Chapter 3 #2
“Joseph Jehosephat Judd! Get your ass over here!”
Marti Simmons was captain of the Jackets cheer squad Joe’s freshman year.
He’d approached her, told her the team needed him, and they became inseparable.
She had been the one to convince the others to let Joe—and then several other guys—join the team, paving the way for the transition to coed.
She’d been Joe’s biggest supporter and critic ever since, and it had been a ridiculous amount of time since he’d seen her.
Joe picked the petite Black woman up with his big hug and they spun around in a circle.
“It’s so good to see you, although I probably should have known that you were going to be here.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, you should have because you should have called and told me you were coming. What the hell are you doing here?”
Joe barked out a laugh and looked around. “Would you believe considering a job offer?”
She blanched. “Here? You? ”
“Right? That’s what I’m saying!”
Marti appraised him for a moment. “They want you to come coach cheer, huh? President Payton was talking about a lot of changes, guess you’d be one of them.”
Joe nodded. “Cheer, yes, and he mentioned me starting up a dance program. Like I would have any idea how to do that.”
Instead of agreeing with him, Marti narrowed her eyes.
“You do realize that’s a fabulous idea and that you’d be great.”
Joe sighed. “Not you, too. How can you possibly think—”
“You know your stuff,” she said. “You may not be the most upstanding citizen, and you may lack academic status, but you know dance. You know the ins and outs of the dance world better than any academic would, and you definitely have the credibility. Why not?”
“I need protein before I try to unpack all that. Come on, I’ll treat you to some borderline toxic meat products and artery-clogging side dishes, and then we can watch kids beat the crap out of each other in the name of victory.”
Marti put her arm around him and laughed. “I’ve missed your cheerful disposition, my friend.”
Joe said hi to a bunch of folks he recognized but didn’t remember their names. He tried to smile and look engaged, but he really wanted to sit in a corner and brood. Marti’s comments hadn’t helped.
Joe’s life for the past fifteen years had consisted of concert tours, TV and film appearances, and stage productions.
He had a modest apartment in West Hollywood for home base, but otherwise he was constantly on the move.
He’d achieved most of the career goals on his bucket list, and at thirty-six the offers were fewer and farther between with more choreography jobs than performances these days.
Dance Machine was his steady gig, he was contracted for the next three seasons for that show for choreography and guest appearances, but then what?
He couldn’t keep up with the younger dancers considering the injuries he’d been nursing for years.
How much longer could he sustain this lifestyle? What if this was his best option?
It was hard not to be depressed by that. Had he really done all he’d set out to do? Was he ready to settle down and be a college cheer coach?
Joe and Marti found a spot and sat down away from the rest and Joe took a bite of his veggie burger.
“Not half bad,” he said. “Maybe I could survive here.”
“They had veggie sausages too, and bottles of kombucha.” Marti held up her bottle and took a sip. “Not bad at all. Things have changed. Modernized some. They’re not in the dark ages anymore. My son will be a freshman here next year.” She gazed at him with her eyebrows raised. “He wants to cheer.”
“That’s great,” Joe said. “But how is it possible that you have a kid old enough to start college? I swear I was just sending you gifts for your baby shower yesterday.”
Marti laughed. “Terrence and I celebrated too thoroughly after graduation? I don’t know. We’d always planned to get married and have kids.” She shrugged. “Guess we got to it right away. They’re here somewhere.”
“Well I’m sure the little bundle of joy will be great in college.” He laughed. “Terrell is a great kid. He didn’t have a choice not to be with you two for parents.”
After college, Marti and Terrence had stayed in the Kansas City area, where they were both originally from. Joe had tried to persuade her to take a shot at a career in dance but she wanted to stay home and be mom to her rambunctious kid with more dancing talent than she could keep up with.
“Mm hmm. He’s a good boy. He’s not ready to get out from under his parents’ thumbs.
He didn’t want to stay home and go to community college so Terrence encouraged him to apply here and he got in.
We’ll still be close by but he’ll be in the dorms. He struggled a bit in school so we wanted him to be in a nurturing environment. ”
“I can relate.” Joe had agreed to attend Greenvale for a similar reason. Perhaps the two of them had more in common than he imagined.
“If he knows you’re coaching cheer, I’m sure he’ll try out.”
Joe winked. “If he’s anywhere near as good as you, he’ll make it.”
Marti had been a flawless performer. She was a compelling dancer with so much stage presence she had to hold back sometimes to keep from overshadowing the rest of the team.
She was also a skilled flyer, meaning she had the strength, confidence and technique necessary to be tossed in the air and land precisely where she was needed, or she could stand stock still on a stunter’s shoulders and turn herself into a pretzel if she was asked to.
The world was at her feet, but she chose marriage with a side of super mom for Terrell and a career teaching at a dance studio.
She grinned at him and then got serious. “I’d love to know he was in good hands.”
“I’m sure he will be.”
She groaned. “Come on, Joe. Aren’t you ready to have something of your own? Remember how good it felt to create the coed team? You’ve been working under someone else’s parameters for so long…don't you want something that’s yours?”
