[Friday, November 24]

Eric called Tami Friday morning. "There's a woman's hair brush in the hall bath," he told her. "And an extra toothbrush."

"Sounds serious," Tami said. "And he admitted he's dating in front of you. Think he'll introduce you?"

"Yeah. He wants me to have lunch with them today. Do you mind?" They had planned to go out together.

"I should probably spend some time with my family anyway."

"Listen. Joey's in town. He says there's a football party tonight." Baylor's season might be over, but the Tyler Tigers were still one playoff game away from the State Championship. "Do you want to go? I'd like to catch up with some of my old teammates."

"Sure. Shelley told me she's planning to go, so I want to keep an eye on her anyway. I guess we might as well give her a ride."

"Your mom is letting her go to a party?"

"Apparently Pastor John convinced Mom that, since kids tend to sneak out to these things anyway, it's better they encourage Shelley to be honest and set some expectations. Apparently his son used to sneak out to these things, but now he's an upstanding young man." Tami had never met her stepbrother. He hadn't been able to make it home from his mission in South America for the wedding. She supposed she'd seen him at church when she was younger, but she didn't remember him.

"I think he's actually mellowed your mom."

"You may be right," Tami said. "Funny, since he's the pastor."

"Who's Shelley dating? Anyone?" Eric asked.

"Officially, no. Mom still says not until 16. But she's been talking about some kid named Danny McKinley. What can you tell me about him?"

"Not much. He was a sophomore last year. Not a very good player. Warmed the bench. Probably still does. Never had much to say in the locker room, though, if that reassures you."

"It does. A little."

"Well, at least your mom doesn't have to be a single mother anymore. She can count on Pastor John to scare Shelley's boyfriends now."

Tami laughed. "I don't know. He's so mild. My father was a teddy bear to me, sue, but I bet he would have had you shaking in your boots."

[*]

Tami slid into the cab of Eric's pick-up. Shelley squeezed in next to her on the bench seat. Mom had insisted Shelley be home by 11:30 PM. "Why do you get a later curfew than I did?" Tami asked.

"John told her that if I was going to do something I shouldn't, I could do it before 5 PM anyway. They decided on 11:30 because John doesn't want to wait up later than that to make sure I get in safely."

As Eric pulled into the street, Tami asked him, "How did the lunch go? With your dad's girlfriend?"

"Well…they're engaged."

"Really? You don't sound surprised."

He shrugged. "He's never asked me to meet one before, so, I figured it was close to that point."

"Is that the chick he met at Easter?" Shelley asked. "They're engaged after dating for eight months?"

"Mom dated Pastor John for about that long," Tami pointed out.

"These old people move fast," Shelley said.

"Well, do you like her?" Tami asked Eric.

He made a left turn. "He likes her. That's all that matters."

"Is that a no?"

"I don't know, Tami. She seems perfectly fine. She wants to marry my dad. He wants to marry her. What more do I need?"

"I wanted more for my mom," Tami said. "More than Pastor John."

"More than a decent man who wants to marry her and that she wants to marry?" Eric asked. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. They aren't passionate about each other. Is your dad passionate about this woman?"

"What does that even mean?" Eric asked.

"I don't know," Tami admitted. "It means…something more than what my mom and Pastor John have, is all. I think they must hardly ever have sex. He seemed so shocked when my mom hinted she wanted it last night."

"Seeing Eric's hot dad probably got her all worked up," Shelley said.

Eric gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead.

"You think she's actually attracted to him?" Tami asked Shelley. "Pastor John, I mean."

"I'm pretty sure they do it at least every Sunday afternoon, so she can't hate it. And I'm glad she's finally getting some. It sure has loosened her up."

Eric cleared his throat.

"When's your dad's wedding?" Tami asked him.

He seemed relieved by the change in subject. "June. They haven't set an exact date yet."

"Are they going to have kids?" Shelley asked.

Eric drifted out of his lane and swerved back. "What?"

"Kids. Are they planning to have kids?"

"I…it didn't even occur to me to ask that." He gripped the steering wheel a bit tightly. "Is your mom and Pastor John?"

"She's forty-one," Shelley said. "He's fifty-one. I seriously doubt it. But your dad isn't quite forty. And this chick is still, what, early thirties?"

"If they had kids," Eric said, "I'd be old enough to be my sibling's father."

Tami laughed. "Neither of us is old enough to be parents, Eric."

"Biologically, we are."

"But not practically," she insisted.

