Disclaimer: TC Williams High School and its environs belong to the City of Alexandria, VA. The original Titans and Dick Dale belong to themselves, while the fictitious characters from the film Remember the Titans belong to Disney. The title of this chapter comes from the 1971 song by the Temptations, and the poem featured herein was indeed written by the ancient Greek poetess Sappho. I only own Tamsin and Jonathan, miscellaneous Titans and TC Williams students, and Gerry's pork chop.
Technical Notes: I must warn you that the English class scene in this chapter is a bit scholarly. It was derived from a discussion I had in my own high school English class, many years ago.
Introductory Remarks: Thanks to Aphrodite, iceeblue and Lela for reviewing!
Chapter Three — Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
Coach Boone's whistle blew shrilly, signaling the end of football practice. Beside him, Gerry rubbed his ringing ear. "That will be enough for today," Boone announced to his players, "but you can bet your bottom dollar that Mr. Bertier will be adding up all the miles you owe me and you will be running them all at the next practice! Now hit the showers!"
The Titans began to jog off the field. "Sunshine," Gerry said as the quarterback passed, "what's up with you today, man? You've never missed that pass before."
Ronnie's sweaty face was apologetic. "Sorry, man. I guess I was kind of distracted today."
"It doesn't look like that tai chi stuff you keep doing is helping any."
"Well, we all have our off days, don't we?"
"Correction — we all have our off day, which means you've just used up yours!"
Boone grinned as Gerry took the other boy to task about his performance. Over Gerry's head, Ronnie gave the coach a look that asked Are you going to let him keep at me like this? "Couldn't have said it better myself," Boone murmured to Coach Yoast, who had just walked up.
Yoast chuckled. "Boy's turning into you, Herman."
"You're saying that like it's a bad thing."
"And another thing," Gerry was saying, "that hair is getting way too long! It better be cut proper the next time you set foot on this field, you hear me?"
Ronnie made a face at the coaches before giving Gerry a smart salute. "Sir, yes, sir!"
"Good man. Now get out of here!"
Yoast smiled and waved Ronnie on. "Hit the showers, son."
* * *
"Someone got told!" Blue teased as Ronnie entered the locker room.
"Not so hot today, were you, Sunshine?" Petey piped up, grinning.
"Shut up, fellas," Ronnie said in a tired voice, dumping his helmet in his locker and then struggling with his jersey.
"Yeah, leave him alone; he's just having an off day," Eddie Lindros, Lewie Lastik's replacement, told the others.
Ronnie laughed briefly and then tackled his shoulder pads. "Correction — Gerry says we each get one off day, which means I've just used up mine."
"Bertier's off his wheelchair," joked Ryan Hunter, the newest addition to the defensive line. "Better talk to that friend of yours, Julius."
"Hey, if it's going to make y'all get off your behinds and work a little harder," Big Julius told them, "I'm all for it."
"What's up with you, anyway?" Petey asked Ronnie when he returned from the showers. "You haven't been playing so good lately."
The other boy shrugged and pulled on a T-shirt. "I guess I was a little distracted."
"No, you were a lot distracted, and we all wanna know why!" The black boy cocked his head. "So why were you a lot distracted?"
"It can't be grades, because the year's just started," Alan noted.
"It ain't family, because your parents are sickeningly sweet on each other," Big Julius said, getting into the swing of things.
"And it ain't money, 'cause just yesterday you were bragging about that big bonus you got from Witherspoon's Christmas tree farm."
"So it must be a girl!" Petey concluded jubilantly.
"Well, I'll be John Browned!" Blue crowed.
"I never said this was about a girl," Ronnie said as the Titans burst into applause.
"What else can this be about?" Eddie pointed out. "We've already considered all the possibilities and all signs point to women trouble." He grinned mischievously. "So, spill it, Sunshine. Are you thinking of getting back together with Miranda?"
"No."
"Why not?" Alan asked. "She's a real knockout, and I think she still likes you. Plus she's head cheerleader, you're quarterback — it all fits together perfectly!"
Ronnie rolled his eyes and sighed. The quarterback-and-cheerleader cliché was the worst reason to get back with Miranda that he had ever heard. "It's not Miranda."
"So who is it?" Petey pressed.
