The Football Player

Donna Quinn was late for school that Monday morning. She skidded the massive Harley-Davidson to a stop just inside the school's parking lot. She jumped off the bike, kicked down the stand, locked it, and made her way into the corridor where students were hurrying into classrooms. Morning sunlight filtered into the hallway leading to the offices.

Passing more students on their way to class, she made her way across the stone-flagged entrance to the almost empty teachers' lounge, only to find that Harry Coghlan was already there with Miz Jenkin.

Miz Jenkin, the Vice-Principal of the school, is concerned about gender stereotypes and has called Harry and Donna to her office to discuss this. Miz Jeckin has short-cropped black hair with a badly done blonde streak.

Harry Coghlan has been an athlete all his life and currently plays league football for Hawthorn and is a top favourite for this year's Brownlow Medal Award for the best and fairest player. Harry, a somewhat stocky, broad-shouldered muscular man, is only five foot four tall, making him one of the smallest footballers in the league, when most of the players were well over six feet in height. But he was incredibly fast-moving and played the position of 'rover' in the team. He was also a top goal-kicker. On Friday afternoons Harry Coghlan coached the boys in the school's football team.

His taut body tensed as Donna entered the room. His thin face was chiselled and he looked at her with very red-brown eyes.

The school is very privileged to have Harry as the football coach. He is also the mathematics teacher.

Donna Quinn teaches Physical Education at the school and is very accomplished in Martial Arts. She has also been a regional champion for women's wrestling in a recent tournament. She has long red hair and very white skin.

Donna also conducts a self-defence class for girls on Friday afternoons while the boys are having football practice.

Miz Jenkin is tall, with an angular body and hard face. She despises football saying it fosters a 'toxic masculine culture', and that this encourages gender stereotypes due to the sometimes violent and aggressive images it portrays.

She says that she is developing a more gender inclusive syllabus for the following year with respect to sports. 'That this will include tennis, lacrosse, volleyball and hockey. There will be less emphasis on football.'

'Every Australian boy needs to play football,' Harry objected. His voice is loud and self-asserting. 'You don't want to turn them into powder-puff poofters or eunuchs,' he declared.

'But each boy should have a choice,' the Vice-Principal overruled him.

At that moment a senior girl knocked and entered the room and asks Miz Jenkin to come to the front office to deal with an angry parent complaint. She is a fair, pretty girl, and she stands by the door.

'All right, Morwenna, I'll deal with it in a moment. Tell Mr Alexander that I'm coming. We'll talk more about this later today,' the Vice-Principal said before leaving the room.

Harry stood up after looking Donna up and down. His quick red-brown eyes scanned her from top to bottom and back up again. He took in the fiery red hair that went midway down her back, her pale white skin, and her body-tight denim jacket and jeans. Could he be more obvious? the young woman thought to herself. Ogling her so crassly.

'What that woman needs is a good hard poke up the arse to cheer her up,' said Harry.

To which Donna replied. 'And I suppose you'd be the one to give it to Miz Jenkin.'

'Not bloody likely. That old dyke doesn't appeal to me at all. Rumour has it that she has one or two favourites among the senior girls.'

'Why are you repeating the rumour, Harry. If you know anything definite you should report it to Mr Alexander.'

'I doubt whether that limp-dicked man would do anything about it. Rumour has it that Miz Jenkin bends over his desk for him.'

As it looks as though Miz Jenkin is not coming back, Donna begins to pack up her books and papers and is about to leave.

'I don't think this conversation is going anywhere, Harry. You'll excuse me. I have a class to get to.'

'I'll walk as far as the gym with you, Donna. I've got a class in one of the prefabricated classrooms on the other side of the gym. What class have you got?'

'Basic gymnastics for the junior form. Push-ups, running on the spot, treadmill, vaulting the wooden horse.'

'Sounds like the Trojan War.'

They were passing two groups of students. Eleven year old girls playing basketball in one corner of the playground, and twelve year old boys playing cricket on the other side of the playing area.

Outside the gymnasium, the kids, boys and girls, were lining up.

Suddenly, Colin Freckleton, a small blond-haired boy, picked up an imaginary football, bounced it a couple of times, then drop-kicked it to Harry who pretended to mark it.

The bell rang to commence the first lesson and the children trooped into the gymnasium.

