Chapter 6: This is Our House!

Note: This is the last chapter BlackIrish was able to edit for me.

Monday September 7

Today was Labor Day, so I didn’t have anything I had to do. Tami had been shocked by my revelation last night that I was no longer in love with her, and for the first time in my life she didn’t have anything to say. She’d just left me so I could get back to sleep. When I woke up, I went downstairs looking for my uncle. He and I had to have a talk. I found Aunt Bonnie.

“You want some breakfast?”

“Where’s my uncle?”

She gave me a tight smile.

“Check the south forty. He said something about a float not working on one of the watering stations,” she said.

I went to the barn and found the spare four-wheeler and drove to the water station to find my uncle. He was covered in mud. It looked like the float hadn’t turned off when the trough was full. The system wasn’t complicated, but when it overflowed it could be hours before you found the problem. Uncle John had a virtual lake he had to wade through to get to the broken part. He heard me pull up and held up his hands in surrender.

“I didn’t call her,” he said in the way of a greeting.

“I thought what we talked about would stay between you and me.”

“David, you know our family. You can’t honestly think I would keep what you told me from your father. Just like if Nate, Mac or Kyle told you something that you felt Greg needed to know. You’d tell your brother.”

I hadn’t thought of it in those terms. I was suddenly worried about all the I’d told him the summer I’d stayed with him. I pushed that aside when I realized that if he had told my dad everything, there was nothing I could do about it. If my dad knew all the details about my drug use, he hadn’t brought it up.

“Then who told her?” I asked.

“I would think that was obvious.”

He was right. It had to be my mom. She was closer to Tami than she was to me, right now (again). We’d had some heated discussions about that very topic. I just added it to the list of issues I had with my mom at the moment. From time to time, I wished I could cut her out of my life like I could Alan and Tami, but you didn’t get to pick your family. If she felt my reaction was unjust, then she didn’t even care how much Tami had hurt me. Intellectually, I could see what happened. The problem was, this wasn’t some intellectual exercise. I wasn’t sure if it was a defense mechanism or not, but I had become numb as far as Tami was concerned. What I’d said last night was true: I was no longer in love with her, regardless of whether it was a misunderstanding or not.

We always have a choice on how we handle things. That was one of the things I had learned during my summer on the farm. I could wallow in my self-doubt, and howl at the moon about what Alan and Tami had done, or I could choose to put it behind me. While they had been my best friends since, well, since I could remember, they had shown that things had changed. They’d both known how I would react. The capper was to do it in my bed, so to speak. I understood the heat of the moment and alcohol being involved, but it was still no excuse. Every fiber of my being told me to stop this line of thinking, or I would beat the cowboy shit out of Alan the next time I saw him. I would have to warn Tami, because I didn’t need him going on and on about it the next time I saw him.

“Your parents are coming home today,” Uncle John said to pull me back from my dark thoughts.

Our conversation was interrupted by my phone ringing. It was Brandon, another person I wasn’t very happy with.

“Northwestern called and they wondered if you’d come back and work out today. I told them I’d ask. They’re very serious about you going there.”

Even though I really didn’t want to, I had made a commitment to them to visit. One of the things that sucked about being a man of your word was you sometimes had to do things you didn’t want to.

“Set it up. I can be there in a couple of hours.”

“I’ll meet you there. I think we need to clear the air about some things,” Brandon said.

“I agree. Talk to you later.”

I took a moment to clear my mind and then drove back to the house. Aunt Bonnie had a big steak and scrambled eggs waiting for me. Angus beef is, in my opinion, the best around. I was halfway through with my breakfast when Tami appeared. She looked better, but she had a hard time looking me in the eye. We ate in silence while Aunt Bonnie made herself scarce. Finally Tami had to say something; she knew I wasn’t about to start the conversation.

“I’m at a loss as to how to fix this. I don’t know why it happened, and I don’t think you really care if we had sex or not.”

“No, it really doesn’t matter. I get that you didn’t do it to hurt me, but it happened.”

“Did you take my promise ring?” she asked.

I just nodded.

