Chapter 19

Mason

 

        A few days later, I suited up for the next game.  Practice with the rest of the team went okay.  No one seemed to blame me for the loss.  That’s the great thing about being on a team.  If you win, you all share in the glory, but if you lose, you gotta all take the hit.  Still, I was a little nervous.

        Dinkins, my left tackle, saw me at my locker and punched me in the arm good naturedly.

        “Hey QB, you okay?” he said.

        “Just trying to get my head in the game,” I said, putting on a brave face.

        “I heard some rumors about you and your bro, not that I’m judging---“

        Oh, shit.  Everyone knows.  Faith is going to be humiliated.

        “Uh, about what?” I asked.

        “I’m one of the guys that owes Kyle money too,” he whispered.  “Don’t sweat it though.  The guy’s a douchebag.  Thinks his money buys him anything.  It don’t buy loyalty.”

        I breathed a sigh of relief, but then realized if he didn’t know that secret---

        “Yeah, I didn’t think you guys would turn against us,” I said.

        “But your brother, Logan,” said Dinkins.  “He’s in over his head.  That’s a lot of money, QB.  What the Hell made him place that bet?”

        “Just stupid greed, I guess,” I dismissed.

        “You guys gonna be okay for the money,” he asked.  “I mean, I know your family does okay, but…”

        “Oh, yeah,” I assured him.  “My dad’s pissed of course, but he’ll eventually bail him out and we’ll work something out.  Don’t sweat it, man.  But thanks for your concern.”

        “Okay, cool.  See you in the huddle,” he smiled.

        Dinkins walked off and I wandered around the empty locker room trying to think.  Now my head was totally out of the game and whether or not I should call dad.  Finally, I decided that at the very least, I could pretend like I was inviting him to the game.  I dialed and waited for him to pick up.

        “Mason?” he answered.  “What’s up, Son?”

        “Hey, dad,” I greeted.  “I’m playing quarterback.  I’m the quarterback on the team.”

        “Wait, what?  The backup quarterback?”

        “No-no, the actual quarterback,” I clarified.  “I had to go in midway through the last game.  It didn’t go well.”

        “Right-right,” he said, rushing me through the conversation.  “What do you need, Mason?  I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

        He was always in the middle of something.  Never time for me or Logan.  Rushing through life, ignoring us.  One day, I’d turn the tables on him.  I’d stick him in a home and he’ll beg me for a visit.  I’ll tell him I’m too busy.  I’d rush him off the phone and I wouldn’t care if he cried.

        “Well, me and Logan have a problem,” I started.

        “Okay, what?” he said, urging me along.

        “When you didn’t want to give us the money for our friend’s house, Logan placed a big bet on last week’s game.  Now he owes something like $212K to a guy.  He doesn’t see any way out, so he’s going to a high stakes poker game tonight to try and get even.  I couldn’t talk him out of it.”

        There was a long pause.  For a second, I thought maybe I got cut off.

        “Hello?” I finally said.

        “I’m still here,” he said.  “I’m not sure what you want me to do.  You and your brother are grown adults.”

        “Dad, we don’t have that kind of money!”

        “Then maybe your brother shouldn’t place big bets,” he countered.  “I’ve always said, life is about consequences.  Your brother is just going to have to face his.”

        I heard people talking to him in the background.

        “Mason, I gotta go,” he rushed off.  “Good luck at your thing.”

        “My football game,” I finished for him.

        The phone went dead.  I don’t think he heard me.  This was nothing new.  You may have thought leaving him in a home sounded harsh.  He’ll be lucky if I leave him in a good one.  What good is all this money in our family if we never really act like a family?

        Screw this.  I had to get my head in the game.  If I could hit big with my football career it would solve all my problems.  I’d have money and friends---  I could start my own family and I wouldn’t be like my father.  I’d actually spend time with my kids, watch them grow up and go to all of their events!

        “Hey,” a feminine voice said.

        I turned.  It was Faith.

        “You look stressed, baby, you okay?” she asked, her forehead crinkled in concern.

        “I called my dad.  I told him about Logan,” I confessed.  “I know I shouldn’t have done it, but---“

        “What did he say?”

        “Nothing,” I shrugged.  “He really doesn’t give a fuck.”

        “Maybe he just doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation,” she said diplomatically.

        “Please, don’t defend him,” I insisted.  “I told him I’m playing quarterback tonight and it was like I was telling him what I had for dinner.  No reaction!”

        “I’m sorry, babe,” she said, touching my face lightly.

        “I’m glad you’re here though,” I said.

        “Mason, I haven’t said it yet, but I love you and Logan,” she said.  “I would do anything for you.”

        We kissed.  She pushed me back against the lockers.  I was a little top heavy with all my gear on.

        “Come with me,” she said, smiling.

        She pulled me into a storage room where we keep the extra towels.  She started undoing my pants and it took a minute to pull my cup out of my jockstrap.

