Chapter 24: Big Cat

Thursday August 11Zoe had slipped out during the night. Her declaration that she planned to be my girlfriend had me deep in thought as I went down for breakfast. When I reached the lobby, my dad was waiting for me.

“How’s the girlfriend hunt going?”

I gave him my best put-out teenager look and ignored his barb. I guess it was too much for Tami not to tell my mom. What surprised me was Mom thinking it necessary to clue my dad in. I was sure that Uncle John would want to sit down and ‘talk about it.’

“Come on, we need to talk football,” Dad said to change the topic.

That instantly put me in a better mood. We went to the nice restaurant and I found Dad had gotten us a big table. I figured that Wolf and Tim would want to talk about this. As soon as we sat down, people began to join us. When the table was finally filled, Tim, Wolf, Uncle John, Caryn, Mom and Tracy had all taken seats.

“We’ve made an executive decision,” Caryn said. “Your dad will take over your recruiting. Kent wasn’t suited for it and it was decided it was too big a decision to leave to someone new. Megan will field the phone calls and sort through them with Tracy’s help. The important ones will be given to your dad to call back.”

All I could think was I was glad it wasn’t me that had to hold the recruiting phone. At least Megan was being paid to put up with the abuse. Mom saw I was hungry and let us order breakfast because she was afraid I ‘wouldn’t listen.’ I think Wolf and Tim were happy with her decision.

While we ate, Wolf and Tim told us about Chicago.

“It was rough at first,” Wolf admitted. “We started out doing all the grunt work. Jack wanted to make sure we appreciated the laborers he hires to pick up and fetch things for the skilled craftsmen. We got to spend a couple of weeks helping someone with each of the trades. I found out I never want to blow in insulation again.”

“It had to be two hundred degrees in that attic, and that stuff found its way in everywhere,” Tim complained.

“The last few weeks we were in the office and learned about scheduling, ordering materials, bookkeeping and creating bids. There’s a lot more to running a company than I ever realized. I can see where getting a business degree will be a must if I want to ever run my own contracting business. I don’t understand how you do it,” Wolf said.

“If it weren’t for Caryn and my family, I wouldn’t have a clue. I plan to take some business classes so I understand what Caryn tells me,” I confessed.

It sounded like they both worked hard and had confirmed they were on the right track, career-wise. They also got a chance to explore Chicago. From what they shared, I’d missed out on a lot of fun. Tim had bought a truck there. He got a used Ford F-150 that was painted sterling gray. I had to smile when he had almost thirty pictures on his phone. Someone was a proud owner.

After breakfast, we got down to business.

“We’ve talked about your top schools and how you wanted to consider the best of the Power Five conferences. I wanted to talk to you about the one Independent you may be considering and suggest an alternative,” Dad said.

“Notre Dame?” Tim asked.

“Yes. I know that David took Notre Dame off his list because they pulled their offer after the rape allegations. But I also know that both Wolf and Tim are interested in Notre Dame, so it may be back on the table,” Dad informed me.

“David’s stated goal is to play for a National Championship. To get there, he has six routes: one of the schools from a Power Five conference, or an Independent. It would take a miracle for a smaller-conference school to make it to the final four teams. Frankly, two of the Power Five conferences have a leg up on the other three: the Big Ten and SEC. Those two are almost guaranteed to have a team in the Championship Series. The odd man out seems to be the Big 12,” Dad explained.

I was impressed that Dad had done his homework.

“Getting back to Notre Dame,” Dad said. “I think that they and Texas are two of the most overrated teams in the nation. Their ranking is based on history, and people just assume they’ll be good. What I would like to suggest is that you bypass Notre Dame and look at Wisconsin.”

“Seriously?” Wolf asked.

“The Irish get loads more pub than Wisconsin, but in the last 25 years, the Badgers have won 221 games including 13 bowls, while the Irish have won 194 games and six bowls. You tell me which tradition matters most: Rockne-Leahy-Parseghian or the last quarter century?” Dad asked.

My uncle had a big grin on his face. I was sure he was the one who came up with the stats.

“Why Wisconsin?” I asked.

