Just a dumb fuck

The Emperor’s new jammers

Once the award ceremony ended I was stood down from duty and so rushed back to the dorm to change out of uniform and get ready for my sports. I put on some smarts, grabbed my bags of boxing and swimming gear then took them over to the gym and put them in the boxers’ changing room ready for when I needed them. I had two things I needed to do: find my dad, and find Kyle. First to congratulate Kyle on getting the sword, but then to roast him for not telling me. He could have said something instead of letting me think I was handing over the wrong sword.

I gave up on trying to get to see Kyle, it seemed the whole world was queuing up to speak to him and Jackson. It’s the first time ever the Sword of Honour hasn’t been presented to the Cadet Captain and everybody wanted to talk about it. That must be why the two of them, and the Commandant, stayed back at rehearsals after we were all dismissed. To practice that bit alone. They could have told me though. I was the Commandant’s ADC today. I needed to know everything that was going on. I mean, I was nearly ready to run away and sign up for the French Foreign Legion when I thought I’d handed over the wrong sword.

Shane had been following my plans for dad to the letter, so I soon caught up with the two of them over at the ante-room just before twelve o’clock. I pounced on dad and gave him a big hug – well, I can now I’m not in uniform! I’m getting to be nearly as tall as him too. He didn’t mind. I could tell from his face that he thought I’d done well this morning.

Dad and Shane already had drinks and so I grabbed an orange juice and we stepped outside onto the terrace overlooking the cadets’ car lot. The Car Club had arranged some cars there in a semi-circle to show them off to the parents and there was also a police cruiser with some of the local deputies publicising their ‘Teen Driver’ programme. Both Kyle’s Bronco and Nathan’s Mustang were part of the display, plus a couple of Porsches and a Corvette. They did make the small Honda that the police were touting as a ‘sensible first teen car’ look a bit anaemic. Will and Travis were there guarding Lemon Steroids, somehow giving the impression that maybe they owned it, and I guessed that some of the people nearby were their families. I was just about to drag dad over to meet them when Shane nodded and pointed his head to warn me that somebody was bearing down on us. Nathan and his family.

“Hello again, Mrs Bauer, Miss Bauer,” I said as they reached us ahead of Nathan and his dad - who had stopped briefly to say something to the police deputies. A politician’s work is never done, I guess. “May I introduce my father, Colonel James Wright, and Private Lundgren. Dad, this is Mrs Bauer, the Lieutenant Governor’s wife, and Miss Elizabeth Bauer. Nathan Bauer over there is my dorm Sergeant. He got promoted this morning.”

I don’t think dad had managed to say more than about two words of his greeting to Mrs Bauer before there was a shove at my side and Will burst between me and Shane like an incoming Exocet missile. Where the fuck did he come from? He was over by Lemon Steroids just a moment ago. Before anyone could say anything he was talking to Nathan’s sister, introducing himself, then asked if she’d like a drink to cool down? Me and Shane just watched in amazement as Nathan’s sister smiled, agreed and let him lead her away towards the ante-room, both of them chatting away. The bloody little snake! How did he manage that? She’s got to be two or three years older than us. Will’s way out of his league there.

Dad and Mrs Bauer were both smirking at me and Shane, the two of us just standing there dumbstruck. Mrs Bauer was now talking to dad, saying something about me, asking if I’d be permitted to go and stay with them one weekend. Huh, fat chance of that I suspect. Nathan might not be too keen on it if his sister is at home, or my dad either, but then again it looks like I might have just been shunted into a ditch by Will on that front. How did he just manage to sweep in and snatch her up like that? He hasn’t even got hair on his dick yet! Maybe that’s it. She probably doesn’t take him seriously; he’s just a little kid and she was probably thirsty anyway. No harm in letting him get her a drink. I might be in with a chance when they come back. She probably thinks I’m at least as old as Nathan. Maybe even a third-year cadet.

I was just about to ask Mrs Bauer if she would like a glass of water or an orange juice too when Nathan’s hand appeared on my shoulder from behind and steered me aside to make way for him and his dad to join us. Nathan was grinning too, I think he’d seen Will hijack his sister from right in front of me and he didn’t seem too upset by it.

“Congratulations on your promotion, Sergeant,” said my dad, offering his hand to Nathan, who was still in uniform, “I believe you’re in charge of keeping my son out of trouble. Good luck with that.” Dad’s just joking. Honest.

Nathan shook hands with my dad, then introduced his own dad, the Governor, before turning to me once more. “Don’t you have to go and prepare for your boxing, Boots? I’d hate you to be late for that. I’ll see you at swimming afterwards.”

Dad looked at me. “Boots?” I think he likes my new nickname. He understands what it means. It’s better than what he used to call me when I was kid. More grown up. I couldn’t go around here being called ‘Rabbit’. Travis would probably try and shoot me for a start. He really does have a gun back at his farm.

I took the hint. “Yes, Sergeant. Dad, I’ll catch up with you later. Private Lundgren will look after you. Governor, Mrs Bauer, if you’ll kindly excuse me…”

Mrs Bauer was already talking to my dad again, “Such a polite young man, so charming. It’s so good to know he’s a friend of Nathan.” 

Yes, Nathan is sometimes treating me more like a friend. Not so much in the dorm, he’s more stand-offish than Kyle, keeps things there strictly on a rank basis, but when we‘re at water polo he is friendlier. He doesn’t seem to like me near his sister though.

* * *

Because the boxing exhibition is the first sporting event after lunch, and obviously it’s there to star Jackson, who is now doubly important as the new Captain, Coach had arranged for all us boxers to have an early lunch separately from everyone else in one of the smaller, private dining rooms sometimes used by the staff. We were all seated and waiting for Jackson, the last to arrive. He’d had to meet everybody that was important and be photographed shaking hands alongside the Commandant right after the ceremony. He arrived still in uniform, and we all stood the moment he entered the room.

