Chapter 35

July 31, 2017

Dear Ms. Diary,

I woke to a hand jostling me; I roused from the depths of sleep. I cracked my eyes open and blearily looked at ... Mom. Sandy.

“If Heather’s going to ride to school with Charlie, she’s got to get a move on,” she whispered.

That snapped my brain into gear. Today is Heather’s first day at university! I sat up a bit to find her. Oh. That’s right. There are five of us in the bed this morning. Fortunately, Heather was the girl snuggled into my left side. I shook her; her eyes popped open.

“Time for school, Girl. Dad’s going to be leaving soon.”

“Oh, shit.”

She proceeded to climb over me and then down the bed and around Liya. She grabbed her gym bag and gave Mom a one-armed hug as she went by on her way to the bathroom.

“Thanks, Mom. Heather would have been truly annoyed with herself if she’d missed this.”

“It’s no problem, Dear; a typical parental task.”

“Regardless, I say it was nice of you to do. How much time does she have? What time is it?”

“It’s 7:00; Charlie is leaving at 7:30.”

“Oh, good. I’ll get up and fix her breakfast.”

“Lie back down, Beth. Carol and I already have it covered. So, what occasioned the cozy sleeping quarters?”

“Are you kidding, Mom? I’d have thought that it was obvious.”

Mom looked at me with eyebrows raised. “You think that I should just jump to the conclusion that the five of you came upstairs after Liya’s erotic actions with Charlie and all had wild-monkey sex in one bed? Why would I assume that?”

I guess my brain is not quite fully awake, as it is obviously slipping gears. Nobody was supposed to know that The Gang had no qualms about including all of us in sex when the situation was right.

“Oops?”

“Don’t worry, Beth. I’ll keep the secret. In which case, I should be heading to the kitchen. Oh, first. Please remind Liya to instruct me on that file-protecting app for my phone and our photos.”

I nodded at her. She departed. I remained on my back in bed, staring at the ceiling, berating myself for two avoidable mistakes. The first being that I’d gotten carried away by my libido and had completely forgotten about Heather’s need to get up early. The second being letting something slip with Mom. She is incredibly smart and does not miss things, and I learned that many years ago. Now that I am aware of my tendency to not let on to plans and schemes, I can readily see how I learned to keep my own counsel.

After pondering further, I decided that I could let up on myself for the libido thing, as I am not Heather’s keeper. However, that brought up another aspect of my psyche of which I had kept myself unaware: Being the gravity well of The Gang. I guess that I did not realize the subconscious way that I tried to see to everyone. Not their needs, necessarily, but ... I guess just being someone on whom they could all count at all times. After further thought, I do not, and should not, mind being someone on whom others can depend. That is positive. I guess that I should be at least a little easier on myself when I drop someone else’s ball. It is not my job, though I should still endeavor to help where, when, and how I can.

“I can sense deep thinking in you, Padawan.”

I do not know what happened, but that sentence encapsulated Liya, reminded me that, even if everyone considers me the center, each of us is perfectly capable of leading. I love my life and my friends so much!

As I said, “Oh, Liya. I love you,” I rolled over and hugged her tightly, trying hard to stifle sniffles.

“Wow. Three years ago, I didn’t think anyone loved me, but now, everyone about whom I care keeps saying that to me. Do I need to keep this a secret from Rhee?”

“Oh, you!” Sniffle, sniffle. “I was lying here beating up on myself for no particularly good reason. Your simple statement caused me to realize that I was being overly judgmental of myself. Thanks for that. You and the rest of The Gang help make my life so wonderful.”

“Ah, thinking too much of yourself, were you? The last time that I checked, and that was just last night, you were built exactly like a human female. Did you think that you were a god? I doubt that you are, ‘cause I think a god would not worry about all those mundane tasks that we humans have to do every day, some of them multiple times a day. You know, things like brushing teeth, excreting, doing homework.”

I leaned back so that I could look at her face. She had that big smile shining. There was only one thing that I could do, so I did it.

“Stop! Stop it! No tickling! Beth Winifred Williams, NO TICKLING!”

That did it. I cracked up, so had to stop tickling her.

“Where did you get ‘Winifred?’”