He sighed and shrugged on his jacket. "Look, guys, I don't really feel like talking about this. I've just met her, she doesn't seem to like me, and let's just leave it at that for now, OK?"
"Aha!" Blue cried, grinning. "It's that new girl in our English class — Tamsin Lee!"
Of all the dumb luck. Ronnie blushed, bringing more applause from the Titans. "Now how did you come up with that?"
"Elementary, my dear Sunshine." The big black boy smugly puffed out his chest. "Number One: you said you've just met her, so she must be new. Unless you're going after freshmen or that Czech exchange student, Boris Czarkovsky, Tamsin is the only likely choice. Number Two: you also said she doesn't seem to like you. I saw you talking to Tamsin the other day after class, and she wasn't giggling and falling all over herself as expected." He grinned. "Am I right, lover boy?"
"Tamsin Lee?!" Petey sputtered. "But—but she's weird!"
"My sister thinks she's nice," Eddie said.
"But Liz is weird, too," Ryan said before catching a towel in the face.
"Sunshine ain't exactly Joe Average himself, you know," Big Julius pointed out with a chuckle.
"Still, you—you can't!" Petey ranted on. "Didn't we see her leave school with Mr. Graham after the pep rally?" His face fell at Ronnie's dejected expression. "Oh…oh, man. I'm sorry."
"Well, I'm sure there's a perfectly innocent explanation for that," Eddie declared.
"If there was," Petey said, "then why couldn't she just tell us that she was going to be with him in the first place? I was there when Sunshine asked her out, and all she said was she couldn't."
"I didn't ask her out," Ronnie said. "I just asked her to join us."
"Shut up, man. We're talking here."
"Maybe they live on the same street and he's just doing her parents a favor," Alan suggested.
"Yeah. There can't be anything fishy going on between Tamsin and Mr. Graham," Eddie reiterated. "Teachers can't date students — it's corrupting minors or something like that. And she doesn't look like, you know, that kind of girl."
"But you never can tell with those Bohemian types," Ryan pointed out.
Ronnie frowned. "Just because she's different doesn't mean she's easy."
"She's been givin' you a hard time, that's for sure!" Blue laughed.
Petey suddenly snapped his fingers. "Even if it were true, Sunshine can still steal Tamsin away. They ain't married yet, and Mr. Graham can't fail him for stealing away his girlfriend because that would be unprofessional behavior."
Alan laughed. "Lord, Petey, I bet you can find angles in a circle."
"But he's right," Big Julius said. "All's fair in love and war; and if Graham flunks you because of that, you can protest, and it'll all come out in the open."
Ronnie shook his head. "Then Tamsin's reputation will be ruined."
"Well, what else are you gonna do, Sunshine?" Petey demanded. "Sit around and mope? Send the season down the toilet because of a broken heart?"
"Hey, calm down, fellas," Eddie said. "You're all acting like it's already true."
"Just trying to consider all the possibilities, Ed," Big Julius told the other boy. "Look, Sunshine, Petey's right. You can still try to ask Tamsin out."
"Wow, I feel like I'm in huddle," Ryan observed to no one in particular.
"Ssshhh." The tall black linebacker looked around at his friends. He had his "game face" on. "And y'all can help by bein' extra nice to Tamsin. Don't give her a hard time and don't say nothing about her and the teacher. Got that?"
"Of course we're not going to say anything," Eddie objected. "It's not true."
"No talking in the huddle! Now, we need to get Gerry into this. He can ask Emma to find out the real story between her and Mr. Graham. And maybe Rev can try and preach to Tamsin about, I don't know, chastity or something."
That was the last straw. Even Ronnie had to laugh. "Julius, that's insane! You guys aren't seriously considering doing this, are you?" he asked everyone else.
"Sure we are, Sunshine." Petey grinned. "After all, what are friends for?"
* * *
Tamsin didn't know it, but the Titans' plan went operational the very next day. She was walking briskly, minding her own business, when a heavy arm draped itself across her shoulders. "Hey, sweetness! How we doin' this fine morning?"
The arm belonged to Petey Jones, the obnoxious boy in her homeroom. Tamsin looked up at him, confused. He'd never spoken to her before. "OK, thanks," she said politely.
"That's cool." He grinned at her and patted her head fondly. "Now, ain't you the cutest little thing? I bet I can put you in my pocket."