“Thank you, gentlemen, please be seated”

Our lunch was just a small piece of grilled chicken or cod, and a portion of rice, along with plenty of water. All the visitors will be having a full three course lunch but they aren’t boxing in an hour’s time. Whilst they are eating we’ll all be getting changed and warming up. Sorting out any last-minute plans. Getting our gloves on. Travis is going to be my second again. He’s not officially in the boxing team but nobody has tried to stop him being my second. I doubt they could. 

We sped through lunch pretty quickly and after a few minutes of congratulating Jackson on being appointed Captain, and his decision to award Kyle the Sword of Honour, which was pretty well received, we all walked over to the gym together to get changed for the exhibition and start warming up.

We ran over the tactics again with Jackson emphasising that everything had to look good and make it very clear to the audience that all involved were serious contenders for titles in their competitions later in the year. He made a special point of telling me that I needed to be sharp and not to try slugging with him, the whole point of me finishing the last two rounds of his fight is to demonstrate that he’s still agile and not tired after his rounds against Connor and Jayden. Like as if I had any plans to try and slug it out with him! I can batter somebody my own size, but I’m not dumb enough to try that with Jackson.

I’d just finished changing and Jayden had taped my hands when the door to the changing room opened and Travis slipped in. He cast a wary eye at Jackson and Jayden in particular but they said nothing and he was soon helping me put my gloves on and filling my water bottles. We stuffed those into a bag along with a towel and some spare tape, my mouth and head guards and the other stuff we might need, then headed out into the gym itself. A crowd was already starting to gather in anticipation of the exhibition. It turned out that Travis had introduced his family to my dad and Shane at lunch, then left them together. Shane’s now got a whole flock of sheeple to herd around the place. They’re all coming here as one group to watch once they finished eating. The surprising news was that Will was seen still with the Bauers going in for lunch and sat alongside Elizabeth, Nathan’s sister. Will is definitely going to have a lot of questions to answer when we get him on his own.

I was busy skipping to warm up when we were descended upon by Shane leading my dad, Travis’s family and now Will’s family. I was quickly introduced and told that I was expected to go and stay with Travis’s family at some stage whilst I’m over here in America. They actually do live in ‘Injun Territory’ or near a Reservation at least, and his dad tried to convince me that I’d need a stamp in my passport from the Dakota Cheyenne Chiefs before I could go there. I’m not falling for that. Maybe they do a tourist one at the airport though, or maybe we can fake one, how cool would that be to show my mates back home?

Travis has two sisters, one older than him and one a year younger. Maybe not quite as hot as Nathan’s sister but still pretty tasty! As soon as Travis saw me looking at them he started getting mock serious and reminded me that he could castrate a dozen steers an hour with his penknife so ‘hands off, bud’. Everyone was laughing, brothers always get protective of their sisters, I would too if I had one, but my dad gave me a harsh look. He’s only joking dad. Bloody farm boys. Everybody should just drop all innuendos and jokes about cheerleaders when dad is around.

* * *

The sparring between the two lightweights that started the boxing exhibition was pretty good: they were very fast and eager to demonstrate their prowess, and the audience were soon right in the swing of it and eager for the main bout. There must have been a few hundred people crammed around the ring when Coach started making the announcements about Jackson’s bout. I was over at the back, still exercising gently to keep warm, but I could see all that was going on and sense the excitement. Connor was already in the ring, waiting, but Jackson kept the tension up, entered only when somebody put some music over the speakers, strutted up to the ring in a gown. He really did look the part.  He slipped his gown off, revealing just how strong and muscled he is. He even looked he’d been oiled. He’ll fry like a chip if they put the big halogen lights on! But yes, he looks good.

Connor didn’t hold back. He might be a bit lighter than Jackson but not by much, and he’s good. He really went at Jackson right from the bell, determined not to let him take and dominate the centre of the ring, to make him fight for it. I can’t force Jackson off the centre but Connor can. Jackson always comes back to reclaim it, but he can’t dominate Connor like he does with me. He has to fight for every inch of ring. They punched hard too. I know we’re not actually fighting, but they were trading punches rather than just sparring. Jackson’s probably going to do that to me too. He won’t want to appear that he’s cutting me any slack. That’s fine. I can cope, take a little punching, give him some back. Make it look good. He’ll be tired by the time he’s done two rounds against Connor and two more against Jayden. He’ll be determined not to show it, but I’ll be fresh. Able to dance round him, get in some blows and then back off out of range before he retaliates hard. Maybe I can even push him off the centre once or twice. That will look good for me.

“Howya doing, Bud?”

I recognise that voice! I span round and found Kyle and Lee were there, one at either side of me. In their football kit. Our college and Lee’s school are playing a showcase match later this afternoon. It clashes with my water polo. If it didn’t I’d go and watch it. Mr Miller was approaching us too, and a lady that must be his wife, Mrs Miller.

“Mom,” Lee was saying, “This is Ratty, another one of Kyle’s Pack. He’s from Oregon.” He dropped his voice a little and smiled at me, “You’re looking pretty good Boots, maybe I should be worrying that Kyle is always surrounded by so many good-looking guys.” I was tempted to wink at Lee, just to wind Kyle up. I still have to get even with him about the sword.

I nodded to Mr and Mrs Miller, looked at Kyle and Lee. I wasn’t the only one either, quite a few of the ladies and girls were looking at them. Those football trousers they’re wearing look so tight they must be sprayed on. Sorry ladies, you’re wasting your time lusting after these two hunks. I chuckled to myself. Can you imagine if they slam each other on the field in a tackle, because they will, they both will want to win, but then help each other up and have a quick kiss before they get ready to smash each other down again?

