The Understorey

Jules wasn’t one to be messed with, but if she wasn’t careful my mama was going to slap the sass out of her mouth.



Jules realized the disrespect and tried to atone for it, “Shelby, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be smart. It’s just, I know you think that Elliott and I are co-dependent and I have to admit that you think correctly and I really can’t think of any other way then to just let you think it. At least until enough time passes that you recognize that we found our soul mates a little earlier than most.”



That killed me. She’d never admitted that out loud before. Though it was sort of implied and felt, I’d never heard her say the words. I wanted to jump into the stands and kiss her face.



“You’re right Jules. I do think that but you assume that I don’t also see how he looks at you. That boy is head over heels in love with you and there is no doubt in my mind that one day you’ll become my daughter officially some day. I just want to make sure that he gets the education, no, that you both get the education you deserve. I want to see the two of you get out of this town and its rut and make something of yourselves.”



“Thanks Shelby and I hope you know I mean no disrespect. I can promise you that Elliott is going to be the best student that ever came out of Penn, even with me there. I’ll make sure of that. He has big plans and the day I saw him standing still in that hallway outside Mrs. Kitt’s class was the day that his plans became mine and mine became his. We’ll link them together and I know it will balance, because it’s our destiny.”



That was a little dramatic, but that was Jules and I loved that about her. I could tell the game was about to start because they got really quiet and Jules’ anxiety for my safety seared into the back of my head.



Coach Miles slapped me on the shoulder, jarring my eyes open, and began to go over the first play. I ran onto the field and glanced back at my mom and Jules. My dad was standing next to my mom and Maddy next to him. I could see the whites of Jules’ knuckles and felt a little sorry for her. She always had that same look in her eyes when I played, like she anticipated the worst. She worried about me needlessly though, I never got hurt, not severely anyway.



I felt the bite of the wintery season on my exposed calves and arms and face. It was the perfect weather to play. In a few minutes, I’d be perfectly warm from running up and down the field and I had to admit, I was looking forward to the game.



We won the coin toss and we all got into position. It was a heck of a game and both teams fought tooth and nail. During the fourth quarter, with seven seconds left in the game, we had possession and were tied. It was third down, forty-five yards to the end zone and it was up to me to close the game for good. My coach called his final time-out and we ran in.



“Listen Gray! No overtime boy. I’m in the mood to celebrate now and I don’t feel like waiting.” He turned to everyone in the huddle. “Y’all with me?” He screamed.



Everyone hollered in agreement, “Greenbacks!” and we went screaming back onto the field.



I could feel the stiffness in the crowd. Everyone was perched at the edge of their bleacher waiting to see if I was the clutch player they needed. I had the uncanny ability to stay calm under pressure though and to me, this may as well have been the first play of the game, not the last.



We lined up. I could see the breaths of my team and opponents swirl in the chill night air. The sweat dripped down the defensive linemen like they had poured water over the top of their head. The pressure was on. We planned on mixing things up. They just knew I was going to throw to Jesse, our top wide receiver, but we had someone special hiding under the pretense of defensive left tackle.



We gave the opposing team the impression that our tight end was injured and we were using the tackle as a stand in of sorts. Ol’ Reliable, James Cappelli, two hundred pounds of pure muscle, and we were saving him for just such an occasion.



Cappelli was what you would call an enigma. The guy was large, goofy looking, but could run faster than a speeding bullet. So, when Matthew Tanen snapped the ball I eyed Jesse carefully, giving them the old dog and pony show. How I fooled them I’m not sure, I’m a terrible actor, but when the play began I slyly threw Cappelli the ball. He blasted down the field like a flash of light and when he stepped foot into the end zone, the opposing team were still scratching their heads.



The defensive end who was supposed to be covering Cappelli decided to lunge toward Jesse to see if he could get some of the glory, but instead might as well have been caught with his finger up his nose. That enraged him and like a fool, I started to laugh hysterically.



He was a big boy, probably two hundred and fifty pounds. He had a brief look on his face like I had it coming and he was going to give it to me and out of nowhere charged and tackled me to the ground. I could hear the refs blow their whistles but it didn’t help me one bit, he had already elbowed me hard in the face and my nose was bleeding everywhere.



I felt a little dizzy and all I could hear was booing from my side of the stands. I turned my head and saw Jules’ tiny frame come hurdling from the stands and she was out for some blood of her own. I saw the balls of her feet recoil off the edge of the track, tiny bits of dust spit from underneath the soles of her Converse. Her stride widened with every step she took as she sprinted across the field, her hair a blur behind her head



She was graceful, even with the reddish fury that resided in her usually calm green eyes. Her clothes clung to her feminine frame with the force of the wind. She swung her hands back and forth smoothly, the backs of her forearms brushing against her shirt. If she were anything but human, she would have been a gazelle. I had the strongest inclination to bring myself onto my side and rest my head on my hand just to get a better view of her but I knew that might deter her from whatever she had planned and I wasn’t going to miss that for anything in the world.



