Chapter 7

The week flew by quickly and soon I was due back at school. Courtney and I spent a lot of time together during that week, although we were never alone long enough to repeat the encounter at the lake, as bad as I know we both wanted to. Courtney and Ashley dropped me off at the bus station, both of them waiting until my bus left. I was not sure of it but I sensed something was wrong with Ashley, she was unusually quiet. Just before I got on the bus, I gave her a hug and kissed her cheek gently.

“You ok Ashley?’, I asked

“Uh ... Yea, I’m ok, sorry.” she said, kissing my cheek.

I arrived back on campus later that night, the familiar confines of my dorm room were waiting for me. Since I was due back in the weight room early in the morning, I went to bed early. I began the grind early the next morning at six, then off to class, followed by practice that afternoon. That weekend we lost our first game of the year, in fact we were down right embarrassed by a very good team from Georgia, 35-7. Everyone had not even made it back to the locker room before Coach Ray, the defensive coordinator was out of control. He began to push players around violently, screaming at the top of his lungs.

“What the fuck kind of effort was that tonight? You embarrassed yourselves in front of a national television audience and if you had any chance of a national title, it’s gone now. Some of you upper classmen gave me absolutely no fucking effort at all tonight. Since you just blew the entire season, I am going to the bench to play some guys that at least have the heart, fuck the experience.” he growled.

As he stormed away from the defensive unit, he walked past me slamming his forearm into my shoulder pads, knocking me off balance. Since I had not played a single down during the game, I had no idea what that was all about. I showered and dressed quickly, heading back to the dormitory. The following week at practice was brutal, Coach was unrelenting. In fact I noticed several players beginning to get an attitude, I knew something bad was brewing. The effort in practice began to decrease as the week wore on, it was evident to everyone. By game day, everyone was on edge, no one was talking to anyone. This was the first time I had ever been on a team that was divided among itself. There was a small clique of players who honestly, thought they were a lot better than they actually were. The coaches knew it as well, but this was an extremely young team, he had little choice in having to play them up to this point. As the defense began to trickle in early to get taped up, Coach Ray met me in front of my locker.

“Brian, I want to apologize to you son, I did you a grave injustice.” he said, lowering his head.

“I’m lost coach, what’s up?” I asked, confused.

“I should have played you this year, while you needed the year to get acclimated, you were ready emotionally to play. I cost you a year of eligibility. I hate to ask you this, but I want to start you tonight. The only problem is, if you play in the remaining two games, you lose your red shirt. You only have three years of eligibility left. I can’t tell you what to do, it’s your call son, let me know.” he said slapping my back as he walked away.

I stood there kinda stunned, looking around the room. Several players had heard the entire conversation, they were eyeing me intently. I sat down and began to get taped up, my mind reeling with the possibilities. Was two games worth losing an entire year over? I know my dad was emphatic about me not playing before I was ready. The problem was, I had no time to call anyone and discuss it, I had to give them an answer quickly. The trainer slapped my thigh breaking my trance, letting me know it I was done. I thanked him and jumped off the table. I made my way back to Coach Ray’s office and knocked on the door before opening it. All the coaches were seated, going over the last minute game plans.

“Yes Brian, what is it?” Coach Ray asked.

“Sorry to bother you Coach, but um ... You know what you just asked me a bit ago?” I inquired.

“Yes son?” he asked, all eyes focused intently on me.

“I’m in Coach, whatever you need, let me know. I’m good to go.” I told him.

The large man smiled for the first time in a few weeks, leaning back in the small chair putting his hands behind his head.

“Thank Brian, I knew I could count on you. You’re excused.” he responded.

I stepped out and quietly closed the door behind me, walking back to my locker. A few of the other players were whispering to themselves in private, I had no idea what about, nor did I care. By the time we hit the field, I was ready to play, no matter what. As the defense took the field for the first time, I was not called out. Strange I thought, but I kept silent waiting on my number to be called. By halftime, I was still sitting on the bench in the same spot. I had no idea what to think as we went in for halftime tied at 10-10. Once again the coaches were verbally aggressive, pointing out missed opportunities to score. We had played pretty well defensively, only allowing ten points. By the time the fourth quarter started, I was totally confused. We were losing 24-17, I was still seated, not a stain on my uniform. The game ended in another defeat, this time 31-27, our second in a row. This time though, there was no ranting in the locker room afterwards, everyone had looked around nervously, wondering what was up. Coach Ray walked in and took control of the meeting.

“I’m not gonna stand here and scream and shout tonight, it’s not worth it. But what I am going to tell all of you, is this. We have an excellent group of young players on this team, who kill themselves in practice everyday, so you prima donna’s can have someone to go up against. It’s obvious to me now, I made a huge mistake in judgement on several players on this team.” he started.

“But that’s in the past, we have one game left and then probably a minor bowl bid, if we’re lucky. But I telling you guys one things now and I am dead serious. I don’t have to single anyone out tonight, you know who you are. But come next year, you better get used to being a backup or look to transfer out of here because you’re not going to play for me.” he continued.

“I asked a player before the game to make a huge sacrifice for this team, and lose an entire year of eligibility to play in just two games. Without hardly any thought he agreed stating that whatever the team needed, he would go along with. I was going to play him tonight, but you’re not worth his sacrifice. I’m telling you all right now, enjoy what’s left of this year, the next one is either going to kill you or make you quit.” he ended.

He turned and walked away with little more than an after thought. Everyone just kinda looked around, no said much of anything. We undressed, showered and left the stadium. We ended the season with a win, were invited to a decent bowl game which we won, but all in all it was a disappointing season. I began to wonder if I had chosen the right school, if maybe I should think of transferring. Since I had sat out this year, I could play right away.

