes and we all think she's a joke."

I thanked him and turned to leave him to his work.

"Oh, one other thing, Coach. Don't bring any women home to fuck, don't buy booze anywhere but Atlanta, and don't flirt with any woman in this town you ain't ready to marry."

"That much I think I've already figured out; Tiny Town, U.S.A. with no room to squirm. I've got it."

"Right. Don't let anyone stay in your house overnight who isn't your wife, brother, sister, or parents. You think you're safe because you live out in the country but the Baptist preacher lives down the road from you and goes by your house probably ten times a day or more on his rounds."

"You people need to get with NBC and do a reality show, you know that?"

"Sorry, that's the way it is, Coach. We're just a bunch of hicks," he grinned.

"Thanks for the advice, Roger. I'll keep my back against the wall and know where the exits are."

"And keep your guns loaded for bear," he laughed. "Teaching's a rougher job than you think."

As I walked back into the gym I ran into Baker, literally.

"Sorry, Baker, I wasn't expecting you to be coming out the door."

Unbelievably he laughed.

"I hope your coaching instincts are sharper than your response time. Look, I came on a bit too hard, Easton, and I guess I need to apologize. MY instincts should be sharper than to let your friend Wolfe pull my strings every time I see him. It's just that he calls me Patrick in that condescending fucking voice of his and I want to tear his head off and shit down his throat every time he does it."

"For whatever it's worth, Baker, I'd bet you my left tit he knows that, too."

He laughed.

"I'm sure he does but then I know how to send him over the edge, too. Look, I'll try to give you a chance but the athletic program's taken a beating from your buddy and he's had me in his gun sights ever since he came here."

I couldn't believe the difference in his attitude in a few short minutes and I wasn't sure how to take it. He'd already declared war and put me down as his number one enemy; maybe number two, after Marcus.

"Coach, I knew Marcus ten years ago when I went through Ranger training at Fort Benning. I didn't get any preferential hiring treatment, I got interviewed by Wolfe and two board members downtown, and I thought it was a bit odd that you weren't there but Marcus has not said one single thing negative about you. In fact, he's said you're a good coach. Just give me a chance and I promise you I'm not taking sides with Marcus. Or you either for that matter."

Baker looked me in the eye as I made my speech and then he grinned.

"I'm going to take you at your word, Easton, but if you let me down I'm going to bury body under those uprights over there."

We both laughed.

The drama played out over the next few months and Baker did give me that chance he'd promised but even so, it was a tense situation. It was like walking on a razor's edge trying to keep those two from forcing me to take sides and diplomatically avoiding being used as a messenger boy or spy by both of them. I did as Roger had suggested by avoiding every situation where it might seem I was getting chummy with anyone.

Roger was right about Baker's coaching; we had the best Single A team in Georgia. Midseason we had a game that I could sense was one that Baker was sweating blood over. The team was looking forward to the game because it was a rivalry that went back over thirty years. Baker was nervous, the community almost demanded a win for this game, and I found myself doing most of the work. He walked the sidelines looking important but left the coaching to me.

"This is the most important game of our season, Easton," he said quietly. "Look at these people. The bald headed man on the end of the first row there, Donald Shively, he was quarterback of the team twenty five years ago. They won the game and I hear about the goddamn game every time I see him. The bastard always forgets we won it when I was quarterback here, too. We really need to win this thing."

The weather was cold but Baker was sweating and his eyes were begging me for help. He pointed out several other team members from years past and I could hear stress in his voice.

"Don't worry about it, Coach. We're going to win this one."

I gave him a knowing grin and his eyes bored into mine.

"Come on, we need to measure the down yardage," I smiled.

Baker's nerves were on edge from being placed in the vulnerable position of depending on me and knowing I knew how stressful this game was for him. He paced up and down the sidelines like a lion and I could almost feel the tension building in his muscles. For the first time there was a feeling of solidarity, I could see it unspoken in his eyes. The game was close and we won with a field goal.

As we left the school that night we were accompanied by excited students and community members who wanted to talk about the game, to them the game of the year. At last we got to our cars and Baker rolled his eyes and smiled at me. It was all I could think about on the way home.

By following Roger's advice about not getting too chummy with others I developed a reputation for being aloof which actually worked in my favor with the students and made teaching much easier for me. Week by week I began to gain the confidence and respect of my students and my fellow teachers. Baker was always professional and civil but we were not friends. He, too, was always cool but polite with me and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't figure him out.

I also couldn't figure out why it seemed to matter so much to me. I didn't understand why I felt I needed the approval of this blond surfer dude; at least that's how I always thought of him. I didn't know if he'd ever been near a coast but with his perfect tan, muscles, and blond highlights in his hair he reminded me of surfers in movies I'd seen. Female students seemed to adore him and some of the female staff members seemed to come alive in his presence. I didn't know why he mattered so much to me, maybe it was jealousy.

"So what are you doing for Thanksgiving, Easton?"

Baker and I were on the sidelines during the last football game before Thanksgiving. Things weren't going to well on the field and I was surprised by his personal question when we were so close to losing a game.

"You going home to be with your folks?" he smiled.

"Nah, not unless I want to fly to Hawaii and there's no way I'm doing that. It's snowing at home and my parents are treating themselves to two weeks in Maui. I'd spend a day in the air going and another coming back and I'm not doing that for just a couple of days in Hawaii. My sister's going with her husband to visit his family in Arizona so I guess I'll just rustle up something at the house and watch football.''

"I'm going down to Savannah to be with family or I'd join you. Trust me, I'd rather be here with you than putting up with them."

I don't know why that last comment startled me so much.

Our team failed in its final play for a touchdown and the fourth quarter ended with us losing the game. In the melee afterward there was no time for further conversation with Baker but his comment had surprised me. Somehow I knew I'd really enjoy kicking back on the couch with him on Thanksgiving Day and watching Dallas beat Washington. Of course he'd see it the other way. He was a big Redskins man and I'd have had fun teasing him as my Cowboys beat them. There was no way in hell I'd entertain the idea of them losing with him gloating in my house.

The weather turned really cold and we were all caught up in the usual hubbub of exams and changing to a new quarter. I didn't have any coaching duties during the Winter Quarter and had very little contact with Baker. I'd see him at lunch and faculty meetings but I maintained my neutral stance as usual. As time went by I found myself resenting Marcus for placing me in a position where I couldn't have contact with a man whose company I now enjoyed. I had slowly come to the realization that I had far more in common with Baker than anyone else at the school, more than anyone I'd met in the town.

I realized how closely students watch teachers a few days before the school was to close for the Christmas break.




Sporting Chance



"It must be real nice not to have to deal with Coach Baker anymore, right, Coach Easton?"

The comment came Eileen Farmer, a cheerleader and the school social butterfly. Every eye in the classroom was looking at me and I know I must have shown how stunned I was by her comment. I quickly gathered my senses but not enough to avoid a Freudian slip.

"I don't know what you mean, Eileen," I laughed. "He's the best friend I've got on this campus."

You could have heard a pin drop and I continued demonstrating the chemistry experiment.

'Where the hell did that come from?' I thought. 'It ought to be fun digging myself out of this one.'

I didn't know why I'd made such a bold statement and I was sure it would get around the school like wildfire to students and teachers alike. I didn't really care what everyone else thought but I felt a tightness in my gut thinking about Wolfe and Baker, wondering what their responses would be. I knew Baker's response really mattered to me and I didn't give a goddamn what Marcus thought.

The staff Christmas party was when he finally approached me. Everyone was scattered around the teacher's lounge in the various cliques and I was sitting in a corner, bored and just wanting it to be over. Baker sat down on the couch beside me.

"You don't mind if I sit with you, do you?" he grinned. "I think your buddy Wolfe will forgive you for fraternizing with his enemy at a Christmas party."

"Why do you do that?" I asked softly. "Why do you always call him my buddy?"

"Because it pisses you off and I like the look on your face," he laughed.

The other teachers were laughing and talking, a boisterous crowd who seemingly was ignoring us but still we spoke quietly.

"Like the look on your face now, for instance," he continued. "I know you've tried to maintain your neutrality with Wolfe and me but I heard you said I'm the best friend you've got in this place. You must be pretty damn lonely if that's the case since you haven't said more than twenty or thirty words to me since football season ended."

He looked like a mischievous little boy.

"Well, we have so little contact with each other and like you said, I don't want to give the appearance of taking sides between you two."

"Why do you care? I think the whole school knows by now that you're not a part of the faculty politics. So if I'm you're best friend I think you could afford to have a conversation with me occasionally."

"Really? And don't you think that would break down everything I've worked to achieve? What I don't understand is why you and Marcus can't seem to bury the hatchet and drop this bullshit. I'm tired of being caught in the middle of your goddamn childish games. The two of you act like you're fucking nine years old."

"Well said, Easton, well said. We all agree with you," said Margaret Greville.

I blushed as I realized the entire room was silent, all listening to us. Baker realized it at the same time and I watched as his face turned beet red. He stood up to leave.

"Come now, Rick. Don't run away like a nine year old. I guess Wolfe realized what a wet blanket he was throwing on the party and he left a few minutes ago to discuss something with Lou Mansfield."

A few people snorted with laughter and Greville continued.

"Jeremy's right, I for one am tired of the friction here and most of its caused by you and Wolfe. Why can't you just admit it that he wasn't the one who made the decision to cut the budget? He was forced to act on their decision, maybe with a little more gusto than was required but if he hadn't done it they would have gotten someone else to do it."

I could feel the tension in the air. Margaret Greville was the Language Department chairperson, the oldest and most senior member of the faculty, and a veritable dragon when crossed. Baker sat down, his anger still apparent but chastised enough not to run.

"Hear, hear," several faculty members chimed in.

"Jeremy, I think what's gone on here has probably gone too far to heal completely but I also think enough time has passed that most of us just want to put it behind us. We've all come to like you a lot," she continued, "and no one here's going to hold against you if you decided to be friendly to Rick. Or to Marcus either for that matter. Everyone can see you're your own man."

"That's easy for you to say, Mrs. Greville, but I think the students here might look at it differently and I just don't need the headache."

"Call me Margaret, for god's sake. You make me feel like an old woman and..."

Several people laughed. She gave them the finger which surprised me and I joined in the laughter.

"As I was trying to say before they so RUDELY interrupted me, you may have reached a point at which you're allowing the tail to wag the dog. While it's important to have a good teacher student relationship you can't do the job if you let them control every situation. Friendship is at stake here or so I've heard. The word is out that Rick is your best friend here although I must confess my feelings are hurt. I thought I was your best friend."

She was joking and we all laughed.

"Yes, Easton," Baker grinned. "I was a bit surprised when the good Eileen informed me of your declaration. Of course, I responded that you're my best friend too, what else was I to say? I don't think she believed me though since we don't walk down the halls holding hands."

"Okay, you guys have had your laugh," I smiled. "We worked together well during football season and we share a common view of the athletic program and education. Football is a common denominator for most guys although I must confess I don't know what Baker sees in the Redskins."

The party mood changed and we all had fun together. I saw a different side to my co-workers but I couldn't help but think about Marcus, too. How was it that he'd gotten it so wrong with these people? Being a hard ass Master Sergeant doesn't work too well with people who already are all officers and good ones at that.

