Having Fun with Dyce and Payne

37. Miles to Go before I sleep

Dycke was sitting at the kitchen table, with his mother and father, talking about the events of the preceding day, as Marti entered the room. All of them greeted her and asked her to sit down and join them.

Marti declined and said to Dycke, "I want to talk to you in private."

"Marti, by the tone of your voice, I think I would have rather have this discussion here. I think I would be safer."

"Alright Dycke, we will do it your way. Did you have that disc delivered to Bob, specifically, to have him show it at the party?"

Bacillica put her hand over her mouth and said, "We haven't even mentioned that to him, yet."

Dycke said, "What disc?"

"The disc' from the jewelry exchange that showed me looking like an idiot. My mouth was open, and I was hypnotized by the diamonds."

Dycke said, "I ordered two discs for insurance purposes, which Mr. Temple advised me to get. One was to go to Bob and Fiona for their records, and the other was to go to Mister Temple for our files. If you are implying that I put in a rush order for a disc to be delivered to my coach's apartment, for a private viewing, during the party or anything like that, 'No I did not.' Mr. Temple said for the amount of money the diamond was going to be appraised and for the area we were going to be in while coach was picking out the jewel, it was in our best interest to have copies of the security discs' in our possession."

Marti said, "The disc was delivered by a courier, at 5:30 in the morning. How could he possibly know someone was going to be awake at that hour?"

"I do not know, Marti. We should contact the courier company that delivered the disc. Then we will know who the culprit was that set you up. I know for sure, that it was not me."

"Dycke, you weave awonderful story, but you've been twitching your leg since you started telling it. You have been lying through your teeth the whole time, trying to get out of the punishment I have in store for you. Go get your running shoes on. We are going for a little run."

"How little?" he asked.

Marti smiled and said, "Just a little more than twenty-six miles."

Dycke calmly responded, "No we are not, because I am telling the truth. I did not do it and I am not running a marathon for two reasons: First. I have never run one and do not know how to pace myself. Second. I am leaving at one o'clock to go to Durham with the Temples, because tomorrow, maybe, Payne will be coming home. I will not miss that event because I am in a pine box, because she would come after me and kill me again, if I died without her permission."

Marti said, "It is now 7:45a.m. I still do not believe you, but I will split the difference with you. We will run thirteen miles today and when you get back here, later this week, we will begin to increase it to eighteen miles. We will get to the full marathon length, within the next month. I am going to call 'little Stevie,' because I told him that I would train him as hard as I am going to train you. I hope he had plenty of rest last night, because I can hear his grumbling, already."

"Marti, I was going to tell you to go to hell, until you mentioned Steve. Now, I would not miss this for the world. Would you put it on speaker-phone so we can hear what he says, please?"

Marti opened her cell phone and called the Temples' home. Alletta answered the phone, cheerfully, and when she heard Marti's voice, she asked if there was a problem.

Marti said there was no problem, but she wanted to talk to Steve.

"What did he do now?" Alletta asked.

"It is not what he did, but what he was going to be doing. I am going to keep a promise I made him and I am sure he is going to love it."

Alletta called Steve to the telephone and when he answered it and heard Marti's voice, he immediately became defensive and said, "I didn't do anything wrong!"

Marti said to him, "I know that, Steve. I'm just going to keep my promise to you."

Steve asked, "What promise?"

"I told you when I trained Dycke I would train you, also. Do you remember that Steve?"

Steve said "Yes! What are we going to be doing and how soon are you going to start?"

"We are going for a run in about thirty minutes?"

"I will be ready to go. How far are we going to run today?"

"I am going to take it easy on Dycke today, because it is a little warm outside."

Steve said, "That wimp."

"I am only going to run him for thirteen miles, today."

Steve yelled at the top of his voice, "Thirteen miles! Are you fucking crazy?"

It took everything Dycke had not to laugh aloud at that moment.

"Gee Steve, Dycke did not have a problem with it, and you just called him a 'wimp'."

Steve hesitated for amoment and replied, "Alright, I will be there in thirty minutes."

"I had a feeling you would say that Steve," Marti said, as she hung up the phone.

