01 June 1985 – Hardwick Road, Enfield, Massachusetts

Pauline and Jeff enjoyed the warm weather while they ate their lunch outside. Pauline sat wrapped in Jeff’s arms under a large oak tree. School would end for the summer soon, with only their exams standing between them and vacation for the young couple; other than watching some friends graduate, commencement didn’t matter to either of them since they weren’t yet seniors. Pauline was beginning to narrow down her college choices in advance of her senior year. Jeff’s performance on the baseball field this year attracted notice. Their futures were taking shape, which should have made them happier, but Jeff sensed a distance in Pauline today.

“Pauline?” She turned to look at him. “What’s wrong?” She turned away again, a sad look on her face.

“It’s about this summer, Jeff,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m not looking forward to the separation.”

“Me either. Maybe we can figure out a time for you to come visit?”

“I hope we can. We’ve both committed to jobs this summer, so that’ll be tough. Plus my family’s vacation to Maine will complicate things.”

Pauline leaned back into Jeff but said nothing.

Jeff worked out, showered, dressed then chatted with his parents at breakfast on his back deck a month later. A figure he hadn’t expected to see came around the corner of the house.

“Pauline!” he exclaimed, springing to his feet. She crashed into him in a tight embrace. “This is a great surprise! Don’t take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here?”

“One of my coworkers got all touchy-feely with me by the server’s station at the lobster shack last night,” she said with her face buried in his chest.

“Are you okay?” Jeff asked. In a quieter voice, he asked her, “Did he hurt you?”

Pauline looked up at him and laughed. “I’ve been hanging around you too much,” she said. “I flattened his nose with the heel of my hand, kneed him in the nuts, and shoved him to the floor in front of the entire place. Every girl who works there gave me a standing ovation. It turns out that Mr. ‘I-Now-Sing-Soprano’ has put his hands on almost the entire female staff; the ones he hasn’t touched are the girls he hasn’t gotten to yet. I apologized to my boss before I grabbed my purse, lit out of there, and headed back to the beach house.”

“About an hour later the police showed up, wanting to talk to my parents and me. Mr. Ferreira heard what happened from one of the other girls; the poor man is beside himself that such a thing happened at his place, and called the cops to charge the dickhead with multiple counts of assault. I talked to my folks for hours before I went to bed last night; I woke up early this morning, talked to my Mom a bit more, and drove here.”

“I’m glad you did,” Jeff said, leading Pauline to the small loveseat that was part of the deck furniture. “I know it’s only been a month, but I’ve missed you this summer.”

Hearing those words, she snuggled closer to him. “And I’ve missed you,” she replied.

“Pauline, do you need to call your parents? To tell them you’re here?” Marisa Knox asked.

“Yeah, I probably should,” she said, reluctant to let go of Jeff.

“Just tell me your number at the Cape, and I’ll call them.”

“Thanks, Mrs. K.”

Jeff woke with a start, sensing a presence near his bed later that night. His eyes caught the time displayed on his alarm clock as they tried to make out who stood next to his bed. The sound of the person’s voice resolved that question.

“Jeff?” he heard Pauline whisper.

“Pauline? What’s wrong?”

“I just had a nightmare. About the dickhead. Can I climb in with you?”

“Of course,” he replied. “Grab your pillow off your bed, then come on in; yours will be much more comfortable for you than the pancake I use for mine. Just close the door before you climb into bed.” She did as he suggested and then returned. With both of them lying on their left sides they spooned together, snuggling under the covers to stay warm in the breeze from the fan.

“This is nice...” Jeff heard Pauline whisper. Smiling, he kissed her ear, before settling in to go back to sleep.

“Oh, my,” Pauline muttered as she rolled onto her back next to Jeff the following afternoon. They’d just taken their relationship to “the next level” while the rest of the Knox family was out shopping in Springfield. “Jeff, you were incredible!”

“Really, that was okay?” Jeff asked her.

“No, it wasn’t okay, Jeff!” she snarked to him, his face falling a bit. “That was frikken mind-blowing! Crap, I thought my head was going to explode!”

“Oh,” he answered, “I was worried for a second.”

“Don’t be!” she assured him. “You’re a natural!” After snuggling with him for a few more minutes she sat up, pulling Jeff out of bed. “I know your family’s going to be another few hours, so let’s see what showering with your partner’s like! Open your window to air this place out while we’re in the bathroom.”

“I’m really not looking forward to you going back to the Cape _now!”*

“I’m definitely going to make sure I schedule more time to come back here when I can, don’t you worry!”