"You mind walking out to my truck with me, Easton?" Baker asked.

"Sure, I think the party's about to come to a halt anyway."

He just smiled and I followed him outside. It was freezing cold and looked like the sky was about to fall.

He took a gift wrapped box from his truck.

"Merry Christmas, Easton. It's not much but it's the thought that counts."

I was astonished.

"Thanks, Baker, but I didn't get you anything. I'm sorry but I didn't know we were exchanging gifts."

He grinned. "I know, I just want to make you feel guilty. Go ahead, open it."

I tore the wrapping off the small box. Inside was a strange trowel with a cherry wood handle that had a long thin scoop with two sharp points, not cheap I was sure. I didn't recognize it although I'd used gardening tools all my life.

I guess I must have looked puzzled because he laughed.

"It's what you call a dandelion digger. It's for digging up weeds with as little damage as possible to the surrounding lawn. I pass by your house on the way to mine and I've seen you outside pulling weeds. Of course that was before the cold set in and you won't need this until spring. I've got one myself and I can promise you, this'll make it easier for you."

His voice was friendly and his eyes were filled with amusement at my flustered response.

"Thank you, Baker, it's really nice of you and I really appreciate it. I'm sorry I wasn't thinking and didn't get you something, too," I smiled. "After all, if you're my best friend you'd think I'd at least gotten you a box of chocolate covered cherries."

"I'm sorry you didn't," he chuckled. "I love cherries. You'll have to give me one...some later."

"You're determined to make me feel guilty here, aren't you?"

"Yep, I really am," he smirked.

"Well, thanks again for the dandelion digger, Baker. Mrs. Moon worked a lot in her yard but weeds were beginning to sprout when I took over the place. I just didn't have the heart to let the lady's hard work go to seed and Harold works twenty four seven at the restaurant. I don't know if you've ever really seen the place but Mrs. Moon kept the house and grounds in perfect condition."

"Yeah, Victoria was one real class act. After she died I tried to help Harold out with the place but I don't have much free time either. I was glad to see you move in because keeping Victoria's place up and my own was about to do me in."

"Oh, did you know her well?"

"Since I was a little boy if you can envision me that way," he laughed. "She was Mom's best friend and I spent almost as much time at Victoria's as I did at home. I'm about half a mile down the road from you, did you know that? When my parents died I took over the house and farm again and I've been there since, four years now."

"So did your family move in with you?"

He laughed. "I guess that's your half assed way of asking me if I'm married and have kids. I'm divorced. My wife remarried and lives in Atlanta with my two daughters."

"Man, I'm sorry, Baker, I do remember someone mentioning you're divorced but I forgot it. Do you see the kids often?"

"Not really. Belle's nineteen and goes to Emory and Ella's seventeen and will graduate from high school this year. They're at that age where so much is going on with their lives they hardly have time to turn around. I get down to Atlanta about once a month and take them out to dinner and they come up here occasionally. But after the divorce things changed between us."

"That's too bad. Families are just never the same after divorce."

"Shit happens. So are you going home for Christmas? You've got a bit more time than you had at Thanksgiving."

"No, my family's not that close and I'd just like a peaceful break. I talked to my mother last week and my father's still furious with me for not continuing the family tradition of a military career. I don't get along too well with my sister and I fucking hate her husband. He's navy, he's a total ass hat, and I can't stand to be in the same state with him."

"Wow," Baker laughed. "Now that we girls are such good friends I guess it's okay for you to share that with me."

"How would you like me to shove this dandelion thing-a-ma-bob up your ass, Baker?" I growled lightheartedly. "For a second I thought you were my priest and I was making my annual confession."

"And you'd like me to carry this confession to my grave, right?"

"Yep, that's right, honor the seal of the confessional."

"That's me, just good old Father Rick," he grinned. "So why's it such top secret? I can't stand half my family either, of course they're cousins, aunts, and uncles; I have no siblings. Oh, and the ex-wife. Now her I fucking hate."

"For one thing, it's nobody's business; second, some of these kids here would put it on the goddamn internet and it'd probably go viral in an hour if Eileen's got anything to do with it; and third, I would rather Marcus not know I said it. I think he's a little pissed with me right now and I wouldn't put it past him to call Dad and tell him I said it. He was an adjutant in Dad's office at one time and that kind of bond never dies."

Rick raised his eyebrows in mock shock and laughed.

"Now that's deep. You'll have to tell me more about that later. Here I've been worried that you're Marcus's boy and now I find out you think Marcus is your daddy's boy. You military people weave some tangled ass webs, my son."

"It's just that..."

Baker interrupted me, his face looked stern and pious.

"Don't worry my son, other than us, only God will know."

"Thanks, Father."

"Don't mention it. I may see you during the holidays anyway if you're up to it. The girls are going with the ex and her rich husband to Barbados and I doubt I'll last the entire two weeks in Savannah. I may only last through Christmas dinner if my Aunt Maude starts in on me with what I could do or what I should do or what she would do if she were in my shoes."

"Man, we've all got relatives like that, haven't we?"

A hard sleet began to fall, bouncing off the cars and blanketing the parking lot.

"Merry fucking Christmas," Baker grimaced. "Let's go inside and tell them it's sleeting. If we all don't get out of here fast we'll be stuck waiting for them to clear the ice of the road for us."

As it happened, I never saw Baker over the holidays and I spent them lazing around the house. The weather kept us all inside and I didn't know if Baker had made it to Savannah or not. I pottered around doing a few general housekeeping chores and reading novels that I found in the bottom of the hall closet. Victoria had had an eclectic taste in reading material and I enjoyed myself. I called my family on Christmas Day and we were all civil and nice to each other in the Christmas spirit.

I need not have worried about everyone's perception of my self-declared friendship Baker. Nothing really changed; we were too busy to do much more than wave to each other in passing and the same went for my relationship with Marcus. I did notice that Marcus seemed much more preoccupied than before and kept to his office, leaving off his periodic wandering through the halls seeing and being seen style of management.

Soon spring quarter arrived and I was busy with coaching tennis. I found it to be a hassle to haul all of the equipment from the gym to the tennis courts and back with each practice, particularly when I found myself doing it alone, as I often did. After three thirty the gym was locked except during basketball season in the winter. For security purposes there were no windows in the athletic office in the gym. The athletic equipment room was a huge room that could only be accessed through a locked door within the office and of course the door was positioned in the room to make entry and exit with equipment a real pain in the ass.

A door in the back of the office, always locked, led to the coaching lounge/dressing room area. Coaches who also taught regular classes - like me - had to change from dress clothes to coaches' uniforms, often more than once during the course of a day for those who taught P.E. classes. Baker didn't need to change often because he coached all day long but Bob Harris, Mike Stephens, and I changed out of necessity. We had academic classes and the classroom teacher's dress code made no exception for coaches. 

Harris, Stephens, and I saw each other naked periodically and I'd never given it a second thought. I'd never seen Baker naked although occasionally he'd come in as I was changing and sometimes I'd caught him checking me out as he walked past. After a while it began to bother me that he'd seen me naked several times and I found myself almost fantasizing what his perfect body looked like without clothes.

A few days into the new quarter I went into the gym after five. Tennis had gone well that afternoon and the students had played a bit longer than usual. It had begun to rain and aggravated, I walked across the field to the gym as quickly as I could loaded with equipment on rolling rack. I was surprised to see the lights off and it appeared that no one was in the building. Coach Baker's car was still in the teacher's parking lot but I knew that he occasionally walked down the street to a convenience store with a fantastic deli café.

As I entered the lounge I noticed the light was on in the back bathroom. Thinking someone had accidentally left it on I walked back to turn it off. As I turned to enter the door I saw Baker in the shower and I wasn't sure why but I stayed in the shadows and stared at him. I knew I'd never live it down if he caught me but I wanted to see his naked body to satisfy my voyeuristic curiosity.

I'd never given a damn about other men's bodies but I couldn't tear my eyes away from Baker's nude physique. He was in incredible shape with a body any man would envy, myself included. He most certainly didn't look like a man in his forties; over the years I'd showered with hundreds of guys in the army and few could compare to him. His body showed the years of exercise and weight lifting. The broad upper torso narrowed to a small tight waist, a firm bubble butt, and long slender legs.

I guess I figured I'd just take a moment to check him out but then I saw he was masturbating. It was a good thing the shower was running or he'd have heard me gasp in shock at the risk he was taking. It felt wrong but I was frozen in place. Baker had always seemed to hold the winning cards against mine and...hell, I wasn't sure what it was, maybe a chance to get even, to give me the upper hand? His masturbating showed him raw and human, a sexual being, and a side to him I'd been unable to imagine before. I'd long since decided he was an alien occupying a human body.

His angle changed, giving me a side view of his body. His eyes were closed with his face upturned into the shower nozzle and I could see the telltale signs his ejaculation was near. He stunned me further by sticking a finger in his asshole before his muscles tensed and I could hear his breathing change. He turned at an angle that gave me a full frontal view, a view of an erect throbbing penis. It was maybe seven inches long with a big mushroom head and looked like a beer can encased in skin. His eyes were closed as the water from the shower pounded his face, then suddenly his cock began to spurt thick white ropes of cum onto the shower wall. Baker's body jerked in spasms as he ejaculated and I could hear his soft moans.

I stepped back into the lounge as his orgasm ended. As I left the lounge I realized I had a full blown erection and I could feel the dampness of pre-cum on my boxer briefs. It embarrassed me and I reassured myself that I was just curious, not gay. It had been several days since my own last jack off session and I was in bad need of relief. As I left the office I decided to tease Baker a bit so I did something I knew he'd notice instantly. I left my playbook on my desktop, something I never had done before and I laughed to myself wondering what his reaction would be, how soon, if ever, he mentioned it to me.

What I didn't laugh about my own physical reaction. I'd had an erection since I'd witnessed Baker masturbating and on the drive home all I could think about was being naked in my bed and edging myself into a frenzy. Never in my life had I reacted in a sexual way to another guy and I wasn't sure what it was about Rick Baker that made me crazy, made me want to jack off but I was too horny to analyze it before I blew my load.

In my bedroom I stripped off my clothes and put a video in my player of two women in a 69 eating pussy while naked man jacked off on them. I teased my cock planning to blow my load at the same time as the man in the video. There'd be no edging today; watching Rick Baker had me burning to ejaculate. As I watched the video I played with my nuts, twisted my nipples, and teased my cock. I told myself my sexual excitement was enhanced by the video but I knew inside it was because of Baker. I tried to put him out of my mind but all I could see was him jacking off in the shower, imagining him doing it knowing I was watching, imagining myself jacking off while HE watched. I'd never done it before but I put a finger in my asshole as he had done and I couldn't believe the feeling. I tried to push it from my mind but I kept thinking that of thick cock of his, wondering how it would feel inside me. The sensation was so overpowering to me that I barely was able to last until the man in the video had his orgasm. I was panting, striving for self-control, and writhing on the bed before at last I could let it go. My cock spewed forth the best ejaculation I'd had in months, spattering my torso with like thick pearly strings of semen. I made no attempt to clean it off me, just turned the video off and fell asleep.

