Gimme Everything You Got - Iva-Marie Palmer Page 0,62
We had to play at eight a.m., before the Wisconsin school’s football team needed the field. We couldn’t get spectators to come out, even if anyone had wanted to come—they’d have to leave Powell Park at six a.m.—and we’d be home by Saturday afternoon, but it was still exciting. Everyone had a duffel bag of stuff, though Arlene Swann had a large pink suitcase instead.
“Is that thing full?” Tina asked her. “Are you planning on staying in Wisconsin?”
Arlene shrugged. “You never know what could happen.”
Our bus—or at least what I guessed was our bus—was parked in the narrow drive where the boys’ teams loaded up for games, and where their opponents were dropped off. It was a novel sensation to know we were going to be boarding a team bus. Our team’s bus.
Some students using the side doors exited the school and blinked at us, wondering what we were waiting for. After the first few days following tryouts, most of the school had forgotten about us. Most, except the football team, who emerged from the side doors, filing past us on their way to practice.
“What’s the deal? You have a game?” Keith Barnes said.
“Yeah, in Wisconsin,” Arlene said proudly.
“Gross, Packer country,” Keith said. “Good luck, though.”
“Was Keith just semi-nice?” I asked Tina.
“I think so,” she said.
“Do you think he respects us or something?” I asked, hitching my duffel bag farther up my shoulder.
“Nah,” Tina said. “Probably it’s hard for him to hump the air wearing all that football equipment.”
Whatever made Keith bestow his leaden good wishes hadn’t affected the rest of the team, who regarded us first with puzzlement and then open derision.
“Is it just me, or were all those girls better looking before they started playing soccer?” Teddy Childers asked a gang of younger guys trailing behind him. They all laughed like a bunch of pubescent seals.
“Hey ladies, aren’t your boyfriends gonna be upset you’re leaving town?” Paul Mahoney—Arlene’s ex—teased, then slapped his forehead. “Duh, forgot that, no one wants to date any of you.” Arlene turned away from him and gritted her teeth.
“Ha, yeah, good thing the Dyke Squad is leaving town,” Teddy tacked on, half to us and half to Len Tenley, the captain of the team, who Lynn Bandis was dating.
As Len grimaced but said nothing in our defense, Marie tossed her duffel to the ground and stomped over to Teddy, who’d put on his helmet.
“Seriously?” Marie Quinn yelled into his mask. “The best you can come up with is we might rather have sex with each other than with some asshole like you? Sounds like we have good taste to me.”
“You pissed her off,” Paul said, slapping his buddy on the back. “She must not be getting any pussy lately. You know what that’s like, though, don’t you, Childers?”
“I’d rather have my vagina sewn shut than ever let one of you touch me,” Dawn said, stepping in front of Marie, who Dana and Arlene had to drag away.
“He’s not worth it, Marie,” Dana said.
“Oh, I am, baby,” Teddy called out, taking off his helmet. Then, turning on Dawn, he said, “And from what I hear, you’re gonna need a lot of string.”
“Like you’ll ever know anything about her vagina or any other vagina, Teddy,” I spat.
George emerged with Duane Harris, a sophomore who’d transferred in from the city and played varsity running back. George gave Tina and me a friendly wave, and Duane nodded and smiled. “Candace told me about the game—we hope it’s a good one!”
“Thanks,” I said blandly, more to Duane than to George, even though Duane hadn’t said anything. Candace’s boyfriend was just so earnest, and between his dopey personality and knowing his breath probably smelled like Paul Mahoney’s armpit and blue cheese, I wanted to gag. He would have been less annoying if he were making piggish remarks. Everything about George irked me. He and Duane shuffled away, toward the field, but Teddy and Paul remained.
Teddy grabbed his crotch and sneered at me. “This isn’t over, Klintock.”
“I don’t know, I bet you start and finish at about the same time,” I said.
Tina said, “Tell him” under her breath and slapped me five.
At that moment, Bobby came out the side doors.
Teddy let go of his crotch, and Paul, who’d been about to say something, clamped his mouth shut. A lot of guys made fun of Bobby behind his back because he coached a girls’ sport, but I noticed when they came face-to-face with him, they lost their nerve. Most of the time,