I finished the school year with a 3.5 GPA, I was extremely pleased considering the limitations on my time. On the last day on campus before summer vacation, I checked in with Coach Ray before leaving. He urged me to work hard during the next few months, he promised me I would definitely get serious playing time next year. He begged me not to give up on him or the program, he promised it would get better. I thanked him and reassured him I would work hard during the summer.

I arrived back at home on a Friday, Ashley still had two weeks of classes left before the summer vacation. She had followed Courtney to the bus station the night before and dropped off my truck, so I would have a ride. The bus pulled in about twelve-thirty that afternoon. I decided to stop in at the high school on my way home, to see Ashley and Coach Mike again. I parked in the student lot and made my way to the front door, I pulled it open and immediately was confronted by Ms. Carter.

“Hold on young man, just where do you think you’re going?” she asked with a smile.

“Uh, I wanted to see Ash ... I mean Ms. Thompson and Coach Mike.” I responded quickly.

“Not before you come give me a big hug mister.” she answered, extending her arms.

I walked over, bent down and gave her a big hug. She squeezed me tightly, kissing my cheek. She pulled away and looked me up and down.

“My Lord Brian, when will you ever stop growing child?” she asked.

“I’m still the same size as when I left here Ms. Carter.” I stated.

“No way, No way.” she said laughing, shaking her head.

While in fact that was the truth, my appearance had changed drastically. I was close to two hundred ninety pounds when I left for school last year, standing six foot six inches tall. I had only gained about a half inch in height, and my weight was currently two hundred eighty nine pounds. But I had lost most of the fat on my body and replaced it with muscle mass. Even though my weight was down about a pound, I looked a lot bigger than I had a year ago. I thanked Ms. Carter for the warm welcome and made my way to Ashley’s class. I rounded the hall and looked inside the back door to her class. Everyone was seated, she had her back to the class and was writing on the blackboard. A couple of students looked up and saw my face in the class. I lifted a finger to lips telling them to be quiet and slipped inside the back door, sitting quickly in the last empty desk in the far right hand row. By now everyone had saw me sneak in, several students were chuckling aloud. Ashley stopped writing and turned, facing the class. I had scooted down so far in the desk she could not see me from where she was at.

“So anyone want to tell me what’s so amusing today?” she said in a stern manner.

Again everyone cracked up, causing her lose a bit more of her patience. She turned and walked over to the blackboard and began to write the day’s notes again. I leaned over in the aisle to make sure she heard my voice, but I made sure to disguise it slightly.

“Do we really have to write all this crap down?” I said in a low pitched voice.

I quickly hid behind the student in front of me as she whirled around and faced the class. You could see she was not amused.

“Ok that’s it. Who said that? Someone is going to the office, now.” she sternly ordered.

I slowly raised my hand up just above the head of the student in front of me. Ashley got up on her tip toes trying to see over the kid in front of me.

“Who is that back there?” she asked, extremely annoyed.

I knew it was time to give it up, I slowly leaned into the aisle so she could see my face. Her perturbed look slowly gave way to a huge smile. I got up and walked over to her, giving her a huge hug.

“Hey Honey, it’s so good to see you.” she said, “Oh my God, look at how big you have gotten.”

We talked for a second then I knew it was time to bail, Ashley was all business at school. I told her I was going to see Coach Mike, then head home. She told me she would see me there later. I exited her class and walked towards the gym area and Coach Mike’s office. I passed several faculty members and former teachers, all greeting me warmly. I finally arrived at Coach Mike’s office, knocking on the door loudly.

“Come in.” he shouted.

I opened the door to see a friendly face looking up from the desk, he immediately jumped from his seat.

“Hey Brian, good to see you buddy. Man you’re looking good.” he said extended his hand to mine.

“Thanks Coach, it’s nice to be home.” I answered.

We sat down and talked for close to an hour about his team this coming year, and my situation up at school. He told me that he would make a call to Coach Ray in a few weeks to make sure that everything was going forward for me to compete the following season. I thanked him for the concern, told him I would see him again soon and left for home.

Upon arriving home, I loaded my clean clothes into my locker, took the dirty clothes to the laundry room and started a load in the washer. The one good thing about being away at school was you did learn to take care of yourself. By the time Ashley had gotten home, I had washed all of the clothes, her’s included, cleaned the kitchen and straightened up the rest of the house. I was sitting down watching TV when she came into the family room.

“Hey hotshot, thank you so much for cleaning up. I have been swamped with exams and everything this week. I really appreciate it darling.” she said, patting the top of my head.

“No problem Ashley, glad to help out.” I answered.

She went to her room and changed clothes coming back out in shorts and a tee shirt, no shoes. She was scurrying around the kitchen when she yelled out to me.

“What do you want to eat this evening?” she asked.

“It don’t matter to me.” I responded.

“I have to hurry, I have finals to grade.” she said.

“You want me to grab some takeout then? It would make things easy on you.” I offered.

“You know, that’s a great idea.” she said, smiling.

I jumped up, put on my shoes and drove into town picking up burgers, fries and shakes at the local diner. I was back in less than thirty minutes, Ashley was already grading papers. I sat with her and ate as she continued to work, I cleaned up after we were done. I told her I was going to watch a bit of TV then probably go to bed early, I had a meeting at the gym with Carl early in the morning about my training schedule for the next three months.

I think I fell asleep about ten that night, Ashley was still hard at it. I woke up about seven the next morning, got dressed and headed to the gym for my appointment. Carl was already there working with a few clients when I walked into the huge room. He waved to me, excused himself and came right over.

“Brian, good to see you.” he said, shaking my hand.

“I see they have been working you hard, I can see a big difference in you.” he said, looking me over.