Well so far James felt like he was making good progress, if he ignored the fact that he had screamed like a girl, several times. Not to mention running like a girl, and looking like a girl. On the plus side, he'd gotten all the basic moves down. Could do poses from a sitting lift on Eric's hand and had even done a couple of wobbly stands from Eric's shoulders. Not bad for a first practice. This just might work. Talking with Becky a little off to the side from the rest of the team, James grudgingly admitted that he was pumped by the workout and actually having fun.
Becky's reply was cutoff by a cry of 'HEADS UP'. Looking left, James saw a football heading straight at them as a very large guy muffed and easy overhead catch a dozen feet away. After the seatbelt experience, James wasn't about to try and catch the football, instead he leaped up and batted the ball clear of Becky's head.
"Hey sweet cheeks, I'm Brett." said the self same lummox that had missed the ball and nearly brained Becky.
James was about to tell this oaf to get away from his niece when he realized that the fool was talking to him, not Becky. "I think you'd better toss your balls somewhere else. You may lose them over here." James said, with his best menacing glare. Unfortunately James was now about a third of this guys weight and more than a foot shorter.
"You fucking cunt!" the oaf yelled, wrapped one huge hand completely around James' bicep, yanked him into the air and threw him to the ground. "Do you know who I am," he raged and stalked toward where James lay.
James was absolutely stunned. This wasn't like the lifts with Eric. Balance and technique meant nothing. James was like a rag doll in this brute's hands. Looking around in a panic, James saw that Becky was trying to come to his aid, but was being held back by the other girls.
"Come on Brett, don't ...", Eric said stepping forward, before falling silent at the behemoth's glare.
James considered running, but knew he'd be run down in moments. He'd been in fights in school, he'd even lost a few, but this was an impossible mismatch. Hell, he couldn't even make a decent fist with the damned long nails, not that his little hands would have been able to do any damage even if he could. It didn't matter anyway, because before James could respond, the oaf grabbed the front of his blouse and jerked him to a stand with one hand.
"Let her go Brett!"
James saw a bare chested, dark haired, medium height guy in shorts with a runner's long rangy build. For a moment, James was relieved that someone was helping. In the next moment he was embarrassed to realize that he was looking to be rescued and only then did it sink in that this poor guy, whoever he was, was going to get beaten to a pulp. Again, James was flung to ground, only this time his blouse was in tatters and most of the buttons went flying as Brett turned to face the newcomer.
Brett swung a hay maker the size of a small ham and James screamed "No!" in fear of what would happen to his rescuer. Instead of the expected brutal impact, his rescuer oozed back and deflected the blow with a blurringly fast sweep of his arm. Dancing sideways and back, he waited until Brett turned toward him and charged. His rescuer leaped up in a spin kick to the head that dropped the charging Brett like a shot.
James' rescuer checked Brett's pulse in his neck before nodding in satisfaction and coming over. "Hi, I'm Dwayne. Are you alright" he asked, offering a hand to James.
James found himself staring at Dwayne's sweaty washboard abs and in a daze unwrapped his arms from covering his torn blouse and took Dwayne's hand. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine, uh thanks. My name's Jamesseee, I mean Jamie."
James was still standing there holding Dwayne's hand and staring at him when Becky ran up and threw a towel around him. "Come on JAMIE, let's get you to the locker room and cleaned up," she said tugging her still mesmerized uncle toward the school.
"Hey Jamie!" Dwayne yelled. "Will you go out with me?"
"Uh, sorry, I won't be available ..." James started to say.
"She won't be available later, but tonight's good," Trish yelled back.
"Great! I'll pick you up at eight," Dwayne said and ran off.
"Oh this is going to be fun!" Trish bubbled. "A knight in shining armor, sans armor. Girls, we've got some shopping to do!"
"I can't ..." was all James said, but he was sort of wondering what those abs felt like. Preoccupied with a rehash of the events, James didn't fully come back to himself until Becky sat him on a bench in the locker room and tossed a bag at his feet.
"Here's a change of clothes for you. Wash up, then we'll hit the mall."
"But ..." James said again as Trish began slowly stripping right there in front of him.
