Chapter 22: Our Town

Sunday April 3

It felt good to get home. I’d loved my vacation, but there is something about sleeping in your own bed. Being gone all week had made Zoe, Halle and Pam anxious to see me, but I’d promised Caryn I would sit down with her and talk about a budget. She wanted Brook and me to come to her new office, because she wanted to show me what had been done so far.

They had gotten the office decorated. I was impressed that there were pictures of the farms and a variety of my movie and modeling images. Caryn and Megan joined Brook and me in the conference room. Megan had folders with our names on them.

“When we were in London, I showed David how much money he’s been spending. I need to get you up to speed on your spending habits,” Caryn said to Brook.

I hadn’t enjoyed Caryn shining a light on my expenditures. I bit my lip to keep from smiling when Brook realized how much she spent on clothes. I was lucky because I got most of mine free. Then she got to the section that showed how much she’d spent on our adventures. I was amused that she had the same reaction as I had: no big deal.

Megan went over Brook’s financials. The majority of her wealth was in L Brands stock, and that generated most of her income. She about had a cow when she learned about dividends and capital gains and how much went to taxes. Megan offered to show her how she could reduce her tax bill.

My money was split between farms, the strip mall, Mom’s real estate company, my accounts for college and my house fund, Mass Investments, Jack Mass’s construction company, and other smaller investments. Caryn showed me that the majority of my money had come from my signing the Star Academy two-movie deal. Although I’d made money from everything else, I’d spent most of it on the farms and equipment. While I wasn’t in danger of running out of money anytime soon, what I didn’t yet have was the income stream I needed. Mom’s business had just opened, the strip mall was just now starting to lease units, and my local farm was a money pit. Add in the charities, which couldn’t make an income, and employee salaries and benefits, with all their associated expenses, and I was bleeding money at a healthy rate.

With these revelations, I understood why Caryn had said I needed to make some more sunglasses money. I did know one way I could make some quick cash.

“Call Mr. Hill and see if he needs me to do some newspaper-insert ads. I could do some Sunday-afternoon shoots.”

“Before you do that, Ari has some opportunities for you. It seems that you’re popular in Japan. He has three ads lined up for your approval. They were impressed that you speak Japanese so well,” Caryn said.

I just blinked at her. Speak Japanese?

“I learned my lines by rote.”

“Ari knows that, but he suggested that you take some conversational classes so that when you go there, you can at least communicate.”

“Wait, when am I going to Japan?” I asked.

She showed me on my calendar. It was during the summer, and I would be gone for my birthday. It was one of the few weeks not already booked. Caryn showed me the three contracts, and I smiled. Each was for a one-day shoot and was for more than I could make in a year doing insert work for Mr. Hill. I was relieved I didn’t have to kill a weekend day each week.

I looked at the names on the contracts: Kisai, Dynamism, and Yohji Yamamoto.

“What do these companies sell?” I asked since I had no idea what they made.

“Watches, electronics and clothes,” Caryn supplied.

“If I’m going to be there for a week, make sure Ari fills up my time. I would love to play tourist, but papa needs new toys.”

I think Caryn realized her budgeting classes were only going to go so far. She did get us to agree to follow a budget. I was a little pissed when she said she was lowering my debit card limit and was only going to put more money into it once a month. I told Megan to sign me up for the American Express Black Card for emergencies.

I was willing to play along, but I wanted some backup in case I needed it, especially when I was traveling.

“I want one of those, too,” Brook chimed in.

Caryn said something about having a migraine and kicked us out. I wasn’t sure if we were getting our Amex cards or not. I would have to ask my dad.

Caryn stepped out of the conference room and stopped me before I left. She wanted to give me a tour of the strip mall.

“I talked to the restaurant, and they want out of their lease. They aren’t making it,” Caryn shared.

“How long do they have left?” I asked.

“Eight months. The problem is it’s a big space and we don’t have enough parking.”

“Are there any lots close by that we could buy and convert into parking?” I asked.