“I don’t know. Made it up? Heard it? Read it? I don’t know. It seemed appropriate, somehow.”

“Hey, some of us need our beauty sleep. Can you keep it down over there?”

Liya responded, “Hey, yourself. You don’t need that much beauty sleep. I know because someone whose words we all take as gospel says that you have, and I quote, ‘beautiful breasts.’”

“Yeah? Well, you have ‘an exquisite ass,’ and I’ll remind you of that the next time that you’re trying to sleep and I’m making what you might consider too much noise.”

“Oh, yeah? Don’t hide behind Rhee. Bring those ‘beautiful breasts’ over here and say that to my face. Or to my ‘exquisite ass.’”

We heard a loud “Oooof” as Gracey apparently climbed over Rhee. She then climbed over me, threw the sheet off Liya (and me), rolled Liya over and rubbed her chest on Liya’s buttocks.

“There, I told you. What’d you think of that?”

“Could you roll me back over and do that to the other side?”

“You are so going to pay for that!”

Gracey rolled Liya over and dragged first one breast, then the other, over Liya’s pussy. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

“Don’t get me worked up unless you’re gonna do ... Ahhh.”

The sigh-moan was caused by Gracey licking from perineum to clit on one slow swipe. Gracey then climbed out of bed, apparently heading for the bathroom.

“Hey! Get back here, you tease!”

“I guess I’ll get up, now. Remind me next time that it’s a bad idea for all five of us to sleep in the same bed.”

“Poor, Rhee,” I said. “Maybe this will make you feel better.”

I proceeded to mimic Gracey’s actions on Liya with Rhee, including the departure for the toilet.

“I’m so going to get you back for that!”

Practice, at which Dad dropped Heather off only slightly late, was a bit sloppy today, what with the more than 2 inches of rain yesterday. That did not keep Civia from strutting her stuff. She is quick with the ball in the open field and devastating with it in a bit of traffic. Both forms of excellence were highlighted when Coach had her at left wing during the full-field scrimmage and our side executed a counterattack. Kanda correctly anticipated a pass to Dakota (the other side’s right half) and intercepted it already up to speed. As soon as it looked like Kanda would get the interception, Civia and I took off. Kanda sent the ball forward to Civia just past midfield.

Civia had too much of a head start on Lissa (sweeper on the other side), whose pass Kanda intercepted, and left her trailing well behind the play. She then broke past Zala (center half on the other side) with a crazy spin move and angled toward the left post. I was slightly trailing her and about midway between her and Rhee. As she approached the box, she was angling a little more toward the middle, Zala still trying to catch her. I put it in fifth gear to cut behind Civia and slice Zala off her tail. As I passed by her on her left, Civia faked a pass to Rhee off to her right, which had Ann leaning to her left to help Sophia in guarding Rhee on the right half of the penalty box.

Gracey was trying to stay in contact range of both Civia and me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kanda, trailing Dakota on defense, come barreling up off to my left to give Gracey someone else to worry about. After the faked pass, Civia, still in high gear, took another four steps toward Ann, then did a clockwise 180 and backheeled it to me. I saw Rhee breaking for the goal so one-touched the ball across the goal mouth right before Gracey reached me, just outside of Brianna’s extended left leg. Rhee slammed it home.

Coach immediately blew her whistle and started hustling our way, but Rhee had run straight over to Civia and put a Rhee hug on her.

As I joined them, she said, “You have got to teach me that move you put on Zala! That was wicked!”

“You don’t know about ... I’m sorry. It’s a Zidane roulette. It appears pretty simple, but it took me a long time to get it down. It requires two soft...” She stopped speaking and looked up at Coach.

“Hold the phone, Civia.” Coach then faced the rest of the pitch and yelled, “Gather ‘round. Double time!”

Once we were all there, Coach spoke up.

“Listen up. Did anyone recognize what Civia did to Zala?”

“You mean other than make me look foolish?”

Coach smiled and nodded her head.

No one spoke up.