The next day I avoided Baker and wouldn't look him in the eyes although I could sense he was feeling me out. He said very little to me but his voice was not that of his usual cool chipper self. He sounded like he was going for friendly but wasn't sure how far to take it. I smiled and avoided him except in the company of others. As the days passed things returned to normal and I think he assumed that while I had definitely unlocked the door and entered the athletic office that I had not gone into the back.




Sporting Chance



Things were going really well and then I suffered a devastating blow just as my star began to rise. It happened on April 15; fate couldn't have chosen a more ominous day. While helping a student, Ricky Myers, to master the finer points of serving the tennis ball I was distracted by a car crash on the street next to the tennis courts.

I turned to look at the accident allowing Ricky's serve to smash into my ass like a rifle bullet. The location of the hit was made worse because I'd been wounded in that exact spot by sniper fire in Afghanistan. Fortunately the bullet grazed my ass instead of a direct entry but the wound had gotten infected and had left that cheek too sensitive to ignore the pain from the direct hit of Ricky's tennis ball. 

The blow was incredibly painful and I lost my balance trying to recover my stance, only making the situation worse. Trying not to fall onto the cement I succeeded in doing more damage when I lost my balance completely. I basically did a leg split and fell on my left arm. I knew the leg split damaged muscle tissue in my left leg and I had nasty abrasions on my calf and arm. Coach Baker was coaching soccer on the field next to the courts and came running immediately.

"Don't move, Jeremy! Let me take a look."

It was the first time he'd ever called me Jeremy.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Where doesn't it hurt?"

I tried to laugh but only managed an embarrassing groan.

He took my arm first and gently probed the forearm muscle. The fall on the cement had scraped the skin and it was bleeding profusely. That, with the blood from the leg abrasion made my injuries look worse than they were.

"Can you move your arm? Don't move too fast."

I've had my share of training injuries, mostly minor, not to mention field injuries in the army. I knew I needed to be checked out by a physician and I didn't hesitate to tell Baker. He was gently probing my leg muscles as a crowd was began to gather.

"Can you get up?"

I tried to stand but it was too painful. He pushed my shoulder down to keep me seated on the court.

"Don't move. I'll get help."

Coach Chancellor was walking toward the courts and Baker yelled to her.

"Call an ambulance, Chancellor. He can't stand up on his own. I don't think he's broken any bones but he definitely needs to be checked out by a doctor."

She used her cell phone to call the EMT's and directed two students to stand near the road to help guide the ambulance driver. I lay down on the court, disgusted with myself for losing my concentration and letting this happen to me.

"I'm so sorry, Coach Easton, I didn't mean to."

Ricky was panicking.

"It wasn't your fault at all Ricky, not at all. I'd just like to know one thing, though. Did you aim that shot at my butt deliberately?" I laughed.

"No, no! I swear I didn't!"

"Relax, Ricky, I'm just teasing you. You whacked me in the butt right where an Afghan shot me a couple of years ago," I grinned. "It still smarts sometimes when I sit down."

A few of the kids in the crowd laughed and so did Ricky.

"Coach Easton's a tough nut to crack and he's going to be okay, you guys." Baker said. "He was in the Army Rangers, you know."

Apparently a lot of them didn't know because suddenly I was bombarded with questions about my military experiences, some wanting to know if I'd been a spy. Apparently someone had said that being a Ranger was a cover for CIA agents so I was having fun with the questions and even Baker jumped in, teasing me. The EMT squad arrived while I was still trying to digest the fact that Baker had seemed so concerned for me.

"Give me your cell phone, Easton."

I watched as he programmed his telephone number in my phone.

"When you know what's going on, call me. I put my cell number in your phone so you can reach me no matter what time it is. And why don't you give me your car keys? I'll take your car to your house and have one of the kids bring me back here."

I handed them over and didn't know why I was suddenly complying with his requests. While we now had a friendly relationship, I still felt uncomfortable giving my keys to him. It wasn't the car keys that worried me, it was that the keys to my house were also on that ring and it made me uncomfortable knowing that Patrick Baker could plunder through my home and personal items if he chose. 

The emergency room physician, Dr. Harcourt, did a quick assessment and the result was what I'd expected. Plenty of rest, ice and compression, keep my leg elevated, and don't aggravate my left buttock. He bandaged the abrasions, gave me a shot for pain, and a prescription to get filled. Although I'd lived through it all before, I still listened carefully as the doctor gave me recovery instructions. I signed my release and called Coach Baker. Sitting in a wheelchair in the lobby, I was surprised when he appeared in front of me about twenty seconds after I phoned. He grinned.

"I'll bet you didn't know I can do magic."

"Good," I laughed. "Wave your wand and make me well."

"Magic, not miracles. After you'd been here two hours, I called Millie and she gave me the update on you so I had an idea of how much longer it would take. I was in the snack bar down the hall waiting for you to call me. I hope you don't mind but I drove your car here to pick you up because with your leg injury it'd be hell on you to climb up into my truck. I left my truck in your front yard so I can get home after I drop you off."

"Thanks for helping me out, Coach Baker. Sounds like you've got quite an information highway here at the hospital."

He grinned mischievously. "Millie's my sister and Collins is her husband."

"Who?"

Baker laughed. "Collins Harcourt. You don't think I'm gonna call my brother Dr. Harcourt, do you? Come on; let's get you out to the car."

A giant male nurse helped us to the car and practically lifted me into the car like a doll. It felt strange to be the passenger in my Volvo.

"You know, Jeremy, people around here are real big on American cars," he chuckled.

"Well, people around here are just going to have to get adjusted to my Volvo. I've had her for ten years, she's got over a hundred thousand miles on her and still runs like a dream. When she dies I'll buy another Volvo. I think a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan with two Purple Hearts has earned the right to drive any damn thing he wants to."

He laughed. "I know you didn't drive her while you were in overseas."

"Nah, my mom did and she hated to give her up."

"I can see why. It drives like it's new."

"One of the times when I was a kid Dad was stationed overseas we stayed in Oregon. We'd had trouble with several cars and then one night on the way home from my aunt's house the car broke down in the middle of nowhere. My sister Karen was four and she has asthma. She was terrified and couldn't breathe and if it hadn't been for her inhaler she would have died. We were so worried about her that Mom and I hardly had time to be afraid for ourselves and it was about four hours before someone showed up. The next morning Mom took us to the Volvo dealer and bought a new car."

"And your father? He didn't have any say in the matter?"

I laughed. "Gramps was a brain surgeon at the Mayo Clinic and Mom was his only child. Dad's the provider and always has been but if Mom ever wanted something like that Volvo then Gramps bought it for her. He died three years ago and Mom inherited more money than Dad's earned throughout his entire career. Anyway, that's how I came to like Volvo's."

"And your Mom drove your old Volvo when she could have had a new one?"

"Oh, she gets one every other year. It's just that she liked mine for fishing trips."

We both laughed at that. Mom was quite a character. She was the one I spoke to when I called home and I missed her but Dad and Karen were what kept me away. Mom's life would be hell if she openly took my side against them and I didn't want that. Baker must have sensed my feelings for Mom.

"You didn't see them at Christmas so are you going home for the summer?"

"I don't know yet; it's complicated."

"Got it. I know all about complicated, Jeremy."

There it was again. He called me Jeremy. I was considering how to respond when he spoke again.

"Collins gave you a prescription so why don't we get it filled before I get you home? That or at least drop it off."

"There's one over on Hanley."

He snorted. "The one on Hanley is run by a bunch of fucking morons and there's no telling what would be in your pill bottle. No, I'll take it to Kmart. It's cheaper and Marie will fill it for me in five minutes."

"Wow, more Baker magic."

Another awesome grin, "Marie's sort of school family. Her husband Al Sumner was the head of the science department, the guy you replaced, and so she's always been the pharmacist we all use. Give it time, Jeremy; you'll learn the ropes."

I rolled my eyes. "My mother warned me that if I moved to a small rural town everyone would know the kind of underwear I have. She grew up in Twin Oaks, Oklahoma and they've got like two hundred and fifty people there. Mom was born for the big city and being an army officer's wife and she doesn't miss small town life at all.

Baker burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Linda Jacobs, the Business Education teacher, is from Twin Oaks. She thinks it's a slice of heaven, never shuts up about it. I'm surprised you haven't heard her yapping about."

My eyes must have gotten as big as saucers.

"No, I haven't heard anything that bitch has said. The first day I came to work she chewed my ass out after the faculty meeting for parking in her parking space," I said. "When I told her I didn't see any names painted on the curb she nearly spit in my face telling me everyone knows that's where she always parks. I swear to god, Baker, this school has got more fucking fruitcakes than a grocery store at Christmas."

As soon as I said it I could've bitten my tongue off. I never said things like that to others; think it, yes, say it, no. I just don't like to get too personal with anyone. I closed my eyes and moaned in pain, emotional and physical.

Baker nearly lost it laughing.

"Sorry, is she your sister, too?"

"No, I'm not related to Eileen. I always thought Twin Oaks must be something like another dimension because it's the only explanation I can find for Eileen. That and I don't think she's ever been fucked in her life. What she needs is some man with a donkey dick."

I was stunned. In one afternoon Baker had gently probed my body, had started calling me by my first name, and now he was making sexual comments to me. I yawned and broke the spell.

"This has been the most fun I've had in a long time, Jeremy," he joked sarcastically. "We MUST do this again."

"I'm sorry, Baker, I think your brother gave me too much painkiller or I'd have never said what I did about that bitch. Sorry, the shot is making me crazy. For god's sake, promise me you won't say anything to Jacobs. Goddamn, I'm so tired."

Baker thought that was even funnier and was still laughing as we pulled into the Kmart parking lot.

"Oh, and get me a couple of ice bags, would you? I haven't got any at home."

I woke as we pulled into my driveway. As we stopped he turned to me, still laughing.

"Here, let's get you inside before you fall asleep. I'm not Willard Saxby and I can't carry you in."

Of course he knew the name of the male nurse. Of course he did.

It was a struggle to get inside the house and Baker cursed continuously because he hadn't borrowed a wheel chair from the hospital, vowing to get one the next day. All I wanted to do was collapse onto the couch but he forced me on to the bedroom. He'd wanted to know if I needed to go to the bathroom but I declined. I knew I could still get around well enough to make it to the toilet and there was no way I planned to let Coach Patrick Baker help me sit on the toilet.

I lay back, my head on what seemed like the softest pillow in the world, and closed my eyes as he slowly undressed me and I could have sworn his hand brushed my crotch too many times, that his hands actually caressed my legs, his fingers trailing through the dark brown curls on them. But surely it was a dream.

"Did you call Marcus, yet?"

I shook my head no. I was hardly conscious.

"Don't worry, I'll do it."

Baker telephoned Marcus sitting on the edge of my bed. I half heard him as he told Marcus I was in la la land from the ER shot, then described my injuries, and the probable number of days I would be absent. I also heard him as he told Marcus that he'd take care of me since he lived next door. And then, exhausted and medicated, I passed out.

I awakened the next morning to the sounds of movement in my kitchen. Before I could panic or yell, Baker walked through the bedroom door, dressed for work.

"I hope I didn't scare you. I kept your keys last night so I could drop by this morning and check on you. I see you've got cereal here or I could make you some eggs."