Connor’s just finished his two rounds and is changing places with Jayden. The audience are loving it. Connor did well, really pushed Jackson hard. Which is good, because Jackson was able to take everything Connor threw at him, still maintained control. Jayden’s even better than Conner, he’ll really ratchet everything up another notch. Coach is loving this. He’s over there with a group of guys from the schools’ boxing federation. They’re all impressed. I can see Shane and my dad too, both of them watching intently. I’m going to put on just as good a show.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs Miller,” I said, “I’m afraid I have to go now and get ready for my bout. I’m up next after this match.”

Jayden and Jackson were already hammering in to each other, toe to toe at the centre of the ring, both trying to dominate. Jackson has the edge, just, but Jayden is really pushing at him, punch after punch, and not going for Jackson’s gloves either. They’re trading blow for blow, neither of them giving any ground. I knew Jayden would push things up a level. They’re not actually punching as hard as they can, but most of the audience can’t tell that. Mrs Miller definitely can’t.

“You’re not fighting one of those two, are you? They both look bigger than you.” Mrs Miller actually looks concerned.

Kyle and Lee exchanged glances, tried not to laugh, as I first went red then managed to say. ”Of course I am. They always save the best until last.”

As I made my way right up to the ring side, ready to climb in the moment Jayden finishes his rounds, I spotted Coach having a word with the cadet who’d been Connor’s second. They were definitely up to something: the cadet doubled away to the gym office with a big grin on his face and was clearly on a mission. Coach left the men he was talking to and came over to my side, poised to jump up into the ring with me. We want the changeover to be slick, just enough time for Jayden to climb out, me to climb in and for Coach to introduce me and refresh us both on the rules. Make it very clear that Jackson isn’t getting much time to rest between switches of opponent. In practice on Wednesday we were doing this in just about a minute and half. Travis is here too now, ready to help me in and take my gown away once I’m there.

“Do me proud, Boots. Make Jackson look good. Make yourself look good”

“I will Coach. My dad’s over there, I want to make him proud.”

Jayden’s got thirty seconds of his second and final round left. Jackson is ahead on points, but Jayden is launching into him with a final flurry of blows. Left, right, left again, really hard, stinging blows. If this were a real fight he’d clearly be going for a knock out to make the points irrelevant. Jackson is soaking it up. Giving it back. They’re both sweating like hard worked stallions, both showing some bruises. Neither of them throttling back. This is what Coach wanted to see.

The bell rang and both Jayden and Jackson stepped smartly apart, showing discipline, demonstrating that neither of them was in any way groggy or slowed down. Jackson stepped forward and raised Jayden’s hand up with his own, making sure the audience acknowledged Jayden’s skills. That was a bloody good fight. Jackson came out ahead but Jayden certainly didn’t hand it over on a plate.

Coach was up into the ring in an instant, handing Jayden his gown, patting him on the back, taking up the microphone ready to announce me. I stepped onto the stool placed at ringside to help boxers in and out and the moment my gloves touched the ropes the music started. “Hearts of Oak” blared out over the speakers. Coach is smiling at me. Dad is looking fit to burst. He’s just grown a good foot taller.

Hearts of bloody Oak! For me. Coach knows how much that means. Thanks Coach.

Coach is announcing me, telling the audience Jackson is now going to take on a welterweight, a super-welterweight, all the way from England, a Royal Marines cadet. He’s a real showman, building up the tension. The audience is buzzing. I can see the Commandant. Senator Davis. Lieutenant Governor Bauer. My dad. Shane. We’ve got just about thirty seconds more before the bell starts. Jackson’s already in the centre of the ring, pretending not to hear the music. Staring me down. Travis takes my gown away, slides out of the ring.

Some of the audience are looking apprehensive. They should be. Jackson’s going to be tired now. Maybe hurting too after the way Connor and Jayden laid into him. On paper I don’t stand a chance against a heavyweight, but I’m not exactly a seven stone weakling am I?

The two of us squared up to each other. The music starts to die away. Coach orders us back to our corners. We don’t move. Just stare at each other. Jackson is enjoying this. I can see it in his eyes. His face is impassive but his eyes aren’t. He’s revelling in this fight.

I face tapped him. Right as the bell rang, I face tapped him, darted back, used my speed to get out of any possible retaliation. The audience gasped. Jackson just stood there for a split second, allowed me to get that yard between us, let the audience have their moment to grasp what I had just done. He was expecting that. It wasn’t scripted but he knows me, can read me. I can read him too though.

I hardly saw the first punch coming. I had just a split second to pull my head back, to soften the blow. Then a second one hit me, a third. All good solid hits on my headguard. Jackson’s not playing. He’s making sure the audience know he can give me back more than I can give him. Game on, Jackson. Let’s dance.

I stepped left, just half a step, weaved to the right, tried to wrong foot him, threw in a couple of quick jabs to his ribs as I tried to slip round him. He twisted, caught me another hard blow to the shoulder, came at me, just brushed my gloves aside as I tried to get them up to protect my head, rammed his fist hard and square into my face, kept coming at me, knocked me back onto the ropes, jabbed at my ribs, snarled in my face “Eating out of your hand?”

I can taste blood. I think he’s split my lip. Or splattered my nose. Both hurt. WHAM! Chew on that, Captain. Relax a second and I’ll have you. Now there’s blood on his lip too. Coach is stepping towards us. Jackson steps back, making Coach veer off, giving me just a second to get off the ropes, to go after him, to throw a few more punches towards his gloves, down towards his ribs, to circle round him, jabbing away as he entrenches in the centre of the ring. I need to go and attack him again. He’s nowhere as slow as I had hoped he would be after four rounds with Jayden or Connor, but I do have a chance, I’ve seen him faster than this. And he is moderating some of those body blows too. Not by much, but he isn’t trying to knock me senseless. It just looks like he is. Feels like it too occasionally when he thinks he needs to warn me off. Travis looks like he’s stopped breathing. Now I can feel blood on my face. It probably looks far worse than it is. A tiny drop of blood goes a long way.

