Disclaimer: TC Williams High School and its environs belong to the City of Alexandria, VA. The original Titans, Edward Lear and Janis Joplin belong to themselves. The fictitious characters from the film Remember the Titans, as well as the film 101 Dalmatians, belong to Disney. RtT also inspired the "doesn't matter" bit at the end of this chapter. The title of this chapter comes from the 1972 Johnny Nash song; and while we're on the subject of song titles, "Mrs. Robinson" belongs to Simon & Garfunkel and "Me and Mrs. Jones" to Billy Paul. Lady Chatterley's Lover and Lolita are books by DH Lawrence and Vladimir Nabokov, respectively; the Charger a vehicle produced by the Dodge Company; NYU a school I do not go to and The Graduate a movie I do not own. I only own Tamsin, Jonathan, their house, Tamsin's mother, Emma's friends, and the Snack n' Cue. Oh, and I guess I own all of Gartner Street, assuming the real Alexandria doesn't have one :D
Technical Notes: I reiterate what I said in Chapter 3 about the possibility of holding something other than Spirit Week later in the school year than usual. They appear to do the same things, though. And just to explain: Tamsin rides to school with Mr. Graham, but takes the school bus home so she isn't stuck in school if he has to work late. OK?
I know nothing about tai chi. The positions mentioned in this story are taken from a list provided in www.wfdesign.com. I also have no idea what Alexandria's local paper is called. I just made the name up.
EDIT 11-25-02: The football scene is this chapter has been modified slightly to correct certain technical inaccuracies. Many thanks to my football beta, Livia Liana!
Introductory Remarks: Thanks to Doyles-always and the repeat reviewers! I'm glad you're all enjoying this story. I'm having a lot of fun writing it! Don't worry, iceeblue, this fic is definitely going to be finished. I've got the final chapter all planned out in my head!
On a totally unrelated note, they showed Driven on HBO Asia this past month and Kip Pardue was adorable. I wonder if it's not too late to give Sunshine eyeglasses…
Chapter Four — I Can See Clearly Now
He had asked her out.
Tamsin stared blankly at her Social Studies book as she mentally relived last week's events for the millionth time.
Giving up on her reading, she sighed quietly, so as not to disturb the other girls, and sagged against the back wall of the third floor girls' room. Emma had been absent since yesterday, so Tamsin had been unable to talk to anyone about what had happened with Ronnie; but then again, she wasn't sure if the other girl would still want to talk to her after she had turned down Gerry's friend.
"Tammy?" Miranda's voice cut into her thoughts. "Tammy!"
She stifled her irritation at the other girl's bossy tone and looked up. "Yes?"
"We were just asking why you didn't come in costume," Jeannie said. "It's Unity Week, in case you didn't know."
Tamsin did know. The entire school was plastered with posters announcing just that, and it had been hard to miss the school song being played on the PA system at the start of every period yesterday. Today, people had been encouraged to come to school dressed like children.
"You should have worn a costume, Tammy," Lisa told her, straightening her striped knee socks with a self-righteous air. "You're not showing any Unity Week spirit, and to think you hang out with cheerleaders!"
That could be easily remedied, Tamsin thought. "I'm not really used to all this," she said. "We didn't have this kind of thing at my old school."
"You didn't have Unity Week?" scoffed Miranda, looking like a very worldly four-year-old as she puffed on her cigarette. "Where did you go to school — a convent?"
"Actually, yes," she replied flatly.
Robin regarded her thoughtfully as the other girls dissolved into giggles. "Is something wrong, Tamsin?" she asked with genuine concern, walking over to sit with Tamsin. "You've been quiet since yesterday. If you have a problem, you can talk to me."
She managed a smile. "Thanks, but it's not really a problem. I guess I'm just a little mixed up about something."
"Sometimes it helps to talk it over."
Tamsin looked at the other girl, who looked like she really wanted to help. "Look, it really is no big deal," she told Robin, checking over her shoulder to make sure that Miranda and the others weren't listening. "Someone just asked me out, that's all, and—"
To her utter dismay, Robin giggled shrilly, drawing the others' attention. "Ooh! Who?"
"Who, what?" Miranda demanded. "What are you talking about?"
"Someone asked Tamsin out," Robin told her before Tamsin could shut her up.
Tamsin hid her flaming face with one hand as the other girls all squealed and demanded to know who had asked her. "Remind me to gag you the next time I try to tell you anything," she muttered to Robin.
The dark-haired cheerleader looked contrite. "Sorry! I'm just so happy for you! So how'd it go?"
"It went nowhere. I said no."
"WHAT?" Jeannie, Lisa and Sally Jane shrieked.
Tamsin shot them a withering stare. "Look, that was the first-ever time that a someone had asked me out, so I guess I got a little nervous," she admitted, "but I really couldn't go anyway. He asked me for that night and I was needed at home."