Everyone laughed at Steve's response to the run, but even as Dycke headed up to his room to get changed, he was not sure he could make the thirteen mile run, because he had never tried himself at a distance close to that before. Now he had a reason to keep going: Steve was in the race.

Desiree drove Steve to the Schneider's, where Dycke, Fiona, and Marti were beginning to loosen up. They got out of the car and joined the group stretching their legs and warming their bodies.

Steve asked what type of course they would be running. Marti explained that they would be following a pace car, which she pointed out. They would, also, have two chase cars to take him and/or Dycke, or both, either home or to the hospital, when they collapsed.

Steve laughed, tersely, and said, "Can we get the show on the road, please?"

Marti explained one more thing before they started. "We will be going thirteen miles averaging six minutes per mile. We should be finished and back here in no more than one hour and twenty minutes. Any more than that and you both are wimps."

Dycke said to Marti, "I may turn out to be a wimp today, but I still have to sign your paychecks tomorrow."

Fiona said, "We have to make sure not to kill him, Marti. I'm saving up to buy a wedding dress."

"Fiona, you always wind up spoiling my fun."

Desiree yelled out, "Let's go people: thirteen, six minutes miles."

The lead car headed off, with its headlights flashing. Desiree was in the lead, with Dycke and Steve running side-by-side, in the middle, and Fiona and Marti trailing them. Through the first five miles, everything was going fine for the two young men. At mile eight, Steve was starting to labor. Dycke was tiring, but he was still running smoothly. By mile nine Steve was running on fumes. His legs felt like lead; his arms were not pumping; and his vision was getting blurry. Dycke was tiring, but still running strong.

Fiona pulled up alongside of Steve and Dycke fall back to run with Marti. She handed Steve a bottle of water, filled with a solution of electrolytes and sugar.

At mile ten, Fiona looked back at Marti and shook her hand signaling that Steve was not going to make it for three more miles.

Dycke signaled for Fiona to drop back so that he could talk to Steve. They switched places and Dycke said to Steve, "Well, it looks like I'm going to beat you, again, Stevie. Fiona just told Marti that you are not going to make it for the next three miles, which will make me six for six, in our head-to-head match-ups. You are the 'wimp' in the family, not me. I heard you call me that, when Marti spoke to you about todays' run. You were even afraid to attempt it. Now I know why. Just get used to watching my ass every time we race, because now you realize who the real 'wimp' is." Finished with his jabs at Steve's manhood, Dycke put on a short burst of speed, just enough, to join Desiree, at the point position.

Steve saw red. His body might not have been willing but he made up his mind. He was not going to quit this race. He was going to finish it, even if he had to crawl to do it. He could not stand to look at Dycke's ass. The thought of losing to Dycke, again, in a race, drove him crazy. It drove him forward, ever forward. His legs moved. His arms moved, and he kept moving forward, ever forward.

His chronometer now showed mile twelve; five thousand two hundred and eighty feet to go; approximately thirteen hundred and twenty steps. Each step was an agony unto itself. Each movement was in the footsteps of his nemesis, Dycke Schneider, who was ten feet in front of him and nothing he could do was going to close that gap.

All of a sudden, Steve stumbled and lost his balance. He nearly fell on his face, but he was able to recover and continued to move forward, but almost at a walk, and definitely not a run.

When he stumbled, Fiona and Marti yelled to Steve and rushed up towards him. Dycke heard this and turned to see Steve nearly hit the pavement. He slowed down until Steve was even with him. He asked Steve if he wanted to get into one of the cars.

Steve replied, "No, but I have nothing left to give. I do not know how I am standing much less walking."

Dycke said to him, "Come on, you pussy. A little more than one half mile to go and you're not going to walk it; you are going to run it."

Steve tried to laugh and said, "If I try to run, my legs will fall off."

Dycke laughed, "If they do, there goes your scholarship. Now, put your arm around my shoulder, pick up your feet, and let us finish this little outing. Then, we can start thinking about eighteen miles, next week."

Steve groaned but he started moving a little faster, not much faster, but it was no longer like walking fast. After a few more yards, it became a slow jog and finally settled in as a jog.