I’m racing at Jackson, throwing punches down into his ribs as he expected me to jab high, trying to knock him off the centre of the ring. He lands a hard blow into my ribs, steps aside, follows me round, jabs again, leaves himself open to a quick counter, has to step back as I launch at him, high jabs again, pushing forward to take the centre of the ring from him. That’s the first time I’ve managed that. Jackson doesn’t like it. He’s back on top of me, just using sheer muscle power now to smash my gloves aside, to throw jab after jab into my chest, ignoring the two I got into his face. He’s throwing punch after punch at me and they’re getting harder. He’s driving me back, off the centre, herding me back into the corner, trying to trap me there. I can wriggle out of this, twist around him, give him a couple of jabs as I go, but he’s still after me, relentlessly charging me down. We’re almost face to face now, swapping jab after jab, high and low, and then WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

I’m reeling back, trying to figure out where those came from. For a split second I’m not even sure where Jackson is. Coach is moving in. Starting to count. You can’t count me Coach. Don’t count me! Where’s Jackson? Move the fuck out of my way Coach.

I’m pushing past Coach, homing in on Jackson. Jackson’s coming at me, bringing the fight right to me, giving me a second to get a grip on where he is, a second to get some breath back in my lungs. I can just hear him. “Some fucking pussycat, huh Boots?”

Who bloody told him I’d said that? I staggered a little, not much, just caught my feet together. Bloody hell, he’s not falling for it. He’s too bloody clever, he’s learned before that I’ll feint, make out I’m hurt worse than I am, try and draw him in. I suddenly launched forward, surprising the audience as I seemed to go from being on my last legs to raining a flurry of blows onto Jackson’s gloves, slipping a couple past the gloves, into his chest, good solid hits. He hadn’t let me do that, but it wasn’t hurting him half as much as the audience thought it might be. He’s rock-solid muscle. It looked good though.

That bell sounds good. Dad says the best sound on earth is the wok-wok-wok of the blades of a Medevac helicopter when your Company’s taken a mauling and you need to get guys fixed up, when you’re literally holding your mate together and trying to stop his blood pouring out. I think that bell comes a close second. It’s the closest I ever want to get.

Jackson strolls back to his corner. Casually. Smiling as the music starts. “Invincible”

He’s got a hand up to acknowledge the audience. Sits down like he has all the time in the world as his second wipes his face, gets the blood off it, smears grease over his cut lip. He’s okay. Coach barely takes a glance at him before coming over to my corner. Why isn’t Jackson slowed down? Jayden really hammered him at the end. What’s he on? Has he been licking Lemon Steroids or something? Yeah, Jackson would look good in a Mustang.

Travis is forcing water down my throat. Wiping my face. That towel looks bloody. Travis doesn’t look happy. He should try sitting in my place! Coach is poking at me. Waving a finger in front of my eyes. Bugger off, Coach. I’m okay. Jackson hasn’t hurt me as much as he can do. He’s only hitting hard when he needs to. When I put him under pressure and he needs a moment’s respite.

Dad’s there too now. Telling me to dance, not to try slugging. Dad, that’s what I’m trying to do. Why am I laughing? Why’s Travis want to know why I’m laughing? I’m laughing because I have just figured something out. Fighting Jackson is a bad idea. That’s why I‘m laughing. I’m good at bad ideas.

Jackson’s back on his feet, eager to re-start. I need to get these people out of my way, look keen. Jackson’s expecting that from me.  We’re both at the centre of the ring. Jackson’s saying something to me. Coach is giving the signal to ring the bell.

“Don’t you bloody taunt me, Jackson. I’m only outgunned, not outclassed.”

I was out of there like lightning when the re-start bell went, twisting aside fast, not giving him the chance to face tap me. I knew he’d try it. I got a couple of jabs in as I skirted round. Just a hint of a smile from him. He knows I’m okay. That I can go the whole distance. He’s not going to let up but he isn’t worried either. This is going to look good. And he knows that if lets his guard down even for a second, I will have him. I know I probably look a mess, but he’s been careful not to really do more damage than he had to. I’ve had far worse from him.

Jackson can dance too. He really is fit as fuck. My head’s clearing now. We’re sparring again. Hitting gloves, landing a few blows when the opportunity arises. Dad’s right. Stick to dancing. I am faster than Jackson. Let him have the ring centre. Jab and jab again. Move fast when those punches come at me, take the sting out of them by rolling with them. Fighting is a bad idea, but dodge and weave, dash in, hit him, get out. That works. It works for Jackson too. He can show his speed and stamina, He’s starting to leave the centre, showing he can move with me, chase me round the ring, hunt me down. That’ll worry future opponents. He doesn’t look too flustered either when I get in a few really good blows. And I am doing now I’m playing clever, playing to my strengths. The audience know there is power behind my punches. I’m no lightweight. Nobody out there would want to catch a punch from me.

The time keeper has just signalled ’thirty seconds remaining’ to the Coach. Jackson saw it too. He knows what I need to do. He’s ready for it. It doesn’t help him. Knowing that I am going to go at him like Jayden did, throw blow after blow, is one thing, but doing something about it is another. He’s got to be careful. He can’t risk me getting in a lucky hit, but he can’t be seen to retreat from me either. He’s going to come right at me, charge me down, limit the throw I can get on my punches, make sure I can only jab him. This is going to hurt us both. Well, me more than him, obviously, but it’s going to be worth it.

