The Unlikely Quarterback Ch. 10

"I can say the same thing about cheer, but I'm going to go for it, even if I fall on my face. I'm good at it and I think I can make a difference."

"I don't even like football that much, my only experience with it so far was a half-season in high-school and before that just a summer league."

"Pshaw, as if. That sounds like a bunch of malarkey. You once told me that if you are good at something..., No, what you said was 'If you have a natural talent in something that no one else has, then it's your DUTY to see it through to your full potential.' It sounds like someone isn't drinking their own Kool Aid," she smirked.

Candy had that way about her, she could call me out for my bullshit. She was turning out more and more like my sister Lorry in that respect. She was always full of surprises.

"I'm not THAT talented, give me a break."

"*Cough*Bullshit*Cough*, excuse me."

"Really?"

"Look, Mike, NO ONE else was approached by one of the coaches of the team and practically offered a position on the team. You don't think I hear things. 'I am the eyes and ears of this institution, my friend' [The Breakfast Club]. Sure, they have recruiters but they always make you try out, with you they had a position gift-wrapped in a bow and handed it to you. Because THEY thought you were THAT good."

She was right, it was my motto and if I didn't want to be a hypocrite I had to try.

"Fine! You make a compelling argument. You know, Candy, you are a sneaky bitch. Hiding your brains behind all that beauty makes you a dangerous woman. I'm catching on to you, so you better watch it," I said, with as serious a straight-man tone as I could muster.

She beamed at the compliment.

I went back to the coach and insisted that if I was going to be a part of the team I would need to go through tryouts. Since they technically already had tryout, they set up a special tryout for me during practice one day and I surprised myself at how well I did. The coach saw my potential and put me on the team as a second-string quarterback, I would be one of two other second string quarterbacks so I would most likely not see a lot of game time. That suited me just fine.

Candy, no surprise to me, made the cheer squad and went with me to every game. The coach from time to time would throw a dog a bone and give me some game time and every time I did, I swear I heard Candy cheering my name.

I wasn't the best quarterback on the team, but neither was I the worst. Coach said I had a great arm and good instincts, but I flagged on a couple of plays when I did some illegal moves to protect myself when being sacked. They almost cost us a couple of games, so my martial arts experience didn't always jive with the football world. Since I was relatively new to the sport, I lacked a lot of the nuances you pick up from years of play.

When I was on the bench though, I didn't stay inactive. I watched the opponents meticulously and with my photographic memory it was like I had an instant replay available in my head. I could visualize counter strategies in my head. I would come up with plays that I didn't know the name of, tell the assistant coach what I thought and how they needed to be countered, then he would translate it into football terms so the head coach would listen.

Eventually, the head coach came to me for ideas directly as I studied the game and became more fluent in the names of plays and counter-measures. Then we started winning. Coach even put me in the game a couple of time as a running back just so I could relay complicated plays to the quarterback during the huddle. I wasn't the best running back ever, but I was competent. I was 6'3 at the time and bulked up to 235 lbs. of solid muscle. I didn't always have the weight to be an effective blocker but what I lacked in mass, I made up for in athleticism and martial arts skills. I was really good at changing angles and keeping a player off balance, so people rarely got by me and if they did, they did it stumbling.

We started off the season as the worst team in our league statistically but by the end of it we were a wild card candidate to make it to the NJCAA championships. We didn't make it, but for the first time in a while scouts from four-year schools were looking to poach us and the guys were ecstatic, a couple of them even got scholarships to some Ivy league schools.

The football season ended right around the same time our civil case did. When all things were said and done. I went into winter break feeling beaten down but also stronger and wiser. Having to communicate to the team and coaches, also made me a much better public speaker, which I sorely needed. I already had a full-ride scholarship to the UCLA and the means to pay for school straight up even if I didn't. So, football did nothing for me financially, but it made my stories more interesting and I found that I could captivate different audiences that wouldn't give me the time of day before. All because of Candy.

