Mr. Mento

The pace was about the same as Thursday because they had removed mats. Bill went, Alan and then Tony...they all won. Coach put his arm over my shoulders.

"Do your best, Jeffy."

I actually got a takedown (not something I do often), a near fall, an escape, and another takedown. We found out later that he'd been pretty badly injured in his second match on Thursday but hadn't wanted to bow out early. Besides, he knew through the grapevine that I'd only been a wrestler for one year; he thought he might not have too hard a time. My Friday work was done, so I spent the afternoon reading Mr. Mento's book and resting for Saturday.

I finished the book and went back to review a couple sections. It really made me think. Mom and Dad saw us off to the motel and we went to eat as a team. Back to the motel, sleep, rinse and repeat.

We had the morning off, but we went in and did a light workout, mostly stretches. The Dome was set up with a big mat in each corner, one for each school classification. Our "A" mat was in the corner where our home away from home had been located since Wednesday. The wrestlers started at noon to determine third through eighth places. When the finals began that night, they proceeded in lock-step with four simultaneous matches in each weight class, so it went slower than a dual meet. Our crowd had the advantage of having already staked out their seats and newcomers were arriving in the hour leading up to the session's start. The kids from the rooter bus had just arrived.

"You can have this last look at the crowd," said Alan, who had just appeared at my elbow, "then we get focussed."

"It's respect!" I blurted. Allan raised his eyebrows. "These people respect us." He nodded at this and we turned to join the team.

Coach left us alone as we huddled. "Remember that movie? Saturday Night Lights?" Bill asked. "We can be perfect. We each do the best we can do, and we'll be perfect!" He looked around at each of us. "Hands in! Perfect on three!"

"One, two, three!"

"Perfect!"

Bill won. Allan won. Tony dominated. I struggled. The kid I had was my equal. It was like wrestling myself...except he'd been at it longer. I was down 4 - 0 halfway through the third period after he got an escape. My bloody nose forced a time out.

"Time to use some technique, Jeffy. Offer him the leg and use that counter you've been playing with."

I shrugged, "OK."

Back on the mat, my nostrils stuffed with cotton, I tied-up his right hand with my left and overcommitted my right knee. He was as tired as I was so he bent over a little at the waist to hook my leg. I trapped his head in front of my body and reached over his back underhooking his right leg at the knee while slipping my right foot behind the near leg. I pulled the far leg off the mat and behind my neck and fell backward to my seat. I crossed my ankles and arched as hard as I had ever done. I kept it up until I heard the ref call time and separate us. He paused and looked toward the scorer's table and signaled the take down and the the three points for the near fall.

We made the papers. I mean the big city ones.

Mom and Dad had arranged to take me home with them, so I took a shower, said my good-byes and loaded into their car. I was asleep before we hit the freeway and stayed that way till we got the high school about midnight. I picked up Jimmy from the lot and took a slight detour and drove by the Bowman house on the way home. Their lights were still on, so I stopped.

I rang the bell and Mr. Bowman answered it quickly.

"Hi, Mr. Bowman. Is Jen home?"

"You must have come back with your folks, Jeff. The rooter bus is probably way behind you."

I froze up for a second. "Sure...sure...I guess I'm a little out of it from the drive home. See you. Thanks"

I sat in Jimmy for a time. I'd seen the kids that came on the rooter bus in the stands, but I hadn't seen Jen before the match...or after, for that matter. She could have been somewhere else in the arena, and she knows better than to bug me right before a match, so I hadn't thought much about it. I started my truck and drove home thoughtfully.

I slept most of Sunday morning...didn't even wake up at chore time. Dad let me sleep through them. I woke up around 11:30 and wandered out to the kitchen. Mom had a breakfast ready for me. I could only eat about half of it. I guess maintaining my weight at one ninety had changed my appetite.

"Jen called." Mom said as she picked up my plate.

"Oh?" Was my brilliant rejoinder.

"She wants you to call her back...said her call went right to voice mail."

"I had my phone turned off at the tournament...forgot to switch it back on."

Mom looked at me with pride. "You did well, Jeff. We're pleased with your success."

I grinned and nodded my thanks, hugging her before I went back to my bedroom to throw on some work clothes. My phone was still in my duffle in the truck, so I went out to get it. It needed a charge so I brought it back in and plugged in the cord all the time wondering what I was going to say to Jen. I still hadn't figured it out when I heard the land line ring.

