An Accidental Family

Coach Johnson still took a very conservative approach with Jason heading up the offence, but he sprinkled in enough long throws to keep defences honest. Sneaky caught a few more passes before the end of the season and continued to see time in run-heavy packages, but his 57-yard touchdown was his only score on the year (although he would go on to be all-state as a senior and eventually play football in the SEC).

And for those of you wondering, Jason did give coach the full 50 push-ups that he owed him but didn't end up running the sprints. Coach said that the time that would have been spent sprinting was better used on extra throwing practice with the wide receivers, tight ends and backs.

Jason played well as a starter; all things considered. He wasn't a superstar, and he still wasn't going to win any foot races, but his arm and his innate sense for the game let him manage the game and put the team in a position to win. He played so well, in fact, that rumours started to surface about Jason being named the full-time starter over Tom. I was never worried that the rumours were true (Tom was really good after all) but Jason made a point of saying that he would quit the team rather than start over Tom when he was healthy. Jason considered Tom a friend and he was loyal to a fault.

Jason's loyalty to Tom was well placed. As Jen feared, some of the nastier junior-varsity cheerleaders took it on themselves to separate Lisa from Jason, so that he could spend time with a more popular girl as befits the starting varsity quarterback. They started rumours and viciously bullied her in the halls and after school. They never did anything overt when Jason was around, but they pounced on her while he was at practice or working in the shop.

Lisa was too proud to ask for help and too low in the school's pecking order to have any allies to take up her fight. I knew from my time at that school that even some of the teachers deferred to the cheerleaders, letting their cruelty go unpunished even when it was obvious and during class time.

Their campaign of terror against Lisa might have succeeded except for a random bit of luck. A couple of weeks after they started, Sneaky happened to be late heading to practice and saw Lisa crying in the parking lot. In their year of friendship, he had never seen her shed even a single tear, not even when she came to school with bruises on her arms or face from 'walking into doors' and 'falling down the stairs.' But here she was, crying inconsolably with her jeans torn, face scratched, and her t-shirt ripped completely off one shoulder and holding on by only a few threads on the other.

Without hesitating, Sneaky rushed to Lisa's side taking off his practice jersey and offering it to her to cover up with. He put his arms around her and held her until she had cried herself out and could tell him what was wrong.

She had been heading to the bleachers to watch practice after school when she was accosted by three of the junior varsity cheerleaders. Despite being far tougher than the cheerleaders, their superior numbers had won out and they had beaten her badly. That's not what had set off her tears, however. The ringleader, Cindy Stanley, had bent over Lisa while she was on the ground and threatened, "you back the fuck away from Jason or my dad will make sure that your drug dealing piece of shit uncle is sent to jail with your dad, and that you and your trash sisters will spend the rest of your garbage lives wishing you had never fucked with me."

Cindy's father was a big deal locally and held a lot of sway with local politicians and elected officials and Lisa was terrified that she would make good on her threat. Not that she cared whether her abusive uncle went to jail, but the prospect of being separated from her sisters and unable to protect them terrified her to her core.

Once Lisa calmed down, Sneaky insisted that she speak with Jason about what was happening, but she refused. Lisa didn't have much in this world, but she did have her pride. Sneaky finally managed to convince her to speak with me as one of the only adults in the world that she trusted. I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do, but I promised I would help.

I knew enough to know that I couldn't just take this incident to the principal. High school has its own strict moral code and Lisa's life would be even worse than it was now if people thought she was a snitch. At the same time, these girls were threatening to do significant harm to her and her family, and I had to do something to help. After some thought, I went for advice to the only authority on cheerleaders that I knew, Jen.

After hearing the story, Jen got a grim look on her face and said that she would take care of things. It took a few days, but she kept her word.

That Friday, before the game started, Jen made her way down to the sidelines and waved to Tabitha who was leading some pre-game cheer routines. When she had a break, she came over to where Jen was standing and they talked for maybe five minutes. At one point they both stopped talking and looked up into the stands where I was sitting with Lisa and her little sisters. I waved to her, but she ignored me and went back to her conversation. A few minutes later they finished, and she came back up to her seat beside me with a satisfied look on her face.