“They’re in the Big Ten West. Their stiffest competition is Iowa and Nebraska, neither of whom seems ready to challenge them. All Wisconsin has to do is win the Big Ten Championship game and they’re in the National Championship hunt. The Big Ten East has Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State beating each other’s brains out,” Dad said.

“That, and I bet your dad that Notre Dame wouldn’t even have a .500 season this year. I’d also be willing to bet they’ll have a new football coach. How long has it been since they had a top guy at the helm?” Uncle John asked.

I just rolled my eyes at him. He was always making cracks about Notre Dame.

“Here’s a list of the schools you said you wanted to visit,” Caryn said, handing everyone a sheet of paper.

ACC
Clemson
Florida State

Big Ten
Michigan
Ohio State
Wisconsin

Big Twelve
Oklahoma
Texas

PAC 12
Stanford
USC

SEC
Alabama
Florida

Official Visits
Oklahoma – September 17
Clemson – October 1
USC – October 8
Alabama – October 22
Florida State – October 29

“Why these teams for official visits?” I asked.

“Cost. We figured that you could drive to Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin,” Caryn informed me.

“What do you guys think of the list?” I asked, looking at Wolf and Tim.

“I’d play at any of those schools,” Tim said. “I’m not sure that Stanford would take me, though, because I don’t have those kinds of grades.”

“My only concern is will they offer Tim and me?” Wolf asked.

I knew he needed a scholarship to play. I’d make sure he got one.

“I think any of them could use a tight end with your skills,” I said.

He just shrugged.

Anyone I missed?” Caryn asked.

“I’m not sold on Florida or Texas. I’m not sure I would want to spend money on a visit,” Wolf said.

“I agree. I like the rest of the schools, though,” Tim said.

“I think that’s a good list,” I countered.

“Seriously? Texas is a lot like Notre Dame. They’re just running on what they did years ago,” Uncle John said.

“I’d want to see Florida turn things around,” Tim added.

“It is a lot of trips,” I admitted. “Let’s take Florida and Texas off the board for now. If something changes, we can always add them back.”

“Good. I’ll send out a tweet with your final ten,” Caryn said.

“Who’s the extra one?” I asked.

“Kentucky,” Caryn said.

She pulled out her phone and showed us a picture with the three of us in our Lincoln High jerseys, grouped together. Lily must have Photoshopped it. Around us were the logos for the twelve schools. She would have to remove Texas and Florida. I showed it to my two teammates and they both looked shocked. In essence, I’d just announced we were a package deal. I could see Wolf was a happy boy.

“Fix it and send it out,” I said to Caryn.

During the morning, we practiced. Today was the big game and I think the coaches didn’t want to leave anything to chance. When we were done, I gathered up some of the guys and we joined my Lincoln teammates to practice some football. I was happy to see Wolf and Tim work out with us.

A front had gone through the previous night, so the ground was damp, but it was ten degrees cooler. It was great for running around and honing our skills. What would make it perfect would be having a place to go swimming outside. The hotel had a pool, but it had been overrun with older people here for a seminar.

Finally, Coach Kingwood made us pack up and get on the buses to go back. I was met in the lobby by my dad and Fritz. From their look, I could tell they had good news.

“They caught the men who tried to kidnap you. The bodycams helped point to the owner of the vans, and from there they found everyone that participated. The police are still going to keep an eye out and provide security. I also have five extra men I’ve brought in. What I want to know is what you did?” Fritz asked.

I looked at Dad for some help, but he just looked at me stone-faced. Fritz pointed to six men that looked like they were the starting line for the Chicago Bears.

“Tony,” I said. “He must have sent them.”

I waved them over and saw one of them was a little older than the others. When I looked into his eyes, I froze. It reminded me of the first time I met Fritz. This man was dangerous. I was surprised when Fritz did his ninja bit and was suddenly between us. The man got the ghost of a smile on his face as he measured Fritz. I wasn’t sure who would end up on top if they tangled.

“David?” he asked.

“Yes, sir. How can I help you?” I asked.

“I’m Nicki, Little Tony’s cousin. Pia asked that I come down and make sure you and your family are safe. The men I’ve brought have worked security for the Giovanni family for years, and Pia can vouch for each one. I’d suggest you make a call to confirm it with her. I wouldn’t expect you to just accept my word,” Nicki said as he eyed Fritz.

I pulled out my phone and called.