Donna knew how much many of the boys hero-worshipped Harry. She turned to the football player and said,

'So, what's your lesson today?'

'Mental gymnastics. Quadratic Equations for Year Eleven.'

'Sounds like fun.'

They reached the gym just as the bell rang for classes to begin.

'Would you like to have dinner with me sometime, Donna?' Harry asked.

'You're married, aren't you?'

'Yes. But I'm separated and living apart from my wife. I'll be divorced by the end of the year. So how about it? What do you say about Saturday night?'

'Well, where do you want to go?'

'I don't mind. Do you know any good eating places?'

'I know a marvellous French restaurant in Moonee Ponds that's just opened.'

'All right. Sounds good to me. Give me your address and I'll call for you at seven o'clock.'

'No. I've got my own transport. My Harley-Davidson. I'll meet you there at seven thirty. In Moonee Ponds, Puckle Street, up near the station.'

'Why can't I pick you up?'

'I like to be independent.'

2.

At Moniques Harry sat across the table from Donna, looking at her face illuminated by candlelight.

The restaurant was decorated in the style of Paris in the 1920's, with large photographs of Hemingway, Scott- Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein. On the wall near their table was a large portrait of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Bouvoir.

On the tables were roses, canna lilies, violets, chrysanthemums, and hibiscus.

'This damn menu is all in French,' Harry said exasperated.

'Do you mind if I order?' said Donna.

'Go ahead, please. I'll have whatever you have.'

Donna turned to the waitress and ordered for them both: huitres a la Broussard, poulet en papillote, salad verte mixte, vin rouge - cabernet sauvignon; and for sweets, crepes suzettes.

'Could we add a bottle of Victoria Bitter to that, waiter?'

'Oui, m'sieur,' said the server.

'Yes, certainly,' said Donna at the same time.

Harry sat there, studying her.

She looked at him a long time, a very long time.

'They told me you were involved with that girl who was murdered in the park last summer,' Harry said.

'Not just murdered, but first raped then murdered. Yes. Rosamond was a close friend of mine.'

She kept replaying the painful memory in her mind. She had lived with Rosamond for just on twelve months. 'Rosamond was a wonderfully loving wife to me.'

'They said you were lovers.'

'That's true. Who said it?'

'Miz Jenkin.'

'Miz Jenkin should learn to control her mouth. No doubt the whole school heard all about it.'

The conversation came to a stop as the sommelier came and poured the wine for Donna and the beer for Harry.

They sat there for a moment sipping their drinks.

'One good thing came out of it.'

'What was that?' Harry asked.

'I had no trouble in persuading Miz Jenkin to let me introduce a self-defence class for the girls this year.'

'I bet she wasn't too happy when you told her it was a girls' only class.'

'She wasn't at first. But I explained a few things about the male anatomy the girls needed to know in order to defend themselves from a sex killer.'

'To my mind the best defence for a woman if she wants to go out walking at night is to find herself a strong man to accompany her.'

'Not at all. She'd be better off with a large well-trained dog. A German Shepherd, for instance.'

'Tell me, are you only attracted to girls?'

'I'm bisexual, if you must know.'

'Am I pleased to hear that,' Harry replied smiling.

I'm attracted to intelligence in both men and women. And gentleness.'

At this moment the first course arrived at their table.

Donna looked at him steadily. 'You told me you were living apart from your wife and were awaiting a divorce.'

'That's true, I am.'

'But you're still living at home.'

'What makes you say that?'

'Your daughter, Jane. I spoke to her on the phone this afternoon.'

'You did what?' Harry is furiously angry.

'I telephoned your home. Your wife Alma was not there. I spoke to your eldest daughter, earlier this afternoon. Jane told me she knew nothing of an impending divorce and that you still slept in the same bed as Alma, and that your wife was expecting another baby in three months.'

'You had no right to do that!'

'I had every right. I have no wish to be a home-breaker.'

At that moment the waitress placed their last course on the table before them. Harry sat there fuming.

For the next fifteen minutes they both sat there eating their meal in silence.

'I got the impression talking to Jane,' said Donna, 'that Alma has been a very loving wife to you, Harry.'

Eventually Harry still furiously angry replied, 'You're a stupid bitch, Donna.'