In the end, I wasn't a star player. There was no highlight reel of my accomplishments and although I did have a few talent scouts from a few out of state schools interested in me. I had my sights on UCLA and they were not interested in my football prowess.

*

Chaos rarely breeds order; it usually brings more chaos. So, it was with my life after the trial and fall semester at LBCC. The girls weren't suddenly rich after the trial, Frank's company Inotech (they developed microfiber for the telephone companies), successfully argued in appellate court that a full payment would be detrimental to the survival of their company. They needed time to raise the capital so an agreement was forged where they would pay in installments once a quarter for the next three years with interest.

They did have to come up with the lawyer fees, medical bills and 10% of the damages right away. Rather than fight the decision, we decided to come up with a counter solution. The girls would still get their payments over time but they would get a bonus of stock valued at 30% of their judgement. I offered to be a white knight and buy two million in stock to infuse their company with cash so they wouldn't have to disrupt their business by selling off assets. Candy and I became the largest stockholders in the company and with Candy's support (she wasn't interested) I got a seat on their board of directors.

* UCLA

During the fall semester there was a California Court decision to comply with a Supreme Court mandate that students would be allowed to begin their school year at any semester of the year. They now could be admitted in the spring/summer/ or fall rather than just the fall semester. This meant that all of a sudden, I could go to UCLA in the Spring of 1991, a semester earlier than I planned.

So, not only was I going to UCLA, I was on the Board of directors for a fortune 500 company, but I was now practically broke as all my money was now invested in the new company. I had to taper off my work because I became so busy with everything, I did not have time for anything else.

City college took most of January off, but I found myself starting school at the beginning of January at UCLA and rushed right back into the thick of things without much of a break. The worst thing that happened out of all of this wasn't to me, per se, it was to Candy. Suddenly, I was out of her life.

Although we never dated, we did find ourselves seeing each other every day. We carpooled together, I tutored her in subjects she was weak in, and we ran into each other during football functions all of the time. All of the sudden, it went from every day we saw each other to almost nothing.

I even got a dorm room at UCLA because not only was the commute to school so horrible (2-hour drive through LA traffic one way), but Inotech was also in L.A. so it just made sense for me to be close to everything.

When I transferred into UCLA, I had enough completed units where I was just a few units shy of being considered a Junior. This made a difference in that it was a top down system, Seniors registered for classes first, Juniors the next day and so on down the line. Freshmen were kind of screwed. When I last talked to Amanda over the phone, she complained that she was having such a hard time getting classes that she was considering going to a Junior college then transferring back in later.

When I told her, I was transferring in as a Sophomore, she was pissed. I had to sit in a few classes to get into them, however most professors bent over backwards to get a genius in their class. It was a complete turnabout compared to high school. Teachers at the high school level didn't want the problems that came with teaching a genius. Even at the Junior College level, it wasn't much different. But, all of the sudden I was almost being treated like a celebrity.

The most bizarre thing to me was that I couldn't get a girl until I joined the football team in high school. UCLA was a big football school, but there were more sapiosexuals in school than football fanboys. Since, I suddenly found myself in both categories, my options for women seemed unlimited. But I never really got over Simone or Candy and since I wasn't talking to Simone and Candy still had a boyfriend, I wasn't interested in a serious relationship until I got over them. Simone went to UCLA and I did run into her a few times but I purposely avoided her.

Amanda stopped sleeping with me, because she wanted to date others. It's what she said she would do all along so I just wished her luck. We were still friends and we often hung out on campus from time to time, but I did miss the consistent sex - we clicked in the bedroom.

I decided to double major in computer engineering and math. Simone and Amanda were both freshman and were mostly taking general education courses, but I was mostly taking upper division courses in my major so there was little chance any of us would share classes. Simone became a psychology major, and Amanda was a Sociology major, which didn't give us much in common. Most of their classes were across campus from me so it was rare that I would ever see them accidentally unless I was going to lunch or something.