“Since you said you were no longer in love with me, can I have the ring back?” she asked.

I pulled it out of my pocket and let it clatter on the table.

“Tami, the ring no longer means anything to me. Do with it what you want.”

I could tell that comment hurt her. It wasn’t my intention to make her feel bad, but I wasn’t going to just roll over and let her decide what we meant to each other ever again. I think Tami finally realized that and got up and left the table.

I went upstairs and got my stuff. I thanked Aunt Bonnie for her hospitality and drove back to Evanston.

Brandon and Gus were waiting on me when I pulled in. I was taken to the locker room where I got into my shorts and t-shirt to show them what I could do. I did everything they asked of me during the workout.

This part of my life always seemed to work. Between the sidelines, I could control almost everything. I just wished my personal life was this easy. What I found amusing was people always thought I would falter when it came to athletics. What they didn’t see was the amount of preparation I put in and the caliber of coaching I received. The only two things that could cause me to fail were myself or an injury. I knew I wouldn’t allow myself to cause my failure, so unless I got hurt I would always perform at a high level. What I needed, more than anything else, was more live game experience. I could practice and get to the point where it was second nature. What I needed was to actually do it during a game. They say that no plan survives the first encounter in a battle. It was the same in football. I now had nearly two years of experience as a starter under my belt. I felt like I was going to have a huge breakout year. I think the Northwestern coaches felt the same way.

Brandon and I met with Coach Patrick after I had showered.

“First of all, thank you for coming for another unofficial visit. I wanted to let you know that I made scholarship offers to Jim, Tim, Wolf and Ty. The offers were based on what they’d done on the field last year, their workout yesterday, and the potential we see in them. It had nothing to do with you possibly coming to Northwestern.”

I wasn’t sure I believed him, but I was happy to hear they were all offered.

“What about Flee Johnson and Ben Luck?” I asked.

Bo Harrington had told me to check out my competition before I made my final decision. If I went to somewhere like Alabama I could end up never seeing the field, just because of the caliber of quarterbacks they recruited. While I knew I could stand up to any competition, it was good to know what their plans were, and Coach Patrick knew it.

“We offered Ben and decided to wait on Flee.”

“In my opinion, that’s a mistake.”

“Really?” Coach Patrick said with some amusement in his voice.

“I’ve spent the summer going to camps, and I saw Flee at Ohio State, Alabama, the Elite 11 selection camp and then at Elite 11, and then the Elite Camp in Houston. I saw Ben in Houston and at the regional selection camp for Elite 11. While Ben’s a solid kid, and would make a good addition to your team, Flee has the higher ceiling. If things break right he could be playing on Sunday. If you don’t believe me, call Bo Harrington, who was my coach over the summer and is now the quarterback coach for Alabama, and ask him what he thinks about Flee. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that he’s too small to play at this level. If he ends up in the Big 10 somewhere else, you’ll regret not having him on your team,” I said.

“Any other players we should have on our radar?” Coach Patrick asked.

“There is a kid at Wesleyan who is a freak of nature, Damion Roth. I caution you, he might be a disruptive presence in the locker room. On the field, though, he could rewrite your record books. Two other uncommitted receivers you want to look at are Terry Halsted from Syracuse, New York and Jim Butler from Dallas, Texas.”

“Let’s put our cards on the table. I want you to come to Northwestern. I think we’re a good fit for you both on the field and in the classroom. While I’ve never promised anyone playing time, from what I’ve seen both on tape and today I’d be hard pressed to leave you on the bench. You might want to consider taking a redshirt year to get settled in. What do you think our chances are?”

“Coach, one thing you will find with me is I’m a straight shooter,” I said and saw the disappointment in his eyes. “Northwestern has a chance, but it’s too early for me to say. You have a couple of things working against you. If I decide that I want to play at the highest level, I don’t think you’re it. Your stadium only holds a little over forty-five thousand, and you couldn’t sell it out even with a team like Stanford as your opponent. The Chicago area just has too many other options for you to be a priority. Whereas Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Alabama all have huge stadiums, rabid fans, and college football is king.