That was how they finished the thirteen miles; they were side-by-side, holding on to one another, as if both their lives depended on it. It took them one hour and twenty-nine minutes to do it. Desiree told Steve, "If you don't let go of Dycke, right now, I am going to take a picture of you, lying on the grass, holding him. Every girl in school will think you have gone over to the other side!"

Steve replied, "With you hanging around my neck, every moment, at school, it doesn't matter what the girls think. I never get to speak to them anyhow."

Marti laughed at his retort, but she did not complain or try to rub the boy's noses in the dirt for missing her time limit. She was actually impressed that the two young men had made the entire thirteen miles. She thought that these two might have some promise, after all. She knew that only time would tell, and she did have four months to work with them before they split up. She was going to have fun pressing them as hard as she could, until then.

38. Homecoming?

The limousine stopped in front of the Temple's household and Dycke got out and went to get them. Piker and Alletta were ready to go and much to his surprise, so was Steve. Dycke looked at him and said, "Are you flying commercial?"

"Don't be funny, Dycke," Steve said.

"Your mother said that you would not fly on my airplane, even if I let you sit on the pilots lap."

"I swear my mother does not know how to keep her mouth closed about anything."

"Steve, we are eighteen. If you do not know that, by now, especially with all your worldly knowledge of women, you are in a lot of trouble. Heck, people at my school know about your sexual exploits. I cannot imagine what stories go around at your school! Boys talk to boys in private. Girls use their cell phones, to talk and text to each other. They go on their Facebook pages to let every other girl know, what they know."

Steve replied, "I know that, they are my best advertisers. Every time I make a girl 'very happy', the next day, I would have more girls talking to me and rubbing against me, like cats, than you can imagine."

"Exactly my point, Steve," Dycke said. "As soon as you left your house, or the girl's house, she was on some form of communication, extolling your virtues to anybody who would listen. Your mother, my mother, any woman; they were all young girls once. They never grew out of the phase of telling each other what was going on in their lives. They are more discreet, now, when it comes to their sexual goings-on but when it comes to something they consider funny, like you becoming a priest, they cannot keep that inside, because they fear it would kill them to do so."

"You know about that, too!"

"Do you want me to repeat the entire conversation between your mother and mine: About the matrimonial mass, me being on the menu, and so on?"

Steve said "No. I have the picture. I am going to have to wear a muzzle, when I am around my mother."

"Just remember, Steve, it is only for four more months, until you graduate. Then you are off to start the summer session at U.N.C. and live your life, in the dorms, as a bachelor freshman."

"I will be thinking of that every time Marti takes us out to train us. That will be the goal that keeps me from dying from motherly pride."

"Come on, Steve, my airplane is ready and waiting. It is time to go see your sister."

"I am not going to see her. I'm going to see her abuse you."

Dycke said, "Yes, there is that, also."

The boys got into the limousine with Piker and Alletta and they headed for the airport, with their, ever present, agents in tow."

As usual, the agents got out first, and took up their positions and then the principals got out and got into the airplane, followed by the agents. It all now felt like a well-oiled machine and only left Dycke exposed for eight seconds from the car to the interior of the aircraft. Once inside, the aircraft seemed to roll out of hangar instantly, and was in the air shortly thereafter.

For Steve, who would had only done the trip once, by car, it seemed that he had just unbuckled his seatbelt, when he was told to buckle it again, for landing. He turned to Dycke and said, "Can I have one of these?"

Dycke said, "Absolutely. All you have to be able to do is pay for the certifications, taxes, fuel, air crew, ground crew, landing fees, parking fees, insurance, and the maintenance on the aircraft, and I will buy you the aircraft."

Piker, who was sitting across from them, started laughing, after Dycke enumerated the expenses of keeping an aircraft.

Steve said, "Okay dad, you can stop it, now. " He turned to Dycke and said, "How much does it cost you to run this thing per month?"

"Me, personally? Nothing."

Steve shook his head and said, "How are you working that out?"

"Your dad and I had a meeting with a gentleman, who used to work for the IRS. He opened his own business in Miami, but now he works for us. He showed us how to use the plane as

a write-off, by moving its ownership to one of my offshore businesses. However, it is a pain in the rear, because I have to visit the business, once a month, even during the school year."

