Chapter 7: Think A Little Less

Monday June 13

Peggy woke me up and made me run with her. I was in charge of pushing the boys in their running stroller. Duke must have been growing up because we saw three squirrels and he decided to let them live. Either that or Peggy had been getting through to him that dragging her across someone’s front lawn while she had the boys was not in his best interest.

We went into breakfast and found that Mom had made sausage and eggs with hash browns. I was a happy boy because there was hot sauce. It was amazing that little things like water pressure for your shower and hot sauce to add zing to your food made coming home seem like heaven.

“What are your plans for the day?” Dad asked.

“I need to go lift and then get ready for baseball camp.”

“Yuri called to remind you that they have football practice at one.”

“Yeah, why not? I’ll call Moose and see if we can do my baseball stuff later.”

“We’re going to your new restaurant for dinner tonight,” Mom told me.

I just let it roll off me. I hadn’t been home even a day and already had too much to do.

I heard the back door open and in strolled Paul.

“Look what I have,” he said, showing me a bag of Cuban coffee.

He also had a stove-top espresso maker. You put the water in the bottom and when it got hot, it pushed the water up through the coffee into a reservoir at the top. I poured sugar into a small bowl and added a little bit of coffee in it so it could be beaten into the sugar froth for the topping.

Peggy was the only smart one and didn’t want to try it. Mom and Dad made faces, but I was betting that when they felt the effects, they’d be back for more.

Coach Hope was there to open the weight room for the football team. I think he wanted to talk to me because he volunteered to be my spotter. Normally Wolf did it, but he was in Chicago for the summer.

“Cassidy had a good time, and she told me you were a perfect gentleman ... with her,” Coach Hope threw in for good measure.

“She has a big mouth if she’s telling you personal information like that.”

“How did she do?”

“She did great, for the most part. She wouldn’t protect me from the crocodiles, though. With respect to her acting as my trainer, I couldn’t be happier. She didn’t let me slack off very much. If she hadn’t been there, I probably would have been a total slug,” I admitted.

“Is she still going with you to Japan?” Coach Hope asked.

“I think she’s looking forward to showing me where she lived while you were stationed there.”

“It’s a great place. A little crowded, but I have no complaints about my time there. That was the time she got serious about martial arts. You’ll have to get her to take you to her old dojo. They’re amazing.”

That caught my attention. It was definitely going on my to-do list.

“How’s football coming?” I asked.

“Good. Trent has improved with the extra work from seven-on-seven and the summer workouts. He’d be ready to start if he wasn’t behind you,” Coach Hope admitted.

“Make sure he signs up for some camps this summer. The two I would recommend are Kentucky and Ohio State. He’ll learn a lot and get some exposure.”

“Don’t forget Michigan is coming here to hold a camp. What do you think of that?” he asked.

“Coach Haber isn’t making any friends in the business. I think they’re just jealous they didn’t think to do it first. I got a tweet that they may go to Rome for spring break during spring practice. It’s not like the football program doesn’t have the money. I read somewhere they averaged $87 million in football revenue over the last three years. That’s $17 million more on average than Ohio State and $40 million more than Wisconsin.

“So if Coach Haber wants to hold a camp to try and lure me to Michigan, I say go for it. It certainly will give all the football prospects in the area exposure to a big-time football camp,” I said.

“Are you thinking about going there?”

“They’re on the short list. Right now, I’m also considering Ohio State, Michigan State, Alabama, Kentucky, Clemson, Florida State, Texas, Oklahoma, Stanford, and USC.”

“Three from the Big Ten and then two each from the other Power 5 conferences. I’m surprised you don’t have more from the SEC.”

“I have ties to Kentucky and Alabama that I don’t have to the rest. Georgia seems to have gotten their quarterback for the next few years, and who knows what’ll happen at LSU with their new coach. You look at Missouri and their team walked out over some racial issues, while Ole Miss is one misstep away from a meeting with the NCAA. I guess if I were to expand my list, Florida and Tennessee look to be making some noise. I’m not ruling anyone out as of now, but I need to start getting serious soon,” I said.