Sally Jane pouted sympathetically. "Oh, that's so sad."
"Well, he should have asked at least one day before, anyway," Robin said, patting Tamsin's shoulder. "We have lives of our own, too, you know."
Tamsin smiled. Her mother would have said the same thing. "That's true," she conceded.
"So who is he?" Miranda wanted to know.
"Does it matter?" Robin asked. "He doesn't have enough sense to ask in advance."
"Of course it matters. Homecoming is just a couple of months away!"
"And if you tell us who he is," Jeannie said slyly, "then maybe we can talk to him for you."
Don't they ever give up? "Thanks for the offer, but you needn't bother," Tamsin told her. Ronnie had struck out with her a total of three times already, and she supposed he knew what three strikes meant.
"Why not? Don't you like him?"
"Look, I'd rather not talk about this anymore, if it's all the same to you."
"Why don't you want to tell us who he is?" Jeannie gasped. "Is he black?"
"I already said I don't want to talk about this anymore," Tamsin said.
"Oh, my God, he is black!"
Tamsin groaned. The other girls' high-pitched shrieks were giving her a headache and she was still too shaken about the whole affair to do anything other than to let them make up their own conclusions. "Can we drop this, please?" she begged. "Now?"
"You brought it up," Miranda told her before finishing off her cigarette and turning to the mirror.
"Well, whoever he is, I'm sure he'll ask you out again," Robin whispered consolingly.
"I hope so," Tamsin blurted out, then blushed. Where did that come from?
* * *
On Day 3 of Unity Week, the students of TC Williams overthrew their teachers and took over the school for the entire day. Student Council President Steven Marino spent the day in the principal's office, reading Edward Lear limericks over the PA system, paging people for no reason and, to his credit, objectively assigning tardies and detentions to erring students. All science classes featured film showings of 101 Dalmatians, while all math classes were officially declared as naptime.
When Ronnie walked into his last period English class, he found Gerry in his wheelchair at the front of the room, and Mr. Graham seated at a desk in the third row. Rev stood next to Gerry, passing out leaflets. "Sunshine," the "substitute teacher" addressed him in a firm voice not unlike Coach Boone's. "About time you got here. Sit down."
Ronnie chuckled and took the piece of paper handed to him. "Yes, sir."
"On second thought," Gerry announced as the final bell rang, "don't sit down. That's right, everyone up again! This is my class, and in my class, there is no democracy. I am the law, and the law says get up!"
"This sounds awfully familiar," Blue snickered as everyone stood.
Gerry spent the next twenty minutes rearranging the class. He sat black and white together, with Tamsin being seated last because she was the "wild card." Gerry predictably seated her next to Ronnie. "I suggest y'all get real comfortable in those seats," he declared after everyone had been displaced to his satisfaction, "because that is where y'all will be sitting for the rest of the week!" He frowned when Blue, Rev and Alan laughed. "No laughing! Now, today we will discuss a contemporary classic, a poetic gem known even to the Average Joe. Alan will be reading the selection aloud for us today, but y'all can read along if you look at your handouts. Alan?"
By now, quite a few people had read their handouts and were laughing as Alan came forward and began to sing Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson," accompanying himself on the acoustic guitar slung around his neck. A grinning Mr. Graham joined in, and pretty soon the entire class was singing along.
Gerry thanked Alan after he finished his number with a flourish, then turned back to that day's "lesson." "Now, can anyone tell me where the selection is from?" He grinned at Mr. Graham. "How about you, Jon?"
The teacher laughed and gamely answered. "The selection comes from the movie The Graduate, which tells the story about a young man's affair with an older woman."
"Very good, Jon! Now, why don't we try naming other works that deal with similar taboo themes?"
The responses ranged from Lady Chatterley's Lover (Tamsin) to "Me and Mrs. Jones" (Blue) to movies that weren't really fit to be mentioned in mixed company (Ray), and Gerry wisely stopped asking before Rev spontaneously combusted. "If we take a look at all the examples we've come up with," he said, wheeling back and forth before the blackboard, "can we come up with a short list of things that society considers taboo?"
"Any kind of affair, basically," Rev said, his face still red.
"Ha! Almost, but not quite," Gerry told him. "Didn't any of you notice that there seems to be nothing about older men having affairs with younger women? Why is that?"
Oh, man. Ronnie groaned as his friends all grinned and winked at him. He couldn't believe they were still at it; and in class, no less!
"Actually, there is a novel on the subject," Mr. Graham said. "Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is about an older man falling in love with a very young woman — a girl, really; and it remains very controversial to this day."
"Well, that's just one example," Gerry argued, "but in most of them, it's always the woman who goes astray. Why is that?"