When she reached us, she hovered over me and I smiled to reassure her. That must have given her some sense that I was alright so she turned her attention to my pathetic antagonist and reached her hands for the back of his shoulder pads and before anyone could react she yanked him to the ground.



He more than likely dropped out of sheer surprise, his heavy body slumping to the grass. She deftly maneuvered around his grounded girth and placed her foot onto his chest plate. She kept her hands calmly at her side, kept her back straight as an arrow, tilted her head toward him and began to quietly threaten through her teeth. The kinds of things Jules had never thought, let alone said aloud. She had the patience and virtues of a saint, but when it came to the important things everyone knew not to cross her, too bad he didn’t know that.



He started to push her foot off his chest and began to call her bluff. The referee knew that would have dire consequences, for the boy, and pulled her off of him. She fought uselessly to get back to the idiot. I’m guessing she had more to say. She pointed in the boy’s direction and silently stared her warning. It was so powerful that it peeled around him and began to wash over all the boys on the field. She scared the living daylights out of us, but I had never wanted to kiss her more.



When she reached the edge of the field the referee set her down and she hopped the fence in response to something he said but turned our direction once more. She straightened her hair and clothing, turned toward the direction of my truck and attractively sauntered until she was out of sight. I was laughing so hard by then I couldn’t even stand up. Soon, the stands joined me, forgetting our amazing last minute victory.



I finally regained enough control to trot toward the sidelines and because my nose was bleeding, I handed Coach my helmet and with an approving wink fled the field toward Jules. I heard applause but I knew it was for her only. The intensity in that girl’s heart.



I jogged across the parking lot, removing my jersey and shoulder pads, leaving my plain white t-shirt, to a sedately lounging Jules scattered across my hood, her back to my windshield, one hand behind her head, the other twirling the end of a lock of her long hair. I threw my pads and jersey to the gravel and stopped a few feet short of the truck.



“Come here,” I said with a smile.



She melted off the hood of the truck and carelessly strode my way. Her hips had a bit more swing than usual. She stood about a foot in front of me, her head high with confidence and shrugged her shoulders, a slight grin pulled at the right corner of her mouth.



“Well, well miss Jacobs. Care to explain yourself?” I teased.



“It was impulsive,” she said, her face slightly blushing. She gritted her teeth to prevent the obvious grin.



“Oh, yeah, impulsive,” I winked at her. “I have to say, I’ve never seen that side of you before. It was tremendously sexy.”



“Shut up Gray!”



Her face became an instant shade of deep pink.



“Yeah Jules! Especially when you stepped on his chest plate like that,” I closed my eyes and pursed my lips in satisfaction. “Very Joan of Arc of you,” I continued, “charging in like that, by the way. All that was missing were your brave soldiers. I have a feeling, if the referees hadn’t torn you off him, you would have gotten those soon enough.”



“You must think you’re so hilarious Gray.”



She bit her lip trying to keep the smile from her face, but she was failing. The corners of her mouth turned up and they were too strong for her teeth to contain. Finally, she burst into laughter and I followed suit.



“I’m so embarrassed,” she said. “I have no idea what your mom thinks of me now. She’s already on edge about me as it is. My dad is going to kill me and I have the distinct feeling I’ll be receiving the ‘lady like’ convo from my own mom as soon as we get a moment alone.”



“You were so cute Jules I almost kissed your face in front of God and everyone.”



“I’m glad you restrained yourself. At least one of us did. I couldn’t help myself,” she said. “It was like I had no awareness of the people around me. All I know is I saw you bleeding and that ridiculous pinhead was responsible for it. I immediately ran to your side but when you smiled at me all I could feel was this rage inside me as I saw the blood stain your face. Suddenly, it was my job to do something about it, so I did. It was instinctual.”



“Imagine how you felt, babe, quadruple it and that’s how I felt about what happened at Tanen’s. Come on, before everyone bombards you here under these scorching lights,” I said, grabbing her hand, scooping up my pads and jersey and leading her to the passenger side of my truck.



Everyone from our side of town decided to switch things up a bit and piled into Babe’s restaurant in Bluefield. Jules and I got there a little earlier, for obvious reasons, and we sat at a long table with a million chairs. Eventually our fellow Greenbacks, the ones I considered loyal anyway, came streaming in and one by one they began to tease Jules.



She blushed in horror but finally things settled down. It was crazy busy and it was beginning to look like it would turn into a really fun night. Jesse came and sat at our table with us and Greg and four other guys and two random girls who arrived before him.