I looked around and realized that the middle of Monical’s wasn’t the best place to have this discussion. Then an Italian woman walked in and stepped up to Tony. She told him something, and the joy left his eyes. It was clear that Tony had a hard edge that was easy to miss if you didn’t know him well. I should have figured that out, but he seemed like such a nice … I don’t know … normal guy. When I saw the look in his eyes, I found myself focusing and getting ready for a fight, like the first time I had met Fritz. Tony was a dangerous man.
“David, this is my sister Pia. She is who you’ll call if you ever need anything. I’m sorry, but something’s come up. It was a pleasure meeting both you and Melinda. Next time you’re in New York, call Pia. I really enjoyed getting to know you,” he said and began to leave, only to turn back. “If your friend wants to get into the business, let us know. We’ll make sure she’s treated right; you have my word on that.”
I felt like this was a man of his word. If he told me something, I could take it to the bank. I filed that away. There weren’t many people who were good for their word nowadays. Most people put their self-interest first. It was a shame, actually.
◊◊◊
Chapter 24 – Lists, Plans, Decisions Saturday March 19
We packed ten people into my SUV to go to the party at State. Jim explained that since I had a driver, namely Paul, it meant they could drink. Jim was a senior who would graduate in two months and already had a full ride to Alabama. He didn’t really care if Moose kicked him off the baseball team for drinking. It would just give him more time to work out and get ready for football.
Melinda was excited to go. She’d gone from being a freshman in high school to full-time modeling. Melinda didn’t go to many parties because of her age, and when she did go, all she found was older men who perved on her. Going to a high school/college party was something Melinda had missed out on.
I was happy she’d borrowed one of my Lincoln High sweatshirts to wear. It hid what a killer body she had. I didn’t want to spend the night in fights. I suspected that most of Kevin, Magic, and Luke’s friends were football players.
The party was at an apartment complex for football players, close to the practice facilities. It would be a pain in the ass to get to campus for classes, but if your focus were football, it would be perfect. When we parked and got out, I waited for the other car to pull up and six guys get out. Seemed Johan was their designated driver. I warned them about their responsibilities.
“You all know what will happen if Moose gets wind of any of you drinking. I’m not your mom, but you should think about what you getting kicked off the team would mean to you, the team, and me personally. I say that not to be selfish, but because I’m trying out for the Under-18 Team for USA Baseball. No offense to the younger guys, but I don’t want to have to play with all freshmen,” I said, smiling at Milo and Dan.
Moose had actually let the two freshmen dress for varsity games because we didn’t have enough players. Milo, Johan’s brother, was our right fielder. Dan was Jim’s cousin, and he was pretty good with his bat. He needed to work on his defense, but the kid could hit.
I thought Moose might just give up his big ‘line in the sand’ talk each year. The last two years had found freshmen and new players on varsity. But Moose was Moose. He had been doing this forever, and it seemed unlikely he would ever change.
“There are going to be players from Wesleyan here. Jim has a score to settle with Mike, and I’m not about to tell him not to do it. He held off in the fall, because of football, but Mike transferred before Jim could get his revenge,” I said.
“What about yours?” Jim asked.
“I don’t need any more revenge; I’ve moved on. You’ve got this,” I said and then continued. “Ignore the Wesleyan players if they get on you about our loss today. We’re Lincoln High, and when you beat us, you’ve beaten the best. They can only dream of being you, so act like the champions you are. If they get out of hand, find Johan or me. Under no circumstances are you to find Yuri,” I said, which made them laugh.
Our crazy Russian had a tendency to shoot his mouth off. Johan, on the other hand, was a Mennonite and nonviolent. If he were both sober and calm, he would talk his way out of whatever the problem was.
“There will also be college men at the party, many of them football players. Don’t embarrass me and make me have to save your butts if you mouth off to them. Yes, we could beat State if we played them, and you can tell any of them I said so.”
“For shit’s sake, Dawson,” Jim said, shaking his head.
We both knew that a high school team, even ours, would never beat a Division I college football team from a Power 5 conference, even if they sucked. We only had a handful of D1 talent, and they had a whole team of players who were at or close to that level. The reason I said it was for my guys. They all seemed to stand a little taller when I showed some swagger.
I wasn’t really worried that bragging about our team would cause any significant trouble. If it went south, Kevin would have my back, and if I knew him, so would State’s whole defense. I wanted to remind the guys that they didn’t just represent themselves, they also represented our team and our school. Hopefully, the guys would think before they did something stupid.
“Finally, there will be college girls here,” I said.
That got their attention, and I heard them bragging about how well they would do tonight in that regard. I let them talk among themselves before continuing.
“You all brought condoms?” I asked.
Apparently, several didn’t, and they were now kicking themselves that they hadn’t brought any.
“If you need one, go with Paul to the car, and he’ll get you what you need,” I said, and turned to Paul. “There are boxes of them in the medical bag in the back.”
Fritz had made the suggestion as a joke. I thought it was a great idea and made him buy a couple of boxes as punishment. He’d gone along with the charade, permitting me my delusion that I was really in charge.
It was surprising when Johan and Milo chose to get condoms as well. I didn’t want to be around if their parents found out about it. But it was disappointing to see Yuri go get one. I thought he and Jan were more committed than that.
“So, what are my rules?” Melinda asked once we were alone.
She was teasing me, but being a leader meant you needed to look out for your charges. While I wasn’t their parent, I was their friend. If nothing else, they could learn from my mistakes to this point.
“There are only two. I brought you, so I plan to take you home,” I said with a mock glare, and then smiled. “Have fun; I plan to.”
“Can I drink, or will that be a problem?”
“Just avoid the Jell-O shots. They’re made with Everclear, and our hosts call them ‘panty droppers’ because they sneak up on you and lower your inhibitions.”
“Would that be so bad?” she asked and rubbed up against me.
“I would think you’d want to be sober enough to enjoy it,” I said, pulling her to me.
She grabbed the back of my neck, kissed me, and gave out a little giggle when she felt my desire press up against her stomach.
“Come on, before I drag you off to the car and have my way with you,” I said.
◊◊◊
When everyone was ready, we walked to the apartments. We’d had to park a few buildings away to find two spots. A small crowd was standing out front, with two bouncers preventing them from going in.
“You have to be on the list,” one of them challenged me when I walked up.
“David, plus 15,” I said with a straight face.
“I don’t think so.”
“Go get Kevin or Magic,” I suggested.
“He’s good,” Kevin said as he stuck his head out the front door.