"Because there's a double standard for moral behavior," Ronnie said. "Women are expected to be good because they have to set good examples as wives and mothers, so when a woman has an affair, it's a big deal; on the other hand, society lets a man do basically whatever he wants."
"All right!" Ray and his friends cheered.
Ronnie rolled his eyes. "At the same time," he went on, "you can also think of it this way: women, as the so-called weaker sex, are more prone to sin; while men are said to be stronger and never succumb to temptation — which, as many of us know, is not totally true."
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Tamsin murmured.
Ronnie found himself smiling. "Thanks," he replied quietly.
"Would you ever date a much younger girl?" Gerry asked him then.
"No way!" he said with more force than he'd intended. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tamsin turn to him curiously, but he wouldn't look at her. "Well, it's kind of easy to say that now, isn't it?" Ronnie continued. "I mean, at our age, a 'much younger girl' is still pretty much a little kid and to think of little kids that way is just…wrong."
"Amen, brother," he heard Rev say.
"That's true," Gerry admitted, then turned to his real target. "How about you, Jon? Would you date a much younger girl? Like a student, perhaps?"
Unconscious of all the eyes on him, Mr. Graham smiled and shook his head. "No; like Sunshine, neither would I. My students are like my children, and I'd never even think of going out with someone whose diapers I could have been changing once upon a time."
He sounded like he meant it, but Ronnie sniffed skeptically. I'll bet.
* * *
"Well, that was interesting," Tamsin said to herself as she got off the bus later that day. The school song over the PA system last Monday had been annoying and costume day had been stupid, but classes that day had been kind of fun. English was weird because Gerry had actually conducted a serious discussion; but she had enjoyed that, too. It had been funny to see Uncle Jon being treated like a regular student.
She let herself in and put some music on the record player in the study, taking care not to disturb her uncle's books and papers. As Janis Joplin's husky wail filled the house, she went to the kitchen to make herself a snack.
Tamsin had just finished making a sandwich with the last of the salami they had brought over from New York when she became aware of someone insistently ringing the doorbell. She frowned thoughtfully. Who could it be?
Grabbing an umbrella from the hall closet just in case the mystery person was a knife-wielding psycho (one could never be too careful), Tamsin approached the door warily and yanked it open.
Sheryl Yoast was standing on the porch. "'You Tamsin Lee?" she demanded without preamble.
"Who wants to know?" Tamsin asked.
"I'm Sheryl Yoast," the little girl replied. "My daddy helps coach the Titans. I'm here to talk to you about Sunshine."
Ronnie again, she thought with a silent groan. After what happened the previous day, Tamsin no longer wanted to discuss him with anyone, but Sheryl didn't look like she was planning to leave any time soon. "What about him?"
"I've heard the fellas talkin'. You haven't been payin' him any attention." The little girl glared at her. "It's puttin' him off his game and we don't like it."
Tamsin glared back. "Did the other guys put you up to this?"
"No, I followed you here all by myself." Sure enough, the street was empty, save for what looked to be Sheryl's bicycle lying on the front lawn.
"That's stalking."
"I ain't here to kill you, I just want to talk to you."
"You could have fooled me."
Sheryl stuck her chin out stubbornly and returned to the topic at hand. "You're bein' mean to Sunshine. It's bad for the team."
"I am not being mean to him."
"He's asked you out on a date more than once and you always say no. That's mean."
"Well, he has lousy timing. I was all ready to go home the first time he asked and—"
"It's distractin' him and ruinin' his game. The Titans will go to the dogs because of you."
"And just what am I supposed to do about it?" Tamsin asked, crossing her arms and leaning on the doorframe. "Blindfold him so he doesn't run the risk of looking at me ever again?"
"No, I want you to come to the first game Saturday afternoon." The little girl looked at her soberly. "Coach says you can't force a person to do what you want, so I can't force you to go out on a date with Sunshine; but maybe he'll play better if you're watchin' him."
"Hasn't it occurred to you that you're forcing me to watch this game?"
"The game's at two in the afternoon," Sheryl went on as if she hadn't said anything. "You'll have time to finish your chores and such in the morning, so you can hang out with the team after the game. Wear something red."
* * *
"Coach Yoast's daughter came over this afternoon," Tamsin told her uncle at dinner that evening.
"Sheryl? The little girl with all the hair?" Uncle Jon looked surprised. "What did she want?"
"She told me that I was being mean to Ronnie Bass and putting him off his game, then she invited me to the Titans' first game on Saturday," she replied, rolling her eyes. "I'm not arguing with him or anything — nothing like that," she clarified before he could ask. "She says I'm being mean because I haven't gone out with him."
"Ah." He smiled. "I see. Has he asked you?"