“Your mom said there are three lots behind the strip mall that she thinks she can get, but it would require a zoning change from residential use only to a commercial overlay. The extra parking would be something that would help with some of our other potential tenants. I recommend that you give us the go-ahead to make the purchase contingent on the county working with us on zoning.”

“What about the restaurant?” I asked.

“I think we let them out of their lease, but require them to leave the equipment. There was some confusion as to who owned it when we bought the strip mall. It would be cheaper than having to buy new and collecting rent for the next few months.”

“The place looks like crap. What would it cost to redo it?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Frankly, I don’t have experience enough to figure out what needs to be done.”

I smiled.

“That’s why I get help. I can think of two people who’d know what we would need: Granny and Mary Dole. Heck, I would love to partner with those two, if they wanted to open a restaurant,” I said, dreaming.

“Okay, let me work on it.”

Caryn then showed me the rest of the units. Mom had set up shop next to the restaurant and had placed in the window a big-screen TV that showed their listings. Megan had helped them set it up. Megan had also suggested they put some small tables out front so people could relax before going into the restaurant.

Greg and Angie had one of the upstairs units. It had a reception area and then two rooms in the back for massages. They were currently only open weekends and a couple of nights a week. A cell phone provider had leased one of the downstairs units, and a barbershop had another. That left one space downstairs and two upstairs that were left to be rented. Caryn had left the open units as shells with the plan to build them out to meet our renters’ needs.

On the far end was the Quickie Mart. It had seen better days. The family that ran the place kept it open 24/7. I worried that it attracted the wrong kinds of people late at night. In an ideal world, it would only be open until ten and not sell alcohol or cigarettes. I would also like to sell our produce and thought we could turn it into a vegetable stand. I told Caryn all this. She worried that alcohol and cigarettes were probably large profit centers. I then had an idea: what if the Mennonites wanted to help us with the vegetable stand? They could also rent one of the other units for furniture.

Caryn’s final piece of news was that Kendal had accepted Ms. Dixon’s offer and was moving to Chicago to work with Tom. She’d trained Megan on how to sell my photos to the various websites, and we would still work with all the models and Ford to create that stream of income. Tom had given that up so he could steal Kendal away. Megan was also working for Adrienne to help her with her back-office bookkeeping needs. Tom would be my lawyer for entertainment matters. Ms. Dixon would be responsible overall, especially if I got myself into trouble. I wasn’t sure how Kendal fit in, but I would be 18 soon and wouldn’t need a chaperone. Caryn or my parents could fill that role for the next few months.

After I left the offices, I went to Halle’s. I’m not sure who was happier to see me, Bandit or Halle. I tossed his squeaky mouse while we talked.

“Our play is this weekend,” she reminded me.

“I suppose I have to skip the dojo and come to play practice after baseball.”

“I think that might be a good idea. You also have to be my date for the cast party Saturday night. I plan to have a few drinks and need you to keep me from doing something stupid.”

“What if you do something stupid with me?” I asked.

“Like what?”

“I could show you my tan lines,” I teased.

Halle gave me an exasperated look and then smiled when I waggled my eyebrows.

“Mom! David and I are going to work on our lines!” Halle called out.

“Take your cat with you!” Rita called back.

“Come on, Crybaby,” I said, picking up Bandit.

He showed me he’d killed his mouse. Halle tolerated my praising him for being a big-game hunter. When we got to her room, I became the hunter. Halle squealed when I picked her up, tossed her on the bed, and then pounced on her. I made a big deal of showing her my tan lines.

Halle wiggled out of her clothes and it was game on. Brook and Cassidy had been fun all week, but there was just something about Halle. I missed the heck out of her, and she showed me she missed me. When I finally rolled off her, Bandit climbed up and settled on my chest. The three of us curled up and had a nap.

My next stop was to see Pam. Lacy met me at the door and invited me to dinner. We had a good evening looking at my vacation photos. Pam told me that Greg had been a perfect gentleman like I knew he would. He offered to let her come to his place and get free massages until she had the baby. He’d explained that I paid him back in babysitting services.