"It's for you!" Mom called from the dining room. "It's Jen."

I grabbed the handset from the table. "Hello?"

"Hi, Jeff. I can't really talk right now..."

"Then why did you call?"

"I wanted to thank you for not outing me to my folks last night. I can't explain right now, but when we get together I'll give you the full rundown. Can you keep everything to yourself for a day or two?"

I frowned. "Sure. What do you..."

"Gotta go! See you at school."

What the hell? I thought.

Monday morning came too early, but I got the chores done, cleaned up, dressed and off to school. I found Mr. Mento's book as I unpacked my wrestling stuff. The marker caught my eye and I slipped it out of the book, inspecting both sides. I put it in my pocket and headed for first period.

Jen wasn't at her locker and we didn't have a class together until third period, so I remained curious during my first two hours. She wasn't in third period or lunch. I mentally shrugged and finished out the day and went to rehearsal after school. I had already touched bases with Ms Higgens about Mr. Mento's performance during Drama class, so she went right to it and had most of my business and blocking in Act I done by the time we finished at 5:30. I got a bottle of water from the vending machine outside the stage door and headed out into the parking lot.

Jen was sitting in my truck when I got there. It takes too much time to lock the doors on these old rigs. You have to actually use the key in the door, so I always left the driver's side unlocked.

"Hey, stranger." I said, pushing my backpack across the seat and following it in.

"Hi. Can we talk?"

I shrugged. "Can't stay long. You wanna talk here?"

She hesitated. "How about somewhere less public? Sunset Hill?"

I nodded and put the water in the outside pocket of my backpack then cranked Jimmy over. Sunset Hill is a park east of town which gives a good view toward the west. We were likely to be the only people there on a February evening after sunset. The five minute drive was silent. I turned the key off, killing the engine. I left Jimmy in gear.

"You've got the floor, Jen."

She pulled her left knee up on the seat and turned toward me. "I'd like to apologize for Saturday." My eyebrows rose. "I missed the rooter bus and was too ashamed to admit it to anyone."

My eyebrows rose higher. "You know Marti Lowe is in the musical with me, right?" Jen's face froze. "She was at rehearsal this afternoon and kinda wondered aloud where you'd gone after the bus got to the Dome."

"Oh."

"She also wondered if we were still going together."

"Oh."

I reached in my shirt pocket for Mr. Mento's card. I flipped it over and read the back aloud. "Neon Rhododendron."

Jen immediately dropped into a trance state.

Remind me to never get on the wrong side of a hypnotist, I thought. I'd reviewed the book just in case I'd made a right guess, and I had it in the glove box just in case.

"Neon Rhododendron takes you deeper. Deeper. Jen, when I count up to three you will awake from the trance but return even deeper when I say the key phrase. One...two...three!"

Jen, opened her eyes and lifted her head opening her mouth to say something. "Neon Rhododendron." I said. She relaxed. "Even deeper. My suggestions will be compelling. They will be like some deep conviction...a belief you cannot go against. Let's practice. Awake on three...one...two...three!"

Jen blinked and sat up, opening her mouth to speak. "Neon Rhododendron." She was under again.

"Jen, I am gonna wake you from this trance in a few seconds. When you awake, you will answer questions truthfully. You will only answer with the truth. You will stay here in the truck with me and only tell the truth. One...two...three." She blinked at me.

"So, are we still going together?"

The struggle to say what she wanted to say and what she had to say was evident on her face.

"Yes and no...the question's too vague." she finally uttered.

"How so 'yes'?"

"Yes we are going together because we are literally here together, we got here together, and I hope we'll leave together."

"Do I need to define my terms?" She nodded. I concentrated. "Going together is a commonly used shorthand for a relationship between two people that is more intimate than a friendship. It implies trust, respect, and exclusivity."

She paused a moment. "No. We are not going together."

Well, that was clear. "Why?"

"While I trust you, I don't respect you, and we're not exclusive."

I guess I had asked for it. "What do you mean you don't respect me?"

"How could I if we're not exclusive?"

I clenched my jaw turned away looking through the windshield. "What did you do on Saturday?"

"Got up, took a pee..."

