Chapter 23

Cassidy wanted to see Precious before they flew back. She tried to get Pam and Tracy to take her, but they had zero interest in seeing their feline former roommate. Cassidy finally talked David into it.

“Brit says Precious is settling in just fine. Why are we doing this?” David asked as they pulled up in front of Brit’s apartment complex.

“I want to make sure.”

“Okay, but I better not be bleeding when we leave.”

He was such a baby.

They went to the door and rang the bell. Brit’s roommate answered.

“Are you Cassidy?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Hang on. I’ll be right back,” the girl said and shut the door in their faces.

“That doesn’t sound good,” David said.

She opened the door and thrust a pet carrier into David’s hands. Precious was in rare form and tried to bite her way out of her container.

“What’s going on?” Cassidy asked.

“Last night, this fucking... cat ... attacked my boyfriend. He says he won’t come back until she’s out of the house. Either you take her, or I’ll have her put down.”

“Where’s Brit?” Cassidy asked.

“She’s not strong enough to do what has to be done, so she let me be in charge of this.”

“Where can we take her to have her put dow—

“What the fuck?!” David complained when Cassidy hit him.

“Let’s go,” she said and turned to walk to the car.

David held the carrier away from his body like it was radioactive. Cassidy could see the crate rocking as Precious tried to get herself free. He put the pet carrier in the back seat and got in. Before he started the car to leave, he turned to Cassidy.

“Tracy and Pam will not let that beast back into their house.”

Cassidy had to admit that even she was nervous about eventually opening the carrier. It sounded like they’d caught some mythological monster out to ravage the world, and no one would be safe if the pet door was unlatched anytime soon.

“Don’t ask me to put her down,” Cassidy said, tearing up.

“Uncle John and Aunt Bonnie are meeting everyone at Granny’s West for breakfast, and he took Satan’s Spawn. Convince him to take Precious, or I’ll drop her off at the pound. There’s a no-kill one near the airport, and I’ll make a big donation so they take her,” David offered.

Satan’s Spawn was Precious’s kitten, who no one else would take because he was too much like his mom, hence the name. Uncle John had initially said he was going to rename the cat, but he and Aunt Bonnie decided that it fit the beast too well to change.

Cassidy burst into tears. David just started the car and drove to the restaurant. He must have become desensitized to crying girls because the old David would have crumbled at the sight of her tears.

“You’ll help me talk to John?” Cassidy finally asked between sniffles.

“I’ll help.”

She hadn’t told him the reason for the visit to see Precious was that Brit had called her. At first, Precious had been doing fine, but then something happened. Brit said she suspected her roommate’s boyfriend had done something. Suddenly, Precious’s only purpose in life was to end his—and any man’s—when he entered the apartment.

David had told her he suspected Brit’s brothers had abused her when she was a kitten. It had taken Precious a long time to warm up to even him.

She’d agreed to pick the cat up when Brit admitted it might be time to put her down for safety reasons. Maybe Precious would calm down enough to live on David’s uncle’s farm.

David felt like he’d gotten off easy when his uncle finally agreed to take Precious. He’d only had to give up his condo near the Whistler Blackcomb resort for two weeks. His mom hadn’t wanted to do it because it was during prime skiing season, and they would have to bump a couple of people to make it happen.

She’d gotten on board when she learned Option B was to have Precious come live in Malibu.

Once the plane reached cruising altitude, David left the cockpit to check on his children. He found they were all doing much better now that they’d learned how to fix the air pressure in their ears.

As he headed back to the cockpit, Coach Thomas stopped him.

“Do you have a minute?”

“Yeah. I’m just sitting up front to collect the hours I need to qualify to fly bigger jets.”

Ron Pennington was sitting across the aisle and joined the conversation.

“Coach Thomas and I were talking about Coach Harrington and Coach Styles and have a few questions for you since you know them both. We’ve asked Coach Thomas to make some behind-the-scenes inquiries in our preliminary search for the next head coach. We used your trip as an excuse for him to be able to talk to Coach Harrington,” Ron said.

David had noticed they’d sat together in the stands to watch Phil and Roc.

“What do you think of the two of them?” Coach Thomas asked, referring to the two coaches.

“Coach Styles took over a Kentucky team that was 2–10. By year four, he’d built them into a bowl team. And they’re in the toughest league in the land, the SEC. Granted, they are in the weaker division, but he has to get past Georgia and Florida to win it. Coach Styles is a good recruiter and knows how to build a program.

“Coach Harrington started out as a quarterback fixer. My booster club hired him to help me become a quarterback. I later hired him to develop my game over the summers as I went to various camps. So, I have firsthand knowledge of what he can do. He made me a much better player,” David said.