"I wouldn't recommend it," she replied, smoothing her hair where he had mussed it.
Petey laughed loudly. "Feisty, too. No way are you goin' in my pocket — I don't want you gettin' near anything dangerous." He chuckled when Tamsin blushed. "What's this? Why're you blushing? You ain't used to having your boyfriend talk to you like that?" He waggled an eyebrow suggestively.
"Uh, no." She cleared her throat. "Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but I really need to get going." She had promised to meet Emma in the cafeteria and was already running a little late.
"Yeah, you don't want to be late, now, do you?" he teased. "After all, you don't got no transfer card to save you this time."
She made a face at him. Of course he would remind her of her spectacular entrance on the first day of school. "Exactly."
He laughed and gave her a friendly slap on the back, which nearly sent her sprawling. "See you around, then, baby sugar."
"Yeah, see you."
Tamsin had just begun to wonder what that had been all about when she heard someone else calling her name. "Hey, Tamsin!" One of the boys in her English class was waving at her from his locker.
She managed a polite smile. "Hi…I'm sorry, I can't seem to recall your name."
"It's Jerry, but you can call me Rev," the boy supplied, a smile on his handsome mocha-colored face. "I'm in your English class."
"Yeah. I know."
"So, what's up, sister?" he asked her. "You looked like you had a lot on your mind back there."
"Um—" There was a genuinely concerned look on Rev's face now, but Tamsin didn't want to confide in a total stranger. "Rough night," she said. "Lots of homework."
"Ah, I see. Well, if you need any tutoring or anything, I'd be happy to help." He chuckled. "I'm no genius, but I must say I helped get a guy into college."
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."
"All right then, sister. See you in English."
Tamsin waved politely and breathed a sigh of relief when she finally reached the cafeteria and immediately located Emma, who already had her lunch tray. "Everyone's acting so weird today!" she told the blonde girl.
"More so than yesterday?" her friend laughed, then poked at the paperback under Tamsin's arm. "Haven't we told you that it's rude to read at the table?" Emma reminded her with a grin. Even though she was eating lunch regularly with Emma and her crowd, Tamsin still brought books to read while eating. They helped her tune out the more inane, vicious and annoying parts of the conversation. "Well, don't worry, you won't have use for that today. You're sitting with me and Gerry."
"What?" That was a first. "Are you sure that's OK?"
"It's perfectly fine," the blonde girl assured her as they found a free table and sat down.
"You sure I won't be in the way?"
"No. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Gerry asked his friends to join us, too. Of course, you can always go back and sit with Miranda and the others…"
Tamsin made a face at her friend as Gerry Bertier wheeled up to their table with his lunch tray in his lap. "Hi, Gerry," Emma said, smiling at her boyfriend.
"Hey, Emma. I see we have a guest," Gerry noted as he put his tray down at the end of the table. "Hi, Tamsin."
"Hi, Gerry." Tamsin smiled wryly. "I hope you don't mind Emma dragging me along. I can sit somewhere else if you want to be alone."
"It's perfectly fine," Gerry said. "In fact, I asked my friends to join us, too."
"See?" Emma asked.
"Hey, sweetness," Petey greeted Tamsin with a grin, sliding onto the bench beside her.
She scooted away from him, only to bump up against someone who had sat down on her other side. When she turned toward him in surprise, Ronnie smiled down at her. "Hey, Tamsin."
"Hi," she replied. The other Titans, who'd appeared as if by magic, whooped and pounded on the table.
Emma caught her eye. There was something disturbing in the other girl's smile. Her glance also kept skittering to Tamsin's right. What on earth was she trying to say? She glanced to the right, where Ronnie was sitting, then looked back at Emma. The blonde girl nodded enthusiastically.
Tamsin suddenly felt as if she had landed in some fringe-theater comedy, and she was the only one who didn't know her lines. "What is this, a pick-off play?" she joked weakly.
"'Course not, sweetness," Petey told her cheerfully, "we're football players! This here's a squeeze play!" And he made as if he intended to sandwich her between him and Ronnie. The Titans whooped again as Tamsin scooted closer to the blond boy's side to escape getting squeezed.
"Sorry," she mumbled, moving away again.