“The other issue I have is the last time you had a quarterback taken in the first round of the NFL draft was Otto Graham in 1944. You have only three or four players currently on an NFL roster. That tells me that you’re either not recruiting the kinds of players it takes to win a National Championship, or worse, they’re not being coached to get to that level,” I said.

Brandon had given me the stats. He felt the real prize this weekend was the opportunity to meet with Stanford. While Northwestern was close enough my family could make all my home games, I really didn’t think they would be my final destination. While I didn’t want to burn any bridges, I wanted to let Coach Patrick know that he shouldn’t hold a scholarship for me if he found his quarterback.

Brandon had rented a car to take Alan and Tami home. It was cheaper to return it in Evanston, so I followed him to the rental place and gave him a ride home.

“I think you were a little too direct with Coach Patrick. The shot about Northwestern not coaching them up was a little harsh,” he said.

“I can see your point, but what I said was true. I think it has more to do with the caliber of kids he’s recruiting. Maybe the correct answer is the caliber of kids he is getting yeses from. Notre Dame and Iowa both recruit Chicago hard. In-state schools are also picking off the best prospects. There are years when Northern Illinois might be the best team in the state.

“I also know that it takes time to turn a program around. Northwestern has never been a top-tier team, and until Coach Patrick came, they were not even respectable. But he’s had time to establish himself, and I think he should be pulling better recruiting classes. The other issue they have is they’re not that easy to get into,” I explained.

“Don’t you think he knows that?”

“Yes, but I was letting him know I knew. If he expects me to go there, he needs to find a way to get quality recruits to help me out. I can’t do it all myself.”

“Was that why you told him about the other receivers you had met at camps?” he asked.

“Think about it: if I had those three join my core group, we’d have the makings of a pretty good offense.”

Brandon shook his head. I think he knew that Northwestern was never going to convince those guys to go there. If they couldn’t, it just proved my point. I decided I wanted to find out what happened last night. So I asked him.

“We all went to a party and I got distracted,” Brandon said, and I could guess how. “When I found them they were drunk. I was worried how I could even get them back to the hotel in their condition. Alan insisted on helping me get Tami to her room. She went straight to the bathroom and puked. Alan joined her. To be honest, I didn’t want to deal with puking drunks, and left them in your room.

“I’m not sure what happened after I left, but Tami was really pissed at Alan, to the point where I’m a little concerned about what went on. I’d hate to speculate,” Brandon said.

“All I’m going to say is you should have never left them together. It hasn’t been that long since you were going to college parties. I know you knew what could happen with two drunken people thrown together in a hotel room. I quite honestly expected more from you.”

I realized that I had changed. Before this weekend, I would never have been so forceful with people. I sensed that I was being a little too aggressive and really should dial it back some. Brandon was right. What I said to Coach Patrick was not called for. I’d seen my mom in action and cringed when she was direct with people. The good side of it was everyone was clear on where they stood. The bad side was people sometimes didn’t want to deal with her. I needed to find a happy medium.

“Hey, sorry about that,” I said. “I’m just not happy that I potentially lost my two best friends this weekend. You had no way of knowing what they would do. The responsibility lands on their shoulders. No one forced them to drink so much.”

“Looking back, I should’ve known. If you’ll give me a second chance, I’ll do better,” Brandon said.

“I’ve been heavy-handed all weekend. Please don’t think that I quit working with people if they make a mistake. Heck, Kendal’s still working for me, and she tattled on me to my mother.”

At least that got a weak smile out of Brandon. It was hard enough that he worked for a teenager. He didn’t need to worry that his job was in jeopardy anytime something didn’t go my way. I also wanted him to call me on things, like how I treated Northwestern’s coach. I didn’t need my personal assistant to be a yes-man.

I dropped him off at the high school so he could get his car. On the trip back we had talked things out. That was a good thing, since we were scheduled to make several more recruiting trips.

When I got home I found my missing parents. Greg and Angie had already left. They had watched Duke for me while I was gone. He was an absolute wild child. By the way he greeted me when I got home you would have thought I’d left him for a month, not a couple of days. Once I finally gave him a year’s worth of loving, I went in and braced myself for how things had worked out.