He then got up suddenly, walked down between the tables of the restaurant, walked to the front door and onto the street outside. He didn't come back.

Donna sat there stirring her coffee for a few minutes until she realised Harry had left her to pay the bill.

3. The following Monday at school the big news in the staff tea-room was that Harry Coghlan had tendered his resignation from the school and would be finishing up at the end of the term. 'He left the letter of resignation on my desk early this morning,' said Miz Jenkin. 'It appears that he's been offered a lucrative radio contract to present his own football show next year.'

Donna Quinn looked across the table and caught the eye of the two male teachers seated there. The two men lived, loved and worked together and often did a lot of team teaching. Cuthbert Macavoy taught social studies and Alec Weston was the Geography instructor.

'Harry might be a great football player,' said Miz Jenkin. 'But he doesn't seem to realise we need to live in a gender neutral society in order to create real equality between people.'

'Oh, come now, Caroline,' said Cuthbert Macavoy, 'You can be more charitable than that.' Cuthbert was a neat dapper little man with a completely bald head like an egg, and rimless glasses. He went on to say, 'Harry is a dedicated teacher, who just happens to think differently to you about football being the number one sport for the school.'

'There's no reason why football should be privileged over all other sport options,' said Miz Jenkin with asperity.

'Now, will you let me speak, Caroline,' said Cuthbert.

'Yes, if you must,' said the Vice-Principle.'

'What we need to understand is that being a man is not a disease or a pathology,' said Cuthbert. 'You can't just homogenise everything -- sexes, cultures, religions, etc., until everything is just one bleak, mediocre blob.'

'You must admit that male violence is a major issue in our society today,' interrupted Miz Jenkin.

'True enough,' said Donna. 'But you can't control that by abolishing all contact sports.'

'And you can't control it by dumbing men down,' Cuthbert asserted.

'Well, I never!' Miz Jenkin gasped.

'Then perhaps you should have,' Alec Weston drawled: he had spent most of the tea break looking at his phone and had just glanced up.

'To make boys gender neutral and even gay,' Alec was saying, 'seems to be the ultimate aim?'

To which Cuthbert replied, 'By abolishing differences between people you dumb people down and this makes it easier for autorities such as employers or teachers to control them.'

Alec then said, 'The strong rule the weak while clever people rule the strong. And the tough guy will still poke the clever man's wife.'

'That's a bit vulgar, Alec,' said Cuthbert. .

Donna interposed at this point. 'That's taking things to extremes.'

'I'm looking forward to unisex lavatories,' said Alec determined to have the last word.

'Don't be crude, Alec,' admonished Cuthbert.

4. Late that week after school one afternoon, Donna made her way to the gymnasium where she had left herdenim jacket that morning.

On entering the staff locker room she could hear someone in the change room showering, whistling tunelessly.

She picked up her coat, slung it over her shoulder, and made her way to the door, when Harry came out of the shower room naked but with just a rough white towel wrapped tightly around his waist, his bare arms showing off his muscles and his broad muscular torso. His red brown eyes were looking across the gym at her. He flashed a smile at her.

'Hey, Donna, wait a minute,' he called out. He obviously didn't think twice about appearing nearly naked before a woman.

'Yes, Harry, I'm in a bit of a hurry,' she

responded, Her pulses quickening a little.'

He walked over to Donna and planted a wet kiss on her face. He then rained kisses all over her mouth, cheeks and neck. He kissed her mouth endlessly.

'I want you to be my girl.'' His voice, dark and tense, had an odd sound, a peculiarly pectoral tone.

The man with his hard face and rough manner was loathsome to her in trying to force his attentions on her.

Her brain was hurting at the thought of what might happen. She could feel her teeth tightening in her mouth and could feel her face flush red.

'You've got to learn to relax with me Donna,' he was saying.

'Do you want to quarrel with me, Harry?' she countered. 'It seems you are by your tone.'

She pushed him away and raised her hand to slap his face. He grabbed her wrist and held her at a distance from him.

He stood on the gym mat just in front of her. 'I want you to come with me to Crown Casino on Saturday night. The football league is having a special fund raising evening. You know that I'm being offered my own football commentary program on Radio 3KZ on Saturday mornings starting March. I won't be teaching here next year. I don't want to spend another minute in a stuffy classroom. I'd really like you to come.'