"You don't have to do all that, Baker," I protested.

I was really beginning to feel like I was taking advantage of him and it was uncomfortable. I didn't have a wife or girlfriend because I didn't like getting that close to people, taking favors, owing them, being a part of the social community. Baker saw the hesitancy in my eyes.

"Look, Easton, I may not be exactly who you'd choose to keep company with but I live right down the road from you and I'm willing to help you get back on your feet. You're alone across the country from your family so who else is there? Have you noticed your good buddy Marcus hasn't called?"

"Hey, you called him last night as I was passing out and you woke me up this morning. When has he had the time to call? I know you don't like him but...AND what the fuck, there you go with that fucking buddy shit again!"

Baker's laughed merrily.

"Don't hold your breath until he calls. So do you want me to check on you tonight or not?"

He was unsure of me.

"Man, I'm sorry, Baker. I really appreciate everything you've done for me and sure, I'd really appreciate it if you'd continue to help me at least until I can get around without falling. I didn't mean to imply I don't want your help or appreciate. I apologize if you got that impression."

He stepped outside in the hall for a second and brought in a set of crutches.

"These were mine from the last time I pulled a muscle and the time before that, and the time before that," he laughed. "You may have to adjust them for your size. I think you're a couple of inches taller."

"I'll manage. Thanks, and Baker, I really do appreciate this and I just want you to know I'm just trying hard not to take sides, not to get between whatever it is between you and Marcus. I just want to do my job and stay out of whatever the office politics are. It's kinda hard though, I've felt like I've got a target on my back ever since I got here."

"You're babbling, Jeremy, we've been thru this before, don't you remember? Remember I told you what a good little boy you've been? And everyone loves you, you paranoid prick."

He gave me my medicine and a glass of water, then sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Okay, Jeremy, I'm going to level with you, probably should've long ago. I'm surprised one of the kids hasn't told you yet. I'm sure a few know the truth, particularly your good little buddy, Roger."

"Another buddy, huh? I've got so many, so many..." I droned.

"If you're awake enough to hear me, fine. If you're not maybe that's even better. The man you replaced, Al Sumner, he retired because of Marcus. A kid transferred to our school in the second quarter and Marcus tried to force Al to take the kid in his Physics II class. The kid had never taken physics before and didn't even have the math background to even have a hope of passing it. Honestly, I think Marcus didn't realize his mistake until Al lost his temper and blew up with him over the kid not having the necessary prerequisites. By then Marcus just decided to be a bastard about it and refused to back down. Al complained to the school board that the kid was going to fail the class and it would affect Al's sterling record with the high school exit exams. That's all it took. All those people downtown give a damn about is our standing in the state test ranks."

The shock of his statement brought me back to life briefly.

"Good god, I can believe Marcus would pull a stunt like that. That's the kind of thing that's probably how he got his nickname Jughead at Fort Benning."

As soon as I said it I know I turned red as a beet. I didn't gossip, particularly about Marcus and again I blamed my indiscretion on the medication.

Baker grinned.

"Jughead, huh? Wait until that turd calls me Patrick again."

"You can't! He'll know it came from me!"

He laughed. "I'm gonna tell him you asked for Jughead while you were drugged out of your mind."

"Oh, shit, shit, shit! We called him Jughead behind his back!" I yelled. "So finish your fucking story. Why did this Al retire? I'd have told Marcus to go to hell."

"You would have and maybe you'd have gotten away with it. He got Elaine Jergens fired for gross insubordination three years ago for doing just that. Now, granted Elaine was a bitch on wheels but she refused to let Wolfe intimidate her and he tried that Army drill sergeant routine in front of some students and teachers and she told him to fuck off. He embarrassed the hell out of her in front of everybody, Jeremy, and most of them were on her side. She'd been at the school for nineteen years but she was gone the next day. She was the first person to leave against their will under his regime, the first of several."

"I can see where this is going," I sighed.

He glanced at his watch.

"I've got time. My first class is not until nine and Marcus knows I'm stopping in to check on you. So when Al made a stink about Rod, that was the kid, Marcus tried to get Al written up for some disrespectful behavior bullshit. Al's students signed a petition against Marcus and actually carried signs and picketed the school board before and after school hours for two days."

"Damn, this place sounds more and more like a soap opera. But why does everyone hold all this shit against me? I didn't do anything but take the job."

"Did, Jeremy, the operative word they DID hold against you, you drug dazzled ass."

"Do you like my ass, Baker?"

He burst out laughing.

"Would you like for me to like your ass, Jeremy?"

"I don't know," I moaned. "So what was it that you were saying about Jughead?"

I could tell Baker was having a grand old time. Even drugged I knew whatever advantage I'd gotten from seeing him masturbate in the shower I'd just given back to him in spades.

"Marcus has been riding my ass and playing drill sergeant since he became principal five years ago," he said. "No one's been safe from him until here you come along and you're his fair haired child. I'll bet he's never ridden your ass about anything, has he?"

"No."

"Those kids I told you about that demonstrated for Al, the leader of the students was my nephew, Hunter Harcourt. Hunter was the top of his class, everyone expected him to be valedictorian, and Marcus fucked with the figures in the guidance counselor's office and suddenly Hunter was number four in the class. I wanted to fucking kill him, still do. It devastated Hunter and nearly killed Millie and Collins. He still got into Harvard but that's not the point. Collins graduated from there and so did his father and uncle and god only knows how many others. I'll never forgive that motherfucker I don't give a shit if he apologized forever. You can't undo what he did to Hunter."

"How could he fuck with numbers in the guidance counselor's office? There's two people in that office and numbers don't lie."




Sporting Chance



"They do when you're fucking the blonde bombshell Lou Mansfield. Marcus has been porking her almost from day one."

"But Marcus is married! I've met his wife!"

Baker snorted. "You really don't know this guy too well, do you?"

"That's what I've been fucking telling you from day one! He was an instructor in the Ranger program at Fort Benning and we got along okay. He was the only person I knew in Georgia and I knew he was a high school principal. That's it, finito."

I collapsed against my pillows.

"I don't know, Baker. I'm tired. All this bullshit with Marcus and with you and with everything else is more than I want to fuck with all the time. I don't know..."

He grabbed my arm and the intimacy of it surprised me, his sitting on my bed in such a familiar way.

"Now see here, Jeremy, you're a goddamn good coach and a goddamn good teacher. Everyone at the school says it, the other teachers, and the kids. Just because they're not really sure about your relationship with the Nazi storm trooper is no reason to chicken shit your way out of here. You just keep doing what you're doing. Keep your mouth shut and your nose clean like you've done all year. Don't run away because of Marcus."

His touch was soft, gentle, and I felt his fingers softly caress my flesh while he acted as if nothing was happening. It was making me uncomfortable again and I pulled my arm away from him with the pretense of scratching my head. He stood up.

"And don't worry about if I like your ass or not. I've seen it enough to know I like it fine," he grinned.

I laughed.

He sat back down on the bed again.

"You saw me that day, didn't you, Jeremy?"

"What?"

"Don't what me, Jeremy," he said softly. "You saw me jacking off in the shower, didn't you?"

I didn't say anything. We just looked into each other's eyes.

"I thought so," he grinned.

He stood up again.

"Okay, you've got my cell number. Call it if you need something and either I'll come or I'll send someone. And I'll be here tonight around five. Is it okay if I take your keys?"

"No, leave my keys. Look over there in the top right dresser drawer. There's an extra house key in the box where I keep my change. That way you can just keep the key as long as you need it."

I don't know why I said as long as you need it but his eyes bored into mine before he turned to leave.

Later, after he'd gone, I carefully got up and went to the bathroom using the crutches. Baker had been so thorough arranging my care, so attentive, but I still wasn't ready to take a shit in front of him. I was woozy as hell and unsteady on my feet and I regretted not at least asking him to help me to the bathroom and then close the door.

I ate a can of soup for lunch and slept most of the afternoon. The medicine Dr. Harcourt had prescribed made me drowsy and nauseated when I wasn't sleeping. Around four, I made myself a ham and cheese sandwich that turned out to be a big mistake. Within twenty minutes I threw it up, managing to get it all over myself and the floor as I hobbled to the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub. Coach Baker chose that moment to walk in the back door. I hadn't even heard the key in the lock. He took over at once.

"Come on, you're already in the bathroom, let's get you cleaned up now. I'll take care of the rest later."

I gave him a blank look as he began to strip naked. I must have looked panicked because he laughed.

"What? Are you going to get in the tub to take a shower by yourself? Not likely unless you're planning on falling and breaking your hip. Come on, we're both men. I can help you balance in the shower so you can get clean."

I looked at his naked body. His body looked better at this distance and I could see the pale blond down on his chest that I hadn't noticed before. His flaccid penis was thick and blunt, maybe five inches. The forest of blond curls above his penis was thicker and longer than on most guys I'd seen. As I glanced at it, his penis moved and seemed to chub a bit. I looked up to see him grinning.

I blushed and felt an odd sensation in my loins.

"Don't think you're going to rape me with that thing. I'm not that much of an invalid."

He laughed, "You wish, boy, you wish. Now let's get those clothes off and get you cleaned up so I can mop up the mess you've made. I don't want this to take all night. I do have a life you know."

He helped me remove my clothes and I could feel his eyes staring at my naked body.

"Okay, let's stand up and I'll help you step into the shower."

He held my arm and took my weight as I stood. Baker was incredibly strong and his hands were like vises. As he stood behind me helping me into the tub I felt his penis pressed against my ass. He pulled the shower curtain closed and turned on the shower after testing the water. He obviously took hotter showers than I do; me, I'm the original cold shower man.

Baker poured shampoo in my hair and began to knead my head.

"I can do that."

"You can try," he snorted.

He was right. The wet bottom of the tub was treacherous with no bath mat. I let him clean me like a child. He used my body wash and his hands were quick and professional. I just let him rub me down with the soap but I was stunned when I felt his hand on my ass, parting my buttocks. Before I could even flinch his finger had lightly rubbed over my asshole.

"Whoa, chief, I appreciate the help but I can wash my own privates."

"Sorry, I was so into it I didn't think anything of it. Well, go ahead, wash your weenie," he laughed. "And do like your mommy taught you, pull the foreskin back and wash under it."

I was really uncomfortable. There was absolutely no way of mistaking what was poking into my back was his erection and it was rock hard. I quickly took a step forward, allowing him to still balance me, and washed my penis and scrotum.

"That's got it, Coach. If you can help me out now, I'm starting to cramp in my leg."

I wasn't really. It was tense, sure, but the muscles were not cramping yet. Baker held onto me as we stepped out of the tub and I took a towel from the rack.

"There're more towels under the sink, Baker. Grab one so you can dry off."

He got another towel and quickly dried off before turning to me to wipe my body dry. He didn't make another move to get too close to me and soon I was back on my bed.

"Why don't you just lie there until I can get this mess cleaned up?"

Naked, he walked to the hall closet and got a mop and pail. I watched him mop and clean up the vomit totally naked, his penis obviously hard but not erect. He saw me looking at his nudity.

"I don't mean to gross you out here," he grinned, "it's just that when I get this vomit all cleaned up I'm going to jump in the shower again."