"No problem. Do you know everyone? Well," Ronnie said when she shook her head, "you already know Gerry, Alan, Petey, Rev and Blue from class; over there's Big Julius, and at the end we've got Ryan and Eddie."
"Hi, Tamsin!" Ryan and Eddie chorused brightly.
"Hey, Tamsin," Blue asked her loudly from Ronnie's other side, "how come you let Petey call you 'sweetness' while ol' Sunshine here has to call you 'Tamsin'?" His teammates whooped and pounded on the table again as Ronnie hid his face with one hand and shook his head.
"For your information," she told him crisply, "I never let Petey call me 'sweetness;' and if I ever tried to tell him not to call me that, I doubt that he'd listen. After all, the only time he does as he's told is when the person giving orders has a whistle around his neck, right?"
"And sometimes, not even then," Gerry added as the Titans burst out laughing.
"Thanks a lot," Petey said flatly.
Sensing an argument, Rev grinned at his friends and changed the subject. "Hey, have y'all seen that petition that's going around? The one for the school to install a jukebox in the cafeteria?"
"Heck, no!" Blue exclaimed. "Where is it? I'll sign it!"
"Me, too!" Alan chimed in. "I wonder if they'll let us pick out the songs that'll be in it?"
"I hope not," the big black boy told him, "if you're doing the picking!"
"Why?" Tamsin asked. "What's wrong if he picks all the songs?"
"Girl, you don't want to know!"
"It'll be difficult to have a jukebox in here, though," Big Julius observed. "You'll have everyone fighting to sit near it so they can dictate what songs to play. And, as you can see," he added wryly, "not everyone digs the same stuff."
"Well, so long as they put in some Dick Dale and someone plays it every so often," Ronnie said, smiling at Tamsin, "I'm happy."
"I say they ought to fix up the food here first before fooling around with jukeboxes," Gerry said, grimacing at his lunch. "I think I recognize this pork chop from last year."
* * *
Hanging out with Tamsin during lunch made Ronnie feel a bit better that afternoon. For the first time that week, he was glad to be going to English. Mr. Graham was a good teacher, but it had been difficult to enjoy his class after last week's pep rally.
"Hey, Tamsin," he greeted her as he passed her seat in the front row. Tamsin looked up at him and smiled. She didn't seem to be sending him the same signals Miranda had the first time she'd met him, but then she wasn't shutting him out either, which was definitely a good sign.
"Looks like we're getting there!" Gerry whispered with a grin. Ronnie grinned back and slapped his friend a low five as Mr. Graham entered the classroom.
"All right, good afternoon, everyone," the teacher said briskly. "All of you who are standing, don't bother sitting down; all of you who are seated, get up; and will someone kindly help Gerry? We're holding class outside today."
"Aw, man, what kind of hippie shit is this now?" they heard Ray Budds mutter as the class stood.
With Blue guiding Gerry's wheelchair down the special ramps that had been added to the stairs for his use, Mr. Graham led his class into the courtyard behind the school. "This looks like a good place," he said as he selected a shady spot under a tree. "Sit down, everyone, and form a circle."
There was a scramble for the nearby benches, but many chose to sit on the grass. Tamsin sat cross-legged on the ground, somewhere near Gerry's feet, and Ronnie sat across the circle from her.
Mr. Graham smiled at everyone. "Comfortable? Good," he said when no one complained. "Now, kindly open your books to page 11, where you will find the poem 'One Girl' by Sappho, whom we all know was one of the few known women writers from the time of the ancient Greeks. Wilma, will you read the poem aloud?"
The girl sitting next to Ronnie nodded, cleared her throat, and began to read.
One Girl
Like the sweet apple that reddens on the topmost bough,
A-top on the top-most twig, -- which the pluckers forgot, somehow, --
Forgot it not, nay, but got it not, for none could get it til now.
Like the wild hyacinth flower which on the hills is found,
Which the passing feet of the shepherds tear and wound,
Until the purple blossom is trodden into the ground.
"Thank you, Wilma," the teacher said when she had finished. "Any thoughts on the selection?" he then asked the class at large.
Gerry frowned. "I don't know what the writer was talking about, Mr. Graham. How can that poem be about one girl? The poem's describing two very different people."
Mr. Graham nodded and smiled. "Interesting observation, Gerry. What kind of people does Sappho describe in this poem?"