“That was a Zidane roulette. While far from the inventor of the maneuver, Zinedine Zidane popularized it. He played for the French national team and a number of European clubs and is one of the greatest midfielders of all time. He’s now the coach of Real Madrid. [Coach used the Spanish pronunciation, ‘Ray-all Mah-dreed,’ accents on first and last syllables.] I heard Civia start to explain it to Rhee and Beth, but I’m going to once again prove the adage that no good deed goes unpunished. Civia is going to explain the concept and the process of that move to all of us.”

I quickly glanced at Civia to see her complexion redden.

“Have at it, Civia.”

Civia looked bamboozled, even a bit frightened. I was close enough to hear Rhee whisper, “You can do it. Pretend that you’re telling just Beth and me as you had started.”

Civia looked at Rhee with a grateful smile and nodded her head. She inhaled deeply and, looking mostly at Rhee, started.

“As Coach said, it’s a Zidane roulette, a 360˚ move that is very hard to defend, for a number of reasons, the primary of which is that you keep your body between the defender and the ball. The pros, well the really good pros, can do it in traffic, but I’m not up to that. In the open field, as here, it can be a good way to get past a single defender quickly.”

As she got more into the explanation, she became more comfortable, less aware (sort of) of her surroundings and to whom she was speaking.

“As I started telling Rhee and Beth, while the idea is rather simple, the actual execution of the move, or, at least, learning how to do it well is ... Umm, it took me a long time to get it down. And I mean a really long time. I probably worked on it off and on for a few months before it felt automatic enough to use it in a game.

“It’s tricky, because it requires at least two soft touches with precise control on each, often at speed, like I did here. There are variations in all ... parts of the move, but I’ve managed to become somewhat good with only the variation I used today. I start it with an inside-foot tap opposite the direction of travel while rotating through the first part of the 360. You can also do a drag to start the move. Almost immediately after the first part, you then need to do a drag to get the ball going forward again, with your back to that direction, but you have to do it while completing your 360. I usually need another tap as I come out of the spin. I’m not as comfortable going the other way and haven’t yet used a clockwise spin in a game or serious practice.”

“Thanks, Civia. Would you please run through it in super-slow-mo? Perhaps you can show Zala how you wrong-footed her so well.”

Civia’s face heated again, and many of the team chuckled ... including Zala.

She nodded. “I should point out that there is no good defense against the move when it’s done well. I remember reading that the only reasonable defense is for the defender to put her body on the person doing it, knocking the ball handler off stride. As Coach pointed out to me last week, contact of that sort would get a foul called in younger levels but might not in the more-physical game of older levels. Perhaps the best users of the move have been Maradona and Zidane, and both of them were large ... ummm ... stocky, and strong, so they could resist the body pressure of the defender.”

Civia ran through the maneuver quite a few times in slow motion, then a couple of times at reasonable speed.

“Thank you, Civia. You have already repaid the team any debt owed for letting you practice with us. However, I’d like to ask one more thing from you. I want to get a few of the team to learn this and I’d like you to teach them.”

Civia looked almost aghast and squeaked out, “Me?”

“I think you’re the only one here that can do it. I didn’t have impressive dribbling skills when I was playing, and I certainly can’t do it now. It’s got to be you. We often have team members teaching each other skills, so it’s no different than if you were on the team. While I’ll wait to demand that you teach them next year, I’d really like some to begin learning it now so that come next year, we can have a few of you teaching it.”

Civia nodded. “Okay. I’m not really sure how to teach it, but I’ll try.”

“That’s all I can ask, and you’ve already done a pretty good job of teaching, so I suspect that you’ll do fine. I’d like you to teach Lissa, Rathi, Heather, Rhee, Mia, and Beth. Oh, and Tonda. My rationale...” She stopped, then explained a point. “Civia, when we do something like this, I explain why I want something done and, if necessary, how. My rationale for selecting your students is that I want our best dribblers – Lissa, Rathi, Rhee, and Beth; the four most likely to see situations in which they need to beat only a single defender – Rhee, Heather, Mia, and Tonda; and the player that handles the ball the most on offense – Beth. I’d like you all to spend about 15 minutes on it at the beginning of practice every day this week, immediately after the run. When you’re done, join the rondos or whatever it is we’re doing then. The rest of you are welcome to try to figure it out, but not during practice, please.”