“Everything’s fine. Now tell me what happened with Tami and you,” Mom said.

I looked at Dad and he just shrugged. Everything’s fine hardly told me anything. I knew better than to not answer my mom, though. I told them about Tami showing up and inviting herself to Northwestern. I explained that Brandon had known about her joining us and how irritated I’d been to have it sprung on me. Then I got to the hard part and told them what I had found. I gave them all the pertinent details, so I wouldn’t have to suffer through an inquisition. I might have left out the part where they were naked and used a condom. I also didn’t say anything about taking the promise ring, because I didn’t think I wanted to admit to that. I did tell them how I felt about what happened. It was usually in the area of feelings that Mom pounced on me.

I told them about how I had acted with both Stanford and Northwestern. I confessed to threatening to fire Brandon and how I had fixed that. I wasn’t surprised when they just nodded when I was done. I guess Uncle John had really filled them in. Then it was their turn to get me up to speed.

“Your dad and I worked out our differences. We planned on talking to Phil about who his father really is, but we talked to Vickie and she asked us not to.”

“Are you okay with that?” I asked my dad.

“No, not really. I’ve stayed quiet about it for far too long, but I have to respect his mother’s wishes. I hope you understand that it’s not just my decision, it never has been. That was why I was never involved in his life. I appreciate that Vickie has brought us together as a family, and I get to see and get to know him. She isn’t ready to tell him she’s lied to him all these years,” Dad explained.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I would have a really hard time if I knew I had a son I couldn’t have in my life,” I said.

“I hope you can keep this between us,” Dad said.

“Of course. How was Greg with it?” I asked.

“He understood. I think he felt the same way you do,” Dad said, and then got up and sat next to me and took my hand. “John told me what you said about how disappointed you were in me. I’m more sorry than you will ever realize. You deserve better from me, and it breaks my heart that I let you down. All I can do is try and be the man you expect me to be. You have to realize, though, that I’m only human. I never plan to disappoint you again, but if I do, I want you to know that I love you.”

I felt my throat tighten up, so I just nodded to him. I loved my parents and I could tell they loved me too. I wasn’t naïve enough to think everything would be solved with just a trip to Las Vegas. I could hope that over time we could get back to where we had been as a family. Some way Phil and Dad would work it out.

“Mom, I need to say something,” I said, and she locked eyes with me while Dad sat back in his chair. “The one thing we haven’t talked about is your talk with Tami. I was blindsided with questions about Dad and Phil. She told me you talked with her about it.”

“David, we’ve talked about this. Tami and I are friends. I needed someone to talk to,” she said.

“Bullshit!” I said.

I could tell Dad wanted to be anywhere but here. My mom’s face flushed, which I was sure matched mine.

“You better explain yourself very carefully, Young Man,” Mom said in her serious voice.

“Tami’s a seventeen-year-old girl. She has zero life experience, and I thought you two were just friends. I would expect you to have talked to Mrs. A. That would make perfect sense. I’m your son, and you didn’t want to talk to me about my half-brother.

“The other issue is I went to Uncle John’s for a reason. I didn’t want to be found by Alan or Tami. It seems it only took one phone call for you to rat me out.

“Both things come back to the same thing: who do you want to be in your life for the long haul?” I asked.

“David, I expect you will both be in my life for the long haul.”

“Let me be clear: while I love Tami, I am not in love with her, and I can’t see any scenario where that’ll happen. What I learned this weekend is that what I thought was family business really isn’t. I understand why Uncle John felt he had to tell Dad everything I told him. I also understand why he told you. What I don’t understand is why you told Tami, who then felt comfortable enough to bring it up with me.

“Let me tell you, I was more than a little surprised. I’ve had some serious trust issues related to her. It never occurred to me to keep secrets from either of you. However, because I now know that you’ll run to Tami about it, I’ll not tell anyone. That includes you, Dad.

