Then again, viewing it from the outside, Arizona looked dirty as hell. But there was a chance it was all a misunderstanding. David tried to imagine how being taped planning to offer money to a recruit could be misunderstood, but … Yeah, it might be hard to spin that one. Maybe for fun, he would ask Frank, his PR guy, how he would do it.
“It’s got to be Coach Clayton,” David said.
“If it is, what are you going to do?” Bud asked.
“What do you mean?”
“It might be the perfect opportunity. If Coach Clayton is fired or resigns, you’ll have an interim head coach, which will almost guarantee a losing year and kill recruiting. I would guess that if you asked for a transfer under those circumstances, the NCAA would grant it.”
“I’ve put too much into this to jump ship. I’m starting the first game, and if we get a new coach, that will give me a better chance of playing. Plus, I like USC,” David said.
Bud smiled.
“Right answer. I just wanted you to consider all sides before you made your final decision.”
“What’s my next move?” David asked.
“Be a football player. Until you know for sure, you can’t really do anything.”
“Should I reach out to the boosters to find out what’s going on?”
“No!” Bud said emphatically. “You have to be seen as a team player and not someone involved in this mess. When they name the new coach, be one of the first to support him. It’s the only way you’ll salvage the season if the worst happens and Coach Clayton is fired before the season starts.”
At that point, they went quiet. It gave David a chance to think through everything before they landed.
◊◊◊
David said goodbye to Bud since the coach was headed to San Francisco on the next leg of the flight. Manaia had sent him a message that he was out front to pick him up. When David came out of the airport, he held his hand out. Manaia had brought his Dodge Charger Hellcat.
Honestly, LA sucked when you had a car like that because no matter how great your car was, getting out of the airport took forever. Three taxis tried to cut off a soccer mom who plowed into them, effectively blocking all lanes of traffic. It took them over an hour to get past the mess since every idiot thought they had to slow down to see what happened.
While he waited, David called Cassidy.
“What’s up, Buttercup?”
“As soon as Precious saw Brit, I was an afterthought,” Cassidy said.
He could hear the sadness in her voice, but if it meant getting rid of the ‘cat from hell,’ he wasn’t about to admit he felt the same way. At a minimum, Precious made things interesting, and she could be a sweet, loving cat if the mood hit her.
“I’m glad she’s happy.”
“I tried to talk my dad into letting me bring back my cat, and he said no.”
Cassidy had rescued a feral kitten. Hearing that Coach Hope, who had said absolutely no to allowing it to move in, was now attached to the fur-ball made him smile.
“That warms the cockles of my heart,” David said.
“Do you even know what a cockle is?” Cassidy asked.
“No, but if I did, I’m sure they would be warm knowing your dad is a cat person now.”
Cassidy chuckled.
“I’ll tell him you said that.”
“He likes to put on a gruff exterior, but he is funny when the cat sits in his lap while he watches TV,” David reminisced.
“I have other news. Brad is on academic probation,” Cassidy said to share news about her brother.
“Did you show him your straight ‘A’s?” David asked.
“Dad has my report cards on the refrigerator to remind him,” Cassidy said, sounding pleased with herself.
Once his little ninja decided to actually study, her grades had improved. In high school, she got straight ‘B’s. Her dad wasn’t the only one proud of her.
“What was his excuse?”
“He joined a fraternity. The funny part is they kicked him out when they saw his grades,” Cassidy shared.
“What did your dad say?”
“He got Brad a job at the school helping the grounds crew. He told me that he wanted Brad to experience what the real world would be like without a degree. Dad said he came home last night covered in mud. He ran over a sprinkler and had to repair it.”
“When we graduate, we can hire him to mow our lawns,” David said to make Cassidy laugh.
He had no doubt she would repeat what he’d said about Brad soon.
“Hey, traffic is starting to move. I have to go,” David said as he revved the engine.
“Are you driving the Demon?” Cassidy asked.
“At five miles per hour,” Manaia called out to ruin his street cred.
David was going to feed his kids sugar and caffeine and make Manaia drive them to daycare. It would test his skills at the very least. In his mind’s eye, he could see the security guy trying to strap Coby in when he was on a sugar high.
◊◊◊
Chapter 49
David
Spending time with family had been precisely what David had needed for the past week. During the day, he’d played Dad, and during the evenings, he’d caught up with his parents and the mothers of his children.
David pulled his children out of daycare for the week as he’d planned outings to reconnect and entertain the ankle biters. Each day he asked someone to help him on his excursions because, let’s face it, Manaia wasn’t very good at watching two-year-olds.
On the first day, his dad had been the chosen victim. They’d taken his five little ones to Malibu Lagoon State Beach. They started out building sandcastles. That had been a genius activity because they were occupied playing in the sand while he and his dad caught up.
Rob shared information on his businesses. The takeover of the predatory wealth-management company was going well. His other companies, including the restaurants, real estate company, farms, and horse breeding (in which he’d partnered with Zoe), were all on track. He liked it when his dad brought him good news instead of problems.
Rob also showed him he had a lot to learn about child-rearing. He’d packed a picnic instead of David’s plan to take everyone to a local diner for lunch. His words of wisdom were, “Are you crazy?! Take this bunch to lunch when they are hungry and tired, and you’re asking for trouble.”
Instead, he’d brought cut-up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apple slices, and celery sticks. The secret for the celery sticks was the can of cheese wiz. Yes, they were horrible human beings for feeding the kids something as void of any nutrition as fake cheese, but the munchkins loved it. Leave it to Coby to figure out that he could simply lick the cheese off so he wouldn’t have to eat a vegetable.
Then they all lay down on a blanket in the sand for naps.
While his dad and Manaia watched them, David went to the van and grabbed the e-foil surfboard that he’d gotten for doing a video in Greece. He put it in the water and tested it to ensure it was safe to give rides on. As they began to wake up, he would quietly take them out onto the water to skim above the waves.
Dawson, his little athlete, mimicked his dad. David predicted that he would be surfing when he got older. Carol got bored, stood up, and promptly stepped into the water to totally give her dad a heart attack. Luckily, there was no thinning of the herd that day (i.e., no one died), as the little girl thought it was great fun.
When he and his dad got home, the baby mamas all commented on how well-behaved their children were that night. David and his dad just took the compliments. The real reason was they’d worn them out, so they didn’t get up to any mischief.
◊◊◊
Day 2 found him with his mom as his helper. She had some real estate deals going, so she wanted to stay at home, which was fine.
In the morning, David took them into the backyard, where they all climbed on Dad. When they all got hot, they changed and used the pool. After lunch and naps, it was riding tricycles in the driveway until David broke out the sprinkler and slip-and-slide. Duke might have had the most fun with the water.