We closed on each other. Jackson’s playing clever, got his gloves up and elbows tight in, weathering the storm of jabs, pushing me back, just shrugging off those harder punches I’m looping round into his ribs, giving me a sharp blow back, solid on my chest, every time I lower a hand and smash him in the ribs. It sounds far worse than it is. Probably looks far worse too. Well, compared to what he’s dished out to me before it’s not too bad. And like he said, I get to go for a nice relaxing swim with Nathan and the girlies after this is done. I can take this. Anybody my own weight that I fight is going to take note of it. Be very wary. Just like I need to be now.

I saw it coming. Saw it and began to move away. Almost got out of the way. My head was twisting aside. I nearly managed. I was pretty certain he’d try and give me a knock out blow just before the bell was due. He bloody nearly managed it. A real hard smack to the head, then a quick follow up, one-two, left then right, to my ribs, when he realised I’d read him, that he wasn’t going to finish me off with that just that one final blow. It hurt, it winded me, it made my head spin. But I weathered it. Surged forward even though I was still a little unsteady, not feigning this time, threw a last flurry of punches at him, took a couple back, smashed my gloves into his ribs, winced as he did exactly the same back.

Coach is pulling us apart. It’s over. The bell has gone. Jackson is holding my hand high. Sharing the victory. Yes, he’s won but I sure as Hell haven’t lost. Jayden and Connor are back in the ring. Travis too. Jackson’s dad and my dad are climbing in. Coach is making a speech. Jackson is making a speech. I’m just laughing. Remind me not to fight Jackson again. Travis needs to stop looking so worried. I feel nowhere near as bad as I did when Jackson ripped into me in our first fight. Then he was intent on hurting me. Today he was just making sure people took note that he can hurt an opponent. It was an exhibition bout. A good one.

* * *

The boxers’ changing room isn’t big and today, after the bout, it was bursting at the seams. The rule about ‘boxers only’ had gone right out of the window. Everyone who thought they were important was in there, congratulating Jackson on his fight, offering him advice. It did have the benefit of taking the pressure off the rest of us though. Connor, Jayden, the two lightweights and myself squashed into the shower area and just luxuriated under the jets, letting the hot water wash some of the aches away. Connor and Jayden have a few bruises too. Jackson’s probably going to look even worse when he gets chance to get his gown off and get showered. We all made sure to give him a pretty good going over whenever we got the chance. Jackson just didn’t give us many chances.

When I stepped out of the shower Travis was there waiting to pass me a towel. Dad and Shane were squeezing through the crowd towards me too. Nobody seems to mind Travis and Shane being in here today. I started to make my way towards the corner where my bag and clothes are, signalling to dad to head there too, but suddenly an arm grabbed me and pulled me over to the centre of the room, directed me right up against Jackson. Coach is telling the crowd about me now, how I’m challenging for the super welterweight, maybe the light middleweight, title in a few months’ time. Jackson has his arm around me, posing as a few photos are taken, telling the crowd that my problem is that I don’t know when I’m beat, that I just keep on coming at him no matter what he throws at me. That’ll sound good in the fight reports. Thanks Jackson. He even smiled and went along with it when one of the photographers asked us to pose with me giving him a face tap.

Coach pulled Connor and Jayden over to the centre of the room for their ten minutes of fame. As the cameras started flashing again, Jackson kept his arm around my shoulder and steered me over to the corner where my dad, Travis and Shane were waiting.

“Pleased to meet you at last, Mr Wright,” Jackson said as he offered his hand to my dad. ”Boots here fought well today. Give him a year or two and another twenty pounds of muscle and he’ll really take some handling.”  As he left us and headed back to the crowd, Jackson turned to Travis and Shane, smiled and said, ”Patch him up good, boys.”

Dad was looking me up and down thoughtfully. I guess it’s a while since he really had time to get a good look at me like this, what with him being away so often and then of course I don’t usually parade around the house with hardly any clothes on. “Yes, you’re growing up son,” he said quietly, “you’re not a child anymore. Sometimes it’s hard for me to see that.” For a second we just looked at each other, then I stepped forward and gave him another big hug. I can do that still, even if I am growing up.

Once I had dried down and dressed in my smarts we headed out through the gym and into the college grounds. There’s still an hour to go before I need to be ready for the water polo. I didn’t actually need much patching up. There’s not much can be done about bruises, apart from Kyle’s magic heat pads but they aren’t practical for walking around. Travis stuck some surgical tape on my cut lip and another bit on the graze on my cheek where the stitching on Jackson’s glove had drawn some blood but I think that was mainly for show. Yes, maybe my lip and the graze are going to sting a bit in the pool from the chlorine but it’s hardly going to kill me.

Within a few minutes we’d met up again with Travis’s family, who were still with Will’s family, and all just on their way back from a demonstration of the cannon. Will himself was AWOL, presumably with the Bauers and Elizabeth still. He’s definitely going to get a grilling about that when we find him. How did he manage it? I mean, he just walked up to her, asked her if she’d like something to drink and whisked her away, all within thirty seconds! Nathan will probably grill him too, if he hasn’t already.

By the time we’d all talked through the fight again and I had told them for the zillionth time that, no, I wasn’t hurt, and no, Jackson wasn’t too hard on me, that I can handle him (but quietly about that, I think he must he must have ears like a freekin’ bat), it was almost time for me to head back to the gym for the water polo. Dad and Shane were definitely coming to watch the water polo, it’s not like they actually had any choice in it, it was down on the list I’d drawn up, but Travis and Will’s families were unsure. Their original plan had been to go and watch the football showcase but now there had to weigh in new factors. Obviously football was more familiar to them than water polo, which they seemed to think was like synchronised swimming until I put them right, and there was also the fact that there had been a pretty impressive stream of football players in armour and tight trousers making their way over to the sports field for the last fifteen minutes. Travis’s sisters had definitely noticed that, but now they seemed like they might be interested in seeing me play water polo too.