"That's for sure." He pulled along the curb, behind a line of cars.

Shelley opened the truck door.

In the house, Eric immediately found Joey, and together they drank beer and reminiscence with some of their old Tiger teammates. Meanwhile, Shelley introduced Tami to Danny. Tami sized him up, saw he was drinking New Coke instead of beer, and decided he was not a major threat to Shelley. She eventually wandered into the kitchen because she'd seen somebody walking around with a small plate of chips and salsa, and she wanted some of that.

Tami found the chips on the kitchen island. She didn't know whose house this was, but the kitchen was huge. It was practically the size of her entire apartment. In Tyler, you could drive from trailer to McMansion in the space of two miles.

She dipped her chip and took a bite and was startled by the feel of a hand on the small of her back. She yelped. She turned and saw Mo. He had on a cowboy hat. He never used to wear a cowboy hat. He had on a bolo tie too.

"Hey, Sunshine," he said. "Is that salsa as spicy as you are?"

"Jesus, Mo, you startled me." She pointed to the salsa. "It's kind of bland."

He leaned against the counter. "I saw Eric out in the living room. Said hello."

"Did you refrain from slamming him against the wall?"

"He slammed me against the wall. I slammed him against the lockers." Mo plucked up a chip and dipped it in the salsa. "Water under the bridge. We're pals again." He bit down on the chip.

"You two were never pals."

Mo shrugged, finished his chip, and licked his fingers. "You two still dating?"

"Yes."

"That's a shame, because I still think of you as the one that got away."

"Well I'm sure you're busy with the A&M cheerleaders."

"They do seem to like me. I'm great in the sack. And I'm great at sacking quarterbacks, too. But you saw that game."

Tami rolled her eyes. She plucked up a red solo cup and poured herself some punch from the punch bowl next to the chips. It was probably spiked, she realized, so she'd only have one cup.

"I played on Thanksgiving," Mo continued, "so we didn't have our family dinner until yesterday. But Eric's last game was …what…November 19?"

"They won that game," Tami said, "against the Longhorns. 17 to 14."

"So what are you doing in Waco? Just hanging out, playing rally girl?"

"I'm going to community college. Working on keeping my grades up so I can transfer to Baylor. Waitressing."

"Dating Eric."

She took a sip of her punch. "Dating Eric," she agreed. "You know it's amazing," she said as she lowered her cup, "but I don't feel any anger towards you anymore. At all."

"I wasn't as big a jerk as you think I was."

"Oh, you were. I'm just so far beyond caring about that now. I feel like we could even be friends. You used to be fun. I imagine you make a better friend than a boyfriend."

"I made a pretty good boyfriend, though, didn't I? I mean, forget about that silly mistake. Other than that, I was a pretty damn good boyfriend, wasn't I?"

Eric's unique laugh wafted into the kitchen from the living room. "I think I better investigate what my boyfriend is up to."

Mo trailed her out to the living room, where the furniture had been moved to the side, and Eric was in the process of wrestling the Tiger's new varsity quarterback. They were surrounded by a circle of teenage boys and girls, who were chanting either Eric's name or that of his opponent, Cole.

Eric grappled Cole to the ground and pinned him. Cole began moving in a circle on the carpet, trying to work his way loose.

"Sexy," Mo said, and sipped his solo cup of beer. "Is Eric that good at pinning you in bed?"

"Mo, you did not just say that. I do not believe you just said that."

"Why, you think it's childish? More childish than what he's doing right now?"

"Eric's having fun. Cole's having fun. They're both having fun."

The match went on for another five minutes, until Cole finally tapped out. Eric stood and ran a hand through his hair. He grinned at Tami, saw Mo, and frowned. He came over to them. "Whatcha got?" he asked, looking into Tami's cup.

"Punch. Spiked. Pretty strong." She handed it to him. "And I better not drink it all, as I'm obviously going to have to be the designated driver tonight."

He handed it back to her. "Nah, I'm sober. I've only had two beers. I can stop drinking and you can drink it if you want."

"Trying to get your girl drunk, Taylor?" Mo asked. "Think it'll increase your odds of finally getting laid by her?"

"McArnold, man, it's Thanksgiving weekend. A time of gratitude. I don't want to have to break your nose tonight. So just apologize."

"Apologize. For what? For stealing your girlfriend? Oh, wait, that wasn't me who did that. That was you."

"This again?" Tami asked. She sighed. Then she saw the heat in Eric's eyes, the flickering anger, the way he was staring down Mo. She put a hand on his chest. "I want to go," she said. "Let's go."

