Free Men, Women & Children by Chad Kultgen Page B

half found Danny Vance handing the ball off to Tanner Hodge for a gain of three yards. As the Goodrich Olympians ran off the field into the field house for a halftime pep talk, the score was thirteen to seven in favor of the Park Panthers. In the wake of the football team, the Olympiannes took the field to put on a halftime show they had been practicing all week.
    In the stands, parents freely issued conjecture on the state of the team, the outcome of the season, and the mistakes that would surely be made in the second half. Jim, Don, and Kent were among these parents.
    Don, who was inebriated, said, “Well, it’s not looking good, huh, guys?”
    Jim said, “Nah, we’re fine. Danny and Chris will hook up a few more times before the game’s over. You’ll see.”
    Kent said, “It’s not going to matter much if our defense can’t stop them from scoring.”
    Jim said, “I know. And Park probably has the weakest running game of any school this year. I hate to sound like a broken record but you have to find a way to get Tim back out here.”
    Kent just nodded.
    On the field, the Olympiannes formed a pyramid with Allison Doss at the apex. Dawn Clint knelt by the pyramid, snapping photos of her daughter, who was in the second tier of the pyramid. She found that from a certain angle she was able to take some in which Hannah’s buttocks were slightly exposed, shots she knew would be favorites of her subscribers. Upon review of a series of ten photographs she took, she found that one actually allowed the viewer to see a small part of Hannah’s vagina on the side of the underwear she wore beneath her cheerleading skirt. She deleted this image immediately.
    The pyramid was to be held for ten seconds, at the end of which Allison Doss was to stand up on the shoulders of the two girls supporting her, scream “Go Olympians,” and then fall back, to be caught by Mrs. Langston and Rory Pearson, the only male member of the Olympiannes. Allison stood at the correct moment but found herself unable to scream “Go Olympians,” due to becoming abruptly and extremely light-headed. She fell backward from the top of the pyramid, unconscious and bleeding from the nose. As Mrs. Langston caught her limp body and became aware of the blood trickling out of her nose, she yelled, “Doc!” Mr. Kemp, the school’s athletic trainer, made his way to her as quickly as possible from the sidelines. Mrs. Langston told the rest of the Olympiannes to continue the show with basic cheers and individual gymnastics while she and Mr. Kemp took Allison to the field house.
    In the field house, Coach Quinn was explaining to the football team that the offensive line needed to pick up the slack in order to make sure the running game was as effective as it was designed to be. Danny became aware of the fact that Coach Quinn had no intention of letting him pass and was unsure of how to change the situation. He was on the verge of voicing his opinion when Mr. Kemp and Mrs. Langston carried Allison Doss through the front door, prompting Coach Quinn to stop his speech and say, “She okay?”
    Mr. Kemp said, “I think so, just got a little light-headed, nose bleed. Nothing serious. Just needs to lay down for a few minutes.”
    Coach Quinn said, “Okay, you can use my office if you need or anything in the training room.” Then Coach Quinn turned his attention back to his team and began his speech about the importance of a solid ground game again.
    In the training room, Mr. Kemp and Mrs. Langston laid Allison down on a table that was generally used to tape athletes’ joints before games. Mr. Kemp retrieved some smelling salts from the first-aid cabinet and brought Allison back to consciousness. He gave her a washcloth to wipe the blood from her nose.
    She said, “What happened?”
    Mrs. Langston said, “You passed out on top of the pyramid.”
    Mr. Kemp gave her a grape Gatorade and said, “Just sit here as long as you need and drink this and you’ll be okay. I