"A few times," she mumbled, blushing. "I've never had to deal with this kind of thing before, you know," she explained. "He kind of caught me off-guard, and I had no idea what else to say."
Her uncle smiled at her fondly and she thought it strange for him to be looking so sentimental when she was talking to him about boys. "So, do you like him?" he asked.
"I guess so." Tamsin was sure her face was burning by now. "I mean, he's nice, and intelligent, and he's not that bad-looking…but he's a football player!"
"What's wrong with that? I thought you saw him as more than just a football player."
"They make such a big deal out of dating football players at school. You should hear the girls I'm stuck with." She wrinkled her nose. "Their inanity defies description. I don't want to put up with that kind of aggravation." She shrugged. "But I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore."
"Well, you'll never know, sweetie, Sunshine just might try again; and you'll have to decide whether or not he's worth putting up with that kind of thing."
"I think he deserves a chance, at least," Tamsin admitted, playing with her napkin.
Uncle Jon smiled at her. "There you go."
"But what about Mom?"
"What about her?"
"Well…what if she suddenly wants me to come home?"
There was a pause. "Tamsin," he began, and her heart sank at the gravity in her uncle's voice and his use of her full name, "I'm not going to tell you your mother doesn't want you to come home, because she does. She misses you very much. But you are not going back to New York any time soon."
"Not even for Thanksgiving or Christmas?" She was flabbergasted. "Why?"
Uncle Jon sighed. "Sweetie, you know the reason why your mother had you move here with me is because she is going to be very busy and out of the house a lot this year," he told her, his voice tired. "She wants to make sure that someone will be around to take care of you."
"I can take care of myself."
"I know you can, but as long as I'm here, you won't have to." He smiled and patted her hand. "Your job is to study and enjoy life like any normal teenager; so the next time Sunshine asks you out, say yes."
* * *
"Hey, Sunshine!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Ronnie could see Gerry and Blue passing by his usual spot on the front lawn. "Hi, guys," he murmured as he Drew the Bow and Shot the Tiger.
"You've only got a few minutes until the first bell," Gerry reminded him. "Better finish up or you'll be in detention after school today, instead of at practice where you belong."
"I'll be done soon."
"See you in Calculus, then."
"Yeah." Ronnie managed a brief nod before stepping forward to begin the High Pat the Horse, removing his friends from his line of vision. When he turned toward the front walk again, he saw Tamsin standing there, watching him.
He smiled. "Hey, Tamsin."
"Hi," she replied. "I can't believe you're doing that here," she said as Ronnie concluded his tai chi and gathered up his books.
"You can't believe I'm doing tai chi?"
"No, I can't believe you're doing it here." Tamsin looked around the front lawn as they began to walk toward the TC Williams building. "Don't the noise and all the people distract you?"
"No. I can block out the noise and people basically leave me alone."
"My mom does hers in the living room, but in the summer she likes to go to Chinatown."
Ronnie smiled, remembering serene early mornings back in California, moving in perfect unison with at least twenty other people of all ages and races. "Do you do tai chi?"
She shook her head. "Mom says I'm too tense to be graceful," she told him with a good-natured, what-can-you-do smile.
"Well," he replied, "there's nothing wrong with the way you move." While Tamsin didn't glide the way many girls did, she walked with a brisk, confident stride that wasn't hard on the eye, either.
She blushed as he held the door open for her. "Thank you."
"Are you watching the student-teacher volleyball game after school?"
"Yeah. You?"
Ronnie grimaced slightly, disappointed that he wouldn't be around. "I have football practice."
"I see."
"The Titans' first game is on Saturday."
She nodded. "So I heard."
"Are you going?" he asked, mentally crossing his fingers.
Tamsin smiled shyly as the first bell rang. "I'm thinking about it."
It was a good morning.
* * *
On the final day of Unity Week, TC Williams High School held another big pep rally just for the Titans, who were having their first game of the season the next day. Well, at least I'm showing some "Unity Week spirit," Tamsin thought as joined the crowd pouring into the TC Williams football stadium that Saturday afternoon.
Practically all of Alexandria and Groveton Heights turned out to watch their teams play. Apparently, football was to Virginia as ice hockey was to Canada, she thought as she passed grizzled old-timers swapping Depression stories, farm families with all their children in tow, and TC Williams faculty in her search for a seat.
Spying Sheryl Yoast's curly blond head glinting in the afternoon sunlight in the very front row, Tamsin stamped her way down the bleachers and presented herself to the coach's daughter.
Sheryl was sitting next to a little black girl who probably belonged to Coach Boone. The two together made an interesting contrast, one fair and dressed in grubby jeans and a sweatshirt, the other dark and wearing a frilly red-and-white dress and patent leather Mary Janes.
Sheryl gave a regal nod of approval at Tamsin's crimson shirt and matching beret. "Good. You're wearing red."
