Chapter 10
“Chug, chug, chug!” chanted Mr. Howzer, the basketball coach, to a group of boys draining water bottles into their mouths. “I don’t want to see a single drop left. Gongdong is going to be the key to our perfect season, and we’re just a couple weeks away from kicking it off!”
It was late Sunday afternoon and the sun was setting. Carter and his team had already spent two hours in the weight room and another hour and a half doing drills in the gym. He tipped the bottle completely upside down, letting its suspicious contents drizzle down his throat. He knew the powder had to be responsible for his terrible stimulation problems, but he didn’t want anyone to know he was having them. If anyone found out what happened to him with either Ms. Downing or Avery, it would be the end of his life.
“So has anyone noticed any side effects to this stuff?” he casually posed.
“Yeah, I’m getting jakked!” Daniel crowed, flexing and evoking cheers from the others.
“No, that’s the main effect. I don’t think you know what a side effect is,” Carter shot back.
“Anybody?” Mr. Howzer echoed, glaring at them all and tightening his fists. He looked like he’d just asked them who had just run over his dog. “Good! Glad no one’s having any problems then. Let’s do a few two-on-ones and then call it a day.”
But Carter had a hunch that every other guy on the team knew exactly what he was talking about. He couldn’t be the only one. Stopping to tie his shoes, he watched the first threesome go through the drill. The three players all leapt for the basket when one took a shot, bumping and rubbing against each other on the way down. By the time they landed, all of them stood around awkwardly for a moment, their eyes alarmed, and then they all trotted off for the bathroom.
Pretty soon the players realized that in drills like this any kind of contact would set them off. They reached forward while sticking their butts out, all of them sweating even though no one had run that much.
Thankful he’d make it safely through another rotation, Carter jogged back to the end of the line, glancing at the door windows on the way. In the adjoining hall, he saw Ms. Downing watching them. More specifically, she was watching him. What on Earth was she doing here? Of course, no one would question it though. She was a gym teacher and she was just watching a bunch of sweaty young boys practice.
When the drill ended, they filed into the locker room to change. Most of the guys handled their underwear with noticeable care. Though the place usually smelled of mildew and mold, it seemed a lot saltier now. Carter purposefully waited until most of the other guys were gone before he left, making sure Ms. Downing had plenty of time to leave, but as soon as he exited into the dimming parking lot, she was right there waiting for him.
He tried to ignore her, rushing directly to his car. This didn’t put her off though, and she was right beside him in a second.
“Carter! Did you get my note?” she asked, forcing him to remember the piece of mail with its one cryptic line. It said, “I can’t wait to see you again.” Weirded out, he glanced at her. Only now did he notice the stunning dress she had on. It was a silky black number exposing much of her chest. It only took one look for that familiar pressure to hit him. He had never seen her look so nice before, far out-classing the pair of khakis and t-shirt he had on.
“What do you want?” he asked, still inching toward his car. No matter how innocently she looked at him, he wouldn’t allow himself to forget how she’d blackmailed him into silence about their previous meeting.
“ I just thought you might like to grab a bite to eat. My treat,” she said, reaching out for his arm but pulling it back when he jerked away.
“You’re out of your mind! After what happened, what could you possibly want with me? If you touch me at all or even bend over more than an inch, it’s just going to cause another full evacuation. So why don’t you leave me alone?” he said, turning away.
“Look, Carter, wait, that’s not why I want you,” she called, clearing her throat. “You see, I’m going through a little bit of a rough patch lately. It’s not hard to find sex, but real companionship is much harder to come by. You’re a sweet boy, Carter, and that bitch Avery really doesn’t deserve you. So why don’t we just go out for some chicken parm and a glass of wine?”
Carter could’ve possibly taken pity on her and gone until she brought up Avery, and that was enough to make him dead-set against it.
“No way! I’m out of here.”
“Wait,” she ordered, desperation in her voice. “if you walk away, so help me God. Next class, I’ll call all the students together, adjust my bra during an explanation, and let everyone watch you grunt like a goat when you eject your cargo.”
“You wouldn’t,” he glared, watching her return a smug nod. “You’re despicable.”
“Better stop talking like that or you won’t get any dessert!” she remarked, leading him over to her car, a neon Jetta.
The car was surprisingly girly, featuring a stuffed animal hanging from the rearview mirror, cheesy pop CD’s scattered about the floor on the passenger side, and decorative blankets draped over the back seat. The whole thing still struck Carter as completely insane, and he didn’t take long to voice his befuddlement.
“Don’t you have friends you could be hanging out with?” he asked, as they pulled out of the parking lot.
“For some reason other women really don’t like me that much,” she said.
“Gee, I can wonder why.”
She took him to a fifteen-dollar-a-plate Italian restaurant just a few blocks away. It was called Bertucci’s and had small Christmas lights strung through the ivy on the outside.
“Table for two, please,” Sandra Downing said to the hostess before turning to Carter. “Nice place, huh?”
“It’s a restaurant. What did you expect?”
She continued to smile through his short retort. Her determination to enjoy his company only made him want to ruin it more. He wasn’t going to be on a date with this woman even if she had dragged him to a candlelight dinner in a romantic restaurant. They were seated at a table against a brick wall. Sandra took her napkin, put it on her lap, took a deep breath, and sighed. Carter found it difficult not to stare at her breasts.
