Chapter 14

David
“Cassidy Hope, how the heck are you?”

“I go home, and you plan a party? You would think you were in high school. My dad warned me about living with you this summer,” Cassidy said as she pulled David in for a hug. When she released him, she asked, “Where’s my cat?”

“Greg’s bringing her to the party. Precious told me she missed you.”

Cassidy didn’t even entertain believing that. Precious was all about Precious.

“Who’s the girl moving into Pam’s room?”

“That would be my security. Fritz and I decided that we would err on the side of caution with everything going on with my movie. It’s just for the summer, I hope.

“I haven’t met her yet. Want to join me and say hi?” David asked.

“I talked to her briefly. I’m not sure what Fritz is thinking,” Cassidy said.

David’s mom and Rosy, their cook, walked in the back door. He slipped up the stairs before they could put him to work. He went up to the third floor and found the door open. David understood what Cassidy was talking about. His security looked to be five-one, and she’d be lucky if she weighed a hundred pounds.

While she was no raving beauty, she certainly wasn’t a dog-show contender either. David was worried that he might have to protect her if anything went down.

She saw him and stood stiffly, like she was at attention.

“Mister Dawson, I’m almost squared away. I understand we have a social gathering tonight.”

“Please call me David. Even my dad doesn’t answer to ‘Mister Dawson.’”

“Yes, sir. I will try to remember that. I am Miss Bettis.”

“Is there anything you need or want to tell me?” he asked.

“Additional security will arrive at seventeen hundred hours and be tasked to guard the perimeter.”

“Well, okay, then,” he said since he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

David went down to the second floor, where his bedroom was. He wanted to take a shower and get dressed. He knew that as soon as his mom saw him, he would no longer have the time to do so.

When he entered the room, he smiled. While he was in the UK, he’d called his friend Cindy to do a minor makeover of his room. He’d tried a daybed and rejected sleeping on that. The room now had a California king Murphy bed, three desks so the girls could still use the space for studying, and an oversized comfy chair for reading.

When David returned from his shower, he dried his hair with a towel but didn’t bother dressing yet. He came up short when he found his new security standing by his door.

“What the ... what are you doing?” he asked.

“I was told that while on duty, I should keep you within my line of sight at all times, sir.”

“Well, okay, then,” David said as he realized that might be his new go-to phrase with this girl.

He had a party to get to, so he decided to put off talking to her about personal boundaries until tomorrow. Then he thought better of it because if a miracle happened and he got lucky tonight, he didn’t want an audience.

“In the future, if my bedroom door is closed, you’re to remain outside unless you think I’m in danger.”

“I’ll make a note of that, sir.”

When she didn’t move and didn’t seem scandalized, David decided to ignore her and got dressed.

David discovered that his mom had hired people to put on the party. He sometimes forgot that he had the money for stuff like that. That meant he was free to do whatever he wanted.

He went out back, grabbed a Mountain Dew from behind the bar, and found a seat to relax in. He spotted Coach Farrow and Rachel as they came in. When they saw him, they joined him at his table.

“Oh, my. If you want, I can call someone to help you fix your hair,” David said.

Rachel swung her beautiful eyes toward his. He saw the amusement in them and a smirk dusting her pouty lips.

“You get a free one tonight for helping my dad sign Todd Davis. But if you make fun of my hair again...” She left the rest unsaid.

David just gave her a hint of a grin to show he wasn’t afraid of her threat.

“I’m just saying that it was a classy move to encourage Todd to come to USC to take your spot on the depth chart. I overheard the coaches talking about bulking you up and letting you play defensive tackle,” Rachel said to up the banter.

That earned her a slightly bigger grin. David might have to figure out how to rid her of her pesky boyfriend.

“I thought you were bringing your boyfriend,” David said.

“He hated to miss your party, but he had to take the wife to get her mole removed,” she said and then got up and walked off.

“What was that all about? Rachel doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Coach Farrow said.

David gave his coach a noncommittal shrug, not showing he was secretly happy to hear she was single. Before they could talk any more, David’s family showed up. Allen looked upset, so David scooped him up and received a fierce hug from his son.

Then it was as if the floodgates had opened as everyone arrived at once. David saw his mom say something to the caterer. A flock of waiters descended upon the crowd, passing around enormous trays of appetizers. David realized that he was hungry, and the food looked delicious. He and Allen managed to eat their fair share.

With Allen in a better mood, David put him down to harass his siblings, who were being entertained by their cousins. With no adult supervision, David wondered how long it would be before something happened. For now, they all seemed in good spirits.

David wandered into the party, looking for Todd, and finally tracked him down.

“Glad you could make it. How are you doing?” David asked.

“Good. I had a great session with Bryant after you left. He said that I wouldn’t have to sit out a season; that fits well with your plans for world domination. Or, at least, world football domination,” Todd said.

“How does that work? Not the domination part, the sitting out part. I’ll admit, I’d forgotten about that requirement.”

“My grandfather lives with my parents, and he’s sick. I mean, really sick. We don’t know if he’s going to make it. He’s been accepted into some experimental treatment program at UCLA, so my family’s moving here. My mom’s his primary caregiver, but it’s hard on all of us.

“We’ve contacted the NCAA, and they’ve indicated I can get a medical hardship waiver, but USC has to make the request. Bryant’s taking care of that, and he doesn’t think we’ll have any problem.