Ronnie raised his hand. "Well," he said, glancing thoughtfully up at the tree branches overhead, "first you've got the one who's symbolized by the 'sweet apple' at the top of the tree – she's unreachable except to him who's willing to climb; and when she's picked, it's all worth it." He shot Blue a wry glance when his friend hooted teasingly. "And, uh, the other type is exactly the opposite. Since the girl symbolized by the 'wild flower' is on the ground, so to speak, she's easily picked and trampled."
"You mean she's easy, period," Ray remarked, and some of his buddies laughed.
Ignoring the last remark, the teacher nodded and smiled at Ronnie. "Very good, Sunshine. Now, Wilma, are you a 'sweet apple' or a 'wild flower'?"
Wilma blushed as most of the boys catcalled. "Well, sir," she said softly, "I'd say I'm an apple."
"All right; how about you, May? Sweet apple or wild flower?" Mr. Graham asked a few more girls whether they thought of themselves as "sweet apples" or "wild flowers," and they all predictably put themselves in the former category. "So, we have descriptions of two very different types of people in the selection we read today," he said, "yet Sappho entitled her poem 'One Girl.' Why?"
"Because she was high on something?" one of Ray's friends suggested.
"Maybe she was schizophrenic," one girl said.
Tamsin raised her hand and Mr. Graham gave her the same polite smile he used on all his other students. "Yes, Tamsin?"
"Sappho described 'sweet apples' and 'wild flowers,' but called her poem 'One Girl' because every girl is both," she said. "Society dictates that we be like 'sweet apples,' ladylike and pure, but we've all got a bit of the 'wild flower' in all of us, too."
"Now that's an interesting observation," Ray said, leering playfully at her.
She looked frostily back at him. "I'm not saying that all girls are essentially easy. The 'sweet apple' can symbolize both society's ideal of the modest female as well as the self-respect that every good mother teaches her daughter. The 'wild flower,' on the other hand, refers to both the 'easy' woman you're talking about and a person's capacity to be close to the earth, to enjoy life. A girl can be a wild flower, but only when she chooses to be; and for me, it's going to be when the right guy picks me off the tree."
"Amen, sister!" one of the black girls in the class called out, and several people burst into applause.
"This isn't just about girls," Tamsin went on. "It's about people in general. The poem tells us that there's always more to a person than meets the eye. Mr. Graham is more than just a teacher; Ronnie and Blue are more than just football players; and I'm sure Ray is more than a bigoted, sexist goon, even though that has yet to be proven."
Ronnie grinned as the rest of the class laughed and applauded some more. Alan, seated behind him, gave him a nudge. Even though she had mentioned him along with Blue, she had singled him out nonetheless and it was another good sign.
"Thank you, Tamsin, that will be all," Mr. Graham said firmly. He smiled indulgently at the rest of the class. "Yes, despite the veiled insult at the end, Miss Lee hit the nail on the head; but I'm sure all the hullabaloo about racial integration has already taught you that people aren't always what they seem."
* * *
Ronnie took his time gathering up his books after the lesson. "You guys go on ahead," he murmured to Alan. "I'll catch up."
The smaller boy glanced over at Tamsin, who was still seated, and winked. "I hope you don't."
He grinned. "Go away, you're cramping my style."
When Alan finally left, Ronnie continued to linger, pretending to check if he had all his books and then dropping down to retie (and double-knot) both his shoelaces. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Mr. Graham help Tamsin to her feet and talk to her briefly before they went their separate ways.
He stood up quickly when Tamsin began to walk back to the school building. "Hey, Tamsin!"
She turned, saw him, and smiled. "Hey."
"I really liked what you said in class today," he told her. "You know, about there being more to a person than meets the eye."
"Thank you. I really meant it."
"I could tell."
Ronnie smiled down at her, but before he could say any more, someone had interrupted the conversation. "Someone sure has her chastity belt on too tight today," Ray said as he swaggered over.
"Now, Ray, what would you know about my chastity belt?" Tamsin asked him pleasantly.
"I know lots of things."
"I doubt that chastity is one of them," she sniffed. Ronnie tried unsuccessfully to hide a snicker.