She said as doggedly as she dared. 'Look, Harry, I told you I would not be able to go out with you anymore. And I meant it. I gave you a very definite 'no!'

'But it's a wonderful opportunity to meet a lot of celebrities. There'll be a lot of show business people there. Say you'll come.'

What was it about men who believed all they had to do was to persist and a woman would automatically give in and agree to their demands.

'Do you need to go home tonight?' he asked.

He had moved over near the door and stood blocking her way, his hand resting high on the wall, preventing her escape. Donna was uncomfortable at his proximity.

'I told you I can't go with you, now will you let me pass please.'

'Don't be like that,' he said reaching out to her and clasping her hands.

'Let me go, Harry.'

'Kiss me first,' he said putting his arms around her, kissing her roughly and deeply despite her constant movement.

She turned her head aside and pushed him away. There was slight struggle and he moved away, only to come at her again.

She waited until he was only inches away from her, then she pushed out her foot and sent him sprawling back onto the mat on the floor. His towel slipped from his body and for a moment he lay exposing himself.

Harry was furiously angry as he staggered to his feet. He didn't know that Donna was an expert wrestler and had won several amateur competitions. At the gymnasium in Broadmeadows that she regularly attended, she had specialised in submission holds of all kinds.

She had reduced many female opponents to crying and sometimes screaming submission as she applied her holds. She had as yet to take on a man.

Harry had had some training as a boxer and took up a pugilistic pose in front of her. At the same time he was trying to hold up his towel. This made Donna laugh.

For a long time Donna had wanted to spar with him and truly test her strength, but she hadn't expected it to be like this.

'You want to play rough,' he snarled as he surprised her, applying an arm lock, then used it to flip the girl. Donna hit the mat, her whole body shaking with the impact. Stunned for a short moment, she sat up only to be placed in the arm lock again to the same arm, thereby hurting the arm of the girl horribly. Donna screamed out with the pain, which only encouraged Harry to increase the pressure.

She felt a stab of pain shoot up her arm as Harry again pulled it up her back. Donna thrashed out with her other arm but couldn't reach him. To make things worse, each time she struggled, he pulled it tighter, sending more pain through her. She let out a yell.

Harry was then able to twist her round so that he could get behind her and slide his arms under her shoulders and around her neck, holding her in a full nelson and bringing her to him in a spooning position, her back to his front.

Donna hated this as the full nelson was a classic wrestling hold, one of the most difficult to get out of. She struggled but could not break free.

She felt something pushing against her bottom and realised that it was his cock. He was dry humping her with only her light summer dress and panties between them. She glanced down to the floor and saw that Harry had dropped his towel.

Suddenly he released her from the full nelson so that he could bring his hands down to fondle her breasts.

He was stroking her nipples and she felt herself becoming aroused. She tried to break away, but her body overruled her, and for a short moment her body was responding. It was almost as if she was without a will of her own. Oh, my God, she thought, what is happening to me? Harry was an attractive man physically, but she knew he would be a very selfish lover.

She was now confronted with a classic female dilemma. Her body wanted sex, but her mind didn't.

Men didn't seem to have this problem. An aroused man simply followed his impulses, acted upon his urges, with just about any attractive female. But a woman was often self-divided.

He held her tightly to him.

'Do you like that, Bitch?' he spat the words at her.

Donna was now squirming and bucking desperately to escape his grasp.

'OH NO YOU DON'T, BITCH!' He whispered in her ear, his voice filled with venom, 'Or you're going to regret it'

Donna screamed and struggled furiously to free herself from his hold.

'Relax, Donna. You want it, don't you?' he whispered again, softly into her ear.

Harry again slipped a hand under each of her breasts, gently cupping them.

She felt his hot breath against her face.

Donna's whole body trembled and shuddered when she felt a strong hand begin to feel its way down her body.

With his other hand the man began to massage the woman's left breast. He used skilled fingers to play with her erect nipple

Donna realised she was becoming even more sexually aroused. She was now extremely angry at her body for betraying her will as she struggled to fight the conflicting urges. She was forcing herself to control her body as she fought back the desire to let go.

It was clear Harry was going to show no mercy.

Donna moaned, struggling weakly to escape her predicament. She was fairly disgusted with herself for letting her attacker witness her arousal. If she didn't try to escape, her self-respect would be lost.