"Don't you have lipstick?" the other little girl asked.
Sheryl gave her friend a disgruntled look. "Move over, Nikki, so she can sit."
They made space for her on the bleachers, and Tamsin found herself next to Emma, who had been sitting on Sheryl's other side. The blonde girl was very happy to see her. "Tamsin! You're here!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad you decided to watch!"
"Yeah, well, I kind of got bullied into it," she told her friend wryly. "What's going on?"
"The Lions are warming up," Emma replied. She pointed to one of the players as the entire team turned to the right with military precision. "See that guy? That's Kip Tyler. He's an All-American guard. Broke Rev's wrist last year. I hear he has it in for Sunshine."
Tamsin scowled at Kip Tyler, who looked big and mean even at a distance. "What? Why?"
"Well, when he replaced Rev at the game last year, Sunshine kind of threw Kip over his shoulder. Some kind of martial arts move or something. Knocked him flat on his back."
"Hmph. He deserved it."
Presently, the Groveton Lions jogged off the field and the TC Williams supporters began to cheer. A wildly whooping Sheryl dragged Tamsin to her feet, and Tamsin stood there and clapped as the TC Williams Titans made their entrance. "I can't believe they really do that!" she exclaimed as the team danced onto the field.
"It's their trademark!" Emma yelled back before beginning to cheer again.
"Oh, God." She watched with a pained expression as the Titans did their little number. "What's going on now?" she asked when it was finally over and everyone sat down again. An official stood with one member of each team in the middle of the field.
"The team captains are going to toss the coin!" Sheryl told her, looking at Tamsin as if she weren't very bright. "Whoever wins gets to choose whether they'll receive or defend the kickoff! Don't you know anything?"
"I don't know a darned thing about football, if that's what you're asking."
Nikki smiled at her as the other girl groaned and looked up at the sky in exasperation. "That's OK, neither do I."
* * *
"TC Williams wins the toss," the official announced as the team captains walked off the field to rejoin their teams. "TC Williams chooses to receive the kickoff."
Yoast watched Boone give Ronnie some last-minute instructions, then thump the boy's shoulder pads encouragingly as white jerseys streamed from the sidelines.
"Just a moment, son," Yoast said, taking Ronnie's arm as he passed. Smiling to let the boy know nothing was wrong, he gestured to where Sheryl and Nikki were waving and grinning wildly. "I just thought you'd want to know who's watching you tonight."
Sheryl was pointing to the dark-haired girl in red sitting to her left. Yoast chuckled as his daughter prodded her and the girl dutifully produced a smile and a wave.
A grin spread over Ronnie's face. "I owe Sheryl a whole ton of ice cream."
"You can pay up after you win."
"I will, Coach." The boy grinned at the Yoasts, then gave the girl a little wave before joining the rest of the Titans offense in huddle.
"Woohoo! Let's go, Titans!" Sheryl hollered when they took their places on the field. "Let's beat Groveton!" The little girl then glared at her hostage. "You ain't cheerin'!"
"What's to cheer for?" the older girl replied. "There's nothing going on!"
"There will be later, and you'd better be cheerin'!"
"All right — READY! GREEN 11!" Ronnie bellowed as he took his place behind the offensive line, ignoring Kip Tyler snarling at him from across the line of scrimmage. "GREEN 11!" Yoast noted uneasily that the Groveton guard had the look of a bull fixing to gore. "Hut-hut!"
The ball was snapped and Tyler charged, but two Titans launched themselves right at him, giving Ronnie enough time to find an open receiver. Alan, whom they were trying out at wide receiver that night, darted through a wall of Lions to catch the ball. He ran forty yards before the Groveton defense caught up with him.
During the next play, Ronnie found Alan again. This time, the quarterback fired a long bomb that caught Alan in the chest and sent him right over the goal line for a touchdown.
"Looks like the boy's little problem is solved," Yoast said to Boone as the Titans took the lead, 7-0.
Relief flickered over the head coach's face. "Yeah, it sure does."
* * *
Ronnie's performance that night was, in the words of the next day's edition of The Alexandria Sentinel, "inspired." During the first half of the game, he threw nowhere but right into Titan hands. Once, the ball drew a graceful spiral in the air before dropping neatly into Eddie Lindros' hands; another time, it miraculously found its way to a Titans receiver through a sea of bodies. Even Blue scored a touchdown when one of Ronnie's passes bounced off a Groveton player's helmet.
The home crowd was on its feet and screaming going into the second half of the game. "We're leading 24 to 3!" Sheryl said, jumping up and down excitedly as both teams took the field again.
Tamsin whooped dutifully. The game still confused her — she basically cheered whenever a Titan was holding the ball — but she knew a commanding lead when she saw one.