“Bottom line is it looks like I’ll be able to get on the field right away, just as I’d hoped,” Todd said.

“That’s great news,” David said. “I mean, not about your grandfather; I’m sorry to hear that. But I’m glad you’ll be able to play without waiting.”

The two of them chatted a bit more, then David excused himself.

He started to make the rounds to meet his new teammates. He scanned the crowd and spotted his new best friend. David walked over to introduce himself to one of the largest human beings he’d ever seen.

“Jerry?” David asked with his hand out.

David had big hands, but when Jerry Barber shook his, it looked like his hand had been engulfed. Jerry’s fingers were the size of bratwursts. They went with a body that was reported to be six-eight and weigh 330 pounds. When he’d read those stats, David had envisioned a giant of a man on the heavy side. What he saw looked like a hard-muscled lumberjack, like a Paul Bunyan statue come to life.

David had just found the left tackle who would protect his back. He couldn’t wait to see Jerry smack down Percy in practice.

“My friends call me ‘Bear.’ I want to introduce you to my brother. We call him ‘Cub.’”

David could see the two brothers liked each other. Cub, aka Steve, was almost as gigantic as Jerry and a year younger. Steve made sure to tell David that he was a much better football player. David made a mental note to make sure Jerry’s brother was on their list of recruits for the following year.

Mr. and Mrs. Barber were a delight. They were thrilled that David had welcomed their son to campus. He assured them that he and Jerry would become good friends. Then he headed off to meet the other players.

The next one was Nick ‘Big Cat’ Collins, a slot receiver, and his mother. They were standing off to the side, taking in everything. David could see that they felt out of place at a party with waitstaff, something he could relate to.

“Welcome, Nick, Mrs. Collins. What do you think of USC so far?”

“New town, new school, new team ... new everything. This is a total change of scenery, a new life, a second chance for my son,” Mrs. Collins said.

“I like to think that Nick has found a new family. He’ll be spending time with a great group of guys who’ll have his back. We all take care of each other,” David said.

“I’d like to meet your mother while you boys get to know each other.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” David said.

He took them to where his mom was talking to one of the staff. When she saw David with Nick and his mom, she gave them a big smile. Introductions were made, and Nick and David left to talk.

“Are you moved in?” David asked.

“Almost. I’m rooming with Jesús Diaz,” Nick shared.

Jesús, better known as ‘Chuy,’ was another player David was eager to meet. They’d recruited him to be an H-back, a hybrid between a tight end and fullback. He was supposed to be a real bruiser who loved to hit people.

“There he is,” Nick said, getting a little excited.

David looked to where he pointed and spotted a buff Hispanic boy with long, dark hair that hung to his shoulders. He was also sporting a beard. David predicted that the girls were going to love him.

Nick led David to where Jesús and his family were.

“Jesús, hey, you made it.”

David could tell that Nick liked his roommate.

“Only my family calls me Jesús. My friends call me Chuy.”

David saw a flash of hurt cross Nick’s face.

“It’s a good thing we’re all family, then. Welcome to USC, Jesús,” David said.

Jesús rolled his eyes at his family, who were all sporting big smiles. He knew right then that he’d have an uphill battle to keep everyone from calling him by his given name. But he’d try.

David quickly gathered all his new teammates, including Todd, at a huge round table near the stage. The parents were in the process of getting to know each other with help from David’s father and his brother Greg. They were used to networking and quickly had everyone laughing and having a good time.

David found he liked all the new players except one. He was on the fence as to how he felt about the Australian punter. Oliver Shaw was twenty-five and acted like he was better than everyone else, like he was a suave, older guy surrounded by kids. Oliver had one of those punchable faces, all twisted mouth from a constant smirk.

David sat back and took in his surroundings. The dying rays of the evening sunlight painted the sky a dark violet hue. Orange clouds lazed above, seemingly unaffected by the turbulence of humanity below. The smell of steaks being grilled promised a great dinner, in David’s humble opinion.

His mom caught his attention. It was time for him to formally welcome his guests.

“Excuse me, I’ve been summoned,” David said as he got up and jumped on the stage.

“Welcome, everyone. If you could please find your seats, it smells like the steaks are about ready,” he said and then waited until most everyone was settled before continuing.

“I wanted to welcome all the new football players to the USC family. When I call your name, you and your family please stand so you can be recognized,” David said.

He then called out each player’s name in turn, and the crowd all clapped.

“Next, I want to introduce some special guests. First are Ron Pennington and Gabe Francis. Without these two men donating as much money as they do, our athletic department would be a shell of what it is today. USC has the best facilities in the Pac-12, and we can compete nationally because of them.

“I want you all to take some time and speak to these two men before you leave tonight and thank them for everything they do. It is my pleasure to call them my friends, and I hope you’ll feel the same way,” David said.

After another round of acknowledgment, David introduced USC’s Athletic Director, Jaxson Pettis. He then switched to the coaches.

“Unfortunately, most of the coaching staff is on the road recruiting this weekend, but their families are all here. When I call out the coach’s name, I would like his family to stand and be recognized.”

He ran through all the coaches who were on the road. Then he started on the ones who’d shown up to give them recognition.

Coach Clayton hadn’t bothered to come or take David’s call.

“Lastly, I wanted you all to meet our head coach and his family, but apparently, he was too busy,” David deadpanned.