“We’ve talked about this in the past, but this goes beyond that. What should have been a family matter is now out there, because Tami knows. Think of the damage that could be done by her making an innocent comment and it getting back to Phil,” I said.

“Are you saying you don’t trust Tami to keep a confidence?” Dad asked.

“That’s not really the point. The point is that you don’t take me into account when you do things. Sending Tami to Uncle John’s was a fundamental breach of trust.”

“David, you need to know that sometimes I will do things because I know what’s best for you,” Mom said.

“Fair enough.”

Both Mom and Dad had to know I wasn’t happy. I also knew my mother didn’t take this seriously by how she reacted. I could hardly wait for round two.

As I was going to bed my phone rang. It was Alan. I rejected his call.

Tuesday September 8

When I got to school everyone was buzzing. Friday would be our first game. We were playing Ty’s old school, Washington. When I saw him in the halls I could tell there was an extra bounce in his step. I smiled when Tracy and Pam rushed up to me.

“David, you have to see this,” Tracy blurted out, before we could even say hi.

I knew it had to be good because Pam was about to bounce out of her skin. It was a video on her phone and I suddenly became nervous about what they had to show me. Tracy gave me a hip bump and I relaxed.

“Washington had a Booster Fund Raiser Monday night. Coach Crouch had some choice words about Lincoln. He talked about you and Ty. You have to hear this,” Tracy said and then hit the play button.

I watched the video that had obviously been taken on someone’s cell phone. I smiled when he went off on Lincoln and how they were going to beat us this week. After listening to it I knew that Coach Crouch had no idea that he was being recorded. I suddenly had a great idea.

“Who’s seen this?” I asked.

“Just my dad and the three of us. Why?” Tracy asked.

“Where did you get it?” I asked.

“One of the lawyers at Dad’s office was there and his wife recorded it. What are you planning?” Tracy asked.

I gave them a shell of an idea and my two evil girlfriends got excited. I put them in charge of it and knew they would come up with something good. Coach Crouch would regret shooting his mouth off if I had anything to do with it. Wait a minute. I would have something to do with it!

I found a new use for my iWatch. We had a quiz today and I felt it vibrate on my wrist. I looked down and there was a message from Tracy.

‘#2?‘

‘A‘ I sent back the correct multiple-choice answer.

This was so bad. I figured it would only be a matter of time before the teachers figured out we could send messages via our watches. My watch vibrated again and she had sent me a little heart. I almost gave us away when I scoffed and looked at her. I got a glare from our teacher and I went back and finished my quiz.

I’d been playing with my toy and it was like my new iPhone, in that I could receive and send text messages and even ask Siri questions. I found I preferred to listen to music and take phone calls on my iPhone, but I was able to check who calls were from just by glancing at my watch. That saved me from having to pull my phone out if I didn’t want to talk to them. I could just decline it on my iWatch.

I wondered how long it would be before I could wear something similar during a football game. It would be a great way to send in plays from the sideline.

Alan was in all my AP classes and I had ignored him so far. Tami must have warned him to keep his distance. I imagined that eventually we would be friends again. I was sure Tami realized that. The three of us had too much history. I was sure it would be a long time coming, though. If I could be around Mike during football, I could handle Alan as one of my coaches. That didn’t mean I was ready to hang out or play video games with him, though.

At lunch I was on my way to our usual table when I was stopped by Brook, one of the new cheerleaders. Mona had warned me that Brook was interested in me. I chuckled because it was so like high school. So and so likes you. Do you like them?

“You’re eating lunch with me today.”

I just shrugged. Why not? I glanced over to my normal table and Mona didn’t look happy. I figured after what she did with Mike I no longer owed her anything. Pam, Tracy, Gina and Cassidy all had their heads together plotting something. The guys just ignored us.

I’d started to bring my lunch this year. The cafeteria either breaded, fried or smothered their mystery meat in gravy. Today I brought a salad with shredded chicken on it. Mom had made it and she added raw broccoli, carrots and cauliflower to the lettuce to give it some flavor and crunch.

“Are you going to eat the whole thing?” Brook asked when she saw the size of the container my salad was in.