In a few minutes he'd showered again and was back in my bedroom. While he'd showered I managed to put on a fresh undershirt and boxer briefs and was sitting on the side of the bed. He was surprised to see I was no longer naked and also, clearly his penis was half erect. He saw me looking at it and blushed.

"Sorry, dude, you know how it is. It's got a mind of its own and I live alone. I haven't jacked off in a couple of days."

I laughed and raised my hands protectively.

"Too much information, Baker, way too much information."

He was still blushing as he dressed. Baker bent over to retrieve his underwear, giving me a bird's eye view of his asshole, a tiny scrunched up rosebud with a few blond hairs surrounding it. I felt my penis move and it angered me that I was appraising his perfect body, that I was having gay thoughts for the first time in my life. I looked into his eyes suddenly to find him watching me check out his body; his eyes dancing with amusement and reflecting something else, maybe the beginnings of lust. I blushed and deftly changed the subject.

"By the way, what's going on with you on Monday afternoon? I hate to keep being such a bother, Baker, but I've got an appointment with a Dr. Norman and I'm not sure if I'll be able to drive or not."

He stood before me, fully clothed.

"It's not a problem if you need me to take you to Elias's office. Collins made the appointment for three forty five in case I'd need to drive you. If you're getting around okay I know you'll want to drive yourself. Look, I'm sorry, I've got to go. I need to pick my dog up from the vet or they'll charge me for another night. You okay for me to go?"

"Sure," I waved him off. "I'm fine and Baker, sorry if I snapped at you. It's just so hard for me to let someone else do things for me, particularly the intimate things you did. I guess I'm just too goddamn hardheaded and determined to be totally self-sufficient. Thanks, man."

He smiled and I could see relief in his eyes. I know he was aware of the tension and awkwardness I felt being naked in the shower with him. It's just a natural inclination to immediately quash the hint of anything gay.

On the next day, Friday, I awoke sore but definitely improving. A few massages and careful escalation of an exercise routine and I might be ready to return to work sooner than Dr. Harcourt had expected. Knowing that I was improving more quickly than anticipated helped to improve my mental attitude, thus half of the battle. I walked around with the crutches, took short steps, and I did simple exercises while lying in bed that consisted of little more than slowly flexing my muscles.

My simple exercises had a yield of painful aching muscles which wasn't really a surprise. No pain no gain in simple muscle injuries. Just don't overdo it. I decided to chicken out and do no more for the day. I read, watched television, and was about to fall off to sleep when Baker walked in at six. His hair was still damp and it was obvious he'd just showered.

"You look like you've been up and around," he grinned.

"Is it so obvious?"

"The crutches are on the floor by the bed instead of leaning against the chair. You left the TV on in the living room. There's a plate on the table where you were eating. Need I go on?"

"Who knew? How is it possible I didn't know Rick Baker is actually Sherlock Holmes in disguise?"

He laughed. "My second choice as a career was being a detective on the police force."

"But teaching won out, huh?"

"Coaching won out, teaching was secondary."

"Have you ever taught anything academic?"

"Oh, yeah, I taught math for several years until my predecessor retired and I became head coach."

"No shit," I whistled. "So Rick Baker has a lot more smarts than just showing how to throw a football."

"What did you think, asshole?" he smirked, "that I have a degree in physical education and don't know how to read, write, and do arithmetic?"

The amused look on his face was priceless.

"Busted," I laughed. "That's exactly what I thought."

"Thanks loads, dipshit. You're not the only one who has a brain."

We joked around for a few minutes while he straightened up my messes.

"Actually Baker, I think I'm going to be on my feet again even faster than Harcourt thought."

"I wouldn't disagree with you there except for your ass. There was micro tearing and although it's minor you've still got to take care of it. If the glutes don't do their job then it's gonna be hell on the back and leg muscles."

"True. Dr. Harcourt suggested I might use a masseuse for a while until I'm well. So you've got all the connections in this town, who do I call?'

He grinned and held his hands up, flexing his fingers.

"I'm the best masseuse you'll find in this town outside of the hospital. That or you can drive about forty miles up the road to the adult entertainment center and see if one of the girls there will help you out. Of course their idea of massage is usually to suck your dick for a hundred dollars."

"Yo, ho, ho, looks like you've got some experience, huh?"

"Not on your life. I'm not paying a hundred dollars to get my dick sucked. I can get it done for free."

"Right, like I really believe that in this town. I was warned about the morals clause in our contract by four different people."

"There is that, to be sure. Sorry I'm running late. Al Sumner's car wouldn't start so we called a tow after we'd both played under the hood. I took him home and then stopped by my house to clean up."

"Oh, so they called him in to substitute for me."

I don't know why I was shocked.

Baker nodded. "Can you believe it? Nonnie down at the superintendent's office called Al and he agreed to do it. Your friend Jughead was pissed off but apparently Superintendent Michaels decided to step in. It's too close to finals and over half of your kids are seniors. Michaels isn't going to let Marcus call that bimbo Cheryl Landers to fuck up all the work you've done this late in the day."

I rolled my eyes and he laughed.

"I know, I know. I never quit, do I? Here, why don't you roll over and let me check those muscles for you."

He walked over as if he had no doubt I'd let him touch me and helped me roll over.

"Don't worry; I know what I'm doing. I'm a frustrated physical therapist."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah, I actually was planning to become a physical therapist and work in a hospital like Millie does. She tried to warn me about the competitiveness of the field, told me I should just go into nursing like she did but I was young and stupid. And then in the middle of my junior year Sheila got pregnant and I did student teaching instead. It wasn't hard to change over. I was the quarterback of the football team for Georgia Tech. But my plans for medical work ended because I had to marry Sheila. Before we divorced she told me she'd done it deliberately because she knew I was fucking someone else, too. And here I am, prepared to use my skilled fingers on your muscles while I think of what could have been."

All of the frustration, anger, even depression he may have been feeling poured out of him in that one short explanation. I recognized it probably contributed more than anything to his usual brusque temper and was possibly eating him up inside. No wonder he sometimes seemed to absolutely hate the job and the students. I felt bad for him but it was the last thing I'd want him to know. He didn't strike me as one who wanted pity.

I lay quietly as his fingers probed into my muscles and I knew from past massages that Baker knew what he was doing. From his occasional painful pressure came gradual relief. He slowly worked my calf and then my thigh. First he massaged the skin gently until I felt my muscles relax before his strokes got broader and stronger, finally graduating to using his forearm and elbow to press deeper and deeper. It felt wonderful.

"Oh my god, Baker, that feels so much better. Man, you really know how to do deep tissue massage. I should know, I've gotten plenty of them."

"I'm glad I'm able to please you, Jeremy. Ah, so."

He bowed like a Japanese masseur.

"Smart ass."

"Speaking of ass, is it okay if I check how your glutes are coming along?"

I hesitated for only a second. "Yeah, go ahead; it's where most of the pain is."

He snickered. "You see? It always pays to stay active. Just sitting on your ass can only lead to nowhere."

"You laugh. I'll remember this when you're lying in bed with a pulled muscle and I'm at your house torturing you."

"So, you're saying it's okay if I check your glutes? I don't want to handle your ass without asking first," he chuckled.

I laughed. "Yeah, it's okay if you put your hands on my ass. Why not? There's no point in being a prude now after you've given me a bath."

I lifted my hips to let him slide my boxer briefs down and was surprised when he pulled them off me completely. I didn't say anything as he began to gently stroke my buttocks as he had my leg, preparing for deep tissue massage. Spreading my cheeks open he found the scar from the bullet wound.

"You weren't kidding; you really did get shot in the ass. I see the scar here."

The scar is just inside the curvature of my left buttock, well hidden in the thick hair inside the cleft. He touched it gingerly, rubbing it, and I flinched momentarily.

"It's like there's a little knot in it. Does it still hurt?"

"It's feels like there's maybe a tiny grain of glass or metal or something if there's too much pressure put on it. The doctor said it's just scar tissue and nothing more."

"He couldn't get it out or fix it?"

"He swore there's really nothing there but scar tissue. It wasn't worth the hassle and besides, you can't imagine how embarrassing it was to receive a Purple Heart for a wound in my ass and not just my ass but in my ass crack. It was the joke of the entire fucking base."

"But you can always brag that you're a wounded war veteran."

"Right; and the next question always is 'where were you hit?' I laughed. "I only mentioned it to the kids because Ricky seemed so traumatized about hitting me."

"It went over well. The kids are still talking about Coach Easton getting shot in the ass."

"Awww, that's just what I needed to hear and here I guess your next move will be to describe the scar in my ass crack to everyone so they can gossip about how scar from a bullet has marred for life the looks of my most perfect feature."

He slapped it and laughed.

"That's rich. So you think your ass is your best feature?"

I chuckled. "On the day we broke up a girl I dated for a few months told me my ass was my best feature. She said it was only part of me that truly depicts what I really am."

We both broke up laughing.

"I take it you two didn't end on good terms."

"You got that right. I came home from college one day and she'd decided to move out without telling me. I'd already decided I was dumping her so it got nasty fast."

"Good move. I can attest to the fact that living with a woman ain't all it's cracked up to be, pussy or not. The minute the ring's on the finger is the instant they stop putting out."

"The voice of bitter experience, huh?"

"It's sad but oh, so true."

Baker followed the same steps as before, broadening and increasing the strength of his hand massage before using his forearm and elbow to apply deeper pressure. As he pressed harder I yelped softly as I felt the pinching sting of the hair on my ass being pulled.

"Sorry, how bad does it hurt where I touched? Here?"

I shook my head. "Nah, it just felt like you're pulling the hair out of my ass with tweezers. Go ahead."

He laughed. "I think you got my share of body hair when it was getting passed out in the gene pools. Most of my body's smooth as a baby's ass and you're covered with it."

"I'm not covered with it. You make me sound like a gross bear. Anyway, women seem to like it."

"Nah, it's not bad," he said in a lower voice. "I've always been a little jealous of guys with hair on their body. You've got just enough to look macho. It goes well with your physique although," he paused, "it does look out of place on this ass that's as white as snow. Man, you must have the whitest ass I've ever seen in my entire lifetime. Has it ever seen daylight?"

"Screw you, why don't you just kiss my ass, Charley? I don't sunbathe in the nude."

"Is that an invitation?" he asked softly before he boisterously joked again. "You wish, big boy, you wish, don't you?"

He continued to push and probe and several times I felt the cool air on my asshole repeatedly as he spread my cheeks. His fingers slid across my asshole several times as he pummeled my buttocks. I found myself getting increasingly erect until I was fighting an ejaculation. Finally I couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop."

Baker stopped his massage at once.

"What's wrong?"

The glance between our eyes told him instantly what was wrong. My cheeks were flushed and I was clearly sexually aroused. Anyone with any sexual experience at all could recognize it. He slapped my ass hard and stepped back.




Sporting Chance



"I think you'll survive."

"Thanks, Baker."

"Hey, if you're okay now I'm going to hit the road. I've got to go over to see Millie and Collins."

"Great."

"And Jeremy," he said tentatively, "it really is okay to get a hard-on during a massage. Most guys do and nobody's going to know but us. Hell, sometimes I get one and I'm giving the massage. It just goes with the territory. Anyway, I wouldn't care if you nut the bed as long as the massage works. Don't worry about it."