The late summer sun beat down on the fields at Thompkins while the sports teams prepared for their seasons. Jeff closed his eyes and turned his face to the sun, taking a deep breath and smelling the fresh-cut grass. Some found double sessions stressful, but not him. Jeff reveled in the competition, in pushing his body to its limit and feeling it respond. Out here two years ago he remade himself, casting aside the old him. Gone forever was the shy, timid boy he’d been.

“How come Coach didn’t ask me to run this part of practice instead of a junior?” asked Garrett Humphries for about the tenth time that day, shattering his sense of peace. “I’ve played on a state championship team.” The whole team was tired of hearing how the new guy played on a championship team at his old school north of New York City. The team could point to half a dozen members who also played hockey and won a state championship less than six months ago if they cared to. They didn’t.

Jeff rolled his eyes at some of his other teammates before finishing the current drill. Once finished, Jeff caught everyone else’s attention while making sure Garrett didn’t see the running motions he made. He caught his coach’s attention too, making the same running motions with his fingers. Jeff also opened and closed his hand like someone running their mouth while chucking his head toward Humphries. Coach Romanov nodded; he was sick of hearing about the championship team, too.

“Guys,” Jeff addressed the group, “I’m worried about our conditioning going into this season.” Mock groans from the experienced players filled the air. Humphries and the freshmen looked confused; they wouldn’t be for long. “Let’s go!” was all Jeff said before he took off running, the other midfielders falling in behind him. The new players scrambled to keep up.

While he didn’t set a blistering pace, Jeff set one faster than the jog a midfielder used most often when moving around the field; it seemed as if he’d never stop running. Jeff kept the group running for the rest of the morning’s practice session before cutting them loose at lunch. Jeff used the opportunity to corral the freshmen and speak to them while he watched the rest of the team head for the locker room. Humphries had left the group to go collapse in the shade.

“Guys, a midfield succeeds or fails on its endurance. Some of you need a bit more work on your running, and some of you already look like you’re where we need you to be, but you all did well for this early in the season. For today, rest up and eat slowly during lunch. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. No soda. Coach wants us back here at one o’clock.”

Tom Jarrett, now a senior, came up to Jeff as they headed back to the locker room. “How much of that was to shut that guy up?” Tom asked him in a low voice; there was a small smile on his face.

“Yeah, that was kinda petty of me,” Jeff admitted.

“The prick deserved it,” Tom said with feeling. “From what I’ve heard, that guy didn’t get much playing time at his old school last year; he’d be more accurate if he told people he collected splinters in his ass watching his team win.” Tom paused to let that sink in.

“And now you also know that these frosh can hang with us deeper into a game than most freshmen can at this point in the season. Plus you’re protecting the new guys from that jerk; he can’t shoot his mouth off if he’s sucking wind,” Tom pointed out, clapping his younger friend on the back. “He thinks he should be a leader because he’s a senior. Jeff, you’re more captain material now as a junior than he’ll ever be. You’ve proved since your freshman year that you’ve got what it takes on the field and off.”

“I’m sorry you’re not feeling well, babe,” Joe Knox said to Marisa, rubbing her back while they walked back into the house.

“I’m sorry I ruined our day out together, Joe,” Marisa apologized, her color still pale. They tried to take advantage of the mid-September day and head to Amherst; the kids were doing their own things this Saturday. Before she and Joe got to the college town, a stomach bug reared its ugly head and Marisa started throwing up on the side of Route 160 in Pelham.

“It’s not your fault, babe,” Joe assured her. “Why don’t you head upstairs and lie down?”

“Thanks, hon...” Marisa turned and trudged up the stairs.

As she passed Jeff’s room she thought she heard laughter. That’s weird, Marisa thought, I figured Pauline and Jeff would still be out. She opened his door while she knocked on it. “Jeff?” she called.

She heard gasps and frantic movement. She gasped herself when she saw a flash of Pauline’s naked back as she ducked under the covers and a red-faced Jeff reclined on the bed; thank heavens that he was under the covers, too. Clothes from both teenagers were strewn across his normally neat room.

“OH!” Marisa exclaimed as realization hit her. “I’m sorry, guys. Get dressed and then come down to the living room to see Joe and me.” Marisa backed out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Son of a...” Jeff whispered, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry, Pauline,” he said to his girlfriend as she peeked out from under the covers. “I thought they’d be gone all afternoon!”

“Me too,” she said. “Still, bad news doesn’t get better with age,” Pauline said while she climbed out of the bed to get redressed. Jeff admired her nude body and wondered if it would be the last time he’d get to see it. “You’d best get cleaned up and get dressed,” she said. “I’ll wait here until you’re done.”