Despite this, I still had a few other girl friends that I did run into from time to time. Paulette was going to USC which was closer to downtown LA whereas UCLA was closer to Bel Air. They were 13 miles apart but they were both close to freeways so we hung out a lot. She was a premed and was always thankful that I got her the internship that she wanted. She still hung out with both Simone and Amanda and she always kept me up to date on all the girls that we both knew.

Amanda was right, Paulette was into white guys, and me in particular. She was a lot like Amanda though and kept suggesting that we hook up some time. The only issue I had with Paulette was that she had no problems dating several people at once. Her attitude was, "if we're not engaged, I don't owe you anything." At least she always had her partners wear condoms.

Paulette did finally talk me into 'hanging out' with her which I guess was her way of saying 'going on a date' because she expected me to treat her as if we were on a date.

"If you're hanging out with me, then you're my man for the night, got it?" she demanded.

"OK, then I expect the same," I retorted.

"Boy! Don't test me. I'll rock your world if you give me half a chance," she teased.

Paulette had a dorm on campus like me, but I had to be careful not to flash my UCLA pride on her Campus since our schools were football rivals and I'd likely get my car keyed or worse. I called her to ask her when she wanted me to pick her up and she let me know of a change in plans.

"Sorry, Mike but my best friend Monique, surprised me with a visit. I feel bad because I really want to hang wit' chu'," she said, in her half ghetto slang.

I found it funny but I lived near her and she and her family spoke normally, but when she hung out with her friends from the hood, she started talking like them, but not fully.

"If you don't mind taking us both, I'm sure she wouldn't mind 'hanging out' with you."

I was kind of confused because, as she explained it to me, 'hanging out' meant more than a date, it meant casual sex too. Her emphasis on the words 'hanging out' implied more than was said.

"So, when you say I would be 'hanging out' with both of you, you mean..."

"Yeah, if you can handle two girls at once, white boy! ... from what I hear that shouldn't be a problem, but sometimes you can be a puritan."

"Yeah... I'm down," I answered.

The plan was to walk around Universal Citywalk, which is an outdoor entertainment area in LA, reminiscent to an outdoor mall except more geared towards entertainment than shopping. There were bars, dance studios, movies and restaurants all outside of Universal Studios, Hollywood. We weren't 21 yet but Citywalk had some 18 and older dance clubs. There was no bar there so you had to pay a fee to get in.

I drove to USC and parked in their visitor parking. I met the girls outside their dorm and saw Monique for the first time. They were both African-American but that's about all they had in common in the looks department. Where Paulette was tall and thin, Monique was a shorty (probably 5'2) and was voluptuous with breasts and ass that were way bigger than her frame. Where Paulette had light almost tan colored skin and coarse wavy brown hair, Monique was a dark chocolate beauty with dark curly hair. Neither wore hair extensions, popular back then, which was good because I found them to be a turn off. They both had pretty faces, but Paulette had a more of a thin angular look than Monique's smooth rounded look.

When we got to the club, we got a few stares, both girls were teasing me by hanging all over me like I was their pimp. They were having so much fun embarrassing me, calling me "Daddy" and loudly using words they thought a prostitute would use like using "sugar" in every sentence. They kept their breasts pressed into my sides and acted brash and brazen the whole time. I was beet red by the time we got to the door, but the doorman could tell they were just busting my balls and let us in.

The club played mostly hip-hop and not a lot of rock, punk, grunge or what Paulette called 'white angsty music', which was fine with me because hip-hop was a lot easier to dance to. Before we got started, we went to the "bar", and although they didn't serve alcohol, they did have soda and bar food so we ordered a round of sodas figuring we'd need to stay hydrated.

The girls were excited and anxious to dance. I didn't even have time to get my bearings before I was dragged to the dance floor. I am not much of a dancer, but my years of martial arts made me a fast learner. A lot of dance moves were similar to martial arts moves that I had ingrained in me. It was an easy transition to learn the Roger Rabbit, the Tootsie Roll or the Electric Slide and the girls were obviously impressed.