I blushed.

"I'm okay, just go. You don't want to keep them waiting."

Nothing more was said and he walked away. As soon as I heard the key in the lock I turned over and masturbated to the most massive ejaculation I'd had in a long time. I lay in bed with my cum all over my torso until I finally fell asleep. When I awoke it had dried; the hair of my pubes and on my torso had stuck together like glue. I made my way carefully to the bathroom, wet a washcloth, and cleaned myself sitting on the toilet seat.

Around nine the following day, Saturday, Coach Baker returned and I could tell he was excited, and wet. He was wearing an old tee shirt, a pair of old Georgia Tech gym shorts, and leather thongs. He'd showered recently because his hair was still wet and there were wet spots on his clothes.

"Is everything going okay with you today? I decided to sleep in and I've just got going."

"So I can see," I smiled. "Are you sure you even dried off from your shower?"

"I was in a hurry. I saw the mail carrier jeep coming and I basically just jumped out the shower and threw these clothes on to catch him."

"Must've been mighty important."

"It was. I'm late with a couple of payments."

He didn't elaborate but he was bubbling over with a conspiratorial excitement and I knew he couldn't wait to spill the beans.

"So what's got you so excited?"

"Remember I told you I had to get over to see Collins and Millie? They were dying to ask me what I know about an investigation into cheating on the CRCT's and the EOCT's and god only knows what else."

"The what?"

"You know, the state Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests and the End of Course Tests, those exams students have to measure what they know."

"Oh, yeah, that's right. Sorry, my brain must still be addled. The reason why we teach; make sure students pass those tests. The CRCT's aren't at the high school, they're at the elementary school. How does that affect me? Us?"

He snorted. "It doesn't affect you, not really. That's because every single one of your students is a superstar. Nobody takes physics or chemistry unless they're a genius. I'll bet you haven't given anything less than an A since you started here."

"Not true, not true, I've given a few B's."

"Fuck you. All in geography, right?"

We both laughed. He was right. I'd been blessed with the best classes and students any teacher could ever wish for and I knew they all had the potential to be doctors, scientists, lawyers, whatever they wanted to be. And most of them would qualify for scholarships. Geography was a different matter entirely. Some students were outstanding but too many of them took it because they thought the course would be easy.

"So what's with this cheating stuff?"

"Did you hear about the cheating scandal in the schools in Atlanta?"

"No. Why would I?

"Like I said, you live in a sheltered world. The governor called for law enforcement to investigate a bunch of suspicious scores on the tests. It turns out some bastard teachers and principals were erasing student answers and writing the correct answers on the tests. They did it so much it was clearly apparent the overall scores were too high, out of line."

"No shit, and what's this got to do with us?"

He laughed. "We're getting investigated. And it's all because of your good buddy Marcus Wolfe. The investigation has turned up around two hundred teachers and principals in Atlanta who're guilty. These investigators are fucking serious, man. People are going to be criminally prosecuted, not just lose their jobs; they're going after their asses, maybe jail. Who knows? Collins said there's a good chance anyone convicted will lose the state matching in their retirement."

"Why'd they call you? What do you know about all this?"

"Nothing," he chortled. "Not a goddamn thing but Collins is good buddies with Superintendent Michaels and Archie, that's Michaels, accidentally let it slip to Collins that the investigators were in town. Then when Collins asked him about it he clammed up, said he wasn't supposed to say anything. That's why Collins called me over last night. Meanwhile Millie talked to Archie's secretary Nonnie and got the scoop. Those two have known each other since the cradle."

He was really into his story but I was more amused by the fact that he was almost soaking wet still telling his story. I hadn't cheated so I didn't really give a damn.

"Did you even use a towel at all before you put on those clothes?" I laughed. "I don't think there's a dry spot on those clothes."

"Probably not. Can I just pop them in your dryer?"

I nodded. He went into the laundry room and came back with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Can I finish my story now or do you want to check behind my ears?"

"Go ahead; I don't want you to wee-wee the floor in all your excitement."

He shot me a bird.

"These investigators have gotten a whole bunch of people to confess. Man, Jeremy, these motherfuckers had fucking erasure parties! Can you fucking believe that? Goddamn people are supposed to be teachers, supposed to set an example for the students, and they're changing the goddamn grades and the kids don't even know anything about it!"

"I haven't heard about any parties here."

"Do you think they would tell you if there were? If it was going on you'd be the last to know with that bunch of Rhodes scholars you've got, smart ass."

"So how'd they get on to us? How do they even know it's happening here?"

He burst out laughing. It was like he'd found the Holy Grail or something.

"Good old Jughead got ratted out by one of his principal buddies that they had on the rack. And it turns out that every school system where they've done an investigation has turned up this shit. Nonnie said Archie got a call from Atlanta at eight o'clock in the morning telling him they were coming and at eleven a.m. they pulled up in the parking lot. Nonnie said Archie went ballistic, screaming that he would personally fire every single person involved and make sure they couldn't get a job as a goddamn custodian in a Georgia school again. Seems like the GBI guys had to hold him down to keep him from literally running on foot to your good buddy's house to whip his ass on the spot."

I was shocked and it must have shown. Although I didn't know Marcus that well he'd never given any hint that he was capable of something like this. At Ft. Benning he'd been a strict tyrant, demanding more than our best, and delivering the same himself. That was what had made him stand out to me in the first place, what had made me remember him, what had led me to trust his advice about changing careers, and ultimately, the reason I'd moved to Georgia. For a brief instant I felt alone as if in a foreign land and it gave me another reason why I probably should probably just throw in the towel here.

"Hey, I'm sorry," he said softly. "I didn't mean to come on so strong. He's your friend, Jeremy, and I shouldn't be such a shit about him all the time. Even if I do have a goddamn good reason."

"What's happening here? Am I getting so soft as a civilian that my face is like a book?" I yelled.

He laughed. "Yeah, I guess you are, or maybe I'm just good at reading people. It comes from years of experience walking cold into hostile territory six or seven times a day."

I suddenly looked at him differently. Rick really was a nice guy; the situation had just kept either of us from realizing our similarities. He was waiting for a response to his comment but my eyes searched him over again in a way I'd never done before. He really was an incredibly handsome man and I'd always been jealous of it but I was noticing something else about him now. What I wasn't sure. Why would I, I wasn't in the habit of paying attention to another man's looks. 

There was the faintest trace of grey hair at his temples, almost totally obscured by the rest of his sun bleached wavy curls. I could tell he was older, his skin had that look it gets when you're not a teenager anymore but his body was hard and muscled, his six pack well defined. Slowly I glanced from his feet upward and I could detect a slight stirring under the towel as his penis moved. All done in the briefest of moments, even so when my eyes reached his face his eyes stared into mine so piercingly I was startled.

"Do I meet with your approval?"

He was jesting and then again, he wasn't. There was an electric spark in the air that hadn't been there before and I couldn't handle it.

"Oh, I was just thinking your body's in pretty good shape for an old guy. How old are you anyway?"

He laughed and the spark was gone but I knew there was more and I was aware he knew it, too.

"How old do you think I am? And how old are you?"

"What, you've seen my application. You didn't check my age?"

He did that snorting thing he did so well. "I barely glanced at your resume I was so pissed off dick wad had the nerve to hire you without even then decency of discussing it with me."

"So I'm thirty four going on a hundred. I had to kill one too many people in the army, saw one too many people killed that I cared about. You look like you're maybe forty."

He laughed. "Jeremy you really know how to sweep a man off his feet. I'm forty-two. Of course, I'd have been happier if you'd said I look thirty."

"You shouldn't care about that, Baker. You're in better shape some of the guys I was in the military with and you should be proud of it. Forty two is just a number."

His laugh was cynical. "Yeah, remember that when you're forty two. My ex is forty nine, can you believe it, and her new husband is thirty six."

"Damn, she must be good looking, Baker!"

"When are you going to call me Rick, Jeremy? I thought we were beyond the last name, coach, sir stuff."

"Sure, Rick."

He was in a strange mood today.

"It's kind of hard to switch to Rick but bear with me and I'll get there. Nobody in the army uses a first name and it was just natural to follow suit here."

We were silent for a while and then I remembered the investigation.

"The investigation, you never finished telling me about the investigation."

"Oh, yeah, right," he answered.

His mood was slightly more subdued.

"According to what Nonnie told Millie, the guy in Atlanta told the investigators that Marcus has been changing scores for a while now and it involves several people. But it mainly involves him and a guidance counselor and we both know it's that cunt Lou Mansfield. I knew that bitch was no good and she's the main reason my nephew got cheated out of being class valedictorian. He'd never have been able to pull that off without her."

"Any more people involved here?"

"Well, that's the point of the whole investigation, right? Whoever it was that spilled the beans only spoke of Marcus and Lou. There's supposed to be more but that's what the investigation is for right?"

"Wow, how could I know I'd drop myself right into a high school criminal organization? So what does this mean for the rest of us?"

"It means polygraphs, pressure, all kinds of shit. No one looks forward to that kind of thing, Jeremy. We're school teachers, not criminals. Can you imagine some of the people we work with taking a lie detector test? It's completely unforgivable that Marcus and Lou could have done something like this to us. I've never done anything really bad but I'm no angel either. I've heard these polygraph guys get into some really personal stuff and I don't want to have to answer all of their questions if they start probing too deep. And they will, trust me."

"Fuck that, I've had to take them before but I'm not doing a goddamn thing other than tell them one time and one time only that I wasn't involved. I don't care what they do. I'll sue their asses."

"Do you think Marcus would implicate people just to save his own ass?"

"I never would have thought he'd do this, so what the fuck do I know?"

My butt and leg hurting from sitting in one place too long and I grimaced.

"Where does it hurt? Let me take care of it before it gets too bad."

He started massaging my calf hamstring instantly without waiting for my response.

"Oh, it's just the usual. I've been sitting in one place too long and they all ache, my ass and my leg."

"Here, let me take a look. Go ahead and roll over."

He helped me to turn over and then to lift my hips so he could pull my boxer briefs off.

"Come on, let me do your shoulders and back, too, it'll help you to relax after this news. Hell, it'll help me to relax to massage you."

I let him pull my tee shirt off, too, so I was completely naked for him. He started with my shoulders and neck and it felt wonderful. He gently traced down my back before increasing pressure and then ignored my buttocks completely to move to my calf muscles. Then he moved to my feet, massaging them gently. He worked his magic with me and I was amazed again at his skill. He pulled at my body to turn me over.

"Go ahead and turn over so I can work on the hamstring."

I was reluctant, knowing I had a partial erection but I did as he asked, keeping my eyes closed. He lifted my leg and put my foot against his chest. He had taken off his tee shirt and I could feel the heat of his bare chest burn through the sole of my foot.

"Now push me as I push you. Gently, don't overdo it."

His voice was husky and I refused to look at him. I was fairly sure at this point that Baker was gay or at least bi and I felt like such a fool for not realizing it before I fell into his trap. I didn't know exactly what to do. Part of me wanted to use my good leg to kick his ass off my bed and out of my house but the other part of me blazed with a sexual lust to achieve orgasm with him. I was so confused and torn inside; I'd never so much as looked at another guy sexually, none of the teenaged circle jerks, no older boy initiating me to jacking off, nothing. 