“I thought you were going to lie down?” Joe asked his wife, confusion settling over his features.

“Joe, I think I just walked in on Pauline and Jeff having sex,” Marisa said as she settled onto the couch next to her husband. Joe rubbed his hands over his face.

“Oh, man!” he whispered, casting his eyes at the ceiling. “I was hoping we’d go a little bit longer before we got to this point.”

“Yeah. At least they’re being responsible about it; I think I saw a box of condoms on Jeff’s nightstand.”

“Thank heavens for small favors,” Joe sighed. “I guess we’ll have to tell Dave and Kyra,” meaning Pauline’s parents.

“Definitely, but let’s see what the kids have to say first.”

Pauline and Jeff came down the stairs hand-in-hand. They managed to look unashamed of what they’d been doing while not coming off as defiant. They sat side-by-side together on the couch and looked at Jeff’s parents, waiting for them to say something.

“Guys, first of all, I’m sorry I walked in on you like that,” Marisa said.

“Mrs. K., it was bound to happen, honestly,” Pauline replied. “It was just bad luck.”

“I am glad that you two were at least being responsible,” Marisa said. “I saw the box of condoms on Jeff’s nightstand.”

“Plus I’m on The Pill, Mrs. K. We aren’t taking chances here.”

“Pauline, you understand that we have to tell your Mom and Dad?” Joe asked. “We can’t exactly keep this a secret.”

“Not to be flip, Dad, but we should call them now,” Jeff said. “You guys know, so Mr. and Mrs. Micklicz should know as soon as possible.”

“You seem remarkably calm about the prospect of Pauline’s parents learning about this,” Marisa said.

“Are you kidding, Mom?” Jeff asked. “Excuse my language, but there are skid marks on my shorts just thinking about the prospect.”

“It’s not like we can keep you two from seeing each other, Jeff,” his father pointed out. “You go to the same school.”

“Of all of the irresponsible things to do!” Kyra Micklicz cried to her daughter as she and Dave talked with Pauline in her living room. ‘Talked’ was being generous; Kyra ranted for twenty minutes. Chris made himself scarce at his father’s suggestion long before Pauline returned.

“You’re right, Mom, it was irresponsible,” Pauline admitted, hoping to slow her mother down. “We should have made sure Jeff’s door had a lock.” That didn’t do it.

“Don’t take that tone with me, young lady!”

“Kyra...” Dave broke in, casting a look at his wife. Kyra swallowed what she’d been about to say and crossed her arms. She harrumphed and leaned back into the couch.

“Mom, Dad, Jeff, and I are being as careful as we can be,” Pauline explained to her parents now that she was able to get a word in. “There’s protection on both sides. We know that’s not a guarantee, so we add the rhythm method on top of both. It’s not tatistically zero, but the risk is as close to zero as we can get it.”

“That’s IT! You’re not to see him anymore!” Kyra declared, having caught her second wind.

Pauline fixed her mother with a withering gaze. “Don’t even THINK that again, Mother,” she said in a voice that dripped ice. “Jeff’s a nearly straight-A student, a three-sport athlete, is almost universally liked by every clique there is at school, and he works a job he’s held for over two years where he’s been given raise after raise because of his performance. On top of ALL of that, he manages to spend time with me and treats me like GOLD. Would you like me to continue?” Pauline crossed her arms as she continued to stare her mother down.

“Pauline...” Dave said in the same conciliatory tone he’d used before. “We’re just worried that something could happen and derail all of your plans; as much as I like Jeff, and you know I do, you’re our daughter first.”

Pauline sighed and answered her father in a much calmer tone. “Dad, I know. I know that you guys are trying to warn me about what can happen, and have experience seeing it happen to other families. As Mr. Knox pointed out, Jeff and I go to the same school; are you going to pull me out of there and send me to Palmer High?”

Her mother sighed, the angry look falling away. “No,” she admitted. “Thompkins is where both you and your brother need to be.”

“Jeff and I have slightly less than one year left together, and that’s barring some catastrophe. I’ll be headed somewhere for college at the end of next summer; he’ll just be starting his senior year. All I’m asking for is that year. No special treatment, no changes to the rules beyond what you might think reasonable as I grow up. That’s all, Mom.”

Kyra looked over at her husband who gave her an almost imperceptible nod. “Okay, honey,” Kyra said in a much quieter voice. “I’m sorry I yelled.”

“Me too, Mom,” Pauline offered. She stood up to hug her mother. “I’ll go start my homework now. Call me before dinnertime?”

“Okay, honey,” her father said, also hugging her while kissing the top of her head. “Love you.”

