Soccer Queen
by Andrew ( anr )
Chapter 19

David, Gail and Samantha were still giggling as they walked down the road. All the time they had been playing, there had been a crowd of boys trying to see their panties.

With a red face, David recounted his experiences whenever he had to bend down to pick up a ball.

"All the boys seemed to get very interested then," he said. "I don't know what it is with boys, but they only seem interested in seeing my underwear."

"Get used to it, hun," Samantha advised. "It *is* all they're interested in!"

That caused them all to dissolve in giggles. David gradually lost his blush as they continued to laugh at the actions of the boys.

They were all feeling a pleasant tingle from a morning of hard exercise. Although they were all sweaty from all the running they had done, they agreed that tennis had been an excellent idea. With three people playing, they had managed to book a court for three hours. That had allowed three games of an hour each, so they had all played each other.

"What do you want to do for lunch ?" Samantha asked.

"Dunno, we've nothing ready-made," replied Gail.

"Do you want to go to the food court ?" David asked at the same time.

Samantha looked at the and shook her head. "One at a time, guys. Davina, that's a good idea. Do you have enough money ?"

After searching their purses, the three decided that they could afford both bus fare to and from the mall and a light lunch.

"Let's shower and change before we go to the mall. I'll come over when I'm finished and we can go when you're ready."

As she was talking, Samantha came abreast of her house. She waved to her friends and ran into the house to shower and change.

The phone was ringing as David and Gail entered their house. David ran to answer it, and gasped "Hello, McCall residence."

"This is Doctor Jamieson. May I speak to Andrea McCall, please ?"

"She's at work at present. Do you want her number ?"

"No. I'm too busy to phone round for her. Could you please tell her that we need her decision urgently ?"

"Certainly. I'll pass your message on."

"Thank you. Sorry, I'll have to go now; I've just been paged. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

When the dialling tone sounded in his ear, David quickly dialled the number for HP. After a few rings, he heard his mother's voice "Hello, Hewlett Packard. May I help you ?"

"Mum, it's me, Davin ... I mean David. The hospital have just rung; they want to know your decision urgently."

"Hello, Davina. Thanks for telling me; I'll get back to them when I have a moment to spare. How are you and Gail managing ?"

"We went to the tennis courts with Samantha this morning. It was great, and we're going to the food court at the shopping centre for lunch. After a shower, that is. We're all hot and sweaty from all the exercise."

"That's good, now you and Gail behave yourselves, hear. I'll be home at teatime. Do you think you and Gail could get something ready tonight ?"

The last was spoken in a sugary tone of voice that David recognised as his mother issuing an order, rather than making a request.

"OK, Mum. Do you have any idea what you'd like ?"

"No, just buy something at the grocery. I'm sure you can whip up something between you that will do."

"OK, Mum. I'm heading for my shower now. I'll see you when you get home."

"Bye, love"

"Bye."

David put the phone down and looked round to tell Gail what had been said. He didn't see her and realised that she had already gone to have her shower. Muttering about the perfidy of sisters, he walked to his room to get a change of clothes ready.

As Gail was coming out of the bathroom, the doorbell rang. Passing David as he entered the bathroom for his own shower, she opened the door to let Samantha in. David hung his skirt and blouse on the back of the door as he stripped for his shower.

The two girls got cans of soda from the fridge and sat discussing the morning and plans for the afternoon. Gail wanted to visit the hospital to see her Dad, and finally managed to persuade Samantha to come along with them.

Twenty minutes later David came out of the bathroom, his still damp hair wrapped in a towel that was wound in a turban-like arrangement. He immediately went to his room to put light makeup on and to blow-dry his hair.

Walking into the kitchen, he grabbed a can of coke from the fridge and sat beside his sister and Samantha.

"That was the hospital on the phone for Mum. They said she had to make a decision soon. I hope that Dad is going to be okay, and the decision doesn't involve donor organs or anything."

"I'm sure it won't" said Gail. "They surely would have told us if he was dying. Anyway, let's hope he gets better soon."

"We'll see this afternoon," added Samantha. "Gail has persuaded me to visit the hospital with you this afternoon. I know how distressing you find this, so I'll be there to support you."

"Oh, by the way, Gail," David added. "We have to buy something for tea tonight. Mum wants us to make something that will be ready when she gets home." Gail just groaned and rolled her eyes.

Gail and David checked their purses and discovered that they might be a bit short of cash. They asked Samantha if she could loan them some money until their mother got home.

"I'll go and ask Mom," she replied as she ran out the door. She was back within minutes with a $10 note, which she gave to David.

He immediately put it in his purse, before swinging his handbag over his shoulder. "Coming, girls," he asked as he walked over to the door.

They walked down to the bus stop, where David noticed the same two old ladies he had seen the first time he had gone to the shopping centre dressed as a girl.

"Hello, dear," one of them said to him. "Going out with your friends ?" she added, indicating Gail and Samantha.

To be polite, David smiled at her and indicated Gail saying "She's my sister," and pointing at Samantha "and she's my neighbour."

"That's nice, dear. We all need our friends and family. Why when I was a young girl ..."

David tuned out as she began a long and rambling account of her adventures when she was young. However, he kept a polite smile on his face and did not allow his eyes to glaze over so that she wouldn't suspect that he wasn't listening. It seemed to satisfy her, and she kept up a non-stop monologue until the bus arrived.

As they were boarding the bus, the old lady turned to her friend and said "What a lovely young girl. Not at all like all those hoydens you get these days."