I couldn't help but smile. "Could you fast forward a bit to after the rooter bus got to the Dome?"

"Yes, I could."

I sighed. "What did you do after the rooter bus got to the dome?"

"Oh, ok. I got off the bus and went with Roddy. We went to his dorm room." She scowled a little then relaxed. "Later, he brought me back to the Dome and I caught the bus home."

It was the truth, I suppose. "What did you do while you were in Roddy's dorm room?" Her scowl returned. "I want the truth, Jen," I prompted.

She shrugged. "We fucked a few times. Had some dinner and a few drinks. Then we fucked again."

I was surprised. I'd never her her say "fuck" in the whole of our relationship...even as an interjection.

"I assume he drove you back to the Dome."

She looked at me. I sighed. "Did he drive you back to the Dome?"

"Yes."

"Did you see any of the tournament?"

"No, the bus was loading when I got back."

I thought of all those folks who had carved out time from their lives to respect us by coming to watch us wrestle. My jaw got tight.

"How did you make it work with the chaperones and such?"

"I've been riding those busses for four years, Jeff. They always do everything the same way. They take attendance when you load up. Roddy just had to drop me off far enough away on the back side of the bus and I walked around and loaded up." She shrugged. "I've done it before."

"That Christmas dance...why did you even ask me?"

She smiled. "I was bored." My look was incredulous enough that she elaborated. "Yes, as in: I had nothing to occupy my time."

I shook my head, amazed. "Why keep seeing me? Why not just play the field your Senior year?"

"Oh, come on, Jeff. I have a reputation to maintain. It might be viewed as a failure if we went out once and done. I needed to make sure everyone's perceptions were right. Also, there's the challenge."

"The challenge? What is the challenge," I quickly amended.

"Yeah. Ever since summer before our Junior year when you broke up with Lindy Wendt and she said it was because you wouldn't take the plunge, so to speak, we kept track of your love life for a while. When you hurt your knee in football and it was obvious you wouldn't be out for basketball, we found other stuff to do."

"We? Who's we?"

She frowned "It changes from time to time, but, you know, my group. Me, Liz, Beth, Sue Ann, Ronnie, and, of course, Lindy. After you broke up with her, she kinda challenged any of us to do better with you. Saving face, I guess. We all laughed and went on to other stuff and forgot about it until this September when all our boyfriends went off to college."

I shook my head looking out over the town and beyond. "Seems more than a little disrespectful." I turned back. She sat looking at me. "I mean...don't you think that's a little disrespectful?"

"Me? No."

Amazing. I did. "What do you think it is?"

She concentrated for a second. "Expedient. Clever, even." Maybe the questioning look on my face prompted her to explain further, or she really wanted me to know this. "Roddy's just far enough away to make it hard to get there very often...maybe once a month max...but if I don't go there, he just drifts further away toward those co-eds and he can blame me for it. I needed something to tweak him with. Something to keep his attention on me. You were perfect for the job. Good looking enough, athletic--so you have popularity points--and I could tell him anything about us...truthfully...because of your 'not until my wedding night' code."

I sat shaking my head. "It's not really 'not until my wedding night'. It's just until I know the time is right...and the girl is right, too." I frowned. "So, I was just your matador cape for Roddy? Something to keep him focussed on you and not the crowd, huh?"

"Worked, too. I have his ego tied up in knots. I'm his bird in the hand, and he's totally ignoring the ones in the bushes up there at school." She smiled in satisfaction.

"Why isn't he worried you'll break me down and get me to sleep with you?"

She shrugged. "He doesn't think much of you."

"Couldn't you have just not gotten a new boyfriend?"

"Nope. You're important to the process. You serve a purpose. He has to know that he can never take me for granted. Also, I'm counting on the fact that he has some pride of ownership." She laughed. "It turns him on to be fucking me behind your back. Sorta the opposite of sloppy seconds." Again with the smile. "But you don't have to worry about that, huh?"

I was starting to boil. "How do you know he's being faithful?"

"You remember Tara Linstrom?" I nodded. "She's my spy. PLU is pretty small and she'd find out. She has lots of friends that help her keep tabs on him. It's almost easier than high school, because he has no chance with upper class girls there. He's sorta in the same bind as when he was a Freshman in high school."