“Love you guys, too!” Pauline called over her shoulder as she left the room.

“Well, that ended better than it started,” Dave said to his wife as they sat back on the couch. He threw an arm around her shoulders.

Kyra sighed again. “I hate that she’s growing up! I was changing her diapers just yesterday!”

“I know, honey,” Dave chuckled. “Our parents probably said the same thing. Honestly, though, have you ever seen her this happy?”

“You mean when I’m not yelling at her?”

Dave laughed louder. “You weren’t yelling, Kyra. You were surprised by the situation and concerned for our daughter’s welfare.”

Now Kyra laughed. “Are you planning on running for office? In all seriousness, that was a well-thought-out argument she presented.”

“Yeah, her parents didn’t raise no dummy.” Kyra swatted at Dave. “So we let them keep on keepin’ on?”

Kyra cast her eyes at the ceiling. “God help me but, yes. I don’t see how we could do anything else. Trying to keep them apart wouldn’t end well.”

“We should call Joe and Marisa a little later. I would imagine that there’s a very similar conversation going on over on West Ware Road.”

“Your parents actually said that to my parents?” Jeff asked, shocked. “After the way the discussion started at your place?” He was holding Pauline in his arms as they leaned against his locker at Thompkins two days later.

“Kinda shocking, isn’t it?”

“Only slightly less than four million volts would be.”

“You’re always telling me that it’s not the voltage but the current.”

“Shaddap, kid.”

“Come on, Officer Obie,” Pauline laughed as she straightened up. “It’s time to get to homeroom.”

Jeff and Pauline continued their line of conversation the next time they saw each other, which was at lunch.

“So how do we approach this year?” Jeff asked. “Like you said, you’ll be off to college next August.”

“Same as we’ve been approaching our whole relationship, Jeff. We take it as it comes, talk about things, help each other where we can; we can fill in the details later.”

“I should probably quit my job at Bilzarian’s after graduation so I can spend more time with you.”

“No. No, I’m not sure that’s the right decision at all.”

“Why not?”

“Well...” She paused to gather her thoughts. “Alright, let’s look at it from this angle: do we spend every waking moment together?”

“No, I guess we don’t.”

“Right. While we’re together, we each also have things that we do separately, right?”

“Yeah, I guess I see what you’re saying. Mom doesn’t work at the garage fixing the same car as Dad. They have lives together at home, but each is still their own person.”

“Exactly. I think that’s how we should approach next year, specifically next summer.”

“Okay. Point taken.”

“So, what were you and Pauline talking about at lunch? Why do you need to plan out the year in September?” Kathy asked Jeff later. He and Kathy were walking to their French IV class together. Jeff now took French IV and Spanish IV, having placed out of French III.

“Well, since she’s a senior this year, she’ll obviously be at college next year, right?”

“Right.”

“So, she was trying to keep me from putting too much pressure on myself, or on both of us, about our relationship. There’s an end in sight, but I don’t need to stress over it.”

“Why does there have to be an end? Why not continue it next year?”

“First, it’ll be a long-distance relationship, no matter where she goes. Second, wherever she winds up I’ll have no frame of reference for the things she experiences. Third, if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen.”

“You’re too grown up.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Hey, guys,” Jeff said in greeting as he sat down to lunch the next day. Their table’s cast of characters didn’t change much from day to day: he and Pauline, Kathy and Jack, Tom and his girlfriend Connie. The only frequent change was the near-constant rotation of teammates he and Tom played with who often filled out the table. Today there was a new addition seated next to Kathy.

“Hey, Jeff. Jeff, I’d like you to meet Allison Newbury. She’s a junior like us.”

“Hi, Allison. Welcome to our little slice of heaven. I’m Jeff Knox. Did you already meet Pauline, my girlfriend?” Allison nodded that she had. “What brings you to the picturesque Swift River Valley more halfway through high school?”

Allison giggled. “Dad works for the Air Force as a civilian; he’s a logistics specialist. He recently transferred to Westover and now we live in New Salem.” Westover Air Force Base was in Chicopee, just north of Springfield. “The transport unit there is switching to a larger type of cargo plane sometime soon and the Air Force asked Dad to come help out. We’ve only been here about a month and both Mom and Dad are already talking about not ever leaving.”

Jeff raised his eyebrows. “Wow. Westover’s what? An hour from here? New Salem’s a pretty town, and you’re very welcome here, but that’s still a powerful long drive.”

“Dad said it’s worth it for us to live in this area and for me to be able to come to school here,” Allison explained. “He wants me to be challenged in math and science.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m planning to be a cosmologist or an astrophysicist.”