“I think your list is fine. I would probably take Kentucky, Michigan State, Texas, and Stanford off. I just don’t see them competing for a national title anytime soon, and I think you need to experience that.”

“We’ll see. I have nine months or so to decide.”

I went to football practice and there were some new faces. Guys who had been on the JV team were moving up to varsity. It looked like we would have more depth than we did last year. Yuri and Ty had stepped up and were organizing everything. Alan couldn’t help out this year because he was on the coaching staff and summer practice was a non-sanctioned event, meaning no coaches.

“Look who decided to show up. Why don’t we show you what the new offense is, and then you can join us in a couple of days,” Trent said.

“Why don’t we do it like we always do and take turns. I think the JV and freshman quarterbacks would like a chance to show what they can do,” I replied.

Trent’s face went pink. We both knew he was trying to freeze me out. Good luck with that. Unlike Brad Hope, he didn’t have his daddy as the head coach. The other players just ignored our byplay and did their jobs.

I had a little rust throwing the ball and Trent had improved quite a bit. Even so, there was no comparison. I still outthrew him by a wide margin, which didn’t make him happy. I tried to give him some advice, but he wasn’t having any of it. I gave up and focused my help on the other quarterbacks. They both showed promise and took the coaching well. I predicted that Trent might have his hands full if he weren’t careful, come his senior year.

It felt good to run around in shorts and throw a football. Today was looking up.

Moose and Coach Haskins showed up, so I quickly changed to practice baseball.

“I have something for you two,” I said, and handed them each a box of cigars. “I figured a couple of old guys like you would enjoy them.”

“I’ll let the ‘old guy’ comment slide. Are these really Cuban cigars?” Moose asked.

“Yep. I even was able to go to the factory and watch them make some of them. They’re all hand-rolled, and I was told these are the ones that are sought after. I hope you enjoy them.”

“I think he’s softening us up for something,” Coach Haskins said.

“Well, I’ve been thinking...”

“Nothing good ever comes from that,” Moose interrupted.

“ ... that I normally have a personal coach when I go to football camps like the Elite 11. I don’t have anyone going with me to the Under 18 baseball tryouts. I was wondering if I could talk one—or better yet, both—of you into coming with me to North Carolina next week,” I said.

“You paying for the trip?” Moose asked.

“And extra for food and incidentals,” I threw in.

“I haven’t had a vacation in years,” Moose admitted. “I’m in.”

“What if you end up getting through to the next round?” Coach Haskins asked.

“I’d do the same again. And if I go to Monterrey, Mexico, I’d ask you to come along.”

They both smiled at me.

“Set it up,” Coach Haskins said.

The two men had spent a lot of one-on-one time with me, and I couldn’t think of anyone other than Coach Rusty Camarillo, the Cubs hitting coach, that I would want there. Well, there was one more: Coach Herndon, our pitching coach.

“Do you think Coach Herndon would want to come?” I asked.

“He just might. I’ll call him and see,” Moose said.

They ran my butt off doing outfield drills. They could tell that I’d been working out, so I told them about Cassidy and Coach Conde. Overall, it was a good workout and started to get my head back into baseball.

Paul had taken the Jeep today so that Mom could take Coby and Little David to daycare. She picked up Kyle, Mac and Nate along with the boys for dinner at Granny’s West. That was a lot of car seats. We pulled up in time to help unload all the little rug rats. It was good that the restaurant was kid-friendly.

“Unca David, Unca David!” Kyle and Mac chanted, to be let out first.

Nate was closest to me.

“No!” Mac howled.

I stuck my tongue out at her.

“Mmmm! I’m telling,” Kyle threatened.

“You two know better. Wait your turn.”

I hugged Nate and gave him a kiss on his cheek. He was at the stage where he knew ten times more than he could verbalize, and it frustrated him. He did look happy that he was gotten out first. At that age, they liked to be made special.

“Are you Uncle David’s good boy? I bet you are,” I said, tickling his tummy.

That produced a screech that about deafened me. Mom gave me a raised-eyebrow look while she dealt with Coby and Little David. I put Nate into his stroller, then turned to his siblings.

“Okay, you two. I’m going to set you free, but you have to stay with me. We’re going to go eat, and I don’t need you bothering the other people.”