“One more thing before we get back to the scrimmage. I was going to wait until the end of practice, but since we’re standing around already, I might as well announce it, now. First, though, how many of you will be attending Elkton Central this fall? I know that Ann and Brianna are not, as they’re at West, and they’re the only ones on the team already in high school.”

Some of us raised our hands.

“How many of you were considering or planning to try out for the team there?”

The same girls raised their hands.

“That team lost most of their offensive punch to graduation last year, while the defense is, I think to a girl, expected to return this fall. That defense will consist mostly of seniors and their D was pretty good last year. However, the O needs some serious help, while the midfield is a mixed bag. I’d like to encourage any of you with an interest to try out this fall, despite that you’ll be only in the 9^th grade. This team’s offense, if you’ll pardon my expression, kicks ass, and even 9^th graders could be of great help to the high school team. I have another reason to encourage you to try out. I’ll be a PE instructor and the girls’ soccer coach this fall.”

There was much rejoicing.

I waited a bit then, with Coach looking right at me, yelled, “Settle!” Obviously, that surprised everyone, as near-silence fell, but I continued with, “Coach, would your new job negatively impact your ability to coach this team next spring?”

“Probably not much, if at all. However, I know that the team and I can rely on our Assistant Coach to fill any leadership gaps.”

I wasn’t expecting that, so blushed.

“However,” she continued, “with Ann’s departure, we should probably start thinking about candidates to fill her Co-captain shoes. While it doesn’t greatly matter, I think the best candidate would come from the midfield or back line so that the defensive side of things is represented. Unlike this year, the captaincies will be put to a team vote sometime before the game schedule starts, though I’ll probably reserve some extra votes or veto power for myself.”

“Finally, in this vein, so that we can get back to Civia showing up our entire defense...” [she got the expected chuckling] “if anyone wants to try out for goalie for next year, please let me know. Although I expect Marli to continue doing a bang-up job, she’ll need a backup. If you know of or hear of a goalie that might be interested, either in the younger league or on the regular team of this age level, please bring her to my attention.”

Practice re-started. While Civia did not show up “our entire defense,” she did put on a show. I began entertaining the thought of a Barça-esque front line of DWP – Devlin-Wilkerson-Palecek. Yes, they are obviously not MSN (Messi-Suarez-Neymar), but for girls our age, they are a reasonable equivalent. I am really looking forward to next year.

When we were finished and folks were preparing to head home, I intercepted Civia.

“Hey. Gracey is going to spend Wednesday afternoon at my house, staying through dinner, and then we’re taking her home. Would you be interested in joining us for that time, that is lunch through dinner? We could take you home when we take Gracey home.”

She did something of a double take, opened her mouth, closed it, then said, “You’re inviting me for two meals and the afternoon on Wednesday?” When I nodded, her face beamed, but she said, “I’d like that. Umm, why me?”

“Well, we’re teammates, or ... will be. My parents want to meet you and you’re fun and you seem to fit with us. That is, fit with Rhee and Gracey and me. Oh, yeah, Rhee will be there, too, as well as Rhee’s mom. Usually, if Gracey is over, our friend Liya is also here, but she won’t be this time. We’re not doing anything special for dinner, probably grilling if the weather holds.”

She inhaled and exhaled while looking at me. She again inhaled deeply then said, “I’d really like that. I’ll call you after I’ve asked my parents tonight. Thanks, Beth.”

“I do have a request, although your invitation is not dependent upon your response to my request.” I grinned at her. “I’d like you to spend time with us doing the roulette. Would you be willing?”

She grinned. “Sure.”

Before Rhee and I could head out, Coach collared me.

“Beth, just in case it could come in handy for you in the future, do you know about the age requirements for the various team levels?”

“I think so. Isn’t it 12-15 for this level, younger but at least 8 for the preceding level, and then Ann’s next team is 16-18? Is that what you wanted?”

I asked that because I was pretty sure that it wasn’t what she wanted.

“Not really. Oh, Rhee, please keep the rest of this under your hat.” She waited for Rhee’s nod and continued when she got it. “Are you aware that, though the upper age limits are hard, the lower limits are not?”

I shook my head.

“They are. What do you suppose is the paramount goal of a coach of the younger league? Either of you?”