“What’s that?” Jeff asked. “I know you didn’t say ‘cosmetologist.’”

“Cosmologist,” she repeated. “Someone who studies the origins of the universe. An astrophysicist does the same with the actual stars.”

“Oh, so light-Saturday-reading-type of stuff?”

Allison laughed.

“You should have had that one,” Jeff told Tom as they backed up to receive the goalie’s punt.

“Yeah, well, a low, hard shot might not have been the best choice on a day like this,” Tom replied. “I was trying to make the ball skip like a stone across a pond.” A low, heavy overcast hung over the valley this day in late September, obscuring the hilltops surrounding the school. Just after lunch, it opened up and the deluge soaked the ground. Since soccer was an almost all-weather sport, the game went on as scheduled.

Tom’s shot on a near-empty net stopped dead on the wet, sodden soccer pitch in a puddle of standing water in front of the goal. Their opponent’s goalie, who had been caught out of position, only had to walk over and pick the ball off the turf. “At least this is a home game. We don’t have a bus ride ahead of us like that one from Central Catholic last year.”

Jeff stared at his friend while rainwater dripped off his nose. “Stop trying to cheer me up, okay?”

“So, New Girl? How about a date?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Allison responded, putting her books in her locker. The quicker she got that done, the quicker she could get away from this boy; he seemed like bad news to her. Two months into the school year and he hasn’t bothered to learn my name? she asked herself.

“Oh, I think you want to go out with me,” he said in a gentle yet menacing voice. He pushed the top section of her locker closed as he gave her his unsolicited opinion. It closed with a soft <click>. Now Allison was scared, not just annoyed.

As the boy advanced and caused her to try and back away, he stiffened, cocked his head to his right, and gurgled.

“Are we making this an annual occurrence, Cosgrove?” Jeff whispered into the bully’s right ear as he stood behind him.

Jeff saw Cosgrove crowding Allison by her locker as he walked down the hall with Pauline. He came up behind Cosgrove and pushed a thumb into the pressure point just above the inside of Cosgrove’s left elbow; his other thumb dug into a pressure point behind the point of Cosgrove’s jaw on the right side of his face. Either was enough to gain compliance through the pain they generated. The pain from both was crippling.

“Are you okay, Allison?” Jeff asked as he held the pressure on those spots. He pushed Cosgrove into the lockers.

“I’m okay, Jeff, thank you.”

“I’m glad,” Jeff said as he gave her a gentle smile. That smile contrasted with the pain he inflicted on the boy who menaced her. “Why don’t you go join Pauline and I’ll be with you ladies in a moment?” She answered with a quick nod. Jeff’s expression changed when he turned his attention back to the bane of his existence. Gone was the friendly face he showed Allison and in its place was one well past pissed off.

“I’ve told you over and over to leave people alone, dickhead,” Jeff whispered. “That’s your name now as far as I’m concerned - Dickhead with a capital ‘D.’ Here’s a subject we haven’t yet discussed - ‘no’ means ’NO.’” Jeff punctuated his point on the word no by pulling Cosgrove off the lockers and then shoving him back against them with a resounding crash. Jeff kept the pressure on. “Does that noise sound familiar? Remind you of last year?” Jeff repeated the maneuver, causing the lockers to rattle again.

“I swear to God you piss me off like no one else. Does it come naturally, or do you make an effort to be that way? Tell you what. I’m going to let go now, and you’re going to pick up your books and just walk away. Okay?” Jeff released Cosgrove and took a big step back in case the bully tried something. Sure enough, Cosgrove spun around with murder in his eyes.

Jeff had enough. He slammed Cosgrove back against the lockers, his hand around the bully’s neck; that hand connected to an iron bar disguised as Jeff’s arm. Jeff applied just enough pressure to Cosgrove’s throat to prevent him from swallowing. Cosgrove’s eyes bulged as he tried pulling at Jeff’s arm without success. “I recommend that you don’t even try whatever you’re thinking about. I will put you on the ground faster than your brother at Prom last year. How’s his nose, by the way? Is it still spread across his face?”

“Listen very closely: your third strike with me came when you took a run at me last March. You’re living on borrowed time and that time is rapidly running out. It may run out here at Thompkins, or you might actually make it to graduation and get out of here in one piece. I may be the one to punch your ticket, or that opportunity may fall to someone else some other day. I.” <crash> “DON’T.” <CRASH> “CARE!” <CRASH> He released Cosgrove again; the other boy’s eyes were wide as Jeff stepped back.

Jeff kept his eyes on Cosgrove while he turned back to Pauline and a wide-eyed Allison. He took a few steps before he looked away. Jeff took loud breaths in through his nose and blew them out through his mouth.