Pam lured me to her bedroom with the plan to give her a massage. One thing led to another, and I fell asleep with her in my arms.

Monday April 4

I arrived at school and found Tracy, Pam and, to my surprise, Lisa. At first, I didn’t recognize her because she was in jeans and a sweatshirt. I’d never seen her in anything other than a short skirt before.

“You like?” Tracy asked.

“Yeah, you look good,” I said to Lisa. “I thought you couldn’t wear jeans.”

“Turns out pure silk underwear doesn’t irritate me and allows me to wear pants,” Lisa supplied.

It was strange to see Lisa looking like a normal teen. I was sure most of the guys would be disappointed. Brook might be happy that she no longer had competition, though.

“I found out who hacked your blog and posted it: Alan Douglas.”

I saw all three girls get mad. Pam and Tracy worried me because of Pam’s stun gun and Tracy’s pepper spray.

“I’d suggest you tell Mr. Palm, because Alan posted it on the school’s chat site,” I recommended.

The girls huddled up and then walked off. I wasn’t sure what they planned to do, but as long as they left me out of it, I was happy.

Famous last words. Lisa threw me under the bus when Alan tried to deny it. I found myself in Mr. Palm’s office with my mom during third period.

“I need your help in clearing up something. Lisa Felton says you told her Alan Douglas stole her personal blog and posted it on the Lincoln Chat Board. This is a serious matter, and Alan has denied any involvement,” Mr. Palm said.

“Get him in here,” my mom said.

I was surprised when Mr. Palm did just that. Alan had a cocky smile on his face until he saw my mom. I just shrugged to let him know that it wasn’t me and he was on his own.

“Tell Mr. Palm the truth,” Mom ordered.

Their eyes locked and Alan was the first to look away. He knew when he was beaten.

“I did it. I posted Lisa’s blog on the chat board,” he admitted.

“Alan, cyberbullying is taken very seriously at Lincoln High,” Mr. Palm started.

“He’ll never do anything like this again. Isn’t that right, Alan?” Mom asked.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll never do something like this again, I promise,” Alan said.

“I’m sure you won’t, but there will have to be consequences for your actions,” Mr. Palm said.

“Something that confuses me is how it was taken down. Whoever did it wiped all traces of the post, even those forwarded,” Alan said.

“I don’t think you need us for the rest of this,” I said and stood up to leave.

Mr. Palm tilted his head and gave me a funny look.

“Alan, go out and sit down in the waiting area. I’ll deal with you in a moment,” Mr. Palm said.

Once Alan left, Mr. Palm turned to me. I decided I’d better come clean, so I told him about Frank and what his people had done. That also explained how I knew Alan was the one that posted the blog. Mr. Palm wasn’t sure what to do about it. On the one hand, I’d solved a lot of his problems by having Frank’s people delete all traces of the blog. On the other, I’d given my password to someone outside of the school. While there were no explicit rules against it, Mr. Palm wasn’t happy about it.

“David has to protect his image. You’re lucky he isn’t looking to take legal action because of what was posted,” Mom said.

“There’s no need for that. Next time please come to me before you set your people loose on something like this,” Mr. Palm offered as a compromise.

I understood his point of view. He was responsible for the school and he didn’t need a student having his PR team deleting posts on a private chat website.

At lunch, Alan was missing in action. I wondered if he’d been suspended. It was too bad because today was the first official day of the lunch-buddy program. Wolf, Brit, Gina and I were picked as hosts. I guess it wasn’t a surprise when the theater group showed up at my table. They were all excited about opening night this Friday. It seems they were already sold out, which worried me because I hadn’t gotten any tickets for my parents. That was when they explained that cast members had four tickets per performance set aside. They would hand them out tonight at play practice.

They also wanted to make sure I was coming to the cast party on Saturday. They had an inside joke about cast virgins and some ritual. They had another thing coming if they thought they could haze me. I would bet that Halle would take a similar stand.

