That night, Melody and Becky did attend the first home football game of the year. Melody’s parents drove them and stayed for the game. Douglas admitted he had not seen a high school football game in years and was excited to attend. Neither Becky nor Melody had purchased clothing from the school store but wore the school colors. Melody was thrilled to be at her first school function to support the Chieftains. With so much going on, there was a lot to see. The marching band, the JROTC cadets, and the cheerleaders were all doing their part to get the crowd riled up. Melody was happy that Becky had agreed to go, even though she was not as interested in football as she was. As the Chieftains prepared to receive the opening kickoff, excitement filled the air.
It did not take Becky long to realize the football game was merely the background noise to the social event of the week. She noticed students either socializing or walking about aimlessly, while the parents sat in the bleachers watching the game. In the middle of the first quarter, Becky tugged on Melody’s arm. “C’mon Melody, let’s go for a walk.” Melody, who had been following the game closely, got up and told her parents they would return.
“Where we going, Becky?” Melody asked, making her way to the ground level.
“I don’t know. That bleacher was making my ass sore.”
The girls walked with no destination in mind. Students whom Melody knew from her classes greeted her and she introduced them to Becky. Melody was pleasantly surprised to see unfamiliar students greet Becky, who in turn, introduced them to her. The pair meandered about, stopping occasionally to say hello and hang out with different groups. Many boys were interested in both Melody and Becky and wanted to know them better. So many had introduced themselves that the girls could not possibly remember all their names. Both Melody and Becky were having a good time and saw that home games were the place to be on a Dowagiac Friday night.
“This sure beats middle school, huh?” Becky laughed, leaning on the chain link fence to see the last two minutes of the first half.
“Yes!” Melody agreed. “This is awesome. We got to come out every game.”
The girls remained where they were and watched the JROTC cadets perform with the marching band during halftime. They both applauded after their precise routines were completed.
“This is gonna be a good year,” Becky said with confidence. She was no longer upset about the volleyball tryouts and had by now dismissed the argument she had with her mother and stepfather before leaving the house. Becky had gotten used to small town life but missed the big city. In her heart, she missed Detroit, but was happy to be a student at Union High. Becky turned her head and smiled at Melody. Though she was content to be with her, Becky fought the urge to kiss her cheek and hold her hand.
***
The following Friday, Melody reported to the gym for her first volleyball practice. Becky had wished her luck and told her to call when she got home. Melody wanted to make a good first impression with her teammates and impress Coach Heucke. After Melody joined the freshmen in the gymnasium, a sophomore told them to sit on the wooden bleachers and wait. At exactly 3:30PM, Coach Heucke approached them. Melody still found her stunning and though she knew it was sinful, she could not help but look at her coach’s legs and breasts with desire. Standing now in front of her future team, Coach Heucke quickly took roll call. After everyone was accounted for, she gave a similar version of the same speech she had been using for the last seven years.
“My name is Ingrid Heucke,” she began. Melody’s heart fluttered at the sound of her European accent. As she continued speaking, Melody pictured her wearing a shimmering gown in a James Bond movie.
“As member of the women’s volleyball team, I represented West Germany in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich. Unfortunately, the gold went to the godless Russians that year. Japan took silver, and more Communists from North Korea won the bronze. My team came in eighth place overall. I emigrated to America in 1976 and have been coaching volleyball here at Union High School since 1978. In that time, my teams have won four class B district championships. In 1982, we made it to the final four at the regional games. You are here because you have been selected to continue our winning tradition. I congratulate you on your efforts so far.”
She paused here and scanned the faces of the dozen girls before her. Twenty-four eyes were locked on her.
“My training methods bring results. There are no favorites or stars here. You must think, act, and play as a team to succeed. Soon, you will rely on each other’s strengths as you improve upon your own weaknesses. You must depend on and trust each other until you play as one body with one mind. One thing you must never forget, you are here to have fun and make friends. Trophies and championships mean nothing if you are not happy to be on the team. I love this game, and I hope in time you will too. Now then, has anyone played volleyball before in organized sport?”
The girls sat still. No one answered or raised their hand.
“Very good,” Coach Heucke said, obviously pleased. “None of you have any bad habits that need to be unlearned. This makes my job easier as I teach you the fundamentals.” She began pacing now as she got to the end of her introduction.
“Furthermore,” she continued. “The juniors and seniors will teach and train you under my supervision. There are times when you may think they are being too hard or are mistreating you. This is not so. They are preparing you to compete. They will train you in the same fashion they were trained by the girls who came before them, just as you will someday train the girls who follow you. We practice hard in order to make the opponents easy. Your confidence and preparedness will give you the advantage. I see everything during my practice sessions, and I promise you will not be given more than you can handle. You cannot know your limit unless you are pushed. As your coach, it is my job to bring out the best in you. There may be a future Olympiad sitting in front of me. If that is true, then it begins here, today.”