“Are you done playing now?” Pauline asked with a grin, trying to lighten Jeff’s mood. He just growled at her, closing his eyes still trying to calm himself. He took more slow, deep breaths.

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that, Allison,” Jeff said, his eyes reopening after he’d calmed down.

“You really don’t like him, do you?” she asked.

“That’s a very long story,” Jeff replied.

“Well, I guess you showed him.”

“Quod Erat Demonstrandum.”

“Do they do that a lot?” Allison asked Pauline while they walked to math class; Allison was a year ahead of most juniors in that subject and took Calculus with the seniors.

“Who? Jeff and Cosgrove?” Pauline asked in reply. Allison nodded. “I guess they’ve been at each other since the first day of their freshman year. Cosgrove was harassing Jack and Jeff called him on it. They seem to have a go at each other a few times a year.”

“Oh.”

Pauline stopped in the middle of the hall, placing a hand on Allison’s arm so she’d stop as well. “Allison, you have to understand Jeff is only like that with people who threaten him or his friends. He does that for his friends, not to his friends. He was bullied pretty badly when he was in public school here in Enfield. He decided after his Eighth Grade year that Thompkins was going to be a new start for him so he started making his own choices. Working out was one, making an effort to talk to people was another, not taking crap from others, especially bullies, was yet another.”

Pauline started walking towards their class again with Allison alongside. “Last year, after my brother and Jeff started playing hockey together, Chris introduced us. That poor boy blushed bright red and stammered so hard I thought he’d bite off his tongue. Over the hockey season, I got to know him; he’s sweet, funny, and a true gentleman. After the two of them helped bring the school a state hockey championship, I grabbed him in full view of our families, their teammates, and others and laid a kiss on him. He was so shocked he dropped what he was carrying.”

“When we got back to school from Spring Vacation, Cosgrove tried to smack him in the head while Jeff and I were talking at my locker. Jeff handled it but thought he had scared me away. I think he probably hates Cosgrove for that alone. He apologized to me and started to walk away; he looked like someone had just stolen everything from him. I showed him he was wrong and we’ve been together ever since.”

“Allison, I’ll tell you something in confidence before we get to Calculus. I’m not going to be here next year, you know that. But Jeff will be lost, no matter how much he prepares; he’s like that. It won’t be easy for me, either, but I think I’ll recover faster than he will. I think you two would be good together, even though I’ve only known you a couple of months.”

“Wait, what?”

“You and Jeff. I think you’d make a good couple.”

“No way!” Allison protested. “I’m not good enough for him, not after he’s dated someone like you! I mean, look at you! I’m nowhere near as pretty as you for starters!”

Pauline stopped again and raised an eyebrow. “You wanna try that again, Miss Newbury? You blow me away academically. You get his humor, which is no mean feat by itself. We help you a little with your hair and stuff and you’ll knock people’s socks off! If this is something you want, truly want, I will help put you in a position to make it happen.”

Allison considered the older girl’s words for many moments. “You know? I think I do,” she said.

“Well, so much for playoffs,” remarked Tom Jarrett. He and Jeff sat on their home pitch watching Greenfield High School celebrate their win; fifth-seeded GHS eliminated the fourth-seeded Thompkins team in the first round of the Western Mass Division II soccer tournament.

“The bright side being that you can hang out with Connie until baseball starts,” Jeff pointed out. Constance (Connie) Bisciglia had been Tom’s girlfriend since the start of the year. Tom didn’t play hockey.

“There is that,” Tom admitted. “Come on. We’ve gotta get these guys in line and shake hands.”

Jeff looked up and down the street to see if he was being followed. Snorting at his own silliness, Jeff opened the door to the office he came to enter.

“Good morning, young man!” a very large individual in a Marine Corps uniform said. He came over to shake Jeff’s hand; Jeff’s hand disappeared in his. “How can I help you?”

“Uh, actually Sergeant, I came to speak to an Army recruiter.”

“Certainly! Sergeant Williams can help you out with that.” The Marine indicated another man who was rising from his desk wearing a different uniform. “If you have any questions about the United States Marine Corps, you come on back over.”

“Thank you, Sergeant.”

“Good morning. I’m Sergeant Bill Williams. I understand you have some questions about the Army?”

“Yes, Sergeant,” Jeff answered nodding. “Um... ‘William Williams?’”

“Yeah, my parents had an interesting sense of humor,” the sergeant laughed. “Come on over to my desk and I’ll answer any questions you might have.”