Then they told me they’d never sold out a play before. I admitted that I’d never gone to one. I was astounded they seemed nervous about it. I thought they did this for the attention. They’d done scenes in the quad and at lunch for previous plays. I wasn’t sure why an auditorium full of friends and family would make them nervous, especially after getting pelted with food and garbage at lunch. Of course, I would never toss a dinner roll at an unsuspecting teen acting goofy. Honest!

And I never fib. Not even in jest!

At baseball practice, Moose announced that Yuri and Justin had been kicked off the team for fighting. That meant that Burt, Brock and Bryan had to compete to see who our lead pitcher was going to be. It also meant that Ray Quinn was promoted to starting at third.

I also received confirmation that Alan had been suspended for three days for bullying. That was the harshest penalty they normally gave short of expulsion. Mr. Palm was sending a message with that punishment.

I was a little rusty at play practice, which sent Mr. Dutton into a tizzy. I hadn’t looked at my lines while on vacation. Halle wasn’t happy with me, which made me realize I needed to buckle down. She reminded me that there weren’t retakes in a play. I took her pointed remarks in stride. It seemed everyone was nervous about the play selling out.

Wednesday April 6

I skipped out of school again. This time it was to go to Indianapolis to the NCAA headquarters. I’d requested the meeting to get my eligibility cleared up. Mr. Morris, my sports attorney, was going to lead the meeting for our side. The number of people we were bringing was a little embarrassing. In addition to Mr. Morris, Ms. Dixon and Tom Dole were there representing Dixon and Dixon. I was also bringing Caryn, my business manager, and Dad. Fritz was drafted to drive and act as security.

We all met at the Westin, where the Chicago contingent had spent the night. Mr. Morris had arranged for a conference room for us to meet in.

“I received a strange message last night. It seems the NCAA has expanded our meeting today. I’d thought we would just be meeting Jackie Davis, the chair for the Initial-Eligibility Waiver Committee, and Steve Anchorage, the chair of the Amateurism Fact-Finding Committee. It seems there will be several other chairs and members of the Board of Governors in attendance, including NCAA President Mark Ellison,” Mr. Morris said.

“What do you think that means?” Ms. Dixon asked.

“I think they don’t know what to do with David. He could potentially pose some serious problems for them with respect to how they want to protect their use of students’ images and names. They’ve gone for a couple of years without any major challenges. They have to know that David’s fame isn’t derived from just sports, which is their normal excuse for not allowing student-athletes to make money off it while in college. I would expect them to try to make David some sort of deal, like eligibility in exchange for his support in not making waves,” Mr. Morris said.

“Should we address his movies and modeling while in college?” Tom asked.

“I think we play it by ear. If they want something more than just to give David his eligibility acceptance, we pull out the waiver to allow him to fulfill his obligations for doing movies as far as marketing goes. I don’t think they have a leg to stand on, but we need to get him eligible first. My plan all along was to attack that as a separate issue, but if they want David to do something, we need to get this in return,” Mr. Morris said.

The way the NCAA rules read was that you couldn’t engage in the promotion of commercial activities while you were a student-athlete. A strict reading could mean that if I did a movie while in college, I might not be able to have my name added to the credits, and couldn’t give any interviews about my role in the movie. I was in the clear for everything I did while in high school.

Mr. Morris had suggested that I split sports-related topics and acting so there would be no confusion with the NCAA. They’d gotten worried when I helped Washington with their fundraiser and we’d also played a baseball game. I don’t think anyone expected over twenty thousand people to show up. We’d had similar crowds the following weekend at State.

Universities aren’t stupid. Having a student who could draw that many fans and could potentially be the face of their program was huge. Even for a program like Michigan, which consistently sold out, it would be big for away games. Places like Northwestern couldn’t sell out when they had a draw like Stanford. If my fame could put butts in seats, it would mean big money to the conference as a whole. What had them excited was I that was pulling these numbers for high school baseball.

It would be interesting to see what the NCAA wanted to talk about.

President Ellison met us at reception. It almost felt like a recruiting trip. The building was new and it was easy to see they weren’t hurting for money.