Steve asked, "How far away is this place?"

Dycke said, "I believe it's about two thousand miles and it is really, an out-of-the-way place. My inheritance demands that once a business is purchased, it can never be sold. I do not believe in that rule, personally, and will find out if there is a way to break it. However, for now, I will have to go to Barbados, once a month."

No one on the plane knew which was louder: the screech of the wheels touching down on the runway, or the yell emitted by Dycke after Steve hit him.

Dycke laughed saying, "At least, now I know where your sister gets her mean streak from."

"You had me feeling sorry for you, for a little while, you ungrateful wimp."

"Who said I was ungrateful? It is just that, who likes to go to Barbados alone? You will not be able to go because your grades are so low. Anyone that tries to befriend me now, will only be doing that because of my money. Friends like that, I do not need, and I do not want."

Steve said, "Before you even mentioned this, I had decided to change my ways. I am going to put much more effort into my studies. I am not going to tell you the reason but it is true. It is not because I do not want a Chevy Aero, either. I found out something about myself a few weeks ago and I decided a change was in order. I may never be as smart as you or Payne; however, I have the same genes as Payne. I am going to put more effort into my studies. I believe I can bring myself up to a high B before the end of the year."

Dycke said to Steve, "Do not look now, but your parents are right behind you and they heard every word you said."

Steve said, "Do they know I was just joking, Dycke?"

"Somehow, from the looks on their faces, I do not think so."

"I am in deep shit!"

Alletta Temple said, "If you can get aHigh B you can get in an A, Steven."

"I think I'll just run away from home. Better yet, Dycke. May I come and live with you?"

"Marti lives at my house three and half days a week. Do you remember our conversation about women and how they talk to one another?"

Steve said, "I am doomed."

As the door to the aircraft opened, Steve started to the front of the aircraft and wound up on the floor, face down. Fiona asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

Steve spoke out of the side of his mouth "Outside?"

Since this is your first trip on this aircraft, I will not have to cause you any more pain, than I already have. However, from here on, you follow these rules: You do not stand until you get the all clear. You do not exit the aircraft until the limousines doors are open at the base of the aircraft and you are told to exit. If there is a problem, the pilots know what to do and they will get you out of here safely. You will follow their orders as you would follow mine. Do you understand these rules?

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good. Now return to your seat."

Steve sat down next to Dycke and asked, "Do you have to follow these rules, also?"

"Are you kidding me?" Dycke's said. "Not only do I have to follow the rules, but when they were quoted to me the first time, she was kneeling on my chest, for extra emphasis."

"I guess that was a nice touch."

"I haven't moved from my chair since."

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"It is more indelibly ingrained this way, don't you think?"

"Yes, I do not think I will ever forget them."

The all clear was sounded and Steve began to stand up. Dycke stopped him. Alletta and Piker got up, moved to the front of the aircraft, and stopped. Steve saw three limousines move up in a line alongside the aircraft. His mother and father went down the stairway and got into the first limousine with their agents and the car moved off. The second limousine moved into position. Dycke motioned to Steve that it was now time for them to go. He got up and moved to the stairwell. Fiona and Desiree went down the steps first, followed by Dycke and Steve, who stepped onto the tarmac and then directly into the limousine. Fiona and Desiree entered directly behind them, and the car was moving in eleven seconds. Marti and three remaining agents climbed into the third limousine and headed off to the Duke medical center.

While in the limousine, Dycke asked Fiona if she and Bob had discussed a date for their wedding. She said they had not really talked about it because every time they got together, something came up.

Dycke, Steve, and Desiree all started to laugh hysterically.

Fiona looked at all three of them and asked, "What did I say that was so funny?"

Desiree answered, "Fee, you said every time you and Bob get together, something came up!"

Fiona thought about what she said for a second and then said, "You are all adolescents."

Desiree responded, "Adolescents maybe, but we are correct."

Dycke said, "I think we should have our moms arrange the wedding, Steve. From what I heard about the engagement party, the wedding would be a blast."

Fiona said, "You can't do that, I want my mother to do it." As soon as she said it, she clapped her hand over her mouth.