David, Gail and Samantha ran to the back of the bus before dissolving in a fit of giggles. They looked up at the front of the bus where the two old ladies had resumed their conversation as if there had never been an interruption.

Arriving at their stop, the three got off the bus, amused to see that the two old ladies had not stopped talking yet. They waved goodbye as they walked past them on their way to the food court.

Entering the shopping centre, David became very nervous as he felt the stares from all the boys hanging around. *I'm just getting used to one boy, and now I have to deal with this. It's worse than this morning - at least then they were only trying to see my panties. I feel as if all these boys and men want to strip me naked.*

He mentioned his feelings and both girls turned to him with pitying looks in their eyes. Gail said "That's boys for you. They never seem to grow up, and all they want to do is grab an eyeful of tit."

David and Samantha dissolved into giggles, which caused two nearby boys to look nervously at the three pretty girls walking along behind them. They feared that they were the target of the girls' humour and both felt highly embarrassed.

The threesome walked into the food court and ordered a light salad with a soft drink each. David looked in his purse and sighed. After paying for the meal, he had no money left other than one bus fare and the $10 he had borrowed for groceries. It looked likely that he would be walking to the hospital to see his Dad, or else he would have to walk home from the hospital.

"Do you know any way of earning some money, Samantha ?" he asked. "I'm nearly broke, and I need another source of income."

"You're nearly sixteen, right ? If you could drive, you could get a job with one of those fast food joints as a delivery driver. If you can't, you might still be able to get a job in one of the restaurants. Of course, there's always the supermarket - they always need checkout girls."

"Thanks, Samantha. You're a real friend, you know that ?"

"Thanks, Davina. You're sweet."

Gail had been listening to this, and she was getting a bit jealous. So she asked Samantha if there was any way she could earn money.

"Since we're too young to hold down a regular job, the only way we can earn money is through a paper route or by baby-sitting. I've been baby-sitting for the last two years, and the extra money certainly helps."

Gail thought about that. She was fond of children, and thought it might be a good way to make some easy money.

"How do you go about getting baby-sitting jobs ?" she asked.

"Mostly it's just neighbours. When they want to go out for the evening, they sometimes need someone at short notice. That's what I do a lot of.

"Sometimes, Mom goes out with her sister and her husband. I have to look after my cousins, but I don't get paid."

Gail thought about what she had been told. It seemed to her that Samantha was only doing relief work, so she couldn't be earning much money.

"Why don't you try to get a regular baby-sitting job ?" she asked.

"Most people already have regular baby-sitters. You've got to have something special or be available on all the time to get a regular position. With my commitment to the soccer team, I can't afford the time to be a regular sitter."

"I could fill in for you the times you're not available. Do you think people would accept two part-time baby-sitters instead of one regular one ?"

"That might be a good gimmick. We could also double up if they wanted more kids watched. Let's think about that, and see if we can't come up with a proposal."

They finished their lunches in silence, then walked out of the shopping centre. Looking in their purses, they saw that they were all short of money, so decided to walk to the hospital.

On their arrival, they walked to the room assigned to David's father. It was empty. David felt a wrenching pain in his gut when he saw this and started to cry. Gail too was beginning to collapse. A passing nurse noticed this and said

"It's OK, you can see him tomorrow. He's in surgery just now."

David sagged with relief. He turned to Samantha and buried his head in her shoulder as he recovered himself. Gail just lay on the floor for a minute before dragging herself to her feet. She joined in the hug with Samantha.

"He's not dead, then ?" he asked the nurse.

"No, he's doing fine. We really hope that he recovers soon. Honest, it's just some cosmetic things that need doing."

Still limp with relief, David looked round at Gail and Samantha, Gail was in as bad a state as himself, and Samantha wasn't much better.

"What do we do now ?" he asked.

"Let's just go home; I don't feel up to doing anything strenuous now," answered Gail. Samantha nodded her head in agreement and they left the hospital hoping that the bus wouldn't be long.

While waiting, David remembered that they had to buy something for tea that night. He persuaded Gail and Samantha to stop at the grocery store on their way home, to get that chore out of the way.

Back home, David started putting the groceries away. For tea that night, he had bought a pound of mince, along with carrots and onions for seasoning. A selection of herbs and spices could be used to add flavour to the mince, and he had also bought a bag of potatoes. The sweet he had bought was a blueberry cheesecake, a particular favourite of his. He put the change on top of the till receipt, so that his mother could pay back Mrs. Davis.

While they were in the grocery, he had enquired about the possibility of employment. There was an opening for a till operator, and he had filled in an application. The manager told him that he would need some proof of his age, and that he could only be employed after his sixteenth birthday. That gave him a few days to figure out a way of providing the proof.

Dressed as he was, he had no option but to give his name as "Davina" and fill in the "sex" box with an F. He hoped that his mother would be able to help him solve this dilemma.

After the groceries were put away, David put the kettle on for tea. Remembering that Samantha liked coffee, he got the coffee-maker out of the cupboard and filled that as well. While the coffee was brewing, he got out three mugs and put the tea in the teapot. Searching in the cupboards, he got together a selection of biscuits and put them on a plate.

Once the kettle had boiled and the coffee was ready, he poured Samantha a mug of coffee and filled the teapot. Collecting everything onto a tray, he carried them through to the living room, where Gail and Samantha were watching a daytime soap on television. They were grateful for a distraction, and helped themselves to their drinks and biscuits.

As he settled back with his own cup of tea, David thought they were in for a boring afternoon with only the television showing afternoon soaps for company.

More Soccer Queen Soon!