Chapter 24

David
Economics and Communication Strategy in Business was painful. All David wanted was to fast-forward the day so he could play baseball. It was what the team needed after the suspensions. The morning paper had announced that Mason and Jorge had been placed on indefinite suspensions due to breaking unspecified team rules. It didn’t take a Mensa candidate to figure out that meant they hadn’t passed their drug tests.

Coach Deneau had caught David before he left for class to tell him that he would be starting in place of Jorge. He’d also shared that Tucker Frost would play third base to replace Mason. A few minutes later, Andres had sent a text to the starters to meet him for lunch in the USC Village at a restaurant called Honeybird.

David had visited the USC Village on his recruiting trip. It was a new development that was a mixture of dorms and retail space. There were eight dorms, and David had considered living in one of them until he’d found out what Alex’s dad had done.

He’d heard good things about Honeybird. Their signature dish was a spiced fried chicken that was supposed to be outstanding. Andres had picked the right place, in David’s opinion.

On his walk there, his phone rang. It was Lexi.

“Did you forget to tell me something?” was her greeting.

“That I’m taking Jorge Orlando’s spot in the starting lineup tonight?”

“While you didn’t tell me that, I’m wondering why I have four panicked voicemails from Veronica and Christian to call them. Did they break the truce I brokered?” Lexi asked.

’Frick!’ If Lexi was receiving calls, that meant Lindsey was the rat. David was so over all of this. To him, this was the very definition of wasting time. The ‘prank war,’ as Kirk called it, meant much more to his friends and Veronica’s group than it did to David. He’d talked his friends into ignoring it for the most part.

If Veronica’s posse had simply decided that their pranks had been enough, David would have forgotten about it. Lexi knew Veronica and the rest of her gang. In high school, Lexi had been the Alpha girl. When she’d found out that they’d added David to their target list, she’d threatened to take matters into her own hands, which had seemed to cow them.

“They set off stink bombs in our rooms. I have a plan to get back at them, but we were suspicious that Lindsey was sharing information with them. Kirk and Jamie were tasked with telling her that I was calling you to fix their asses,” David explained.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I trusted that she wasn’t a rat. I’d hoped you would never get called. Besides, I’m dealing with it.”

Being a girl, she made him tell her what he planned. Lexi made him promise never to get mad at her. Then she added to the plan.

“I know when you can do it. Sunday, my dad is having an all-day event at his place, and Veronica is coming with four others. I was supposed to get you there. My mom wanted to know why you hadn’t RSVP’d. I had to admit that I never told you because you spend Sundays with your family. Plus, you have a baseball game that morning.

“Mom said it was supposed to go into the night. She told me to get you and drag you there,” Lexi said.

“It would give me cover for what we plan to do. Can I invite Kirk, Alex, and Jamie, too?” David asked.

“If it gets my mom off my butt, absolutely.”

“You coming to any of my games this weekend?”

“I would come tonight, but it’s such a long drive home,” Lexi faux-complained.

“You could always spend the night at my place,” David said to play along.

“What do you want me to do about Christian and Veronica’s calls?” Lexi asked.

“Don’t call them back. Let them worry,” David suggested.

“Okay. I’ll see you tonight.

After David hung up with Lexi, he called Alex to tell him they were a go for operation ‘revenge on the townies.’ David also asked him to talk to Kirk and Jamie to let them know that Lindsey was the rat.

Alex was stoked when he heard he and the rest of the gang were invited to the Sunday party at Paul Andon’s place. He promised to extend the invitation to the rest of the crew. He said his parents had been trying to wangle an invitation. David told him to call Lexi and add them and his sister to the list.

Alex said he would call his father to get everything organized for their prank.

Andres had come early and pulled several tables together.

“What happened with Mason and Jorge?” Allard asked once everyone had their food.

“They tested positive for steroids,” Andres shared.

“I told them last year to lay off that stuff,” Micah Briggs, the starting right fielder, said.

“How did they pass their test last year?” David asked.

“We were warned when the drug tests would be done. They used a masking agent to cover it up,” Micah explained.

“What’s the plan from here?” David asked Andres.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Last year we were 14–14 at home and 7–20 on the road. We finished sixth in the conference. If last weekend was any indication, we’re on track to being mediocre again. Those of you who were with us last year can probably guess why we played so badly on the road,” Andres said.

“If last weekend was an example, it’s pretty obvious,” David said.

“And you and Mason were the ringleaders,” Micah said to Andres.

Andres’s lips pinched to show his irritation at being called out. He looked Micah in the eye when he answered.

“Yes, we were,” he admitted and then turned to everyone. “But that has to change. Personally, I would like to make a living, for however long I can, playing ball. I know several of you want the same. Since I’ve been here, no one I’ve played with has made it to the majors. Only a handful are playing minor league ball. I want that to change, starting today.”

“Do you honestly think the older guys will go along with this? They look forward to going out on bunny hunts,” Micah said.

With a team of 35 guys, it would be ideal to have balanced classes, with the older players getting the majority of the playing time. The underclassmen would be working toward stepping up when their turn came. Unfortunately, USC was top-heavy with upperclassmen, with 12 seniors and 11 juniors on the roster, even though the majority of them were benchwarmers with little hope of getting significant playing time. That left 12 sophomores and freshmen.

Of the starters, six came from the younger classes: David (center field), Micah (right field), Scott (left field), Jackson (shortstop), Tucker (third base), and Seamus (catcher). Of the pitchers, four were underclassmen: Allard, Rex, Dustin, and Jim. The only other upperclassman at lunch was Bill Woodall, their starting second baseman.

That made Micah’s question valid. With Mason and Jorge on indefinite suspension, that only left a couple of older pitchers who would see much playing time. Why would the older guys give up partying on the road if they were never going to play?

“They’re going to be a problem,” Bill agreed.

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you guys. If we’re going to do something this year, we can’t let them distract us,” Andres said.

“I’m all for having fun, but not in season. Personally, I just don’t like losing,” David said.

“I hate to say it, but not having Mason and Jorge on the road will solve most of it if you don’t revert to your old ways,” Bill said to Andres.

“I got a look at what I owe in student loans. That was the wake-up call I needed,” Andres shared.

“What do you mean, student loans? Don’t you all have full rides?” David asked.

They all laughed at him.

“This isn’t football. We’re all on partial scholarships,” Allard explained.

“Except for David and me,” Seamus said.

“I just assumed,” David said, shaking his head. “Christ, USC isn’t cheap.”

“Hence, the hefty student loans,” Andres said.

“Why would you come here if it cost so much?” David asked, clearly confused.

“Have you seen the women?” Allard asked.

“I’m from Ireland, and our weather is bleedin’ awful, yeah,” Seamus added.

“Plus, it’s a great school,” Micah said.

“None of you came here for baseball, then?” David asked.

“Sure we did, but we were all going to get partial scholarships anywhere else we went. Why not go to the best school we could?” Allard asked.

“Sorry, my decision was based on football. I never really looked at baseball all that hard,” David said. “But that doesn’t mean that now that I’m here, I’m not going to give this my all. I’m fully on board with doing whatever it takes.”

“What about football?” Andres asked.

“I’ll just have to figure it out. One thing, though: you won’t have to worry about me partying because I won’t have time,” David said with a grin.

That brought a few chuckles because they all knew how much time was eaten up with baseball.