Most of all, I couldn't figure out what it was about Rick Baker that made him different from other men. There was a distinct electrical current surging between us at that moment and we both knew it. I wanted to yell for him to get his goddamn hands off me and to get the fuck out of my house. I just couldn't.

"Okay, I'm going to slowly push your knee back toward your shoulder now."

He put one hand on my foot to steady it and slowly pushed, his other hand kneading and massaging my strained calf muscle. There was no doubt it felt wonderful and he knew what he was doing. Even with my eyes closed, trying desperately to remain detached, I could feel my penis becoming erect and the more I thought about it the harder it became. I kept my eyes closed.

"How's this feeling?" he whispered.

I wanted to yell at him, to tell him to get away from me, but I couldn't. I tried to ignore his movement on the bed, to focus on the strength of his hands as they continued to work on my legs, keeping up the pretense of legitimate massage.

"Now let's do them both."

I felt a surge of sexual energy flood through my body when he took both legs and pushed my knees upward toward my chest. My asshole was splayed wide open. I felt the cool air on my hole and almost immediately afterward I felt his hot breath. Before I could even start to react Baker's tongue was licking my asshole, probing it, all between his soft kisses. I had to fight instant ejaculation; no one had ever touched my asshole in a sexual way. Only I knew that on occasion since I'd seen him do it in the shower, in my lone masturbation I played with my hole and enjoyed it.

I started moaning and jerking, my chest and flesh feeling flushed and hot. I tried to speak, to call out to him but he just shushed me and in the next instant I felt my rigid cock disappear into his mouth.

My entire body shuddered and I opened my eyes to see his blond head buried in my crotch, sucking and licking, making love to my cock. I also saw at once the towel was gone and Rick was totally naked on the bed with me. I reached down and touched his head, grasped his curls in my fingers and twisted. He looked into my eyes with such burning passion that it panicked me and for just one second I wanted to kill him, to smash that handsome face into the floor for doing this to me, for making me enjoy sex with another man. I weakly tried to push him away.

"Shhh, shhh," he whispered, kissing my thighs. "Please let me do this, Jeremy. Please. I've wanted this for so long now. You don't have to do anything to me, nothing. I don't care, I'll jack myself off. Please."

He was begging me to let him worship my body. I was too far gone, already burning with too much passion to stop him, screaming inside for him not to stop, to make me cum. And there was this brief glimmer of insight buried deep within the recesses of my mind that told me I wanted him as much as he wanted me. I struggled to bury it, to deny it, but the boiling semen that was about to blast forth like an erupting volcano was my truth.

The macho in me stopped struggling with conscience and revulsion and I gave myself to him completely, relaxing my asshole so his tongue could bury itself within me. While his face was buried my ass I looked beyond his blond curls to his naked body curled at an angle on the bed. His body was magnificent, I'd already admitted that much a long time ago. His forty-two year old body was in better condition than eighty percent of the guys twenty years younger than him. And his penis was just as magnificent; the girth of a beer can, seven inches poking out of a forest of thick dark blond curls, his testicles hanging low, their pouch wrinkled and hairy. His cock's mushroom head, larger than the width of his penis, was a shiny dark pink, almost purple, and pearls of clear liquid would roll out of the end each time it jerked with sexual excitement.

"Oh, god, oh, fuck, I'm cumming, Rick, I'm cumming."

I tried to push head away from my crotch, to save him from what was coming, but instead of moving away, his mouth moved from my asshole and his lips clamped over my cock. I didn't care anymore. I was enjoying what he was doing to me and yet at the same time I was repulsed that it was a man who was giving me such pleasure. I said nothing, just breathed deeply and moaned while he worshipped my body. Then he swiftly inserted a finger into my asshole while sucking hard on my cock, his tongue swirling around the head and pushing against the tiny slit. I was too far gone for any resistance when he inserted a second finger deep into my ass and assaulted my prostate. My cum exploded into his mouth and he swallowed it, shot after shot, as my entire body quivered and jerked, every muscle contracting and reacting to the orgasm. I could hear the almost obscene sound of his lips and mouth smacking and sucking me. For a split second I wondered if this was how women felt during their orgasm, what with my entire body jerking in the same way women did when I'd fucked them.

I'd no more finished than Baker rose up and straddled me, his ass over my cock, rocking back and forth as he quickly masturbated his cock over my chest. I looked into his eyes as he quickly jacked off and I knew he wanted me to do it for him, to touch him, touch his cock, but I couldn't, I just couldn't. It didn't matter; he knelt on his knees above me and his cum erupted forth in white ropes of thick cream in my face, the first shots hitting my chin, then my lips, my cheek, and the last shots spurting all over my chest. He looked into my eyes the entire time and the passion in them begged me not to reject him. I hadn't touched him but I licked his cum from my lips. It was tangy and hot and I didn't care if it was gay. I didn't care that he'd jacked off in my face. Without my reciprocation I'd just had the most incredible sex I'd had in a long time, if ever, and it was all because of the sexy Coach Patrick Baker. Maybe it was the heat of the moment but I liked the taste of his cum.




Sporting Chance



And then it was over and he sat back, my cock pressed in the hairy crevice of his ass, his hole hot and pulsing against my foreskin. It was an intensely intimate moment and my cock gave an involuntary jerk. He felt it and he had half smiled looking at me, part joy and part fear, as if he wasn't sure how I was going to respond now that it was over. I understood entirely. Gay men have been beaten unmercifully by straight men after the orgasm is over. He'd known how I resisted him and was prepared for my retribution.

There wasn't time for retribution. Suddenly there was a banging at my front door and the doorbell ringing repeatedly.

"Baker! Baker! Easton! You in there?"

It was Chancellor, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Baker reacted instantly, jumping off me and quickly pulling on his clothes. Not hard to do since it was just a tee shirt and shorts with flip flops.

"Stay here and clean up," he ordered. "She's found out about the investigation, that's why she's here, the only reason she'd come here."

I knew he was right.

"Baker! Stop! Now!"

He stopped, surprised and I looked him over closely.

"Turn around."

He turned around as I examined him.

"You're okay to go," I grinned.

He grinned back, so happy that I hadn't rejected him and I felt sorry for him. I couldn't imagine that sex with me could bring him such obvious joy. Plus, he knew for certain that we were okay, our relationship had turned a corner.

I heard the front door open.

"What the hell, Merline? You about gave us a fucking heart attack!"

"Heart attacks, Patrick, heart attacks plural."

"Fuck you, Merline, I could be dead and you'd be standing over my goddamn coffin complaining and straightening my fucking tie. What the hell do you want?"

She laughed and I could tell he was angry, the usual Baker, and I felt relief. What we'd done would never be revealed by him, she'd never see it in his eyes. I staggered to the bathroom and used a wet washcloth to wipe the cum off me. Looking in the mirror I didn't know what Rick had seen in me that was sexually attractive. I hadn't shaved in almost three days; in short, I looked like hell. Still I pulled on the terry cloth robe that hung behind the bathroom door and hobbled into the living room on my crutches.

"Come on, Easton, you shouldn't be out of bed! You see what you did, Merline? You dragged a sick man from his bed!"

It was a wasted effort for Rick to try to make Chancellor feel any guilt. She was as testy as always and didn't give a damn if I was in excruciating pain.

"Jeremy Easton, that piece of shit is YOUR good buddy so tell me what the fuck is going on here? What have you two army bastards gotten us into? I've never cheated on an exam in my entire life and I sure as hell don't give a shit if those fucking maggots pass or not if it means I have to cheat for them!"

"Calm down, calm down, Merline, I'm sure it wouldn't take a GBI man two seconds to know those kids will never get out school because of anything you've done for them, legal or not. Besides, woman, you don't teach any academic classes, just full time coaching. What's your ass in a knot over?"

"Oh, you think you're so funny, asshole. Well, let's see how funny you think it is when they call your ass down to the administrative offices for an interview."

That was an interesting comment and Rick and I looked at each other, surprised the investigation had already progressed this far. Chancellor didn't miss seeing the look that passed between us.

"I knew it! I knew goddamn good and well the two of you would know exactly what's going on. Right in the thick of it I'm sure. Well, I've got news for you, I don't intend to cover anything up for any of you so if you think I'm going to cover for you and your buddy Marcus then you've got another think coming, Easton."

"Will you fucking give it a rest, Merline? Jeremy doesn't know shit about this; he didn't know anything until I told him, and I only found out last night."

She laughed.

"Yeah, well we all know how that happened."

"What are..."

"Stow it, Rick. Everyone knows about your pipeline. Nonnie tells Millie and Millie tells you. Everyone knows that. I've always wondered if the three of you are smart enough to know that Archie knows it the same as everyone else. He knows full well that if he wants anything to get out all he has to do is tell Nonnie it's a secret. So if he's told Nonnie about this then he's ready for the word to get out."

I laughed. "This place is incredible. I come here thinking I'm coming to Walton's Mountain and it's like I've stepped into the Twilight Zone."

Chancellor snorted. "Then you're a bigger fool than I ever thought you were, Easton. There's no Walton's Mountain anywhere. Hear me? Anywhere. We've got it all in this county; drugs, whiskey, prostitution, everything you'd find in New York City. Only it's worse here, people don't know it's here until it's too late. Grow up."

"Cool it, cool it. Just tell us, when are they interviewing you?"

"Monday morning, eight a.m. sharp. Archie said you'd take care of getting my class covered for the morning."

"I'm glad he thought to tell me."

"Come on, Rick, he knows you know and he knows the first thing I'd do is come tell you about this."

"Well, for whatever it's worth, Merline, they're interviewing you first because they know that of everyone you're definitely the sure bet for not being a party to any of this. You don't have anything to worry about."

"That's what I figure, too."

"That and everybody in the whole goddamn Southeastern Conference knows how much you hate Marcus Wolfe."

"I'm sorry, guys; I just don't know how I missed it," I said. "I mean missing it with Marcus, I'm usually pretty savvy about spotting these things. I mean, I only knew him while I was at Fort Benning eleven years ago but I never pegged him as somebody who'd cheat on exams. This whole thing's sort of bewildering to me and I confess I don't totally understand it."

"That's not unusual for the army, particularly that bunch of cowboys over at Fort Benning," Chancellor laughed.

"Hey, watch it. Don't bad mouth the army and Fort Benning's one of the best bases I ever lived on."

"Don't take her on Jeremy. Chancellor's an ex-marine."

Somehow I wasn't surprised.

"No shit. And how is it that I never knew this?"

"Well, if you didn't walk around with your nose in the air like you're better than the rest of us I might have told you. Rick might have told you."

"Okay, okay, let's not go there, Merline."

"I know you said some principal in Atlanta rolled on Marcus but I still don't understand how they got going so fast. I wonder just how much they know," I said.

"Yeah, I'll bet you do. You know you'll be the first one they'll jump on, you being known as his friend."

"I know, Chancellor, I know, but I swear to God I never knew anything. I can pass any polygraph they give and I'm not worried because I've taken them before. It's just that I'm not going to take one on principle alone."