“I thought I’d show you around and give you some background on the NCAA,” President Ellison said to begin the tour. “The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a member-led organization dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes.

“We adhere to, believe in, and support seven core values. The first of these is the collegiate model of athletics where students take part in athletics as an avocation that balances their social, academic, and athletic experiences. We strive to have all our member organizations maintain the highest level of integrity and sportsmanship. We focus on the pursuit of excellence in both athletics and academics. The NCAA is committed to the supporting role that intercollegiate athletics plays in enhancing the sense of community and strengthening the identity of member institutions, as well as in the higher education mission. We promote an inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation for student-athletes and career opportunities for coaches and administrators from diverse backgrounds. Another core value is respect for institutional autonomy and philosophical differences. Finally, we encourage presidential leadership of intercollegiate athletics at the campus, conference and national levels.

“The NCAA consists of 1,121 colleges and universities, 99 conferences, and 39 affiliated organizations. More than 460,000 student-athletes make up 19,000 teams that participate in the NCAA’s 90 championships in 24 sports across 3 divisions. We have a staff of 500 employees here in Indianapolis that supports our members,” President Ellison said.

He then gave us a tour of the facility and I met many of the employees. Several wanted pictures taken. Caryn promised to send over signed pictures for everyone that wanted them.

We were finally ushered into a large conference room with a coffee service set up in the back. President Ellison indicated we were to sit on the far side of the long table. There were name tents for the people on their side. We were given a Sharpie and asked to fill out ours so everyone would know each other.

I read down the table: Mark Ellison – NCAA President; JT Picket – Chair of the Board of Governors; Jim Phelps – Member of Board of Governors/AD University of Michigan; Jackie Davis – Chair of Initial-Eligibility Waiver Committee; Steve Anchorage – Chair of Amateurism Fact-Finding Committee; Lesley Sanchez – Chair of Legislative Relief Committee; and Andy Hill – Chair of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. President Ellison kicked off the meeting.

“David Dawson asked for this meeting to expedite his eligibility. It is my understanding that Mrs. Davis found enough questions to forward his application to Mr. Anchorage’s committee to do some due diligence. Maybe we could have Mr. Anchorage give us an overview as to where we stand on his amateurism status.”

“Some of you may remember Mr. Morris. He worked for us a few years ago reviewing applications for initial eligibility. Mr. Morris has been helpful in providing the documentation we needed to conduct our review. I have some grave concerns that Mr. Dawson may cause us problems related to naming rights once he enters college. I think we need to get an agreement in place to protect our member institutions before we issue him his letter of amateurism status,” Mr. Anchorage stated.

“Are you worried that David will challenge your control over student-athletes’ use of image and name?” Mr. Morris asked.

It seemed that was exactly what they were worried about. This was the heart of what student-athletes had filed lawsuits about in the past. There was a lot of money being made by the NCAA’s member institutions, and if the student-athletes ever cracked the door open on receiving compensation, it would be a slippery slope until they were paid what they were worth. Let’s face it, college football is big business.

I personally had a problem with how the big shoe companies made deals with each school. You had to wear their gear with logos. Why shouldn’t a student-athlete be compensated for being a walking billboard?

“Why don’t we work out a deal where David agrees to allow you to use his image and name for college football and baseball? In exchange you give him a waiver to be able to do his movies and modeling,” Mr. Morris floated.

“I have concerns about what his modeling activities might entail. It’s my understanding that he’s the face for an athletic company right now, Range Sports. I would have apprehension about him doing ads and or commercials involving any type of football- or baseball-related gear. It would more than likely violate agreements with existing advertisers,” Jim Phelps, the AD for the University of Michigan, said.

“An exception could be added to the waiver to exclude any conflicts. They would need to be spelled out for us to be comfortable,” Mr. Morris added.

“I would like for David to consider using his celebrity to help with PSAs and also become involved in our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. I think he would bring a unique perspective to our institution,” Andy Hill, the chair of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, said.