"I'm not ready to go," Eric said, his eyes locked with Mo's. "We've only been here an hour and a half."

She put her lips to his ear. "If you have any hope of getting laid tonight, you'll leave now."

Eric took Tami's hand. "On second thought," he said, still staring down Mo, "why don't we go have our own party, baby?"

Eric pulled Tami over to Joey. "Tami wants to go. Can you promise to keep an eye on Shelley for us, give her a ride home later? By 11:30?"

"What if I want to stay later?" Joey jerked his head toward a leather couch, where a cheerleader sat, smiling in his direction. Tami knew her vaguely, Juanita Sanchez. The other cheerleaders made fun of her because she was plump for a cheerleader, but she could tumble like nobody's business. She was always at the bottom of the pyramid, of course. She'd be a senior this year.

"Oh," Eric said. "Ah. Wow. Okay. Well, we'll just have to take her home now."

"But I want to hang with y'all before you head back tomorrow. Lunch?" Joey suggested.

They made plans.

Shelley just about pitched a fit when they made her leave with them, insisting she could find a ride home. She sat in Eric's truck, slumped and scowling, her arms crossed over her chest the entire time.

"Looks like Sarah has competition," Tami said as they drove home.

"You can't have competition if you're not even willing to play the game," Eric said.

"I mean for Joey's affections. Maybe he'll get over her."

"I sure hope so."

"Well, Danny's going to get over me," Shelley whined, "because you made me leave the party."

Eric glanced at her with annoyance. "I don't think that's why he's going to get over you."

Shelley flicked him off.

"I remember when you used to be sweet and innocent," Tami said. "And you read all the time."

"I still read all the time," Shelley said. "And you know what I've figured out? There's a huge, wide world beyond Texas. And I want to explore it."

"Well, you'll be able to afford to do that after you go to a good college and get a degree," Tami said.

Shelley rolled her eyes and turned to look out the window.

Tami rested her head on Eric's shoulder. "Sorry I made you leave, sugar, but I like your face. I don't want you fighting with Mo."

"Well, you can make it up to me later tonight."

"Oh, you're going back to his place, are you?" Shelley asked. "How are you going to explain that you're dropping me off and going back out?"

"I'm not going to explain, Shell. I'm nineteen. I'm an adult. I don't have to explain. I'm just going to tell Pastor John I'm staying at Eric's house tonight."

[*]

It was only 10 PM when they got to Eric's house. The porch light was on, and the living room light, but Mr. Taylor was nowhere to be found. "Guess he's asleep already," Eric said, and led her to his bedroom.

They were just starting to make-out under the sheets, Eric's shirt off but Tami's still on, when a loud, masculine moan – not Eric's - penetrated the silence.

"I guess he's not asleep," Tami said.

A woman's voice further pierced the quite night: "Garret! God, yes! Fuck me! Fuck me hard!"

"Wow," Tami said. "She's a screamer. And she likes the f word."

Eric put the pillow over his ears.

Tami laughed. She lifted one edge of the pillow and asked, "You told him we wouldn't be home until at least midnight, didn't you?"

He nodded.

"Let's leave and come back," she suggested.

Eric was out of the bed and down the hall and out the front door in a flash. They went back to the party. Mo was gone, probably upstairs with some girl. Eric and Tami ended up just standing around the kitchen talking to some old classmates.

When they returned two hours later, Mr. Taylor was sitting on the couch with his arm around a woman Tami could only presume to be his fiancé. They were watching Moonstruck on the VCR.

Mr. Taylor rose, and so did the woman. He introduced her to Tami as Ms. Karen Jones.

"Are you still thinking about medical school?" Tami asked her. She recalled Mr. Taylor mentioning that to her mother on Easter.

"Yes, but not this year. I'm still knocking out a few prerequistes I missed in college. You'd think a B.S. in nursing would cover it, but no."

They chatted for a while longer, Eric appearing very uncomfortable. Eventually, he said, "Well, I think Tami and I should get to sleep. We have to leave early for Waco tomorrow."

"I'm going to take Karen home," Mr. Taylor said. "The guestroom is made up, Tami."

Despite the pretense, the guest bedroom bed was never touched. Tami lay on her back in the old bed where Eric had first given her the "special kisses" so many months ago, biting down on his Dallas Cowboys bandanna to silence her cries as he pleased her with his tongue before sliding back up her body, sliding in, and taking his own pleasure.