Unfortunately for the Titans, the Groveton coach must have given his team a thorough talking-to during half time, and the Lions entered the third quarter determined to wrest away the lead. "Hey, what's he doing there?" Tamsin asked, pointing to where Kip Tyler was pawing at the ground at the center of what she now knew was the Groveton offensive line.
"Oh, no, I knew it — he's playin' both ways tonight," Sheryl said nervously. She nibbled on her thumbnail as the Lions quarterback called the play. The ball was snapped and the receiver ran for the end zone with Tyler blocking ahead of him.
"Ouch!" everyone exclaimed as Ryan Hunter went down after a particularly hard hit.
"NO!" Sheryl shrieked as the Lions scored a touchdown, increasing their score to 10. "Where were the rest of you guys? Why weren't you helping him, Julius? 'Unbeatable defense,' my Aunt Betty!"
Tamsin watched the younger girl pace and fume, then traded looks with Nikki. "Better get used to it," the little black girl told her solemnly.
The TC Williams crowd watched with mounting frustration as the Lions scored two more touchdowns, tying the score at 24, then cheered in relief when the Lions' receiver fumbled the ball and Petey dove for it, causing what Sheryl called a turnover.
The Titans offense took the field at the beginning of the fourth quarter. "Someone's looking at you again," Emma murmured with a grin.
Tamsin blushed. "Shut up."
"BLUE 14!" Ronnie called. "Hut-hut!"
The ball was snapped and he stepped back to pass while the receivers went up against the Lions defense. "Oh, my God!" Emma squealed and clutched at Tamsin's arm. Instead of passing, the quarterback began to run. "He's going for it himself!"
Tamsin clutched right back as they all watched him run. Down on the sidelines, the cheerleaders shook their pompoms and the Titans ran alongside the play, shouting encouragement to their teammates. Forty yards to go…thirty-five…thirty…
"Oh, no — Sunshine!"
An indignant outcry arose from the TC Williams supporters when Tyler tackled Ronnie on the Titans' twenty-yard line. Tamsin found herself on her feet right alongside Sheryl. Both were yelling angrily. "Try pickin' on someone your own size!" Sheryl screamed.
"Oh, yeah, that's real sportsmanlike, Tyler!" Tamsin bellowed when the Lions guard got up and pushed Ronnie down when the other boy tried to rise. "You jerk!"
Emma and Nikki pulled their friends back down when both girls paused for breath. "I suggest you calm down before you start using words you shouldn't be using in front of little kids," Emma told Tamsin, but she was hard-pressed to hide her smile.
"Well, it was a rotten thing to do," the other girl snapped, scowling at the field, "and he is a jerk. I'd like to introduce his head to a blender someday."
Her friend gave up and laughed. "We'll make a football fan of you yet, Tamsin."
The rest of the fourth quarter turned into a defensive battle as both teams sought to keep their opponents from scoring. Tyler continued to shut down the Titans offense; but to their credit, Big Julius and the rest of the defense rallied to counter the Lions offense. "Ha!" Sheryl cried triumphantly as Ryan Hunter exacted revenge for the hit in the third quarter. "That's more like it!"
The minutes ticked by with the score remained tied at 24. A Titans field goal attempt failed, and a Lions receiver fumbled what would have been a sure touchdown pass. "He'll kick himself over that until the day he dies," Sheryl said with relish. She was happier now that the Titans had stepped up on defense, but worry over the knotted score continued to gnaw at the home crowd.
Tension rose as the Titans used up their last time-out with only 45 seconds left to play. Emma and Sheryl had death grips on each of Tamsin's arms, but she didn't mind. She was sure she was grasping their arms just as tightly.
"I hope they do something soon," Emma murmured when the teams returned to the field with the Titans on offense.
The words were barely out of her mouth when she got her wish. When the ball was snapped, Tyler charged Ronnie again, but the Titans quarterback lowered his shoulder and charged back. The home crowd roared as Ronnie upended Tyler and fired a pass through traffic to find Alan, open deep. The discombobulated Lions defense sprang into action a moment too late, and Alan ran forty yards to score the winning touchdown as the clock ran out.
"All right! Woohoo!" Sheryl cheered as the scoreboard registered the final count: 31-24, Titans.
"Sorry, Tyler!" Tamsin gloated beside her. "Better luck next time!"
* * *
The mood in the locker room was jubilant. Everyone was tired, quite a few had scratches and bruises, and Ronnie's ribs ached from the sacking in the fourth quarter, but the win did much to ease the pain. "The Titans are back, y'all!" Petey crowed. "We came, we saw, we kicked butt — specifically Kip Tyler's!"
"Hey, he gave as good as he got," Ronnie pointed out as he gingerly shrugged on his letter jacket. Ryan grimaced and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, but he didn't win, did he?" his friend laughed. "Betcha that Groveton coach's feeling real rotten right about now — he got beat by a brother twice!"
