Part II: The Save
"Well, I did it Coach," Kevin announced proudly the next morning, poking his head into the coach's office.
"Did what?" he asked grumpily. He slurped down the last of his cup of coffee and lit up a cigarette.
"I beat my neighbor...that girl," he explained eagerly, trying to refresh the Coach's memory.
"Oh, yeah, right," Coach replied. "How'd it go?" he asked, realizing that Kevin wasn't going anywhere until he told him his story. He poured himself another cup of black coffee from his oversized thermos.
"It was great!" he exclaimed. Then, he reflected on Joey's final -- and winning -- basketball shot. "Actually," he clarified, "we kinda tied." He fudged the truth a little bit. "But it's okay," he followed up rapidly. "It turns out, she plays basketball for St. Augustine's. She's on their first string varsity."
Coach looked up from his coffee cup, completely unimpressed.
"The point is," Kevin implored, "I was fantastic!" Kevin's hands were waving wildly. "You were right! All I needed was a little self-confidence. I made all of my shots, even from the outside, and it was like I couldn't miss!"
"Then why did you lose?" Coach sneered.
"Well," Kevin explained, "When she saw how good I really was, she tried to...distract me. And...since I already knew that I could beat her, I, uh, . . . we . . . uh, called it a tie."
"Did you drive to her basket?" Coach asked, fully intending the question to be about sex, rather than basketball.
"Uh, yeah," Kevin answered softly, but proudly.
A huge smile spread across Coach's face. He understood completely. No longer upset at having one of his boys beaten by a girl at a sport which he coached, he stood up and offered his hand to Kevin. "Well done, son, well done," he said, as they shook hands.
Then, Coach raised his left hand and smacked Kevin warmly on the shoulder. "But you still got beat by a girl. And I told you what would happen, if you let that happen."
Kevin looked into Coach's eyes. Surely this wasn't happening, was it?
"Sorry, son," Coach said. "You're off the team."
"But, wait!" Kevin implored. "That's not fair! You weren't there! You didn't see how awesome this girl looks! I couldn't keep playing basketball when she had my cock in her mouth!"
"Sorry, Kevin," Coach said. "You knew what would happen."
"Aww, c'mon Coach," he begged. "Give me another chance. My dad'll kill me!" Kevin's mind raced desperately. "I'll do anything you want. I'll run laps, I'll mow your lawn, I'll wash your car...!"
"Okay, okay," Coach said. He didn't really want to kick him off the team. But his team had been playing so badly this year, that if word ever got out that one of his varsity players, even a second string player, had gotten beat by a girl, he knew his job was on the line. "I'll think about it. But in the meantime, don't tell anyone about what happened, okay?!"
"Okay!" Kevin agreed enthusiastically. "Not a word. Thanks, Coach!" He turned on his heel and ran out of Coach's office before he could change his mind.
The bell rang as Kevin hurriedly made his way to his first class, running at a full clip down the long ceramic tiled halls. He was running so quickly that he nearly ran over his sister, who had just come out of the girl's restroom, and who was also racing to her first class.
"Hey, Kev," Kaci called out. "What's wrong?! You look upset."
"Sorry, Kaci," Kevin answered, slowing down a few paces beyond her. "Coach said he might cut me."
"What?! Why?!" she asked.
"Because of what happened last night," Kevin explained. "Joey beat me at horse the other night, and Coach told me that if I didn't beat her last night, then he'd kick me off the team. He doesn't want anyone to find out that one of his players got beat by a girl."
"Yeah, but . . ." she paused. She wasn't sure if he knew that she had been watching he and Joey go at it last night in the backyard.
"It's okay," Kevin reassured her. "I know you saw us. Don't tell Mom and Dad, okay?"
"Of course not," Kaci replied. She was a little embarrassed at having been caught spying on her brother and their neighbor having sex out in the open, on the basketball court. "It sure looked like it was worth it, though," she added, dreamily. She was envious of her older brother. She was also a little infatuated with him.
"Yeah, but it might have gotten me kicked off the team," Kevin replied scornfully. He knew that his sister was curious about sex, and he wanted to steer her away from having casual encounters. It was a double-standard, he knew, but still, once word got out that a girl was "easy", it was only a matter of time until she was scorned by her peers, or worse yet, knocked up.
"What're you gonna do?" she asked, worried.
"I don't know yet. Coach said he'll let me know later on. "For now, I guess I just gotta keep my nose clean." Kevin checked his watch. "Come on," he said, "You'd better get to class."
"Okay," Kaci answered. "See you at home. By the way, don't wait for me after school. I gotta do something."
"Okay," Kevin replied. "Don't be late." The two ran off in different directions, moments before the principal came walking down the hall, checking for anyone trying to ditch class.