        “What are you doing?” I laughed knowingly.

        “Relaxing you before a big game my big man,” she grinned.

        Taking my cock out, she started sucking it.  It was loving and sexual at the same time.  I watched through the tiny window of the storage room to make sure no one was coming our way.  It was fine, everyone was out on the field getting warmed up.

        “Cum for me,” she gasped.  “Cum in my mouth, I can take it!  I’ll take it all!”

        I came hard.  I had to steady myself on a shelf with one hand and I knocked over a few towels in the process.  She sucked on me until I thought she was going to turn my balls inside out.  I was suddenly very relaxed.

        “Oh, my God,” I said a little breathless.  “Thank you.”

        I slipped my jockstrap and cup back into position.  She helped get me all situated again.  She looked me in the eye.

        “You ready to win this game now?” she asked.

        “I think I already did,” I laughed.  “Thanks, babe.”

        “Go get ‘em!”

        I ran out of that locker room with a renewed sense of purpose.  Yeah, I may have had troubles, but I had Faith behind me.  That’s all I really needed, right?  I mean, wasn’t that what life was all about?  Having someone to believe in you and give you a blowjob just when you needed it?  It was above and beyond as far as I was concerned.

        When I got out onto the field, the team instantly could sense I was in a better frame of mind.

        “Hey, there he is,” said Dinkins.  “I didn’t think you were coming out.”

        “Screw you, Dinkins,” said Logan, defending me.  “You fat fuck.”

        “That’s what your mom said,” he replied.

        “That’s impossible since our mom never comes to games, Dinkins.”

        Logan raised an eyebrow.  Normally, I let the banter roll past me.  I wouldn’t participate.  I guess jumping in surprised everyone.

        “All right, guys,” I announced.  “I know I fucked up the last game and I’m sorry.  I was caught up in a bunch of bullshit that had nothing to do with you or this team.  But now, I’ve worked at it, I’m focused and I’m going to win this game today!”

        “Yeah!  Look at this guy!” said Dinkins, slapping my shoulder pads.  “Put him on the line!  He’s ready to kill!”

        Logan looked up in the stands.  He spotted Faith sitting in the seat we reserved for her.  She waved excitedly.

        “I got faith in you, bro,” he said.

        That was our code word for Faith being in the stands watching.  We didn’t want to have to explain things to the rest of the team, at least for now.  We warmed up and there was a whole different vibe to the game.  I guess part of being focused is no longer giving a fuck.  I no longer gave a fuck what my parents did.  They didn’t need me, I didn’t need them.  I had my brother and Faith and that was all I needed.

        Nervous about the previous game, the coach mainly had me stick to hand offs.  But after a full quarter of running the ball, he finally let me do a screen pass.  The rhythm of the constant handoffs had lulled our rivals into a false sense of security and my receiver ran it for a touchdown.

        Our defense held them to a field goal and we got the ball back.  We still stuck mainly to handoffs, but threw in a few short passes every once in a while.  Grinding our way up the field, the coach gave me an option to pass.  I did it on the first play and we made it to the goal line.  One handoff later and we had two touchdowns.

        As we got closer to the end of the first half, our rivals got a little desperate.  They ended up making three incomplete long passes and we got the ball back on a punt.  We got into the huddle.

        “Go long,” I told the wide receiver.

        “What?  Dude!  What are you doing?”

        “Trust me,” I said.  “They’ll never see it coming.”

        Still unable to shake off the doldrums and assuming we would grind it out again, I threw a long pass.  It was a 68 yard touchdown pass. The Highwater College crowd went absolutely nuts.  Later, I would hear that the announcer had to take back every bad thing he had said about me from the previous week.

        The half ended and we went back into the locker room.  The coach reminded us what happened the previous week and urged us not to get cocky.  We were excited, but we kept it under control.  It was time to let the defense do its job.

        At the second half, our rivals got the ball.  They looked renewed and determined to get a touchdown.  They drove us down the field and right to the goal line.  It was time to kick a field goal or go for it.  It was fourth down.  They made an easy, if uninspired field goal, so we were still up by over two touchdowns.

        The coach urged caution and I went back to handoffs for a while.  It made it less likely that we’d lose the ball and it would run time off the clock.  I took a chance.  I threw a screen pass that got batted away by a lucky defender, but I didn’t let it rile me.  I messed up once, but I wasn’t going to let that ruin my game.

        Sticking to the plan, we grinded our way all the way to within ten yards.  I went back to pass, it was supposed to be a fake out and then a handoff, but I saw an opening.  I ran it in for ten yards.  I had never scored a touchdown before!

        “Jesus, Cooper!” said coach Randal as I ran back in.  “If we had another quarterback, I’d take you out to save your arm!  Let someone else play the game, huh?”

        Our rivals finally managed to score a touchdown, but it was too little too late.  They were demoralized.  We came back and scored again.  It seemed like everyone on the team was in the zone!