"Yeah, you don't have to worry with your geniuses and I guess we don't to worry in the athletic department because we don't teach any academic courses. Why would we cheat?

"True, true, we know that," Rick agreed.

I looked at the two of them almost unable to comprehend their momentary stupidity.

"I can't believe you two are so dense," I snapped. "We're going to be looked at under a fucking microscope! The athletic department has as much reason as anyone to change test scores! You can't have a star athlete if he can't pass his courses. How many students have had to be kicked off a team because they can't pass math? Or biology? Or whatever?"

I could see the light click on in their eyes and they were shocked.

"Of course you're right, Easton," Chancellor swallowed. "I've got some of the dumbest goddamn girls in the whole school on the girls' basketball team and everyone knows it. I'm never sure who's going to finish the season. These fucking people are going to be all over my ass." 

"Same here, Merline, and you know it," Rick agreed. "Of course, most kids that want to play sports work hard to keep their grades up but remember Willie Bascom? As soon the principal heard he was good enough to go pro straight out of high school Willie didn't do a goddamn thing because Jack Mason changed his grades to keep him out of trouble."

I looked searchingly at the two of them. Chancellor patted my arm supportively which surprised me.

"This was before your time, Easton. Jack's the man your friend Marcus replaced and we didn't like him either. The difference is that he retired and got elected to the school board so we had to put up with a lot when he was principal but now there seems to be no end to his shit."

"Yeah, and if the GBI isn't on his ass I'm going to put them on the scent," Rick laughed. "Now, Merline, what do you know and how did you find it out?"

"Okay, here's what I know, what I've found out, and I found out most of it from Randy White."

"Randy the Pansy?" Rick laughed. "I'm surprised that little sissy airhead knows anything. He's always seemed like a dumb ass to me."

"That's because you scare him, Rick, and you do it deliberately and what's more you know it. You go out of your way to intimidate him and you're a real shit hill for doing it."

"He's just such a weasel."

"Yeah, I won't deny that, we all know he is and Lou Mansfield and Marcus Wolfe are going to regret they ever promoted him to guidance counselor. I mean, everyone knows he couldn't control his art classroom students and that's why he got a master's degree in guidance counseling but Mansfield and Wolfe let a fox into the hen house when they let Randy in."

She laughed and I just sat there listening to the two of them talk. I'd excluded myself from everyone at the school except on the most professional level and had no friends other than Rick and Marcus. Now I didn't know where I stood with Marcus.

"I've noticed you hang out with Randy at staff meetings and stuff. I just never figured you were his good buddy."

"Hey, let me tell you something, Rick, he may be a prissy sissy but he's smart as hell, smarter than most of the teachers on staff. And he doesn't like Lou Mansfield or Marcus Wolfe even though they hired him into the counselor position. He knows the two of them are fucking in some motel down in Atlanta and he's just been biding his time until he could expose them. If you want my opinion, I wouldn't be surprised if little Randy wasn't the one that got the investigation started statewide by blowing the whistle as soon as he found out. God only knows how long it's been going on. I'll bet you dollars to donuts it was going on with Jack Mason."

"Exactly when did you find this out, Chancellor?" I asked.

I wanted to know exactly how long Chancellor had been walking around with this knowledge. Reading people is something you learn to do in the Rangers; if you don't you'll end up dead. Her story didn't ring true and I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd been in on blowing the whistle with Randy from the start. Surprised he got the investigation started my ass; she knew he did and she was in on it.

Chancellor was delaying answering my question, a sure sign she was hiding something.

"I'm sorry, Chancellor, maybe you didn't hear me. When the fuck did you find this out?" I asked louder.

"Last night. You know Randy rents a room in my house and he warned me last night he'd gotten a call from some head investigator out of Atlanta. They're going to rip the whole fucking county apart, every grade level."

"I don't believe you, Chandler."

My eyes bored straight into her and her eyes wavered momentarily. I saw it and so did Rick.

"What the fuck, Merline?!" he yelled. "You couldn't let me in on it? You know how much I fucking hate him! And that slut Mansfield!"

"I, I, it's not like...,"she spluttered.

"Quit your goddamn lying, Merline," he screamed, "or get your ass out of this house and I'll leave your ass out in the breeze if it's left up to me. You were in on this from the start weren't you? WEREN'T YOU?! You come in acting like you don't know what's going on and you and that little turd knocker Randy STARTED IT!"

I'd never seen Rick so furious, never.

"Keep your shirt on, Rick!" she yelled back. "This is precisely why we didn't tell you. You're too much of a goddamn hot head and we were afraid you'd do what you've just done. All Wolfe has to do is call you Patrick and plays you like a motherfucking violin. You'd have just blown your stack one day and told him!!"

She was right and we all knew it. Everybody knew that Marcus and Rick pushed each other's buttons beyond common sense.

"So why'd you act like you didn't know anything when you stormed in here, Merline? I don't know why you didn't just tell us when you walked in the door. I mean, it's already out, right?"

"Okay, I'm SORRY, shoot me at dawn, Rick. I just figured Jeremy knew more than anyone, maybe he was in on it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Chancellor. I won't forget it," I said coldly.

She ignored me.

"Randy said he knows for sure all of the principals are in on this thing and three teachers at the elementary schools, two in the middle school, and four at the high school. When Lou Mansfield tried to get Randy in on it he said he acted really scared and told her that if he got involved everyone would know immediately because he'd feel so guilty that everyone would see it in his face."

"I don't doubt that," I offered. "The first time I laid eyes on him I could read him like a book."

"True, so true," Rick agreed. "He thinks he's so fucking slick but you can see him coming in a cloud of black smoke."

"He fooled Marcus and Lou, didn't he?"

"It wouldn't take much to fool those two when they're in the same room together," Rick sneered. "All he sees his her big tits and all she thinks about his dick that she wants in her scummy pussy."

"Randy told me that Lou and Wolfe teased him about being a nervous nelly and that's when he decided he was going to get the two of then shit canned," Chancellor laughed. "Can you imagine the goddamn arrogance of trying to recruit someone into a criminal conspiracy and then making fun of them to their face when they turn you down? Randy called his brother as soon as he got to my house that night."

"His brother?"

Chancellor threw her head back and screamed with laughter.

Rick looked at me and rolled his eyes.

"What's come over her?" he grinned. "This must be damned good."

"Oh, it is, it is," she hooted. "Neither one of you don't know who Randy's brother is?"

We both shook our heads no.

"This is just too, too rich, guys," she giggled. "His brother, his brother..."

She was laughing so hard she could barely get it out. She coughed.

"His brother's a lawyer in the Special Prosecutions Unit of the Georgia State Attorney General's Office. This is right up his alley, the very type of crime he investigates!"

It was clear Marcus's ass was nailed to the Titanic. He was finished for good along with anyone else involved. Never mess with a closet queen, too much hate from too many years of taking shit from everyone.

"Well, that's that," Rick sighed. "God only knows what they'll hire to clean up this place now but it's probably going be like working with the Gestapo now." It'll be hell for a couple of years while we recover but it'll be worth it all to get rid of Wolfe and Mansfield. Too bad we can't get rid of Lavada Cravey, too."

"Who knows? That little gutless wonder may be in on it. She wouldn't have the nerve to say no to either Marcus or Lou and she'd piss all over herself before she'd tell on them," I said, my first real criticism of staff.

"Wow, you must be worked up, Easton, to actually speak up and offer an opinion. Good for you, it shows you have some balls after all," she grinned. "I can tell you who's going to run the high school."

She looked like the cat that ate the canary.

"Oh, really, now that's a real surprise," Rick said sarcastically. "Who?"

"Al Sumner. That's why Archie called him to take Easton's classes. Remember Al's got a master's in educational administration but he never got the chance to use it and the one real chance he had they gave the job to that piece of shit Wolfe. They're going to put Wolfe on leave immediately during the investigation and make Al the acting principal. I'll bet Al's never going to let Archie live this down."

"I thought he was retired," I said. "And what about Lavada Cravey?"

Lavada Cravey was the assistant principal, a worthless creature if there ever was one. She was the first female to have been hired in school administration in this county and she'd only been promoted because she threatened to file a lawsuit. Downtown administration knew she was useless when they promoted her but they didn't want a lawsuit so they hired her and let her drown in her own incompetence. She couldn't be pinned down on anything or make the simplest decisions.

Chancellor and Baker both blew me a raspberry.

"Oh yeah, that'd work, Easton, I can just see Cravey now. Somebody would die right in front of her before she'd make up her mind to call an ambulance or the police. And then she'd blame anyone who was standing around and claim THEY should have called. I just want to beat her ass every damn time I see her because the first woman in school administration is the most incompetent boob I've ever met in my life."

"Why didn't you ever get your administration degree, Chancellor?" I asked. "You'd be better than Cravey."

"Thanks for the compliment, Easton. A dog would be better than Lavada Cravey, at least he'd bark every now and then."

They laughed and I yawned, tired and they both noticed it.

"Well, we'd better get out of here and let Easton get some sleep. Rest is what you need," Chancellor said.

I could tell Rick was unsure of what to do, whether to leave me or to stay, and I could feel his uncertainty in the air.

"It's all right, Rick," I said. "You go on ahead and do whatever you need to do. Do you think you could drop in later this evening and check on me?"

"Sure," he grinned. "I'll be back around seven tonight."

Chancellor didn't seem at all suspicious about my request to Rick and she turned to leave.

"Oh, and if it's not too much trouble, Rick, would you mind stopping by the barbeque place and getting me some sliced beef and some fries? I like the original mild sauce. Get whatever you want and I'll pay for it all. I'd be in real trouble without you to help me, buddy."

His eyes danced with laughter at my calling him buddy.

"Aren't you afraid you might get sick and throw it up? Barbeque is pretty spicy."

"It's okay, I think I can handle it but you can clean it up if I can't. You're really good at that, you know."

"Barbeque it is then," he grinned.

After the two of them left I slept, read, watched television, and looked out the open window at the garden. A gentle breeze blew in filling the room with the fragrance of the Mr. Lincoln rose bushes that grew along the wall. I'd worked in the yard the previous weekend and it was picture perfect. The plants swayed in the gentle breeze and calmed me as I thought over what had happened between Rick and me.

I'd never even considered he might be gay, so much for my gaydar, and it threw me. I needed to know where he thought this was going. As for me, I knew where it was going and there wasn't going to be a white picket fence. Or would there be? I was torn, questioning my own sexuality for the first time in my life. I couldn't blame Rick for what had happened; I'd let it happen and I'd enjoyed it, I'd responded passionately and there was no way I could put this off on the drugs because I knew it my heart that wasn't true.

Then there was his name Rick. It had only been a few short hours since I'd writhed in ecstasy as licked and probed my asshole, trembled with desire as he sucked my cock, and willingly tasted the cum he'd shot onto my lips. The intimacy had changed everything and he was no longer Baker to me; he was Rick, the man whose lust for my body had changed my entire world in less than an hour. He'd called me Jeremy since my injury and now my calling him Rick reflected a tenderness between us that no one would ever know. Had the freedom I gave him to probe my body on the tennis court awakened his desire for me to the point he risked destroying his life if I had rejected him and told everyone? If so, I fully understood it. I'd done the same thing this afternoon when I let him have my naked body.