“David, has help arrived?” Pia asked.

“Yes. He said to call and you could vouch for him and his men,” I said, never allowing my eyes to leave Nicki.

“Good, Nicki’s there. If anything should go wrong, make sure Nicki’s at your side. He’ll make sure you get out of the situation without any problems.”

“Okay,” I said, and hung up.

“Pia says we’re good. This is Fritz. He’s the head of my security and in charge. Please talk to him and tell Pia thank you. I feel better knowing you’re here to watch my back,” I said, and then went upstairs.

I left Fritz and Nicki eyeing each other. Dad was smart and followed me.

Mom planned a trip to an open-air market. We had the afternoon off, so Coach Kingwood thought it would be a good activity now that we had plenty of security. I know that Halle and Brook wanted to go shopping. Pam showed up at my door.

“David, I was thinking Coby needed a few things,” she said as she pulled me out of the room.

I’d decided that shopping wasn’t something I wanted to do, but it seemed that Coby needed things. If these were the normal things he needed, like a new phone or a designer purse, I was sure I should be there to reject them. Maybe when he grew up. I found two buses parked in front of the hotel. When I got on, I saw everyone ready to go.

“Good. I was afraid we’d have to send Cassidy in to get him,” Brook said.

It turned out the open-air market was as much fun as I imagined. While it had been nice this morning, the temperature had soared since then. I was ready to leave after about five minutes. The market wasn’t nearly as nice as the ones I’d seen in Cuba. It was set up in what they called ‘El Antiguo Recinto Ferial,’ or ‘the old fairgrounds,’ which was basically an open dirt lot with what appeared to be two sections. One was nicer and had what looked like permanent booths. The other seemed to be where anyone could set up and hawk their wares.

What struck me first were the smells. Someone was cooking something that smelled delicious. Thankfully, Phil was the voice of reason.

“Remember the last time you ate Mexican food? These are street vendors. How sick do you think you can get?” he asked.

I felt my stomach roll. Dad had told me that when he was younger, he’d gotten drunk on Southern Comfort. To this day all he has to do is smell it and he feels woozy. Phil reminded me of being sick, and suddenly the food didn’t have quite the appeal it had a moment ago. That didn’t slow down the other guys, though; they had street tacos. Deep down I hoped they got sick.

I left the girls as they decided they all needed jewelry, hand-painted bowls, and blankets. I gave Pam money and told her to make sure Zoe got something as well. I wasn’t worried about Tracy, Halle or Brook. I also gave Cassidy some cash since I knew she wouldn’t let Pam buy her anything. For some reason, she wasn’t shy about asking me to buy her stuff. I don’t think she spent a dime of the money her dad gave her for the Cuba trip.

I told Cassidy to keep an eye on Pam. Not that Pam would overspend, I just worried about her in a crowd. I didn’t want her freezing up and something bad happening.

I gathered my guys and we went off to the sketchy side to see what we could find. Nicki and his team split off with us. It looked like Fritz was sure that we’d be okay with them.

“We have to get those,” Phil said as he excitedly pointed at a booth.

At first, I wasn’t sure what he was talking about, and then I saw it. In Mexico, they have a version of professional wrestling called lucha libre. The wrestlers wear colorful masks while in the ring. Phil had spotted a booth selling masks.

I was getting myself a couple of these. A young girl was in charge of the stock.

“How much are they?” I asked.

“For you gringos, two hundred each,” she said, puffing up.

“Good luck,” I said, and began to walk away.

“Hold on, Mister. These masks are made by my grandfather. All the top wrestlers buy from him. You will only find cheap knock-offs anywhere else.”

“Does your grandfather know you’re selling his masks?” I asked.

“Of course he does. You wouldn’t accuse me of stealing from him, would you?” she asked in a huff. “On second thought, I can’t sell to you.”

“That’s just as well. I’m not paying that much for a mask.”

“Have you never negotiated before?” she asked, like I had two heads or something.

“I might go ten each,” I offered.

“Good. We’ve established you want to buy masks. Now we just have to come to an agreement on price.”

While I haggled with the girl, the rest of the guys wandered off to look at other treasures. I checked out the masks and they were all made well. She told me how her grandfather hand-stitched each mask and it took him almost a week to make each one.