I thought for a bit, glanced at Rhee, who shook her head minutely, then looked back at Coach.

“I think it’s the development of general skills and understanding of the game. After that, I think getting a first determination of a position or positions for which individuals seem suitable.”

“Mostly right. I’ll ask a leading question. Which is more important for that level, winning or player development?”

“No question; it’s player development.”

Coach nodded emphatically. “So, with that in mind and knowing that the bottom age limit on these levels is not hard-and-fast, what do you think would best have suited Civia’s development this season? The team for which she played or ours?”

“Oh, no. Are you saying that we could have had Civia all season? Because there’s no question that we could have done better by her than the team she was on. She told me that it was too easy for her this year. I also get – loud and clear – your main message about coaches, particularly at that level.”

Coach looked me in the eye for ten seconds or more, then did the same with Rhee.

“I know that Beth understands and I’m fairly certain that you do, too. But, please, tell me that you do.”

“Yes, Coach. Civia’s coach this year should have suggested, as soon as it was obvious that she was playing well above the league’s level, that she move up this year rather than waiting for next year.”

“Excellent. I love coaching smart players. For whatever reason or reasons, this team is loaded with them. I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. This is the best team that I’ve coached, and it’s been incredibly fun for me. I’m really looking forward to seeing what this team can do next year, although I haven’t at all given up on this year.”

August 1, 2017

Dear Ms. Diary,

I suggested to Coach that she allow me to grab Marli, Heather, and Civia so that Heather could teach Civia about the finer points of outside-foot shooting. Coach had turned it around on me, putting me in charge of shooting practice today. I explained to everyone that we would be doing the usual 1.5 hours of shooting practice, as we did once a week in most weeks, though today’s would be focused solely on outside-foot shots. I started off by having Heather show what we wanted, and she expertly reverse-sliced three consecutive right-footers past Brianna and into the goal. Two of those were in the right corner, but the third was a doozy. It started out well left of the goal and curled in to kiss the inside of the left post just below the crossbar. A pro goalie could not have stopped that one. If Heather did not already have the entire team’s respect, she did now. She then took three left-footers, getting one goal, missing the goal once, and having Marli make a great save on her third.

The team was encouraged that even Civia was not expert at it. Only Rhee and Ann approached Heather’s right-foot skill; except for the two lefties, no one approached Heather’s left-foot skill. Heather did an excellent job of instruction, and most of us improved measurably.

I said little on the walk home from practice, as I was pondering a big decision. Rhee was filling the void, though, thinking out loud about how to incorporate Civia into the offense next year. By the time we walked into the house, I had made the decision and Rhee realized that I had not been taking part in her discussion. As she started to say something, I held up my hand; she closed her mouth.

“I’m sorry, Rhee. I’ve been pondering something for a couple of days and for the whole walk home and have come to a decision. I need to tell ... no, I need to show you something.”

Rhee looked a bit taken aback and again opened her mouth to say something, but I just gave her the “follow me” sign and started up the steps.

When we walked into our room, I said, “This is really important, Rhee. However, let me get something prepared before I tell you.” Her expression showed a bit of fear, so I said, “It’s nothing about us. Well, not directly about us. I’ve been writing a diary, and I’ve decided to share it with you. I’m ... Let me get this done, first, then I’ll run through a more-comprehensive introduction. Okay?”

The touch of fear left her face, but she was obviously still quite confused. I jogged my computer awake and signed into my password-protected diary folder. I hooked my tablet to my computer, then copied this entire file that is current through yesterday onto the tablet. Once that task was done, I disengaged the tablet from the computer, opened the file, then handed Rhee the tablet.

“Rhee, I love you, but I’ve kept something important from you, though I hope you’ll understand why when you read this. I’ve been trying to write every day, but with you here almost all the time now, that plan has become untenable. So, after I introduce all this, I’d like you to start reading my diary. It will be easier than explaining everything. Feel free to skip through parts of it where you’re present. I suggest that because it’s almost a quarter-million words long.”

Her eyes went huge.

“It’s gotten very difficult to keep current. With you here a lot and the Gang being here for entire weekends, I’ve had to cram writing long daily entries for two to three consecutive days into single days. If you know about the diary and have read at least parts of it, I can write when just you’re here. I feel very strongly about keeping this going for at least a year.