Joe had considered it. He’d dreamed of producing his own show someday, that is once he was a washed-up dancer no longer able to perform.
Had he really reached that point? His back was telling him an exuberant “Yes, Joe! It is time for you to hang up your dancing shoes.” But his heart kept pushing him.
One more show. One more season of Dance Machine .
One more chance to make something special.
“Say you’ll think about it? What have you got to lose?”
There was that question again.
“I am thinking about it.”
Eventually Terrence and Terrell returned and Joe was glad to get caught up on their family happenings.
Terrell had grown up to be about an inch shorter than his six-foot-tall father, who’d played football for Greenvale.
The two Black men had identical athletic builds and confident postures as well as serious expressions, but when you got Terrell laughing, he smiled just as wide as his mom.
Not long after, it was time for the flag football game.
Similar to the idea of powder puff, but these kids played flag football to hopefully avoid injuries.
There were the usual laughs over the boys donning makeup, pig tails, and pom pons, which Joe loathed, but once the game was on, the competition was fierce.
He sat with Marti’s family, but his gaze continued to search for Leslie.
He finally spotted him by the snack bar with all three of his brothers and a few other faculty members Joe recognized.
Leslie was holding court, laughing and pounding on one of his brothers’ shoulders, his eyes twinkling with mischief…
and Joe couldn’t take his eyes off of him.
What would it be like to stand next to the legendary football player, the “nicest guy in the NFL” and share that spotlight, share that warmth and camaraderie?
Joe’d wondered for fifteen years. And now he had an invitation, a perfect opportunity, to find out what it would be like. All he had to do was say yes.
At halftime it was customary to introduce notable alumni, and sure enough Barry introduced Joe and Leslie as well as Marti and a few other folks: a woman who’d hit it big in finance, a politician from Kansas, and a former Olympic Men’s Volleyball player, who apparently was coming to join the coaching staff.
Joe stood and waved when his name was called and he made eye contact with Leslie, who had returned and taken the empty spot next to Joe to watch the “cheerleaders.”
“Did the football players always look this ridiculous?” Leslie asked as he sat down. He handed a can of water to Joe.
Joe smirked. “I can’t speak for the olden days, but yeah, they did.” He held up his can and Leslie tapped it with a smile.
Marti burst out laughing and pushed Joe into Leslie’s shoulder, the contact making him hyperaware of how close Les was. There was no awkward adjusting to not brush thighs or to make room for Leslie’s shoulders. They just…fit, like puzzle pieces whose curves and ridges were made to go together. Huh.
Les laughed at the antics on the field as Joe and Marti groaned. The guys actually managed to do some stunts that looked legit. He and Marti exchanged surprised looks.
“See? When you join the staff, we can fight over kids like those that can do both cheer and football.”
Marti’s eyes bugged out. “Mr. Payton, you’re really planning to come back and coach?”
“I sure am!”
Joe introduced Marti, Terrence and Terrell to Leslie and they all started chatting as soon as the routine was over.
Much to Joe’s chagrin.
“Yes, I absolutely think that Joe would be the perfect choice for cheer coach and dance instructor.” Marti was definitely not playing fair. She kept looking between Joe and Leslie and her eyebrows could not have gone further up her forehead.
Joe didn’t stand a chance.
“I’m certainly going to do my best to convince him.”
Joe actually loved that Leslie was not a slick salesman.
He was such a nice guy that there was no hard, obnoxious push.
That did make him pause and think about how Leslie would be recruiting kids for football.
Joe figured that Leslie would tell them how it is and be real with them, which was honestly how it should be done.
It wasn’t a tough sell anyway, not with Leslie Payton as their coach.
Any up-and-coming player would kill to be coached by one of the NFL’s top-scoring quarterbacks with two Super Bowl rings .
Leslie turned and placed a hand on Joe’s shoulder. “Hey, I’ve gotta go talk to some more folks but I want to talk some more and I need to get you settled into your accommodations. When do you fly out?”
“Tomorrow afternoon. I have to fly back to LA and pack to go to New York.”
“Meet me where we parked after the game? I want to go over a few more things.”
“ Do you?” Joe gave him a sly smile.
Leslie blushed bright red and Joe loved it.
“Yeah. Meet me after.”
Leslie’s killer smile left Joe wondering if this was all just a way to get Joe alone for nefarious activities.
Not that he was against anything even slightly less than wholesome with Leslie.
He’d tried to get him alone for years and life had conspired to keep them apart every damn time.
Joe’s self-imposed celibacy was the stuff of legends among his friends.
He’d say he didn’t need the distraction, didn’t want the attachments, but really he didn’t want to be tied down to anything, anyplace, anyone.
If there was to be someone in his life… Perhaps he had kept the smiling blond football god in the back of his mind. Leslie Payton was incomparable and no one Joe had dated over the years had ever come close to being the complete package like him.
And now, he wanted Joe. Well, he at least wanted him as a colleague. Joe couldn’t wait to find out if there was more to Leslie’s proposition.