I could tell that most were machine-stitched because the stitches were evenly spaced. She wasn’t happy when I pointed out flaws in a couple of the masks. There were a handful that looked to be much better quality than the rest. Those I might believe her grandfather had made.

“Some of these aren’t worth more than five bucks,” I pointed out.

“You’re killing me. Either buy something or get moving,” she said.

She had fifteen masks that I would consider buying. I could see down the road giving them as Christmas presents to some little boys and a girl I knew. I would have killed to have these when I was growing up. I ended up paying twenty bucks each for them. She seemed to be happier that she made me work to buy them; getting paid seemed to come in a distant second.

“I think you’re a man who’s looking for something different. Am I right?” she asked.

“That depends. What did you have in mind?” I asked.

“Come with me,” she said.

I sent a text to let the guys know that I’d gotten the masks and was going with the girl to look at something else. Nicki and his men trailed me, so I wasn’t worried about being robbed. They were also handy at carrying what I bought. Maybe I should have sent them shopping with the girls. I think the only reason the girls asked me to go shopping was they wanted me to be their pack mule.

She took me to a pickup truck that had what looked like two big boxes with tarps over them. It turned out they were cages.

“I have a couple of cats for sale,” she announced.

“I don’t need a cat,” I said.

She pulled back the tarps and there were two baby tiger cubs inside the cages. They were panting hard, and I was worried she might be in the process of killing them. Without thinking, I jumped into the back of the truck and opened their cages. They couldn’t be very old. They were about the size of Precious.

“They need water,” I told her.

She had a cooler with bottled water in it. I first poured it over them. They both didn’t like that much and began to complain by making high-pitched distressed ‘rah’ (little roar) noises. They were much happier when I put water in my palm and they could lick it out.

“I want a thousand dollars for both.”

“I’ll give you two hundred.”

“Sold.”

That might have been an impulse buy that my mother wouldn’t be happy with. I reasoned that this girl shouldn’t be in possession of them anyways. Nicki rolled his eyes at me. I didn’t need that from my security. I was about to face my mother.

Phil saw me first.

“Is that... ? Cool! You’re so dead,” he said in quick succession.

“Did you buy cats?” Yuri asked.

“Big cats. These are tiger cubs,” I clarified.

Roc snapped a picture with his phone.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he tapped away on his phone.

“My sister said I was supposed to keep an eye on you and not let you buy anything stupid.”

“Wrestling masks are okay, but you draw the line at tiger cubs. It’s sometimes hard for us Hollywood types to know when we’ve gone too far,” I said, with my sarcasm meter turned to eleven.

As we walked back to the bus, people stared at me, and not in the normal ‘we’re fans’ look. More the ‘is that kid brain–damaged?’ concerned expression.

My phone chirped and there was a text from my mom with a crying emoji. I wondered if that was her or what she planned to do to me.

“Hey, Nicki? You’d protect me from my mom, wouldn’t you?” I asked.

Everyone thought that was funny.

“No, seriously,” I said.

Crud! I was on my own. We came around the corner to the aisle that our bus was on.

“David Allen Dawson!”

“Sucks to be you,” Wolf observed.

I put on my excited ten-year-old expression.

“Look what I bought,” I said as I rushed up.

My grandmas Dawson and Felton began to laugh. Mom glared at them.

“Don’t give me that look, Missy,” Grandma Felton said. “This is payback from when you were a little monster.”

“Wherever did you find these?” Grandma Dawson asked as she took one from me, and the little critter rewarded her with a ‘rah.’

Cassidy snuck up and snatched the other one. I guess the girls wanted to see my new pet.

“Some girl had them in the back of her truck. I’m guessing she thought keeping them under a tarp in this weather was acceptable. I essentially saved them,” I tried, and struck a heroic pose.

“You’re such a good boy,” Grandma Dawson said.

I would bet my mom didn’t believe that.

“Of course, you can’t keep them,” Grandma Dawson added.

My mom’s frown turned upside down.

“Why not? They need me,” I said, reverting to my ten-year-old self.

I forgot to do the foot stomp. I must be out of practice.

“Bless his heart,” Grandma Felton said.

With that declaration, I was screwed. I was marched onto the bus. Phil grabbed the bag of masks and the guys started to go through them.