"Those all-white schools better start thinking about integrating," Blue said, "or else they ain't never gonna have soul power!"
Coach Yoast smiled in quiet amusement as the team cheered. "Enough gloatin', boys. The season's just begun, and we've got twelve more games to win if we want another perfect season. Y'all go out and celebrate tonight, but it's back to work again next week."
"Man, he sure knows how to take the joy out of life," Ryan murmured as they left the locker room. Outside, there was more cheering from the fans. Reporters were interviewing Coach Boone, while Alan's mom and a photographer from the Sentinel snapped pictures of Alan and his beaming father holding that night's game ball.
Ronnie accepted congratulations from a crowd of well-wishers before meeting up with his parents. "Good game, son," Colonel Bill Bass complimented him.
"Thanks, Dad," he replied, smiling.
"How do you feel, Ronnie?" Betty Jean Bass asked with concern.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure? That boy hit you awfully hard. Did they check you to see if anything's broken?"
"Of course they did, Betty," Colonel Bass told his wife. "They sat him down and looked him over right after he got tackled. If the boy says he's fine, he's fine." He then turned to his son. "So I guess you and your friends have plans for tonight?"
"Yeah, we'll be hanging out or something. We haven't really decided yet," Ronnie said. One thing was for sure, he thought, since more of the Titans could now drive, they wouldn't just be walking around downtown like last year.
His father nodded. "Well, you be careful. Try to be home before midnight."
"I will." He shook hands with his father and kissed his mother on the cheek. "See you."
After his parents were gone, a group of cheerleaders and their friends caught up with him. "Hi, Sunshine," Miranda said with a friendly smile. "Great game tonight."
"Thanks," he replied politely.
"Where are you guys headed now?"
"I don't know yet. We still have to talk it over."
"Well, we're headed for the Hill," a girl with curly blonde hair (he couldn't remember her name) told him. "Why don't you join us?"
Ronnie shook his head. "Sorry, but I don't think it's a very good idea," he said. "You know some of the guys still aren't welcome there."
"Oh, pooh, who cares about that?" the blonde girl scoffed. "Just bring them along. Who cares what other people will say?"
"We won't mind," another unknown added.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that," he replied with a smile, "but I think we'll try the Hill another time." If he got the Titans thrown out of someplace again, Petey would never let him live it down. "Thanks for asking, though."
"Well, we'll be there if you change your mind," Miranda tossed over her shoulder when she and her friends walked away.
Ronnie finally found some of his friends waiting by the exit near the parking lot. "Hey, Sunshine!" Rev greeted him. "Way to handle Tyler!"
"Thanks, man," he replied with a grin and a low five, then noticed Tamsin standing behind Gerry's wheelchair. "Hey, Tamsin."
"Hi," she replied.
"Someone's quite the guy magnet tonight," he teased, noting that Blue and Big Julius flanked her like a couple of prison guards. Petey also stood nearest to the exit, looking like he was waiting for her to make a run for it.
"Sheryl told her not to move from this spot," Gerry laughed as Tamsin glowered. "We're just helping her follow directions. So, what did Miranda and her friends want?"
"They were inviting us to hang out with them at the Hill," Ronnie said. "I said no," he added as his friends laughed. "Now, where are we going?"
They all looked at each other and shrugged. "We could go to Ma Rose's again," Big Julius suggested.
"Man, Julius, you can walk to Ma Rose's from here!" Petey said. "We've got wheels — I say let's live it up! How about the Snack n' Cue?"
"I say we ask the girls," Blue told them, "when they finally come out of the bathroom."
"We heard that," a female voice said behind Ronnie, and Sharon walked up to the Titans, leading Emma and a few other girls. "Hi, Tamsin; I see you're still with us."
"By no choice of mine," the other girl replied wryly.
"What were y'all talking about?" Emma asked as Alan also caught up with them.
"We were trying to decide on where to go," Rev replied. "Y'all got any ideas?"
The girls looked at each other and shrugged. "Any of the usual places is good," Sharon said.
"But we've got wheels!" Petey repeated. "We can go anywhere!"
"So you're saying we should go to the Hill?" Gerry asked with a grin.
"I wasn't prepared to go that far."
"We could go to my house," Tamsin suggested. "If you want."
"Won't your folks mind?" Alan asked.
"No, and you won't have to worry about the race thing, either," she added with a wry smile. "I mean, I wouldn't be living with anyone who cared about that, would I?"
"Guess not," Gerry chuckled. "Does Tamsin's house sound good to y'all?"
"Fine with me," Petey said, grinning at Ronnie. "So, who rides with who?"