“I started it in early May with the primary purpose, then, being my sexual ... umm ... not really awakening, but that word will suffice for now. However, over the first month, I decided to expand the focus to include anything that I thought was relevant to my maturation process, learning to be an adult. The team makes up a large portion of what I’ve added that I originally mostly glossed over. I’m sure that if I were to think hard about it, there are many occurrences that I did not include that probably relate, more or less, to me becoming the adult Beth. However, I decided that I would not go back and insert things because it might prove too much temptation to alter other parts, parts that I recorded faithfully, but, due to hindsight, might consider differently, now.

“Anyway, the first ten or so ‘chapters’ provide the basis for the diary and begin the transition of my raison d’etre from just the sex aspect to a broader – and lengthier – purpose. Those chapters account for something like ten percent of the length to date, so even that might take a while to read. If you want to ask questions, feel free. While you’re reading, I’ll be beginning today’s entry, as my sharing this with you is certainly noteworthy.”

Rhee stared into my eyes for quite a while, then said, “Wow. I had no clue that you were doing something like this. A quarter million?! The whole Harry Potter story was about a quarter-million words long, and that took me a long time to read. You’ve put some time into this. Umm, I hope I’m not too annoying of a ... a character in this ... long novel of yours.”

“If anything, Rhee, you might look better than reality. I have something of a soft spot in my heart for you.”

I then grinned at her, whereupon she wrapped me in a Rhee hug.

“You. Let me go. You have some reading to do. I’ll sit here for a while at your beck and call, as it gets going immediately. Once you’re into cruising mode, I’ll start writing about today.”

It didn’t take her long to comment, considering the sentence ending the prologue.

“Holy shit!”

Rhee looked up at me and I nodded at her. “Yes, that’s how it started.”

“B-b-but ... do you know if ... it ... continued?”

“I’m virtually positive that it didn’t, but you’ll see for yourself, shortly. I’m wondering what your next exclamatory comment will be. I know what will cause it. So, read on, MacDuff.”

I could tell exactly when she got to the point where I started down the road of being Mistress. Rhee’s eyebrows, if they could have, would have jumped entirely off her head, they were so high on her forehead. She looked up at me, chin hanging. I gave her a “keep going” hand motion and she bent back to her reading. I then could tell when she got to the contract, as she looked at me again.

“Holy shit, Beth. I would never have thought of something like this. I don’t know what I’d have done in your place, but it wouldn’t have been this. I’d ask how it’s worked out, but you’ll probably just tell me to keep reading.”

I nodded. “Of course. Keep reading.” I grinned.

At that, I turned and began writing this day’s entry, as there shouldn’t be much for a while to cause Rhee to comment. Once I caught up, I interrupted Rhee’s reading.

“Hey, I’m going to fix us lunch. Do you want to come down with me? You can keep reading, but I’d like your company.”

Rhee looked up, nodded, stood, and, with the tablet still in her right hand, hugged me.

“Hey,” she exclaimed, “why are we still wearing clothes?”

“Huh. We are. I guess we got side-tracked, huh?”

“Ya think?”

We proceeded to remedy the situation, then went downstairs for lunch. While Rhee continued to read, I fixed lunches of turkey and gouda sandwiches and potato salad. When Rhee finished her lunch, which she had eaten while reading, she put the tablet down.

“Wow. This has got me a bit turned on, imagining you doing what you did and watching Mom, uh, masturbate. And you’re Sandy’s ‘Mistress!’” She suddenly sat up straight, then looked at me. “As Mistress, did you have something to do with getting ToC started?”

“Not at all! I would love to claim that I had thought of it, but I had nothing to do with it!”

“Oh, wait. That’s the timeframe that had my mom crying to your mom. That was our moms!”

“That’s what I believe. Your mom introduced it, but I have little doubt that mine was involved, and deeply.”

“You’re probably right. I’ve always thought that my mom was a bit devious, but I think yours could beat mine in deviousness with both hands tied behind her back. I always have the feeling that she’s playing a much deeper game than I think, sometimes, even a different game altogether. While I’m surprised at this diary and your actions at the beginning of it, I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”