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Chapter Eight
Parenting
The referee blew his whistle, pointing to his right, following the direction where the ball had landed and sending the crowd into an orchestra of cheers and applause with mixed in sighs of disbelief from the away fans. The six girls who had just won the point huddle together in celebration for a brief moment and quickly retook their positions for the next rally. Emily, who was one of the setters for her team hurried back behind the line and readied herself in the serving area. Waiting for the ref or one of the opposing team players to pass back the volleyball so they could resume playing, Emily looked over to the crowd in the wooden pull-out bleachers and saw her father there about halfway up smiling with a proud look on his face. She received the ball finally and with a soft toss in the air and a hammering swing of her arm, she sent the ball soaring over the net once more and diving between the opposing players, winning her team yet another vital point.
“Excuse me, pardon me miss…just gonna get right through here” Hugo said as he wiggled his way through the spectators in the cramped bleachers and made his way to the empty spot next to Stephen.
“Your little ones really got a cannon on her, doesn’t she?”
“That she does.” Stephen replied to his friend as he handed him a soda and took his seat.
“So, what the score?”
“Right now, it’s 11 to 6, us.”
“Wow, nice. They won the first game, right?”
“Mhmm” Stephen nodded in agreement as his focus remained concentrated on the game.
This was one of the semi-finals matches of the female volleyball high school county championship which would cap off an impressive season for Emily and her team who had gone almost undefeated all year. If they would be able to win this tournament, it would be the first volleyball championship her school had ever won, and it showed by the state of the court.
It was not a very professional volleyball court, as it functioned as a gym for a majority of the year and would be transformed into a basketball court, ballroom for the school dances, and even a gallery during fairs. The wood of the court was a faded pale-yellow color, with a thick coat of varnish protecting it and almost scenting the air with a faint chemical aroma that most gyms had. The original lines for the court where also old and almost non-visible and would have tape put over them before each game to help the referees better distinguish the areas. The net itself was not in as bad of a condition with only a few links in its webbing torn and hardly noticeable, while the bleachers where these older clunky pieces that pulled out from each portion of the side wall and produced no more than six rows of seating. Which if they had any more the bleachers would begin to cover the edging of the court as it already was only a few feet away from the border. The proximity of the spectators to the court did increase the difficulty of the game but provided for some mildly humorous events whenever the ball would be overhit and landed amongst the audience. There was just enough room however between the court and the bleachers to allow for passage through without people interrupting the game, which occurred quiet often as there where two doorways on each side that students not attending the game would use as a short cut. Although most would usually wait for the ball to be out of play before passing through.
“You must be proud huh?” Hugo asked his friend that watched intensely.
“What?” Stephen turned asking for further clarification which Hugo aided by pointing toward Emily. “Oh, yeah of course I’m proud. I mean look at her. That girl has succeeded at everything she’s tried. I’d be insane to not be proud of her.”
“Yeah, she’s definitely a good one. She didn’t get that from you.” Hugo jokingly shoved Stephen. “I don’t know how you did it man. All on your own, never even letting me and Tammy or Frank and Tyler help you out. Never even finding another girl to come in and fill that empty spot for not only Em but you.” Hugo looked to the side waiting for Stephen’s response.
Stephen looked at his friend with a slight annoyance and shook his head.
“I know you guys all meant well but, we did just fine on our own. Plus, I’ve barely seen Frank or Tyler since I’ve been on disability, and not really sure if I’d want Emily hanging around when those two wannabe bachelors are around.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right with one. Those two never really did settle down huh.”
“Nope.”
“Well, even so, you’re not going to at least find another woman to keep you company? I mean me and Tammy are moving back north to Montana with the kids so they can grow up with their grandparents, and Emily, she’s going to be looking at colleges pretty soon and then you’re just going to be all on your own?”
“I’ll be fine.” Stephen took a sip of his drink as he finished, still with his attention glued to the game with mild cheers and applause interrupting their conversation whenever one of the teams scored a point.
“I know, I know. No one can replace Ana, and I respect that but man, you can’t just sit around at home by yourself every day. I worry about you. I know I go insane whenever they lay us off for a few weeks when it’s too cold, but I couldn’t imagine just sitting around all day.”
“I don’t just sit around all day.”
“Oh yeah than what do you do?”
Stephen paused and looked over to Hugo quickly and back to the game before replying, “Stuff.”
Hugo laughed and let out a deep sigh. “Oh, you sure are stubborn.”
Although he saw a stern stubborn exterior of a man he’s grown to know as one of his closest friends for almost two decades, Hugo failed to see the carnivorous demons within him. The fears of loss and failure that traumatized Stephen so much they prevented him from even attempting to find any new love. The self-hatred that slowly grew within him as each person that was dear to him left his life one by one and he could do nothing about it but watch. The only person he would have left to love, was his own child that luckily loved him back just as much.
“This is it! Just one more point and they win this game.” Hugo told Stephen excitedly as he shoved his friend. The game stood 14 to 10.
Just then, as Emily waited patiently bouncing the ball behind the server’s line, a group of 4 juvenile boys that appeared to be Juniors if not Seniors in the school walked into the gymnasium. Entering the double doors that where directly behind Emily and the court, the four young men joked amongst themselves and began to pay notice to Emily’s backside as they prepared to pass. Out of all the sports Emily played, Stephen hated the uniforms of her high school volleyball team the most. Unlike the long pants and padding she wore in softball, or the loose fitting Gi she wore in her jiu-jitsu training with her father, Emily’s uniform for volleyball was very revealing and form fitting.
She wore a sleeveless white top that clung to her body as if it where another layer of skin. It would almost always lift as well showing off her midsection whenever Emily would stretch out her arms or perform a diving reach for the ball which happened often in the sport. Due to her active lifestyle and aspiring to be just as big as her father, Emily was very fit for a teenage girl and had toned muscles throughout her body with a petite waist that she unknowingly received from her mother.