"That went well," she said.

"What went well?" I asked, a little confused.

"Fixing our little problem," she replied with a hint of a smile and a glance at Lisa. Tom was slated to be the starter for that evening's game now that his ankle was mostly healed, but Jason prepared just like he had for the past three games in case there were any setbacks.

Tom made it through the entire game except for a series or two of garbage time at the end of the 4th when we were already up by 24 points. After the game, Tabitha came over to Lisa and put her arm around her with a big smile, leading her down to speak with Jason. On Monday, I heard from a bemused Jason that Tom and Tabitha had invited him and Lisa to sit with them at lunch and that Tabitha and the senior cheerleaders seemed to have taken Lisa under their wing. Later that week, I heard from Sneaky that three very humbled junior varsity cheerleaders had offered Lisa a sincere apology which she graciously accepted.

With Jason back on the bench and Tabitha and Tom making it clear that they had Lisa's back, the campaign of terror against her came to an abrupt and unlamented end. To no one's surprise Jason seemed completely oblivious to the whole situation, continuing to train and game with Lisa like nothing had happened. Much more surprising, a second genuine apology was offered by Cindy Stanley to Lisa that truly put the matter to bed for good. Cindy and Lisa even became somewhat unlikely friends and Cindy became as protective of Lisa as she had once been cruel.

The only other thing that happened of note in October was that a customer of mine decided to leave his house with a mild case of the flu and then sneeze in my face. This led to a mild man-cold which, over the next 48 hours, turned into the worst illness I had had since I was an infant. I spent nearly 10 days in bed, three of them delirious with fever.

Jen looked after me the entire time I was sick. She cooked dinner when I could eat, made soup and then broth when I couldn't, brought me medicine and cool compresses and, to my horror, cleaned my apartment while I slept. I couldn't remember the last time that my apartment looked this spotless. It was a little unnatural. Not that I was a total slob, mind you. My mom raised me better than that. But by the time Jen was finished I could see my reflection on just about every surface in the kitchen and the dust bunnies had been vanquished from under my couch.

Once I recovered, I offered to pay Jen for all the groceries she had bought me, but she would hear none of it, reminding me of the times that I had fixed her car when it wouldn't start and the countless treats and snacks at games and practices, I had bought for her and the kids. I didn't push too hard, but I had the beginnings of an idea of how I could repay her.

Thanksgiving, 2014

By mid-November the football season was wrapping up and the team was getting ready for the playoffs. Jason's time was increasingly consumed with school, football and his friends but he helped out at the shop on the weekends, and we gamed together as often as we could make the time.

Our work on the Shelby progressed quickly and it was practically done except for the missing steering wheel. We came close to finding one just before thanksgiving, but it had already been purchased the day before it turned up in my online search. We were so close to being finished, but it didn't feel right to call it complete until we could put on the steering wheel that dad had coveted.

The fall was also the busiest season around the shop as folks finally got around to doing all the repairs to their cars that should have been made in the summer and that needed to get done before winter. Things were so busy, in fact, that I neglected to make plans for Thanksgiving until the week before when my mom decided that the time had come for me to host.

"Jeremy Thomas (she was the only person in the world who refused to call me JT) it is high time I came over and met this Jason and Jennifer that you speak so highly of," she said in that mother's voice that brooks no disagreement. Those words struck fear into my heart.

Like most mothers, my mom was convinced that it was well past time for me to settle down with a nice girl and start producing grandchildren for her to spoil. Now I wasn't opposed to this idea, but the challenge was that my mom thought that any woman within 50 feet of me was, by default, the right girl for me regardless of her interest or marital status. Nonetheless, I agreed that I would ask Jen what her and Jason were doing for Thanksgiving. That night I knocked on Jen's door and found out that they had no plans.

"We are just going to have a quiet night in by ourselves," Jen stated.