They agreed and we all made it into the lobby. Jan was the hostess tonight, and I appreciated that she grabbed Kyle and Mac’s hands to guide them to a back-corner table. If I thought two in our house was a lot, having all five little ones was crazy. We soon had everyone in a high chair.

Mom bailed on me and went back to work for a little bit, leaving me with all the babies. I’d gotten Greg’s crew sippy cups of juice and pulled out a toy for Little David. Coby needed to be held.

Our server was pregnant; I would have to ask Angie if we’d started to give girls jobs through the charity. She brought out apple slices for Kyle and Mac, who devoured them. Nate wasn’t a fan, so I gave his to his brother and sister.

Peggy had gone to Greg and Angie’s after her classes, so they all came in together. They had big smiles on their faces when they saw I was in a public place with five children under the age of three. The good news was no one complained about the noise they made. Angie and Peggy took over childcare as I took Coby around the restaurant to thank everyone for coming tonight and introduce them to my son. My dad had told me that my granddad had started me off doing this when I was Coby’s age.

I thought it was just going to be my family for dinner, but it looked like Mom had let everyone know. Pam and Lacy arrived first, and Coby got some grandma time. Yuri and his mom followed Brook and her family. Tracy showed up about the time Caryn, Megan and my parents arrived.

It was Little David’s turn to fuss, and Peggy brought him to me to do my magic.

“What’s the matter, Big Guy?” I asked.

There was something about my deep voice that would settle him down. I think it broke his concentration on being unhappy. I bounced him around and talked to him while everyone got settled.

“David, have you heard anything more about Trip?” Lacy asked.

I looked at Paul. That reminded me: where had he gone when it was time to take care of babies?

“They’re getting a specialist to look at the injury to his shoulder. They’re worried he might have nerve damage. As far as his prognosis goes, they think he’ll be fine,” Paul shared.

I told everyone the highlights of my trip to Cuba and making the movie, leaving out the part where Laurent had his accident. At the end of the night, Pam told me that she would come over and help me put Coby to bed. Brook said she was seeing me on Wednesday. I gave her a funny look.

“You’re having dinner at your farm tomorrow, and the Pearsons are coming over,” Brook explained.

Sometimes it frustrated me that my women planned my life, but in this instance, I was okay with it. I wanted to see Zoe, Pam and Brook.

Tracy joined Pam when she came over. She came up to my apartment while Pam spent time with our son. Mom said she’d been doing that several times a week. The good news was Pam spent as much time with Little David as she did with Coby. It was hard to separate the two of them when they were both there together. Peggy also needed some time on her own. She spent it studying or she’d hang out with my parents.

Tracy sat next to me on the couch and I put my arm around her.

“How have you been?” I asked.

“I’ve been thinking about my future. I graduate in December and then it’s off to college. I don’t even know where you’ll be going.”

“Well, that’s two of us,” I admitted.

“If you had to pick right this second, where would you go?” she asked.

“The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. They have a campus in Beijing.”

Tracy blinked at me a few times and then cocked her head.

“When do you plan to tell your mom this? Because I want to be there when you do.”

I rubbed my chin.

“Yeah, that might not be a good idea. Maybe their San Francisco or Philadelphia campuses,” I reasoned.

“Do you even have the grades to get into Wharton?”

“I have straight ‘A’s, I have a ton of extracurricular activities, and my SAT was 2130. Their average is 2163.”

“You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?” Tracy asked.

“Some. If they had a higher-level football or baseball team, I’d be all for it.”

“Okay, let’s accept you’re not getting into your dream school. What football powerhouse are you planning on attending?” Tracy asked.

I gave her the same list I gave Coach Hope earlier today. It made me wonder: if I was asked this question twice in one day, I might want to think seriously about the answer. At the very least, I would need to get applications out soon. That sounded like something Caryn could work on.

“You make my head hurt,” she complained.

“I think you should kiss me more and think a little less,” I suggested.

She had to shake her head to grasp what I was suggesting.

“Sometimes you make a lot of sense,” she said and kissed me.

“Damn it!” we heard from the living room.

That made me giggle, and Tracy clamped her hand over my mouth.