“Hey, I get first pick. I paid for them,” I told them.

They let me sort through and grab the ones I thought were the best. I grabbed five for all the little ones for when they got older and then picked out ones for Greg, Uncle John, Dad and myself. I let my Lincoln teammates each take one and there was one left over. Somehow Cassidy ended up with it. I could just see us in the dojo wearing our masks as we sparred. Shiggy would love it.

I got off the bus first and found Dad and Uncle John in the lobby. Somehow, they had gotten to play golf with some of the other dads, while I had to go shopping.

“Mom took my tigers,” I said, telling on her.

I knew no one liked a tattletale, but sometimes you had to do what you had to do.

“Oh shit, he’s not lying,” Uncle John said as Mom and Grandma Dawson walked in carrying them.

“Look what your son bought,” Mom announced.

“Oh, now he’s my son?” Dad asked, throwing his hands in the air.

I hate my parents. Everyone had an opinion about my purchase. I remembered my Grandpa Dawson grumbling that opinions were like pie holes ... everyone had one.

Turned out the hotel had a no-pet policy. They did help us find a place to board my acquisitions. A local veterinarian who knew what to do with exotic animals took them in.

Our game tonight was at the good ballpark, Estadio de Beisbol. This game was sold out and would be televised. We hoped to get it in because there were threats of thunderstorms. Cuba warmed up first because they were the visitors. When we finally got our turn, the stadium was already three-quarters full. You could feel it was going to be a great game.

Luke Cash, a cagey right-hander, was starting for us tonight. I’d been moved back to leadoff so I could get us started. I’d purposefully not talked to any of the guys I knew on the Cuban team before the game. I wanted to be focused.

I loved the Cuban crowd. Before the game even started, they began chanting and blowing whistles. It reminded me more of a soccer game, the way the fans were acting. I suspected this would be fun.

My teammates seemed to be tight. I knew what I needed to do. I sent Phil into the stands to get Wolf. When we got back to the clubhouse for final instructions, Coach Kingwood started to talk.

“Hang on, Coach. I need my friend to tell the team some jokes,” I interrupted.

“By all means. You’re the Captain, after all.”

Somehow, I didn’t quite believe he meant that.

“Last night in the hotel the cleaning lady saw me naked. I was surprised to see her at midnight,” Wolf started, “ ... in the elevator.”

Everyone groaned. I’d warned him that one wasn’t very good.

“My dad gave me advice as to where to hide Christmas gifts from my mom ... in the oven.

“Did you know David’s a hunter? He went turkey hunting last year. So I decided to try it, and I shot my first turkey last week. Scared hell out of everyone in the frozen food section.

“Dad told me that the best way to remember your girlfriend’s or wife’s birthday is to forget it once.

“I’m sorry to say I’ve been banned from Target. It was an honest mistake. Turns out, when the cashier said, ‘Strip down, facing me,’ she was talking about my debit card!

“Our house was robbed last week and my dad wanted to talk to the burglar. The police told him that he would have his day in court, but he wasn’t allowed talk to him before then. My dad begged them and explained that he needed to know how he’d snuck into the house and not wakened my mom. He’d been trying for nearly twenty years and hadn’t figured it out,” Wolf said.

While they weren’t laughing, they did seem more at ease. Wolf needed to work on his material.

“I think we know what we’re supposed to do. Let’s win this,” Coach said. “Dawson, take them out.”

“‘USA’ on three. One, two three...”

“USA!”

Luke started out in style and struck out the first Cuban batter. Then it got interesting. The next batter came up and was walked, followed by a single to left field. This was not the way we needed to start the game. Luke got his act together and the ensuing batter popped up, and then he struck out the following one to get us out of the inning.

When I came up to bat, it became obvious our fans were outnumbered. Ours began chanting “USA,” and the rest of the stadium would add “Sucks” at the end.

I went to the on-deck circle to watch the Cuban pitcher warm up. He was a big kid with a lot of pop in his pitches. Coach Kingwood had said that he was the best pitching prospect in Cuba right now. There were scouts from many of the major league teams sitting behind home plate. I could tell from the sound of the ball hitting the glove that this kid was different from most young pitchers. I had a bad feeling we might have our hands full tonight.