Tracy gave Kevin a hug and he left to calm things down. While I finished my rubdown, Becky told us about what all had happened since the game ended on Saturday. The only new news was that Coach Engels took his share of the blame for trying to force the ball deep.
WE WENT BACK TO THE office to pick up all the homework we’d be missing that day. Tracy took us back to her house where we had lunch with her mom. I was tired from doing the therapy, so Tracy took me to her room and we took a power nap. An hour later, I was ready to go again. Tracy convinced me we could spend an hour making out. Sometimes she has very good ideas. Her mom walked in on us and saw we were clothed. I think she was both happy to see Tracy and me back together, and that we weren’t rushing things.
At 4:00, Lily and Kendal showed up at Tracy’s. I was stunned when Kendal told me to get lost. She said she didn’t need the client in her team meeting. I found out later that they did this once a week. I was fine because Mary was making chocolate-chip cookies and needed someone to taste-test each batch. I made the sacrifice and was flirting with Mary when Tom came home. He became my assistant, and we were dunking fresh cookies in cold glasses of milk when Kendal came in. She asked Tom and me to join the team in Tom’s home office.
Kendal was all business.
“Gentleman, I’d like to run a couple of things by you. We’d like to create a new website for David’s modeling, and Lily wants to go to her grandparents’ over Christmas break. She would like that to be her fee for creating and maintaining all the websites for the next 6 months. My question is who pays for it?”
“Who owns the websites?” I asked Tom.
I knew that Lily did. Tom noted the danger of Lily holding us hostage in the future.
“If all the websites are registered to our company, I’ll pay the airfare,” Tom said.
“I’d like to reallocate $500 from my earnings to Lily so that she’ll have some spending money,” I added. “I want it done through you guys because I’m not set up to handle employees.”
Lily got up and gave Tom and me a hug.
“I’d also like to give Tracy and Kendal bonuses of $500.”
“What about me?” Tom joked.
“Wait till I’m making some real money and then we can talk. I just gave away 10% of my net worth.”
“The second item is that I’d like to suggest that we set David up as a Limited Liability Company or LLC to help protect his assets,” Kendal said.
I was glad she worked for me. I would never have thought to set up a company. Tom agreed. I asked what that was going to cost me, and Tom said with a straight face, “$500.”
“I see how this works,” I laughed. “Okay, set me up.”
“David, instead of a bonus, how about I get a set of photos you’re selling?” Tracy asked.
Before I could answer, Lily asked if she could see them. We put the disk in Tom’s PC and I showed them the four-photo series. Kendal wanted to make the trade also. I could see Lily did too, but she needed the money for her trip.
“If the four of you want the series, I’ll give it to you, but we have to pay for the creation of eight sets. The others will be held in reserve as bonuses when someone does something that’s noteworthy.
“While I’m thinking of it, I’ve been hauling around these CDs.”
No one seemed to get it.
“People, these photos have already earned us nearly $14,000. We need a secure place to put them.”
Tom and Kendal’s looked at each other with concern. They’d need secure storage when they represented other artists. Kendal winked at me.
“You really are trying to take over my job.”
Tom took the originals and promised to get Kendal and me watermarked copies we could show people. Kendal reached into her bag and pulled out a white leather portfolio with ‘Ford Models’ and ‘David Dawson’ on it in black letters. She put it on the desk in front of me and I flipped through it.
“They messengered that over today along with your signed contract. We’re going to Chicago Sunday and Monday to meet with everyone. I know your mom wants to go, but tell her you’re going to the first Range Sports photo shoot the following weekend in Park City, Utah.”
“That’s it on the modeling front. Tracy has a report on football,” Kendal said, wrapping up her portion of the presentation.
“David got calls this weekend from Alabama, Ohio State and, uh, I had it here somewhere ...” she said as she shuffled through papers. I knew she was doing this for her dad. “Oh, here it is, Florida.”
Tom came out of his chair and did a fist pump. I high-fived him and realized this was how John felt when his dad found out that he was going to his dream school, Kentucky.
“Today David agreed to commit to—drumroll, please—State University.”
The look on Tom’s face was priceless. I’d never seen a guy go from so happy to so sad in the span of a minute. Tracy let him in on the deal.
“David agreed to do it so that Luke would keep his scholarship. State knows the commitment is soft, and the likelihood of him going there is slim to none. I worked the phones to contact all the current offers and interested parties to let them know the reasoning behind this. We’ll announce on Wednesday.
“I’ll go out tomorrow and get a State jersey and baseball hat. David, I’ll need some money for this.”
Tom pulled out $150 and gave it to her.
“Dad, I only need like $30.”
“I want you, Kendal and Lily to all have jerseys and caps for the press conference,” Tom said.
I gave her $20.
“What’s the extra money for?” she asked.
“Get Tom a baseball cap for where I will attend and give it to him as a Christmas present from me.” I gave Tom a dirty look, “And no peeking until Christmas Day.”
It would be interesting to see where Tracy picked for me to go to college. She seemed to relish being able to surprise the both of us.
Mary must have been psychic. She came into the office with a plate of cookies. These were peanut butter. Tom needed to dump this woman so I could marry her.
WE ALL STAYED FOR ONE of Mary’s fabulous dinners. I hated to admit it, but this was one of the things I missed the most. Tonight, she made fried chicken that had a wonderful pepper spice. She also made homemade sourdough biscuits served with apple butter. She had acorn squash and apple salad. She always found fruits and vegetables in season.
We talked until ten o’clock, when I asked Tracy to take me home.
Wednesday November 27
GREG DROVE ME TO SCHOOL. I was on my way to my locker when I was hip-checked, making me stumble. The musical giggle told me Tracy was in a good mood.
“Hey, Beautiful,” I said.
“Morning. Let’s get your books and you can walk me to class.”
Suzanne was waiting for me when I got to my locker. She was upset.
“What’s wrong?” Tracy asked.
“They canceled the tutoring program for David because he’s suspended from athletics. I came to let you know I can no longer help you,” Suzanne said with tears in her eyes.
I felt irritated they hadn’t told me this was part of my athletic suspension, but I had an idea how to fix it.
“Why not?” I asked.
“David, they canceled it. I can’t tutor you.”
“Again, I ask, why not?”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s saying what’s stopping you from tutoring him? He tells me he learns more in an hour with you than he does sitting in all his classes. I know that you enjoy teaching. He likes you to teach him. What’s stopping you?”
Suzanne thought for a moment.
“Can you afford $40 per week?”
“Cash okay?” I asked as I pulled two $20 bills out of my pocket and hand them to her.
“I am so stupid sometimes,” Suzanne grumbled. “I’ll find a place where we can have our sessions.”