“Shhhhh ... she might hear us,” she whispered.

“I hear you just fine,” Pam said as the door to my bedroom opened.

“She said you were still broken down there after having the baby,” I said, throwing Tracy under the bus.

“I never said that. He told me to kiss him and something about not thinking too much. You know what happens when he kisses you. It was his fault,” Tracy retaliated.

“Out!” Pam ordered Tracy.

Tracy scurried out of bed and began to hunt for her clothes. She gave Pam a hug.

“I warmed him up for you,” she told Pam and then turned to me. “Figure it out. We need to know so we can do applications.”

After Tracy left, I held my arms out to Pam. She crawled into bed and let me hug her and give her a kiss.

“It’s good that I love you both or I might be mad,” Pam said.

“If I thought you’d be mad, I would never have been with her.”

“I know.”

“You okay?” I asked.

“Do you love me?”

“Yes.”

“Show me.”

Tuesday June 14

I awoke to the feel of someone pressing into my back. I rolled over and got licked in the face.

“Duke!”

His tail just thumped on the bed. Peggy must have allowed him on the bed while I was gone. I rubbed his ears. I’d missed him while I was away. I got up and went to the house to help Peggy get the boys ready for our run. Duke snuck into my parents’ room and didn’t want to come when we left.

My day fell into the routine I’d had yesterday. Coach Hope helped me work out, I practiced football and then baseball. The only difference was, Cassidy showed up with everyone after my baseball practice and we did sixty minutes of hell. She was in fine form and about killed us all.

“Hey, Grandma,” I said as I came in the back door at the farm and gave her a hug. “What smells so good?”

“Yelena is making something and won’t let me in the kitchen. You’ll have to ask her,” Grandma Dawson said.

“You stay out. Ruin surprise,” Yuri’s grandmother ordered me while shaking a big wooden spoon.

My self-preservation instinct was still good and I decided not to push it. I went with my grandma out the back door and she walked me around the farm. They’d gotten a couple of chickens, and I commented on that.

“Yelena wanted fresh eggs.”

“Ah. How is it working out?” I asked.

“It’s not too bad. She and I get along, and with Jan around we have someone to keep us amused.”

“So, Jan moved in?” I asked.

“Yelena thought that it was for the best and I agreed. She needs her own life instead of focusing on Yuri 24/7.”

“I bet he hated that.”

“He is typical man,” Grandma Dawson said in a faux Russian accent.

We both had a little chuckle at that. I could imagine Yelena saying just that.

“How are you liking the farm?”

“I’d forgotten how much work it is. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep doing it but then thought about the alternative. I was bored out of my mind, being retired. Caryn, Megan and Yelena have been a godsend. Yelena oversees the Mennonites and keeps them busy. Caryn and Megan take care of all the bookkeeping and ordering. I just have to worry about the big-picture stuff.

“I was happy when they finally finished working on the house. I was tired of living in the mess. Now that it’s done, I love it.”

I noticed that her smile was softer, more content.

I was impressed with the work that had been done. A lot of the decorative wood (floors, trim, cabinet faces) had come from black walnut trees here on the farm and crafted by a local woodworker. They’d also made furniture with it. Grandma had had them make me a bedroom set for when I got my own place.

“I was approached by someone from the State about the river,” she said, to change the subject. “It has slowed and widened over the years. They say it has filled with silt and that’s causing some problems with flooding. The State wants to dig out several feet of silt but wants us to pay for the work.”

“I’m sure it’s not just us. What do the other farmers think?” I asked.

“They don’t want to spend the money, but I have an idea. I talked to an Ag professor and he agrees it has merit,” she proposed.

“Let’s hear it.”

“The State wanted a fortune to do the work. I talked to the other farmers and they said that they could rent equipment and do what’s needed for about a tenth of the cost. What I want to do is use the silt for fertilizing the produce fields. Part of the project would be to put in gravel and sand to make a small beach area for the kids back here.

“I talked to the state agency representative, and he said they’d be willing to let us do it if they supervised. All that’s needed is for you to authorize the funds,” she said.

She told me how much, and it didn’t seem like a lot when you compared it to what the State wanted to hit us with if they did it just for our section.