"Well, I was wondering if you two would like to join me and my mother for a Thanksgiving meal," I responded. "Nothing fancy, but my mom would really like to meet you both."

Looking a bit embarrassed Jen said that normally they would love to but that she didn't really have the money to contribute to a Thanksgiving meal right now.

"That's all good," I assured her "it will be my treat. I will get a turkey to roast, and my mom will bring the sides. Maybe you could come over a bit early and help my mom put together the desserts."

"Sounds wonderful," Jen said with a big smile that warmed my heart. "But you're sure we won't be too much of a bother?"

"If you don't join us, I will never hear the end of it from mom," I said with a laugh. "It's agreed, see you on Thursday."

The next morning our Thanksgiving dinner grew again when Jason asked if Lisa and her sisters could join us. "I know it's asking a lot, JT, but Lisa mentioned that on Thanksgiving her uncle invites over a bunch of his friends to watch football and they get pretty drunk and loud. I thought maybe it would be nice for Lisa and her sisters to get away from that and have a proper Thanksgiving dinner for once."

I told Jason that Lisa should ask her uncle and, if it was alright with him, it was alright for me. Lisa asked and her uncle, in his typical fashion, said that he didn't care what the girls did for Thanksgiving if it didn't cost him any money and he didn't have to drive.

And that's how on Thanksgiving, my apartment was filled to the brim with the sounds of conversation and laughter. My mom instantly adopted Lisa's little sisters and kept them amused with a never-ending string of activities, from colouring to card games and, with her careful oversight, helping to prepare the meal. Jason and Lisa spent much of the day watching football or out back throwing one.

Lisa's sisters wanted to learn to play football like their sister and so Jason spent hours with them teaching them how to throw and catch a ball. His patience with them was incredible and they looked up to him in that special way that is normally reserved for big brothers and sisters. Jen and I spent some time watching and I could see the pride in Jen's face as she watched her son with the little girls.

Dinner was a feast with roast turkey, sweet potato casserole, mac & cheese and all the fixings. There were even two kinds of pie for dessert, pecan and pumpkin. The girls' eyes grew wide when they saw all the food and my mother kept their plates piled high until they couldn't eat any more.

When dinner was done, Jen took the girls over to her apartment to put on a movie while Jason and Lisa went outside to throw, and I helped mom with the dishes.

"Jen seems very nice," my mom said with a knowing glance. Great, and so it begins.

"Yes mom, Jen is incredible," I replied trying not to let my exasperation show through in my voice.

"Have you asked her out yet?"

"No, mom I haven't, and I am not going to either. I am just a friend. She doesn't see me that way."

"Are you sure about that? I see the way that she looks at you and that's not how most people look at their 'friends'."

"Mom, please stop. I know that you mean well, but I really can't talk about this. Jen is way out of my league. She is smart, she is kind, she is thoughtful, she is a great mom and a better friend ... and she is so beautiful it makes my teeth ache when I look at her.

"But what does a guy like me have to offer a girl like her? A high school education? A mechanic's salary and hours? A tiny apartment in a smaller town?"

"Jeremy Thomas, I won't listen to you talk like that. You are the kindest most thoughtful man I know. You would give a stranger the shirt off your back if they needed it. You are strong and handsome. Any girl, Jen included, would be lucky to be with you."

Mom paused her washing and looked directly at me, "tell me that you don't love her, and I will never raise the subject again."

At those words, I felt like there was a red-hot poker searing my heart.

"Mom, please stop ... of course I love her. How could I not love her? I have only known her for months, but it feels like I have loved her forever. She is all I think about when I go to bed and the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. I am happier with her than I have been at least since dad passed away. I love her ... but she doesn't love me."

"Are you sure about that? She ..."

"Mom, please," I said with genuine anguish in my voice. "You have to stop. It nearly killed me when I realized that Sue loved Ted and not me. I can't go through that again. Jen is incredible, but her time here is just a pitstop until she gets her life together and then she will move on. I lost Sue, I couldn't bear to lose Jen."