They divvied up the passengers and Tamsin predictably wound up riding with Ronnie. Crammed in the back seat of the Charger were Petey, Big Julius and Gerry. "Don't you guys want to ride with your girlfriends?" Tamsin asked as she fastened her seat belt.
"Naw, it's OK," Petey said. "We like to give them the chance to miss us."
"And to talk about you behind your backs," Ronnie laughed as he drove out of the parking lot with Alan's and Rev's cars following behind. "Where do you live, Tamsin?"
"125 Gartner Street," she said.
"125 Gartner Street?" Gerry repeated. "Why does that sound familiar?"
"I don't know," Petey said. "It don't sound familiar to me."
The address sounded familiar to Ronnie, too, but he was too busy driving to say anything during the ten-minute drive to Gartner Street. "Over there," Tamsin said. "The blue house on the right."
The Titans' convoy parked and Tamsin hopped out to unlock the door while Ronnie and the others helped Gerry out of the car. "…I brought some people over, if that's OK," Tamsin was saying to someone on the front doorstep as they lifted Gerry's wheelchair onto the porch.
"Of course it is, sweetie," a disturbingly familiar male voice said. "Hey, guys!" Mr. Graham greeted them as they moved into the golden circle of the porch light. "Great game tonight! I'm sorry I couldn't go, but I followed the game on the radio."
"Oh, my—" Gerry hissed. Ronnie's stomach dropped into his left foot.
"Everyone," Tamsin said, gesturing toward the bearded man beside her, "this is my uncle, Jonathan Graham."
* * *
"He's your uncle," Ronnie stated, shoving his hands in his pockets and leaning against the wall.
"Yes, he is my uncle," Tamsin confirmed. He watched as she prodded the floor with her foot, setting the back porch swing in motion. From inside, they could hear music and voices…people having a good time. Mr. Graham had treated them all to pizza and the others were now exploring his record collection. "He took the year off from teaching at NYU to write a book, he took the job here to pay the bills, and my mom decided I should come with him and finish high school here. All right?"
"You never said anything."
"Was I supposed to?" she asked. "It doesn't matter that he's my uncle."
"If it doesn't matter, why didn't you say anything?"
"Because it doesn't matter. I can't get you a better grade just because he's my uncle. He's never treated me any differently from the rest of you."
"This isn't about grades," Ronnie said. "It's just that maybe…maybe people would see you two together and, well, since they didn't know he was your uncle, they'd start…thinking things."
Tamsin looked at him. "What kind of things?"
He looked uneasily at his sneakers. "Well, you know, things," he mumbled. "He's a fairly unconventional guy…you're from New York…this is the seventies…things."
Her jaw dropped. "That is the sickest, craziest thing I have ever—" she sputtered. "Didn't he say in class that he would never do that? And he certainly would never think of doing that with me!" All through the pizza, Mr. Graham had regaled them with embarrassing stories from Tamsin's childhood, showing Ronnie just how far back Tamsin and their teacher went. "How on earth did you ever—"
"Look, I saw the girl I liked get into a car with a teacher on a Friday night just minutes after she said she couldn't go out with me," he blurted out. "What else was I supposed to think?"
Tamsin gaped at him. "You like me?"
"Yeah." Ronnie was sure his face was burning, but he looked her straight in the eye. The words were out of his mouth; there was no taking them back now. "I guess I do."
"Oh." She folded her arms around the nearest cushion and stared fixedly at her lap. "Sorry," she said after an excruciating pause. "I've never had to deal with this boy-girl stuff before."
"That's OK," he replied with a weak chuckle. "I know it's kind of hard to swallow at first."
She was quiet again for a moment. "He's not really my uncle, you know," she said, venturing to look at him again. "He's my mother's best friend. But he's the closest thing I've got to a father."
"Where's your dad?"
Tamsin shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even know his name."
He nodded. "I see."
"I figured you would," she said, managing a smile. "I'm not sure if the others will understand, though, so…not that I'm embarrassed about it or anything…but—"
"Hey, don't worry about it." He smiled reassuringly. "I won't tell anyone."
"Anyway, now you know the whole story," Tamsin concluded, looking briefly down at her cushion and then back up again. "But…if you really wanted to know…didn't it ever occur to you to just ask me?"
His smile grew into a sheepish grin. "Er…no."
Concluding Remarks: Yay! Sunshine's misery is over! I was thinking of being cruel to him for just a leetle longer, but he batted those baby blues at me and I had to reconsider. (Tamsin's nagging helped, too.)
To those who (hopefully) will review, I'd greatly appreciate feedback on Tamsin's character. She turned out a lot more sociable than I had originally planned. Does she still come across as an independent thinker, someone "different" who appeals to Sunshine? (I'm scared that I'll either have to fix my summary…or overhaul this entire fic!) Thank you! ~ Ara Kane