“Thanks for coming here with me,” she said, getting his attention. “It’s nice to unwind in the evening with some company for a change.”
“As if I had a choice,” Carter muttered. To brush off his comment, Sandra cleared her throat and took a sip of water. Carter wondered exactly what it would take to wipe the smile off her face. A waitress handed over the menus, but as soon as Carter took his, Sandra reached out and touched his hand.
“Why don’t you let me order this time, honey?” she began. “We’ll have two orders of the chicken parm and a side order of garlic bread.”
As soon as the waitress turned, he snatched back his hand.
“Did you forget to take your pills this morning?” he cringed. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“This doesn’t have to be so hard, you know. We can just pretend and enjoy it. I don’t see what the whole problem is considering you were the one who started hitting on me.”
“Yeah, but I never forced you to go anywhere you never wanted to go. If it didn’t work out, I would’ve just walked away. That’s what normal people do. They let something go when it’s not working out,” he said, struggling to keep his voice down.
The implication that she wasn’t normal made Sandra’s eyes water up for just a moment. She blinked rapidly and looked away before taking another deep breath.
“Do you want to hear about this funny thing my landlord always does when I see him on my way to work?” she asked, forcing another smile.
“No, I don’t,” Carter responded.
“Well, I’m going to tell you anyway. I leave for work at about seven-thirty and I always walk past the window to my landlord’s living room. The thing is, he always does yoga in there naked. He’s got to be pushing fifty and it’s c
ompletely gross, but I can’t stop myself from glancing in even though it means I’ll feel a little bit sick to my stomach for the entire day. Isn’t that crazy?”
While she spoke, Carter was busy fumbling with his phone under the table. He nodded at Sandra while texting, “Help! Kidnapped!” to Avery.
“Yeah, whoa,” he said to Sandra, having no idea what she had just said. Any second now he would get a text back asking where he was, and then Avery would storm in and rip out her throat. When it vibrated, he glanced down at his phone and read her message: “LOLZ Im helping the homeless today. U can wait.”
What the heck did that mean? Helping the homeless? Carter usually had a good idea what her jokes meant, but this one went right over his head. He stared blankly at his phone for a little too long.
“I’m sorry, what?” he snapped back to Sandra when he realized she was trying to say something to him.
“What are you doing?” she repeated, smiling curiously.
“I’m trying to call someone to come rescue me, because this whole situation is crazy!”
He finally wiped her smile away for good, it seemed, but he disliked seeing her sad even more. She brushed a blonde strand from beside her green eyes, pursing her not-yet-thirty lips, coated in a barely glossy lipstick.
“I’ve known a lot of guys who put on the macho act like you do, Carter, and almost always that’s all they are, an act. But with you I’ve never been so sure there’s something underneath.”
She paused, glancing around at the nearby tables, some of which were empty and some featuring couples.
“You can’t imagine what it’s like,” she whispered, “to have people look at you and see nothing more than a pair of boobs and a warm hole. They’re so interested in you right up until the moment you open your mouth to speak, and then their eyes gloss over and they tune right out. I know what I’m doing is wrong, but I can’t help myself because I want someone to just want to know who I am. And if it takes a sixteen-year-old high school student who can’t have sex to do that, then so be it.”
Carter couldn’t tune out what she said, neither could he dismiss it with a degrading comment. She had been too honest for that, and it made him ashamed of how he’d behaved. Slipping his phone in his pocket, he scratched his head and looked at the troubled woman sitting across from him. She needed his help.
“There’s a solution for that,” he said, one hand reaching out for her and the other cautioning her, “but it’s not me. There are people out there who will listen to you and who want to get to know you, but you have to think about what kind of message your clothing and behavior are sending. Revealing dresses or skimpy sports wear are going to have an impact on how you’re treated, so will muscling people into doing what you want by holding things over their head. I can’t fix your problems, but being honest can.”
A little flicker of hope lit up in her eyes, and an honest grin tickled her lips.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. I won’t know there are things like that I need to change unless someone like you tells me. Plus, having you by my side would give me the strength to follow through on them and make things better,” she said, taking another deep breath. “That’s why we belong together, and you should forget about all those other girls who think they know you because everything you want is right here with me.”
Carter thought she should’ve known she was asking for the impossible. She wanted him to break up with Avery and start dating her, but he just couldn’t do that. He was willing to help, but he couldn’t give up the woman he belonged with. Why would it take dumping Avery to help Ms. Downing anyway? Something didn’t make sense.
“I’m flattered you’re so interested in me, but I really can’t do that. I’m not the kind of guy who’ll just drop his girlfriend and run off with somebody else. I’m here to support you, but as a friend.”
“Fuck,” Sandra scowled, throwing her napkin on the table. Disgusted, she rolled her eyes and leaned back. “Why do I even bother?”
Carter’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. Suddenly, it all made sense.
“That was bullshit, wasn’t it?” he gasped. “You just want me to break up with Avery!”
Now Sandra was laughing in his face, shaking her head as though he were a five-year-old boy who just wet his pants.
“Took you long enough. You’re a real sucker, you know that?” Just then the server delivered their orders of chicken parm. Carter, embarrassed, felt like his face must’ve been as red as the tomato sauce. “Just eat your pasta,” Sandra ordered him. “By the way, you’re paying.”
Loose Lips Sink Ships Page 19