“Tell them they can go ahead if they give us our access bridge at the same time,” I suggested.

I was glad I spent the time to walk the farm with my grandmother. She and I had gotten closer now that she’d come home, so to speak. I was pleased when she stepped in to help resolve the rift between my parents over my dad’s infidelity, and I was even happier now, for a lot more reasons.

When we got back, we found Zoe and her family in the living room. Zoe was helping Jan set the table. When she saw me, she stopped what she was doing to give me a kiss.

“Look at the two lovebirds,” Roc chirped.

“Leave alone. They are good together,” Yelena announced. “Jan, please help.”

Jan went to the kitchen and we all sat down for dinner. Yelena outdid herself. We started out with meat-filled dumplings in a clear broth called pelmeni. Then she served us beef stroganoff. She’d made it with a creamy mushroom gravy and served it over egg noodles. For dessert, she made a sweetened cheese dish called paskha. Everyone loved it.

During dinner, I told them about my trip to Cuba and how nice the people were. Mrs. Pearson loved my story about the swamp and the crocodiles.

“Tell them what you did,” she urged her husband.

Normally she was the one with stories that entertained me. It was a surprise that Mr. Pearson would have one.

“It was just a slight miscalculation,” he said, to play it off.

“ ... that had us picking up stones out of our field for a week,” Grandma Dawson added.

What could they possibly be talking about?

“I think you need to tell your story,” I encouraged.

He gave his wife a look and saw she wasn’t about to let him off the hook. I hoped I was as good a sport when I was old and married like he was.

“I decided that we needed to clear out some stumps. They had the same problem over on the Bauer farm, so we got the boys to help us,” he explained.

“Sorry, man, I know what that can be like,” I told Roc. “My uncle made me dig fencepost holes all one summer. The capper was he had a tractor implement for the job, but chose child labor instead.”

“Between Dad and Mr. Bauer, they had Johan, Milo and me working like dogs for almost a week,” Roc complained.

“It had to be done,” Mr. Pearson pointed out.

“I know, Dad, but digging out stumps is hard work,” Roc complained.

“We had a couple we couldn’t seem to get out. I remembered that I had some old dynamite lying around.”

“Who has old dynamite? And where did you get it in the first place? Isn’t that illegal?” I asked in rapid-fire fashion.

“All good questions and the illegal part was why I thought we might want to use it up,” Mr. Pearson admitted.

“It had been around for years. I told him it wasn’t stable,” Mrs. Pearson said, sounding satisfied.

“Anyway ... we decided to try it out, and it worked like a dream. One of the stumps flew about ten feet into the air.”

“You would have loved it,” Roc said with a big smile.

I could see how blowing some stuff up could be a good time.

“We thought we knew what we were doing.”

“The key word there is ‘thought,’” Mrs. Pearson reminded him.

“Well, it did make it all go faster,” he defended himself.

“What went wrong?” I asked.

“We had this big maple-tree stump next to an old shed. We’d gotten the hang of digging the hole to put the dynamite in so it would direct the stump to where we wanted it. We put a stick in and when it went off, it did nothing but blow dirt everywhere. This was the biggest and last stump, so I figured we could use the last three sticks to dislodge it.

“When we set it off, the stump shot a hundred feet into the air. Some of the root system must have been under the stone wall of the shed because it shot rocks everywhere. We had all ducked behind the Bauers’ pickup truck, and it was good that we did. It did over three thousand dollars’ worth of body and windshield damage.

“We also lost a couple of windows on the side of the house, which was about 400 yards away. Rock was found in fields almost a quarter mile from where the stump had been,” he explained.

“Tell him about the police,” Mrs. Pearson urged.

“That was a bit of a problem. They got calls from all over reporting a bomb going off. We didn’t have any more dynamite, so they let me off with a warning.”

“Next time you do something like that, call me,” I said.

It was probably good that my mom wasn’t there, but my grandma had some pointed commentary on the matter. I just winked at Mr. Pearson to let him know that if he wanted a partner in crime, I was in.