"Well, I guess you know best. But she sure does look like a woman in love to me though."

"Mom!"

Christmas, 2014

Things slowed down even more once the football season wrapped up. The team made it to the playoffs, winning through to the state semi-finals before losing to the eventual champions. Tom played great and finished the season strong, putting his sprained ankle in the rear-view mirror and earning himself strong consideration both for postseason awards and a Division I scholarship. Jason continued to practice and learn and, just as importantly, continued to be accepted by the team quirks and all.

Most afternoons Jason would still come by the shop to work out or lift weights until Jen got off work. He would catch a ride back to the apartment complex with me and Jen would often invite me to join them for dinner before Jason would study or, more often, come play some games on my PS4. One or both of Lisa or Sneaky would often join Jason for his workouts and, a couple of times a week, Lisa would join us for dinner afterwards as well.

It was increasingly clear that Lisa was sweet on Jason, but Jason seemed oblivious to her interest. It's amazing how some guys can't see what is so obvious to everyone else around them. She was patient with him, though, and they acted more like siblings than friends.

For myself, I was excited for Christmas for the first time in at least a decade. The holidays are always better when you can spend them with your family and with the people you love. My father had been at the heart of our Christmas celebration, his combination of joy and wonder bringing the holiday to life. A decade after his death my mother and I still carried on some of his traditions like dropping baskets of food and presents off for families in need, but the season just didn't have the same magic without his laugh and smile.

Maybe Jen, Jason and I were only an accidental family, but I was just as excited to spend the holidays with them as I had been to spend it with my family as a kid.

Coming up to Christmas, Jason was still bugging his mom for a PS4 of his own. Although he desperately wanted one, I knew that Jen was barely making it paycheque to paycheque and just couldn't afford it. The spectre of her ex-husbands credit card debt was a constant worry that ensured that she could never really get ahead financially. She just couldn't afford big ticket items like the PS4 no matter how much Jason might covet them.

While Jen couldn't afford a PS4, I could. But even a year after its release, it was still in such demand that they were sold out pretty much everywhere. So, I watched for stock drops at local stores and scanned message boards looking for hints on where I might be able to find one. Finally, I managed to track one down about a week before Christmas. I knew Jason would love it and I couldn't wait to surprise him and Jen.

Jen's present took an equal, if not greater, amount of time and luck. I couldn't help but notice that her car was a constant source of anxiety and stress for her. It was ancient and rusted and barely ran, even after I had fixed the plugs earlier that year, and a half a dozen other problems in the ensuing months. I knew that the car would not last much longer and I was worried that she would get stranded on the highway, or worse, when it finally stopped working. I couldn't afford to buy her anything fancy, but I thought that if I could find an inexpensive car that had a sound body then I could do the work to make sure that the rest of it was in top condition.

The last week of November, one of our oldest and most loyal customers, Mrs. Louisa Jones, stopped by to ask about getting a tow for her husband's old Toyota. It had stopped working several years before and had been sitting in her barn ever since. I asked if I could come and look at it, and she agreed. After work, I drove the half hour to their farm to find an older model red Toyota Corolla tucked away under a tarp. Its body was in great shape, but it looked like it hadn't been driven in half a decade.

I asked Mrs. Jones how much she wanted for the car, but she insisted that I could have it for the price of the tow. I tried to pay her what it was worth, but she would hear nothing of it and looked offended at the suggestion, so in the end I gratefully accepted her generosity. When I got it back to the shop, I put it up on a hoist to assess what it would need to get back on the road. I was interrupted when Jason came into the shop, fresh from practice.

"Hey JT, what are you working on?"

I was tempted to try and keep the present for his mother a secret, but I knew that would be hard given how much time he spent at the shop. Then I had a thought.

"I was thinking of getting your mom a safer car for Christmas. I think I found a good option but it's going to take a lot of work to get it ready for her. Do you want to help me get it back into pristine shape for your mom?"

"Hell yes!" was his enthusiastic reply.