Travis wasn’t helping my case much when he told everybody that Kyle, the guy that they’d seen awarded the Sword of Honour this morning, was not only the star college quarterback but also our dorm senior, so they’d probably get to meet him if they went to the football. That’s just plain cruel Travis, getting your sisters’ hopes up like that when we all know there is only going to be one person Kyle will be interested in meeting after the match! That’s another thing too. I wonder if Mr and Mrs Miller are here just because they have come to see Lee and his team play, or did Kyle invite them to the Open Day himself?  If Kyle’s invited them it must mean he’s pretty serious about Lee.

I left the families debating where they were going to go and went over to the pool to get prepared. I picked up my bag of swim kit from the boxers’ changing room and then cut through the gym to the pool, which is to the side of the gym area. The pool is really three pools: a standard 50m swimming pool, a diving pool complete with a high board and then the competitions pool that we use for water polo. That’s a full deep pool, so you can’t touch the bottom. That’s part of what makes water polo so high intensity – you have to keep swimming or treading water or you’ll sink and drown. No slackers in this game.

For the exhibition game we were playing against ourselves rather than against another school, so the A team versus the B team with all the squad members cycling through one or other of the teams as reserves. We play Schools’ Rules, so only six players per team, including the goalie, and four, six-minute periods of play. I was selected for the B team because I’m the new boy, just about the only freshman in the squad, but I’m as big as most of the other players and they have learned that it doesn’t pay to rough me up.

Nathan is captaining the B team for the match, with Riley in charge of the A team. I changed into my new white jammers, the ones Nathan had bought for me, and my white cap. Most of the guys in the team wear jammers in the club colours, dark blue with a yellow stripe, and I’ll get some of those once I’ve made it into the team for a proper match. The white ones will be fine for now and far better than my speedos. In the water, teams are identified by the colour of the caps they wear, traditionally a dark colour for the home team and a light colour for the visiting team, so it doesn’t really matter what colour jammers or trunks people wear – they can’t be seen when we’re playing anyway. It’s nice to look uniform for the team presentations and photos though.

Nathan was changing next to me and seemed in a pretty good mood, in fact he usually is pretty friendly away from the dorm. We started chatting about how the day was going – particularly his promotion of course, and Kyle getting the Sword of Honour. He found it pretty amusing that his sister had gone with Will when both me and Shane had been working our way towards asking her if she wanted to take a walk with one of us, perhaps to see the cannon or something interesting like that.

“The reason she said ‘Yes’ to Will, and was hanging around with him, was because she likes you, Deefer,” said Nat. Obviously that just doesn’t stack up, and I told him so but Nat was adamant. More than that, Riley and some of the other guys in earshot all agreed with him.

“You are pretty clueless at times, Boots. I don’t know how you managed it with those cheerleaders,” Nat was saying, “Elizabeth clearly likes you but she was getting bored waiting for you to ask her!”

“That’s what girls are like,” somebody else was saying, “she only said ‘yes’ to Will in order to make a point. To get you to quit hanging around and make a move yourself.”

I told you girls are weird, like from a completely different planet. Always playing games, pretending they aren’t interested when they are and then going with somebody else just to confuse the issue. And I can’t win anyway. If I had  made a move, rather than just being polite to Elizabeth, which was all I was doing, either my dad or Nat would have been on my case right away. It’s probably way less hassle for Kyle and Lee, being guys. They must just phone each other up and ask if they’re free to go out and do stuff, like go to watch a match or go to the diner. No playing hard to get. Probably easier still for Jackson. He probably just gets a call from Jayden saying, ”Fancy a fuck?”

“Now what’s amusing you, Boots?” asked Riley as we trooped out into the pool area ready for the game. “Are you just going to continue chuckling to yourself like a dipshit, or share the joke?”

I’m not going to share that!

There were loads of people in the hall to watch the water polo despite the fact that the football starts right after we end. I guess a lot of them might disappear after the third quarter in order to go and make sure they get good seats in the stand for the football, but some will be staying right to the end. My dad will, and Nathan’s family, in fact all the polo players’ families will be here to the end. Shane will be taking dad to the football after we finish, so they can watch it start as I get changed, then I’ll catch up with them. After that, we’re free and off to the Country Club!

Water polo is actually a very simple game. Both teams have a goalie, who defends the goal, and five field players, who try to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposition goal. It’s like a cross between football and rugby, except its played in water. It’s the only game I know of though that has ‘brutality’ fouls as well as ordinary fouls. In theory nobody should be fouling anybody, even splashing water at somebody counts as a foul, but the referee can’t see what happens underwater. An ordinary foul is when somebody accidentally gets a shove or a kick, but that happens all the time when people are swimming close to each other. Brutality fouls are when somebody gets shoved or kicked or dunked or elbowed or punched or their balls ripped off deliberately, and players can be red carded and sent off for doing that. It’s just that who can tell if somebody kicked somebody else deliberately, or if they just swam a bit too close? You can’t tackle people without going close, and if you stop kicking and moving your arms you’ll just sink to the bottom of the pool…

As I jumped into the pool and circled for a minute awaiting the swim off, which is where they throw the ball into the middle to start the game, I got a good look around at the audience. Shane had clearly managed to bring most of Travis’s family along, and it looked like Will’s family too. They’re sat just behind the Bauers, who are right in the front row. Bad move Governor!  Water polo is one game where it’s not always smart to grab a front row seat. There can be an awful lot of splashing, plus the ball can also skip off the water and bounce into the audience if a player misses a catch. Maybe we should have Plexiglass screens round the edge like they do at ice hockey. Will’s being bloody tenacious, he’s still there with Elizabeth, Nathan’s sister, and he seems to be getting on like a house on fire with Mrs Bauer too. Maybe Elizabeth really does like him, the jammy rat! That’ll hack Nathan off!