With that, the coach released the freshmen to the seniors who had just taken the court. Thankfully, the seniors were much nicer this time. With smiles and handshakes, they introduced themselves and patiently ran drills with their newest teammates. This time, Melody did have fun and was happy she had been selected. When she did make a mistake, the seniors encouraged her as they demonstrated proper techniques. For one drill, Melody was teamed up with Claire Thompson, a tall, slender redhead from her geometry class. By the end of her first practice, Melody was not only satisfied with her own performance, she was happy to have made a new friend. After she was dismissed and said goodbye to Claire, Melody walked to the parking lot where her mother waited.
“Hi, Mama!” Melody said in good cheer as she got into the passenger seat.
“How was practice?” Barbara asked, starting the car.
“Much better! The seniors really taught me a lot today!”
Her mother smiled and drove the car into the street towards home but stopped at the first red light.
“You don’t have to wait for me every day, Mama,” Melody explained. “Traffic is light and there is a sidewalk the whole way home. I can just take the bus in the morning as usual and skateboard home after practice.”
“Melody,” her mother replied as the light turned green. “You have a lot going on right now. You have school, Becky, and now volleyball. Before you know it, you will get your license and work a part time job. I love that you still spend Sunday afternoons with your father but let me have a little bit of your time too. Let me be a part of your life, even in this small way. You are growing up so fast, just be my little girl after school and let me drive you home.”
“OK, Mom,” Melody said. As they proceeded home, Melody talked excitedly about practice.
***
As Melody sat in her room doing her homework that afternoon, she looked at life through her mother’s eyes. She was old fashioned, but kind, and had always been loving. Melody thought about how her mother would act when it was finally time for her to go. She would cry of course and make a big fuss. However, Melody realized that with her leaving, her mother would spend most days by herself and eat all her meals at an empty table. Her mother would also have to spend whole weekends by herself on occasion. She had no real friends to speak of, having dedicated her life to her family. Melody saw now for the first time the hole she would leave behind. She was saddened by the thought of her mother being lonely in an empty house while Daddy was on the road. As she continued her geometry homework, Melody promised herself to spend more time with her mother and make her a bigger priority.
If anything, high school was a challenge for Melody, but she faced everything head on and with determination. With some effort, she was able to balance schoolwork, volleyball, and a social life. The regular volleyball season ran until the end of November and she felt herself improving each week. As she was told to expect, she sat on the sidelines with the rest of the freshman and sophomores as the juniors and seniors played against rival schools. Melody did not mind, because she still felt involved. She understood that the girls playing on the court had bided their time and finally had their chance to play. Melody also knew it would not be long before she would be playing while new freshmen watched her. Matches were held during the week, usually on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Melody liked home games because her mother and Becky attended but she liked away games just as much. Melody enjoyed riding the bus to different schools and seeing the other teams on their home courts. To her, road games were an exciting adventure. Melody’s only disappointments were that the crowds were not as big as the football games and her father was unable to attend matches because of his job.
Eventually, Melody noticed she had become moderately popular and took it in stride. She was friendly to everyone and was beginning to like it when boys noticed her, though she still had no interest in dating. There was simply no time for a boyfriend, and it did not fit into her larger picture anyway. Her teammates liked her, and some became friends. No matter how busy Melody was though, she always had time for Becky. She still tutored her in Spanish, they were inseparable at the Friday night football games, and Becky still slept over most weekends. Melody had sensed Becky was still a little jealous of her involvement with the volleyball team, so she rarely mentioned it. That changed when Melody received a phone call from Becky on the last Thursday of October.
“Melody! I made the team!” Becky exclaimed so loudly that Melody had to pull her ear away from the handset.
“What team?” Melody asked. “What did you try out for?”
“I’m on the lacrosse team!” Becky said in a voice so loud that Melody thought her mother could hear in the next room.
“What’s lacrosse?” Melody asked. “I never heard of it.”
“Well, it’s kind of like field hockey,” Becky explained. “I really didn’t know what it was either when I checked it out. You run around on a field with a stick that has a little net on it and pass a ball around trying to score goals.”
“When did all this happen?” Melody asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m telling you now, Honey! Tryouts were today. I didn’t want to tell you in case I didn’t make it. To be honest, they took everyone because this is a sport being offered to girls for the first time and they need everyone they can get. Not too many showed up, so we all got a spot. Cool huh?”
“Becky, this is wonderful! I’m so happy for you. When is your first game?”
“The season starts in March, but we aren’t playing until next school year. This season we are just going to practice and learn the game. Not enough schools have girl teams that are ready yet, most schools are just starting out like us.”
“When is practice?” Melody asked.
“Same time as yours. We use the football field or the open field, whatever’s available.”
“This is awesome!” Melody said, feeding off Becky’s excitement. “You can come to my games in the fall and then I can go to yours when spring starts. It works out perfectly.”
“I know! So, it looks like I will get a letter too and have something written under my senior picture! Now, before your mom takes you away for dinner, help me with that stuff we had in Spanish today.”
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