Jeff talked to Sergeant Williams for almost forty-five minutes. Sergeant Williams gave Jeff a few pamphlets to look over and promised not to call his house yet.

Jeff gasped when the pain hit him. He rolled onto his back and grabbed at his foot but his skate was in the way. That was a good thing, or he’d have injured it more. The trainers shuffled across the ice, helped along by his teammates.

“Jeff? Jeff, what happened?” Stephanie Birch, the lead athletic trainer, asked him. He couldn’t see her face clearly as his eyes were watering from the pain.

“Slapshot to the foot,” he told her through gritted teeth. He laid down on the ice to try and block a shot. He was successful but it was a Pyrrhic victory for him.

“Does anything else hurt?”

“That’s not enough?”

Steph laughed a short laugh. “Well, your sense of humor’s not broken,” she said. “Let’s get you off the ice and see about your foot.” Chris Micklicz and Barry Silvers, one of this year’s freshmen, helped Jeff to his feet; they supported him under the arms as all three slowly skated off the ice. Passing through the boards, Pauline and Kara were already there, having watched from the bleachers.

“Kiddo, can you get Mom?” he asked Kara. “They’ll likely want me to go to the hospital.” She nodded and disappeared. “Steph, is it okay if Pauline sits in the training room?” Jeff turned and asked Pauline, “That’s if you want to?” Both women nodded and Pauline fell in behind the three hockey players.

Steph cut his laces to minimize the pain as she worked his skate off. Once off, everyone could see the purplish-red and silvery bruise on his left instep; this indicated a fracture to one or more of the bones there.

“Well if my guess is correct, Jeff, your season is over unless we reach the playoffs,” Steph said in apology.

Jeff lay down on the training table. “Man...” he sighed as he rubbed his face. He felt Pauline kiss him on the forehead; at least he guessed it was Pauline and not Steph since there were no sounds of a catfight.

“Jeff?” his mother’s voice called.

“In here, Mrs. Knox,” Steph answered while waving Marisa and Kara into the room.

Marisa took in the sight of Jeff’s elevated foot with an ice pack on it. “Well, at least it’s been a while since you’ve gotten hurt playing sports.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, still reclined on the table. “Just take me down to Dad’s shop and put my foot in the frame straightener; I’ll be fine.” The three women in the room laughed at his joke. When Coach Kessler entered and was given the news, he did not.

“I’ll run Jeff over to GVMC and get this x-rayed, Mrs. Knox,” Steph said. “We have an agreement with their Sports Medicine Department and ER, so he’ll be back here in about thirty to forty-five minutes.”

“You don’t need me for permission or anything?”

“No, Marisa. It’s all part of the sports waiver you sign at the beginning of each school year,” Coach Kessler explained. “The coach, or his designee, can handle that in cases like these; Steph is my designee for this.”

“Okay, John, thanks. Kara, do you want to stay, go home, what?”

“I might as well go home, Mom,” Kara said. “I’m sure Pauline will want to go with Jeff.”

“If it’s allowed?” Pauline asked while nodding, indicating she’d like to go with Jeff.

“So, you are done for the season?” Pauline asked while Jeff settled into his seat at the lunch table.

“Unless by some miracle we make the playoffs,” Jeff said, laying his crutches on the floor. The official report came from Sports Medicine yesterday; it had taken three weeks to get it, but it was in.

With Jeff unavailable, Chris was paired with Paul Benton who, even as a senior, wasn’t ready for the bright lights. Without a solid defense to compensate for the lack of offense this year, Thompkins was well off last year’s pace. They’d been eliminated from the playoffs three days ago.

“What about baseball?”

“I should be ready. I’ll get the cast off about the beginning of March and I can begin rehab right after that. It’ll be kinda tight, but I should be ready before the season starts.”

There was only a slight twinge when Jeff’s left foot struck the pavement. His walking cast had only been off for a week; he’d been flexing and extending the foot as much as possible, trying to regain range of motion in his left ankle. His lower leg muscles had atrophied under the cast. He didn’t have too long to regain strength there.

Jeff took his first post-cast run. He returned to the track at Thompkins for the run, partially out of safety and partially out of convenience. His stamina had slipped a bit while unable to run. The parts of his workout he could do without his foot kept the loss negligible. The growing ache in his left ankle threatened to end his run before anything else.

After three miles the ache was noticeable, and the slight limp it produced. He limped to Coach Kessler’s office. Kessler looked up from his paperwork when Jeff entered.

“How’d it go?” his coach asked.

“Stamina-wise, it went fine. The flexibility in my left ankle still needs work. Running three miles hurt and I’ve got a little limp now. We’ll see how I feel later.”