“Any public service announcements would have to be approved by David and his team. David would also have to see how his class loads are before he could commit to joining a committee,” Mr. Morris said.

“I would also like for David to agree to assist us with legislative matters,” Lesley Sanchez, the chair of the Legislative Relief Committee, said.

“That’s a loaded request. Do you want David to be your poster boy supporting NCAA attempts to do something in Congress to get more exemptions?” Mr. Morris asked.

Lesley smiled and nodded.

“I guess that is the thrust of our proposal,” she admitted.

“I think we need to take a break and discuss what you’ve suggested. Can we get back together in an hour?” Mr. Morris asked.

“I think that would be a good idea. If you’d like, I could take you to the executive dining room and you could have lunch,” President Ellison suggested.

I could eat. We were given ninety minutes to return.

We ordered lunch, and I voiced my biggest concern.

“I’m not sure I want to carry water for them to get more concessions out of Congress. I personally think student-athletes deserve to be compensated.”

“What about PSAs and volunteering to be on a committee?” Ms. Dixon asked.

“I see that as part of my charitable work. I would be willing to do some PSAs as long as they made sense. I’m not sure what committees they’re talking about and what value I would bring,” I said.

“Do you have a problem with them using your name and image?” Mr. Morris asked.

“If that’s the price I have to pay to play ball, I’m fine with it. I personally think that we could fight to get them to back off on modeling and acting, including Range Sports,” I said.

“I would recommend that you not fight that if you don’t have to. What you have to realize is the NCAA is a huge bureaucracy, and if they decide to come after you, they will. They think nothing of spending money on lawsuits, and I imagine they could drag their feet until you ran out of eligibility,” Mr. Morris said.

“So, don’t rock the boat. I’m sure Range Sports will survive without me, once I start college,” I said.

“I promise to get you a huge Nike deal once you graduate,” Tom said, to ease the sting.

Mr. Morris negotiated a deal for us that included my needed amateurism clearance and a waiver for acting and modeling, including promotion of movies I acted in. It included wording about not being able to work for a company like Range Sports who sold either football or baseball gear, even if the ads were not related to either sport.

In exchange, I agreed to grant the NCAA, whatever conference my school was in, and the college I attended, the rights to my name and image while I was an eligible athlete in college, but only insofar as they directly related to football and baseball. I stressed, for example, that anything related to my modeling or the movies I acted in, as well as any commercials, were off-limits to them. I didn’t commit to PSAs, committee membership, or being the poster boy for the NCAA. To appease them, we agreed that I would be open to considering requests from the NCAA in each area. To me, ‘considering’ something didn’t mean I had to say yes.

Something Mr. Morris insisted on was language that if there was ever a dispute over the agreement or any of its terms, normal rules of contract interpretation would apply. Later, he explained to me he didn’t want the NCAA trying to say their interpretation of any language should be entitled to precedence because of their role and experience in regulating college athletics. In addition, he negotiated a get out of jail free card for anything I’d done to this point. They couldn’t come back later and say that my fundraising for Washington and subsequent baseball game were found to violate any rules.

Mr. Morris was happy but warned me that I needed to be vigilant and we should prepare for them to break their word. He said that when they did, having the waiver in hand would give us a strong position when we ended up in court. He made it sound like a foregone conclusion. I guess I was naïve because to me it felt like we’d worked everything out. Mr. Morris pointed out that he thought we weren’t out of the woods yet. He hadn’t steered me wrong yet, so I listened to his counsel, and Dad authorized him to prepare for the worst.

Caryn received the happy task of letting all the recruiters know I had my letter of eligibility for amateurism. That, combined with my SAT scores, would assure them of my eligibility. They would have to wait until after my fall grades were in to get final word, but with my current grades and SAT scores, I wasn’t really at risk of not qualifying at most schools.

We drove to St. Joe for my baseball game. They’d declined to do a doubleheader at State on Saturday. I think it ended up being a mistake. Fritz had to park three blocks from the high school, and we had to walk the rest of the way because of the crowd. Fritz had to act like a blocker to get us through to the locker room.