“Yep.”

I watched in horror as she stabbed a bite out of my salad. She was a food thief!

“Not bad. I think you need to bring me lunch every day. It’s better than what they serve here,” she said, as she pointed at today’s offering.

The last thing I needed was another girl who thought she could boss me around. I took a mouthful of my salad and took a moment to check the new girl out. She was what you expect a teenage cheerleader to look like: she was athletic and cute, which was just my type. What wasn’t going to work for me was she seemed bossy. I had a feeling she was used to getting her way.

“So what do you want, Brook?” I asked.

“I just moved here and I was checking out the local talent.”

The way she said it made me think she was looking to get laid. With my recent string of luck, I wasn’t looking for more trouble, and she looked like trouble with a capital T. She gave me the same vibe I got around Cora, Pam’s sister. I looked closer and noticed that she was wearing pricey clothes. Doing fashion shoots you begin to pick up on those things. I could tell someone who knew what they were doing cut her hair, and she also had on quality makeup. If I didn’t know what to look for, I would’ve guessed she didn’t have any on. All that told me she came from money. The average teenager wouldn’t have been so well put together.

“I’m sorry, but what do you mean by local talent?”

“I’m used to dating older guys, but when I moved here I thought I’d see if any of the high school boys would be worth dating. So far I’m not impressed.”

“Really?” I asked.

“There seem to be only two guys who are single who I’d want to date. I let one take me out this weekend, and well, he just didn’t measure up. Everyone tells me you’re the real deal and I shouldn’t have wasted my time with the other guy. So I thought I’d give you a chance to ask me out,” she concluded.

I gave her high marks for being confident, which made me like her even more. I was curious as to who she had gone out with over the weekend though. The only name that I could come up with was Mike, and I had no desire to have his seconds. There was something about Brook that had me interested, though. The real problem was I didn’t need a girl to verbally spar with right now. I could already tell she would be high-maintenance.

“Let me save you some time. First, I don’t appreciate being anybody’s second choice. But, more to the point, I’m damaged goods and you wouldn’t be happy with me. If you want, I could point you towards State. I’m sure my older brother could hook you up with more of what you’re looking for.”

She raised her eyebrows and bit her lower lip. She looked like I had either said the dumbest thing in the world, or she thought I was funny. I’d been called a ‘stupid boy’ by the best of them, so Brook didn’t faze me. I just started eating my lunch.

“Okay. I can see you’re not interested. I thought I’d find sterner stuff with you, but obviously your reputation as a ladies’ man is overblown.”

“Now that is something we can both agree upon.”

Brook normally would have gotten a rise out of me with her challenges, but I had been burned one too many times. The last three girls I’d been interested in had picked another guy over me: Peggy had gone for Mitch; Harper wanted the guy she had a crush on when she was younger; and now Tami had gone for my ex-best friend, Alan. Well, the last one was a stretch, but she had chosen to play the field over committing to me. If I didn’t get horny, I might actually swear off women.

She got up to leave.

“This isn’t over with,” she said as her parting shot.

That was what I was afraid of.

After practice, Cassidy and I went to the dojo to practice. Shiggy finally had to stop us because we were scaring his beginners’ class. We had been going after each other and neither one of us was giving an inch. When I first started, she could take me down at will. At least now I could fend her off unless she got serious. I think she was more amused than anything else that I would take her on. We both were gasping for breath when we were done.

“That was fun,” I moaned.

“You’re getting better. You’re starting to actually get it instead of just reacting. When you begin to do it without thinking, you’re going to be hard to handle,” Cassidy said.

“How long will that take?”

“You’ll get there,” Cassidy said.

She had about ten years of experience on me. Shiggy had asked her if she wanted to compete in a tournament to see how good she really was, but Cassidy had declined. She wasn’t interested in doing hand-to-hand combat with rules. She took what she did very seriously. I thought it was probably for the best, because if she could kick my ass, and I was a foot taller and outweighed her by over eighty pounds, I was afraid of what she would do against other girls her size. Someone would get hurt, and I was sure it wouldn’t be Cassidy.