I really didn't need to know more. I grabbed the steering wheel, my arms straight out in front of me, and squeezed while I clenched my teeth. What was I going to do? I shook my head.

"Neon Rhododendron." She closed her eyes and relaxed back into the seat.

I looked out at the scenery gradually bringing my gaze back from the horizon to the cedar fence at the edge of the parking lot to the nose of my truck then to my white knuckles. I dropped my eyes and shook my head in wonderment. I grabbed my water and took a few swallows. Putting the lid back on, I shook my head again. What a cunt. What an absolute cunt. I couldn't control my anger. It boiled out in hot tears of rage. I swiveled and put my back against the door tapping the bottle against my thigh.

I was so pissed off. I would never fuck her, but I wanted to fuck her up...make her pay for her casual lack of concern for me and how carefully she had hidden it. I looked at her in her trance across the seat from me. I needed to leave her with something, something like Vickie getting stuck to the edge of the stage.

"Reverse sloppy seconds," I muttered. "Jen, soon I'm going to wake you from your trance when I count up to three. When you awaken, you'll not remember my questions or any of your answers. Nothing about our conversation since we arrived here. We'll start again." I paused. "One, two, three."

"You've got the floor, Jen."

She pulled her left knee up on the seat and turned toward me. "I'd like to apologize for Saturday." I didn't respond because I'd already heard her lies. "I missed the rooter bus and was too ashamed to admit it to anyone."

"Really? You're going with that? Marti Lowe has a different story." Jen's eyes got big and round. "She said she sat next to you all the way to Tacoma. She wondered if I was on the market yet."

"I can explain..."

"I'd like to hear that."

"Um...when the bus got to the Dome, I was hungry, so I went toward the Port to a little restaurant I know there. You know how bad for you the food is at those concession stands."

"Can't argue with you there."

"Halfway through the meal I got up to visit the restroom. When I came back my purse was gone. I spent the afternoon and evening making a police report. They brought me back just in time to catch the bus back home."

I gave her a two finger clap. "You are quick on your feet, Jen. Neon Rhododendron." She slumped back against the door again.

I tapped the water bottle on my thigh frowning. Fucking Roddy. It's not like I wanted this girl at this point. I just wanted to leave her with something to regret. Burn her. Hah! I wouldn't touch her with Roddy's dick. Roddy's dick... I glanced back at Jen. I'd seen Roddy's dick numerous times after practices and we were pretty comparable. Jen had been careful to avoid mine so she didn't have much to go on as far as...what the hell? She was hypnotized, for cryin' in a bucket. I didn't have to rely on reality!

"Jen. We're done, now. You and I are officially broke-up. You will only tell people the truth about this last weekend. You don't have to volunteer this to anyone, but if they ask you have to tell the real story...with one addition. When you open your eyes, Jen, you won't remember the lies, you'll remember trying to keep us together. You'll remember one last try at seduction. You'll remember moving in close and placing your hand on my package." Something she'd never done. "You're pleasantly surprised, although you've noticed how large I am before. It's big and getting bigger. It's the biggest dick you've ever touched. It's the biggest dick you will ever touch. You will compare every other dick you ever see, touch, suck, or fuck to this one here, and they will all be found lacking." I remembered something from some porn I had seen. "You will become a size queen, but my dick will forever be the 'one that got away'."

I looked at her and finished. "You will never be satisfied with any other dick. I repeat...you will never be satisfied with Any. Other. Dick." I could see Vickie Hudson. Her index finger stuck to the corner of the stage. Unable to get free. Unable to understand why she was stuck there, but stuck anyway.

I started the truck and headed out of the parking lot. "We're over as a couple. When you waken, you'll get out of the truck and go on with your life always remembering what I have told you to remember. Not a day will go by without you thinking about what you missed."

We drove in silence until I pulled to the curb in front of her house. "Ok, Jen. I'm going to count to three. You will wake up, go about your life, and always remember. One...two...three."

She stirred and turned staring toward the windshield her hand went to the door handle. "You're sure?" she asked.

"I'm sure. So long, Jen."

She pulled the lever back and opened the passenger side door. Stepping down she reached back, taking her backpack from the floormat and pushed the door closed. I heard the latch click. She was just tall enough that I could see her face as I put the Jimmy in gear and left her behind at the curb. When I looked back in the mirror, she was standing there looking after my truck as I drove away.