Despite having already done two rounds of boxing a few hours earlier, I was kept in play for the whole match. Normally, though each quarter is only six minutes long, a match can take nearly an hour due to the number of stops and restarts caused by fouls, plus each team can call some time outs too. That’s a long time to be constantly swimming, so it’s usual to rotate reserves through the team. Because ours was just an exhibition match, we decided that no team would call any time outs, and we kept the fouls down to the minimum too, kept the game fast moving. Well, we minimised the number of fouls the referee saw anyway, which was good enough.

As the match ended, Nathan set off swimming towards the steps out of the pool and I followed him so we could walk along the side to the seats where our parents, and to be fair, quite a lot of other people were still watching. Maybe they realised that water polo can be better to watch than football. I did notice quite a lot of people were looking at me and smiling as we walked along the side of the pool. Obviously I’m getting recognised. I was on stage all morning at the awards and then most people came to see me at the boxing. I’ve made a good impression.

As we got to about ten yards from the seats where Nathan’s family were sat, with my dad immediately behind them, I turned to Nathan and asked if he thought his sister really did like me. She’s definitely smiling at me. Everybody is. Mrs Bauer is trying hard not to laugh for some reason. If she thinks these bruises are bad she ought to have seen what I looked like a couple of weeks ago. I really did look like a panda bear then. My dad’s trying not to laugh now, and Travis’s parents. What the fuck is Travis waving at? And Shane? They’re both giggling like schoolgirls and pointing at my jammers.

Grow up guys, you both know I’m bigger than you two. Obviously the tight Lycra jammers emphasise that a bit but no need to be so childish. If you carry on making me feel self-conscious I’ll end up getting a boner and that will be bad. Some people have no bloody decorum. Now Will’s joining in, saying something to Nathan’s sister. Very bloody funny, Will. Nathan must look just the same, he’s about as big as me down there and in tight, wet jammers too, why don’t you take the mickey out of him instead? I glanced over at Nathan, who’s smirking as well now, sneaked a peek down at his jammers as we get right up to where his mum and dad are sat in the front row. Yes, he’s a big boy like me but come on, we’re decent. Just bulges under our jammers, no need to get so smutty.

My eye moved over to my jammers.

FUCK! Nathan, you bastard! You devious twat! He’s done this deliberately, he must have. My jammers are not only tight and wet, the white material has gone almost bloody transparent! They’re hardly hiding anything. It’s made worse because I don’t shave my dick, the dark swatch of near jet-black pubic hair is standing out like a sore thumb. It’s not the only thing either, I’m getting a boner now! I’ve just walked 30 metres down the whole front row of spectators like this! No bloody wonder they were all smiling. I looked up. Elizabeth and Mrs Bauer are just plain laughing now, they can’t help it. Dad’s smirking, Travis’s sisters are giggling. Will is rolling about like a freekin’ Smash Martian.

Nathan isn’t stupid. The moment I turned towards him, he ran.

Nathan dived into the pool, streaked away like a torpedo, covered a good ten metres before he broke to the surface and struck out for the side with a powerful stroke. I dived in behind him, stayed with him under water, began to gain on him as I surfaced a couple of metres behind him and started to swim. By the time he reached the steps I was close enough to grasp at his foot, almost managed to pull him back into the pool. He kicked back at me, pulled free, scrambled up the step ladder, dashed across the tiles, through the ‘No Entry’ door into the corridor behind the pool. I was gaining on him again as he charged down the deserted corridor, looking for a route out, burst through a door not far from where the boxers’ changing room is. Wrong door, Nathan, that’s the physio’s room. It only has the one entrance. I’ve got you now.

I pushed through the door, felt it bounce back off the adjacent wall, start to swing back and close. It’s only a small room. Nathan’s on the other side of the physio’s couch from me, desperately searching for an exit, looking over at me. Laughing still. He’s turned to face me, keeping the couch between us. He knows there’s no way out other than coming past me. As the door snapped shut behind me on its spring arm I smiled, half turned to look at the door. It’s the physio room. So there’s a bolt on the door, a small curtain over the window. I drove the bolt home.

“You’re trapped, Nat. No way out.”

“Deefer….” Nathan laughed as he edged round the physio’s bench, keeping as far away from me as he can. He’s still finding this funny. “Come on, Boots, you’ve got to see the joke…”

He looks like a Siberian tiger prowling round that side of the bench, that copper hair and pale skin. Trying to keep out of my reach. He might be as tall as me, older than me, muscled too. But I can take him. I’m more muscled. Stronger. I can fight too. No, Nat’s not a tiger. Just a bloody ginger tabby.

As Nat edged warily sideways I placed my hands on the bench, vaulted it, threw my hands against his shoulders, smashed him back to the wall. Took him completely by surprise.

“Boots,” he gasped. 

My arms were still pinned against his shoulders. There’s no fear in his eyes. His eyes are hazel. Sort of green and brown, and amber even. Like one of Noah’s werewolf drawings. He still thinks he‘s in control of this. That confidence engendered of privilege. A lifetime of being told he’s a member of the elite. The Governor’s son. Untouchable.

I leaned forward, pressing my face right up to him. Kissed him gently on the lips. Just a little peck, like I would have done to him mom or sister if it had been appropriate, not a full-on smacker of a snog like Jackson had done to me. As I did so my nipples touched against his, kind of electrifying me.

“If you wanted to see my dick Nat, you only had to ask…”

I dropped my hands from him, backed off, burst out laughing. For a split-second Nat looked back at me, bewildered, then started to laugh too. I reached over and unbolted the door.

“Come on, Nat, let’s go get changed, our families are waiting for us. Your dad will probably be sending for a SWAT team if he thinks I’m splattering you all over the walls.”