“I agree with the development part,” Coach Thomas said. “I recently saw video highlights of Travis Barry, who transferred from USC to Western Michigan. He’s now starting for them, and he looks completely different. I’m embarrassed to say that if he’d shown that kind of ability when he was here, you and Matt would both be riding the bench.”

“Not to speak ill of our former head coach, but that’s on him,” David said. “Coach Harrington told me Travis was doing well for them.”

“Okay, okay,” Ron said. “It’s been well documented that talent development has been a major issue. If Coach Clayton hadn’t been fired this summer, he would’ve been this fall. We need a proven winner who can help players reach their full potential, and we need a coach to take us to the next level.”

“I think either of them can be that guy,” David said. “I would lean toward Coach Harrington slightly because he’s a product of the Alabama coaching tree and is younger. That said, when Alabama finally needs a new coach, Coach Styles’ name will be on the short list,” he predicted.

“Coach Harrington is the one who got me to offer your brother,” Coach Thomas said. “He said he’s a hidden gem and pointed out how much better Phil is this year than last. He said Phil finally took football seriously and has had to catch up. Coach Harrington also told me your brother is friends with Colt.”

“Phil worked with Bud Mason over the summer. We had Phil and Colt at our USC camp, and I had them as my campers at Elite Camp in Houston. There were times when Phil outshined Colt, so I get what Coach Harrington said,” David said.

“Are you just saying that because Phil’s your brother?” Ron asked.

“I admit that plays a part in it; I would love to have my brother at USC. But I would never recommend him if I thought it was to the team’s detriment. If I didn’t think Phil could cut it, I wouldn’t be recommending him.”

“I saw Phil play, and I was convinced regardless of whether he’s your brother,” Coach Thomas said.

“Thanks, David,” Ron said.

“By the way, David, I talked to your reporter friend, Jeff, after the game,” Coach Thomas said. “He asked a lot of questions about how you’re doing. Don’t worry, I didn’t say anything bad. He told me about the documentary he made about what you did at Lincoln and sent me a link. Though I don’t know if or when I’ll get to it; we’re kind of busy now.

“Oh, and I visited with a couple other recruits while I was in the area. You may know them,” the coach said.

They spent some time discussing the pros and cons of the ones David knew, and then he went back to the cockpit.

Manaia picked up David and Cassidy at the airport to take them to the house in Malibu. Cassidy’s new car, which Manaia had retrieved earlier that day, was there waiting for her. Lucky them, they got to ride in what David called the short bus—the vehicle his family used to transport his children to daycare and the like—with his kids. Somehow, he was elected the adult who had to go with them, so he made Cassidy join him.

“Master Cassidy?” Allen asked.

David gave her a sideways look.

“Yes, Ninja Allen?”

Obviously, David needed to pay more attention to what Cassidy was teaching his children.

“When you get better?”

“It will be a while yet. I’ll start coming to teach you all to be my little ninjas once I am.”

“Coby beat up Tevin,” Carol tattled.

“He deserved it,” Dave said, coming to his brother’s defense.

When David figured out his son hadn’t done any damage to Tevin, he tuned them out and let Cassidy entertain his little monsters.

When they got off the bus, David asked, “Who wants to sit in Cassidy’s new car?”

While David got them all organized, Cassidy walked around her new graphite-gray Mercedes S-Class sedan.

“Sync your phone to it so you can talk hands-free,” David said.

He got all five of them in the back seat while Cassidy figured out how everything worked. David got into the passenger seat and got his phone out.

“Welcome. I am S. How shall I address you?” came over the speakers.

Cassidy and all the munchkins perked up. David had shown them movies that had talking cars. It took Cassidy a second to figure out he’d sent her phone a message, and the car’s infotainment system had read it for her.

“Cassidy is fine.”

“Thank you, Cassidy. I see you have guests. Who might they be?” S asked.

“Dave, Allen, Dawson, Coby, and Carol.”

“Did they wash their hands before they got in? I don’t want sticky fingers messing up my interior,” S said.

That made them giggle.

“Carol? Are those new shoes?” S asked. “They make you look like a princess.”

Twenty minutes later, S was a massive hit, as all his kids wanted to ask her questions. His mom rapped on the window, so David rolled it down.

“What are you guys doing?”

“Everybody straighten up. Nana is speaking to your dad,” S said.

His mom saw them all sitting perfectly still and smiled. It wouldn’t be long before all the cars kept his munchkins in line.

“Rosy has snacks,” David’s mom said.

Coby was by the door and opened it to set them all free. It was good that cars had child safety locks on the back doors, or his son would open them whenever he decided he was done riding.