Guys kept trying to cut in but Paulette and Monique, to their credit, were very loyal to me. These girls had big attitudes; it was very charismatic. They didn't take shit from anyone and they wouldn't let me defend them. One 'brother' even tried to get physical, and I didn't even have a chance to jump in. Paulette went off on him, the music went silent and all you could hear was her screaming rant. Monique and Paulette then went on a tag team bagging rant, where they insulted everything from the way he dressed, how bad his breath stank, to how fat his momma was (I don't think they actually ever seen his mother, but he took it just as hard as if it were the truth). After they were done belittling him, he tried to apologize but they told him to "talk to the hand because the face ain't listenin'" and he finally slunk off into obscurity. I thought to myself that I'd better not ever get on their bad side; it was that brutal. After everyone got over their laughter, the music started back up and we went back to dancing like nothing had happened.

Both girls were all over me, there were times when they would sandwich me on the dance floor and other times were grinding our crotches together so hard, I was lucky I didn't cum in my boxers.

The girls finally had their fill of dancing around 1am and we took off looking for a place to eat that was still open. We ended up grabbing some fast food from Tommy Burgers (a chili cheese burger joint) with a drive-through in downtown L.A.

"If you want to fuck us both, you're going to have to pony up for a room," Monique blurted, and I almost choked on the soda I was drinking.

"We aren't doing this in the dorm," Paulette told me how it was, and I just shrugged.

"Yeah, not a problem. How about we go to the Bonaventure? It's pretty nice and it's close by." And the only nice hotel in LA that I knew of.

"Ohhh, hell yeeah, White-boy! Now you talkin'" Monique quipped.

The funny thing about Monique is that she grew up in Thousand Oaks and normally talks 'whiter' than me. Paulette lived in the suburbs of Long Beach and definitely wasn't a hood rat. Both of their parents had money, and were very strict with them. They weren't allowed to listen to hip-hop music, MTV was banned from their cable and would be reprimanded for glorifying what her parents deemed was a negative black stereotype. At one point their parents refused to allow them to date black men, but they did pull back from that eventually.

The problem was, because of the way they were brought up, they weren't always accepted by their white friends or their black friends. They were often castigated for being too white by other African-Americans, or just being black by some white folk. They REALLY wanted to be accepted by their black friends. So, they found themselves having to live out two different identities when hanging around other African-Americans. I felt that they sometimes tried too hard to be accepted.

I came from the hood and Paulette knew that and I think it's one of the reasons she liked me. I didn't try to act like anything different than what I was but I let her be whomever she wanted to be around me with no judgements. Often times, she acted 'hood' around me, but she would sound too proper and stiff, so I used to correct her slang for her and help her better enunciate it. I am no expert, but I was the best she knew at the time.

I understood, however, that tonight both girls were role playing. They wanted me to be their 'pimp' for the night, I guess it turned them on. They trusted me and knew I wouldn't take it too far or judge them for it. Personally, it did nothing for me, but I wasn't going to turn down my first ménage trois, I mean how many opportunities was I going to run into where two girls wanted to fuck me at once? So, yep, I went with it.

When I got to the hotel, they insisted they didn't have any rooms available. But I had a talk with the manager and offered to pay for one of their more expensive suites for the night. It cost me almost a grand, but there's no way I was going to let those girls down.

The girls had overnight bags with them, I didn't even remember them taking when I first picked them up. I stopped off at a small liquor/general store in their mall of shops they had on the bottom 5 floors. I'd only brought three condoms with me, so I bought extras just in case.

We rode the glass elevator nearly to the top floor. The view on the ride up was exhilarating; you could see most of downtown L.A. and the lights at night made it that much more like a dream.

The girls were hanging all over me, and luckily, we didn't run into anyone in the hall or else we'd likely have been kicked out as the rubbed my crotch, tongued my ears, and openly talked about all of the lewd things they were going to do for their 'Daddy.'

"Listen girls. Seriously. If we're going to do this... I'm going to get rough with you. You want me to play this role, fine. I'll be your 'pimp' for the night but I'm going to treat you accordingly. You say no, I'll slap you. But we need safe words... Yours," I pointed to Paulette, "is 'Yellow Submarine'."