The stocky, dark-haired boy glared at them. "Well, now, isn't this nice," he sneered. "First we get blacks, then hippies, and now we've got a bra-burnin' Chink here in Alexandria."
"Hey, pick on someone your own size, Budds." Ronnie narrowed his eyes at his former teammate and would have taken a step toward him if Tamsin hadn't dumped her books on his foot. "Would you like to come over here and repeat that?" she asked Ray.
The other boy smirked. He was about a foot taller and eighty pounds heavier than the small girl challenging him. "I don't fight girls," he told her.
She arched a mocking eyebrow. "Chicken."
"I would have stomped you into the ground and you know it."
"Hey, enough." Ronnie told them firmly. Tamsin certainly looked like she knew how to take care of herself, but he didn't want to risk her getting killed before he could even ask her out.
"I can't believe what's happened to this town," Ray said. "Alexandria's goin' to the dogs."
"Then leave," he told the other boy flatly. When Ray finally stalked away, he turned on Tamsin. "You're crazy, you know that?" he said as he bent down to help her pick up her books. "Ray Budds is at least twice your size! He could have killed you!"
"Of course not," she replied. "Besides, I knew he wouldn't go for it anyway." She looked at him apologetically. "Did I drop these on your foot?"
"Yes."
"Oh, God, I'm sorry."
"No problem." He smiled wryly. "I knocked you over on the first day of school, remember? I'd say we're even." Tamsin laughed, picked up the last book, and they both stood. Ronnie took a deep breath. "So, as I was saying when we were so rudely interrupted…would you go out with me?"
She gaped. "With you?"
"It doesn't have to be anything big right away," he added hastily. "We could just go for ice cream or a burger or something. I can give you a ride home afterward."
"You mean today? Right now?"
"Yeah…" Ronnie's hopes plummeted as her face fell. "What's the matter?"
She blushed. "This may sound really stupid, but I'm cooking dinner tonight and I can't get out of it."
"Oh."
Tamsin looked pained. "I'm not making up excuses. I really—"
"Hey." He managed a smile. "You're needed at home. I understand."
She bit her lip. "I'm sorry."
"No problem. I'll see you around."
* * *
Scrimmage stopped as Boone's whistle blew, rattling Gerry's eardrums. "What are you doing, Sunshine?" the black coach bellowed. "You're supposed to pass, not run the play yourself!"
"Sorry, Coach," Ronnie tried to explain, "but I thought—"
"Do your thinking off the field, son! While you are on it, I am the brain! I do all your thinking for you! Is that clear?"
The quarterback flushed. None of the Titans liked being bawled out by Boone, especially in front of the others, and he was no different. "Yes, sir," he mumbled as his teammates stood around silently, shifting from foot to foot.
"I didn't hear you, boy!" Boone called back. "Is—that—clear?"
"Sir, yes, SIR!" Ronnie shouted, tossing off a terse, defiant salute.
The coach stared the frustrated boy down. "You know my policy about perfection, Sunshine," he told him quietly. "Get running. The rest of you are dismissed."
"What's gotten into that boy?" Paul "Doc" Hines, the Titans' offensive line coach, asked as Ronnie threw off his helmet and began to jog around the field.
"I don't know," Boone replied, snapping his gum as he watched the boy run. Ordinarily, Sunshine took his punishment like a man who understood that he'd done something wrong. Today, there was anger on his face, in his every movement. It was highly unusual for the easygoing, disciplined boy. "Something's bothering him."
"If he keeps this up, we'll have to start Furness at QB," Sheryl Yoast said as she stood watching at her father's side. "And the first game of the season is against Groveton!"
Boone nodded as the other Titans walked past them toward the showers. "We have to do something about Sunshine, y'all," Blue, carrying Ronnie's discarded helmet, was saying to the others. "We'll drop right to last place if he goes on like this."
"If someone will cook dinner at her house for just one night, I'll ask Tamsin out for him and pay for everything myself!" Petey said. "Heck, maybe I'll even do the cooking, too!"
"Petey, if you did the cooking," Gerry said as he wheeled off the field with his friends, "her father will never let her out of the house again."
Boone traded looks with his fellow coaches and groaned. Grades they could help with and problems at home, they could handle, but broken hearts were another story.
Concluding Remarks: Up next, Sunshine spends a miserable week and the Titans have their first game of the season!