“Let me know tomorrow morning?”

“Sure thing, Coach.”

Jeff sprinted across center field, tracking the line drive; the ache in his left ankle he noticed a week ago was barely there as he ran. The ball reached the top of its arc and dipped toward the grass. Jeff launched himself, reaching out, spreading the wide, deep maw of his outfielder’s mitt open to snare the ball just above the turf. He smelled freshly-cut grass when he slid across the outfield.

“Didn’t look like he had any issue with that,” one of the spectators said to the man with him.

“Nope,” the other man responded.

The next batter stroked a line drive into center field. The ball flew lower; it bounced off the turf in short center, once. Before it could bounce again Jeff scooped it up on a dead run. He fired the ball to first base. The ball’s laces spun through the air with an audible sizzle. The first baseman was ready. He stretched for the throw which beat the stunned batter by a full step.

“Damn,” the man whispered.

“Yep,” his partner responded.

Jeff jogged in from center when the top half of the first inning ended.

“How’s the ankle?” Coach Kessler asked.

“Feels great!” Jeff assured him. Kessler nodded.

The first three hitters for Thompkins reached base. It was up to Jeff as a clean-up hitter to drive in the runs. He dug in and stared at the pitcher. The pitcher, hoping to get ahead in the count, tried an outside curve. It didn’t break much, tracking the middle of the plate. Jeff pounced on it, slamming it deep to left field. The pitcher almost gave himself whiplash watching it go.

The ball bounced off the parking lot beyond the left field fence; no windshields were harmed during that home run. Jeff sprinted halfway to first before the ball cleared the fence. He was mobbed at home plate by three base runners who scored on his hit.

“Runs, throws, catches, and hits for power. Only one more to go,” said the man in the bleachers.

“Yep.”

Two innings later, with Thompkins up five to one, Jeff came to the plate again with one man on second. He stared out at the pitcher he’d faced in the first inning. The pitcher missed his spot again; the ball arrived just inside the outside corner when the catcher had asked for it off the plate. Jeff hit what he was given. He punched it into the opposite field for a single, bringing in another run.

“And he hits for average. All five tools.”

“Yep.”

Two hours later the two men were in their rental car driving back to their hotel. They called their boss once they’d returned to their room.

“I’m tellin’ ya, Bob, if the kid can be consistent then he’s the real deal,” the first man said to his boss at the other end. “Four-for-four with a grand slam, two doubles, a single, and seven RBIs. He threw a guy out at first from center! A diving catch on another play! No issues we could see with that ankle, either.”

“Yep,” agreed the second man from a chair nearby.

The first man listened to the voice on the phone for a moment. “Well, make your decision quick, ‘cause we saw at least four other teams scouting this kid.”

“So you’re all set for this weekend?” Pauline asked, wrapped in Jeff’s arms as they ate lunch. They were under their favorite tree looking out over the playing fields.

“Yep,” Jeff confirmed. “I picked up the tux this past weekend and I’ve already checked the fit. I’m picking up your corsage at the florist’s on Saturday morning, then I’ll be by to pick you up at six.” It was Prom once again for the couple, their second together. It also marked the closing days of Pauline’s senior year; she’d be off to UMass-Amherst at the end of the summer. The couple agreed they would enjoy what time they had left together, and part as friends at the end of that time. Pauline could feel a tension within Jeff today, despite his outwardly calm exterior.

“Jeff? Is something wrong?”

He hugged her a little tighter. “Never anything wrong around you, babe.”

She smacked his arm at the flippant reply. “Jeff, I’m serious. I can tell that there’s something wrong.”

Jeff sighed. “It’s not about us, Pauline, not directly. It’s about what I’m going to do after my senior year next year.”

“You’re going to college on a baseball scholarship, right? I mean, aren’t you?” she asked, confused. Despite the baseball team’s lackluster performance this year, his performance caused the scouts to circle.

“I don’t know, Pauline,” Jeff sighed again. “I’m not entirely certain that I’m ready to go to college. Plus I feel like I need to do something else, something more worthwhile than just going to school and playing baseball.” Jeff paused. “I think I might join the Army.”

“WHAT?” she hissed, stunned. “The Army? When did you decide that?”

“Just recently,” Jeff answered. “It’s becoming something I feel like I need to do, for myself. I don’t want to go to college just because I’m expected to.” With a 3.8-ish GPA, college was definitely something Jeff was expected to do.

“Have you told your parents?”

“As the saying goes, ‘I may be crazy, but I ain’t stupid.’ I know I have to tell them eventually, but I need a bit more info first. I’m not ready just yet.”