Zoe and I went for a walk after dinner. We ended up on the bluff that overlooked the river. It was the perfect place to build a home once the river was cleaned up and fixed. It was so peaceful back here. I sat down with my back to a walnut tree and Zoe sat in front of me and leaned back into my arms.

“How’s your summer going?” I asked.

“We sold some horses, so I was able to buy new colts to train. Most of the early training is just spending time with them so they get used to people.”

“I didn’t know you did that,” I admitted.

“Dad decided that I could try it this year. My goal is to get them broken and saddle-trained so I can sell them. The money will go towards college expenses.”

“I think everyone has college on the brain. Tracy is freaking out about where she’s going. Even Coach Hope was asking me where I plan to go.”

“Where do you plan to go?”

“I probably won’t decide until the spring signing period, if I play football.”

“What do you mean, ‘if’? I thought that was what you planned to do,” Zoe asked as she turned her head so she could look me in the eyes.

“I might skip college and either do movies or play baseball.”

She laughed at me.

“I want to be there when you tell your mom you aren’t going to college.”

“Why’s that funny? Don’t you think I could take distance-learning classes? You can get your degree online now. If I play baseball, I could take classes during the offseason,” I said.

“When would that be? Baseball ends in either September or October, and then there’s winter ball if you’re developing, and spring training is after that. You’d play ball almost year-round.”

“When did you get so smart about baseball?” I asked.

“Since you started to get good at it,” she said, and then she smirked. “Tami told me.”

“I believe that.”

“You might do movies?” she asked.

“I don’t know. All that makes my head hurt right now. I guess I’ll find out how good I am next week.”

“Tami says you’ll be just fine.”

“When did you talk to Tami?” I asked.

“We all went up with her mom for a girls’ weekend. Well, everyone except Halle. She was off promoting your movie. She said you were a jerk for shooting your Cuban movie during the release.”

I chuckled.

“She didn’t need me for that. I bet she loved it.”

“She did, but we all could tell she missed you. She wanted to share that with her big movie-star boyfriend.”

“I’m not her boyfriend,” I shot back.

She just sighed. I know, I’m a ‘stupid boy.’

“Have you talked to her since you came back?” Zoe asked.

“Yeah. She and her mom are having a rough time of it. Fritz told me that Trip is doing well enough that they can take him back to LA. They want him to see a specialist about his shoulder wound.”

“What about his friend?”

“They’re having the funeral this weekend; same for the bodyguard that was shot.”

“Are you planning on going?” Zoe asked.

“No. I knew Craig, but we weren’t really friends. I never met Andy. Plus, I need to focus on baseball, and the trip across country would be too much.”

“Tami said you wouldn’t go,” Zoe said.

I just was quiet for a minute.

“Do you miss him?”

Leave it to Zoe to figure out that my best friend Jeff would be the reason I didn’t want to go to a funeral. My stomach tightened as the memories flooded back. Like Craig, Jeff had been taken much too soon. There was also the sense of helplessness. There was nothing I could have done to prevent either death. Somehow, I felt that if I’d been there, it might have turned out differently. How? I have no idea.

I’d talked to Uncle John after Jeff had died and told him my thoughts. He just shook his head and explained the futility of that line of thinking. He made some comment about part of it was being young and thinking I could do anything. One of life’s lessons is that sometimes, things are just out of your control. All you can do is pray and turn it over to God. That’s not as easy as it sounds, though.

“Do you want to pray about it?” Zoe asked, guessing why I’d gone quiet.

“Do you mind?” I asked.

“Never.”

Wednesday June 15

Paul was called back to LA for a meeting with Fritz and all his other employees. I was told not to get into any trouble until he got back. I didn’t think we needed security, but Dad told me that someone had tried to scale the fence while I was gone. Paul left after getting my promise to be good, though he seemed skeptical. Go figure.

Cassidy was put in charge of my security. She decided I had slacked off long enough. After baseball, she took me to the dojo with her dad and Brook. Coach Hope was impressed with what we’d learned in Cuba. Shiggy stopped by to see what we were up to.

“You can stop right there. You’ll end up hurting yourself if you aren’t properly trained. It sounds like he was showing you shortcuts that aren’t allowed in my dojo,” Shiggy said.

“The stuff he taught us seemed to work,” I said.