I had intended to hit him, right back at the pool, stood there in front of everybody, all of them smirking and laughing, but that thought went out of my head almost as soon as Nathan turned and fled. I don’t fight outside the ring. I have to control my temper. I can hurt people. Once Nathan started running it was just instinct. Like a lion after a gazelle. Hunting him down. Like Travis does with wascally wabbits. I was going to get even with Nat, but not by battering him. Plus he’s senior to me too, so that wouldn’t have ended well. Even when I cornered him I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. The fun was in the chase. But giving him a kiss like that, like Jackson did to me, was perfect. The look on Nathan’s face was priceless. I’ll be able to take the mickey out of him for weeks over this. I might even tell people he got a boner as I kissed him.

* * *

Thirty minutes later we were both changed and joining the spectators in the stand to watch the last part of Kyle’s match. Nathan’s family were down at the front in the VIP area with Jackson’s family, the Commandant and some senior staff, plus lots of other people who must be important too. Will wasn’t there, but then he’s scheduled to be doing a lacrosse demonstration soon. Elizabeth Bauer isn’t there either. Surely she can’t have gone to watch Will chucking heads around?

Nathan waved and smiled to his parents but carried on with me higher up the stand to where my dad and Shane, Mr and Mrs Miller, plus most of Travis’ and Will’s family were waiting. They looked relieved to see that me and Nathan hadn’t battered each other to death. Before Travis or Shane could say anything I just smiled and said to everyone, ”I just gave him a kiss and made up, it’s what we do round here. What do you think this place is, a training school for psychopathic warriors or something?” Nathan was laughing at it too but his face was bright red with embarrassment, making him look even more like a matchstick than usual.

Mr and Mrs Miller exchanged glances and both began to chuckle. “Such perfect gentlemen, just like Kyle,” said Mrs Miller. ”If only all soldiers could solve their differences like that instead of shooting each other, the world would be a much nicer place. Why, I remember the first time Kyle came to our house, what a surprise that was.”

“It certainly was,” said Mr Miller, good humouredly.

He realised that he now had the avid attention of me, Nathan, Travis and Shane. Well, actually, everyone was now looking at him, eager to know more but being far too polite to ask. I wasn’t going to say anything so there was no need for Nathan to poke me in the ribs. He must have thought I was going to say something. Sometimes my mouth just opens like that, words don’t always come out. Mr Miller saw the poke, looked at me. Looked at everyone.

“Well, at the time we didn’t know our boy Lee was gay,” he said, “We just thought Kyle was a friend he’d made through football. So you can imagine our surprise when one Saturday evening, instead of waiting outside in his truck for Lee, he came up to the house, walked right up to me, introduced himself and asked for my permission to date Lee…”

Mr Miller turned towards Mrs Miller and smiled, ”Though I think Lee was the most surprised of all, wasn’t he Barbara?”

Me and the guys were all just looking at each other, still trying to process what we’d just heard. Kyle had outed Lee to his mum and dad? There’s got to be more to the story than that. Kyle’s got some explaining to do…

My dad turned to look at me, Nat, Shane and Travis. “You know those cartoons,” he said to everyone, nodding towards us,” of a nest full of open-mouthed chicks?”

* * *

I’m still trying to work out what the rules of American football are. It’s kind of like rugby but a lot more complicated, mainly with lots of time for the players to stand around and posture like peacocks to the cheerleaders and the crowd. It probably helps to get their sponsorship logos seen clearly too. Obviously there aren’t any cheerleaders for our college team because there aren’t any girls here. I hadn’t seen any from Lee’s school either but maybe they haven’t brought them to make things fair. I thought it better not to ask if Lee’s team usually did have cheerleaders. People would misinterpret. Anyway, by the end of the match, Lee’s team had won by seven points and everybody was saying what a great game it had been. Kyle had scored some points and made some tackles, and even got past Lee to make a score at one stage. Lee put his arm round Kyle’s shoulder as they walked off the pitch over to the VIP areas to get awarded a cup but I guess most of the crowd thought it was just two sportsmen being friendly. I still have to find out more about when Kyle asked Mr Miller if he could date Lee, just like he was asking about a girl. I know it’s kind of cute of him, but really?

Once the cup had been presented, the teams went to get changed and dad suggested we should all go back over to the ante-room for a snack. The afternoon was almost over and it’s about an hour’s drive to the Country Club. On my timetable we should be going to watch Will and Noah in the lacrosse demonstration, but maybe dad’s plan is best. We said goodbye to Will’s family as they went to find the lacrosse demo, and went back to the ante-room with Travis and his family. Now I am with dad, Shane can stand down and go and get changed. He’s done a great job, even though he ended up herding way more sheeple than were on my plan.

Over coffee and pastries, Travis’s family insisted I should go and visit them for Thanksgiving later in the semester. That’s like Harvest Festival and Christmas rolled into one for Americans. They super-size anything they can. Shane’s invited too, they seem to like him, but then everybody likes Shane, he’s got that way with people. Dad seemed happy with the idea and I definitely want to go. Travis is already making plans and saying we’ll go and see places like Wounded Knee and Deadwood, which are real, not just film sets. South Dakota sounds like a really interesting place. We’ll need to fly there though, it’s hundreds of miles away and Travis doesn’t have a licence to drive us until he gets back to his own State. I wonder how many days holiday we get for Thanksgiving?

I’m definitely proving popular. Just before we were about to leave, Mrs Bauer came over to us and asked my dad if he’d mind me visiting them one weekend soon. Mrs Bauer likes me.  Nathan was with her and he didn’t seem to look too troubled by it. He’s definitely not so strict when we’re off duty. They only live about an hour’s drive away over near  a place called Edgeworth in Pittsburgh and obviously Nathan can drive so we’ll probably go there in Lemon Steroids. It will really piss Will off if I get to go to stay at the Bauers one weekend, Elizabeth’s house, before he does. She can’t really fancy him, can she? Will doesn’t even have hair on his dick yet. He’s just a boy.

It’s been a good weekend so far.