“You don’t have any big secrets on it,” I said.
“What? You’ve looked at my phone?” Pam asked as her voice got louder.
“Shhh, babies,” I said, pointing.
“He’s kidding. He would never invade your privacy,” Brook said.
“How can you say that? He did yours. I think that makes your comment a little suspect.”
The whole time, I’d been holding Pam in my arms. I leaned down, kissed her neck, and felt her shiver.
“Okay. You can see my phone if you keep that up,” Pam said.
Girls are so easy.
◊◊◊
Chapter 14 – Dessert First Monday September 26
Bandit became my all-time favorite tough kitty this morning. Our kitchen range was stainless steel, and he saw his reflection in it. He decided he was going to protect the whole family from the evil kitty in the stove. When he yowled his warning cry, Duke about had a fit. The hair on his back raised up, and he started to investigate what the problem was.
My reaction was to get my phone out and video the encounter. Maybe I could sell it to National Geographic, like when they showed the lions taking down a gazelle.
“Mom! Dad! You’ll want to see this!” I called upstairs.
Bandit paced back and forth with his back hunched, hissing his warning at the cat that was mirroring his every action. Mom and Dad came down just in time to see Bandit launch himself at the other kitty. That damn kitty in the stove knocked poor Bandit on his butt.
Duke added insult to injury by licking Bandit. It was all just too much for him, and he retreated into the living room. I uploaded the video to my social media and sent it out with #GuardianKitty as the tag. I figured everyone loves a good cat video. Of course, I was wrong. My phone rang almost instantly.
“Hello.”
“What are you doing to my cat?” an irritated Halle asked.
“He was protecting the family. He was doing pretty well until the other cat jumped him.”
“Trip saw the video and woke me up so I would see it. Is he okay?”
“Bandit is just fine. He misses his mom, though.”
“When are you coming out? I miss him,” Halle said.
“I’ve got a trip to USC planned. When I come out, I’ll bring him with me.”
We chatted about her movie. Everything seemed to be going well, and she said that the dailies looked good. Then I remembered something I needed to ask her.
“Hey, did you ever get Bandit fixed?”
“When I got him, he was scheduled to have it done the next week. I guess the vet that normally did it was on vacation, so they let me take him home. It was either that or the large donations you and my mom made. I was supposed to take him back in but never got around to it. Why do you ask?”
“I think he may be a daddy soon. You remember Precious, the cat from hell that lives next door?”
“That’s not good. Does Brit know that my cat’s responsible?” Halle asked.
“I’ve not gone out of my way to share that information with her. But Precious is starting to show, and I’m sure Brit is wondering. The scary part is I think Precious has gotten meaner since she’s been pregnant,” I said and then grinned. “It’s customary that the owner of the father of the litter gets first pick of the kittens. I’ll make sure I pick a good one for you.”
“My mom would kill me if I got another pet. She’s been threatening that she’s going to make you keep Bandit as it is.”
“Maybe Brit can find homes for them all, and you won’t have to take one,” I said to head off the suggestion of me accepting a cat.
“How ’bout you keep your big mouth shut about paternity.”
“I think we’ll all be better off if Bandit is safely back in LA, so Brit doesn’t figure it out when the day comes. I’ll send you pictures so Bandit can see his kids.”
“You do that,” she huffed, and then I could hear her sigh. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too. Now I have to get to school, and I know you need to get to work. See you soon,” I said.
“I love you,” Halle said.
“I love you, too.”
◊◊◊
Chuck was back as my chauffeur. He picked me up and then drove us to Brook’s. I had him honk. I was busy reading funny comments from my cat video when I heard Chuck clear his throat. When I looked up. I saw Ava was headed to the car.
“Earn your keep,” I suggested, a little more than half-seriously.
Ava opened the back door and slid in next to me. I guess I wasn’t paying him enough.
“Morning,” I said.
She just gazed at me. I stared back, doing what Dawsons do: keeping my mouth shut.
“Do that again, and we will have words,” she threatened. Then she got out and returned to the house.
“Honk again. I don’t think Brook heard you,” I suggested and returned to reading messages.
Chuck said something rude under his breath and got out of the car to go knock on the door. I waited until he was about to knock when I reached over the seat and sounded the horn again. Brook must have been waiting at the back door because when I honked, she decided to just run for the car before her mom made us late for school. Poor Chuck almost got knocked down.
I could hear him using bad language as he stomped back to the car. Brook jumped in and gave me a kiss. I spotted Ava clearing the back door, so I rolled down Brook’s window.
“Run!” I yelled and pointed.
Chuck looked back, and I guess the look Ava gave him made him do just that. I thought he showed a lot of restraint when he didn’t jump and slide across the hood as I would have to save time. He got in and sped off.
“You’re going to be in so much trouble,” Brook predicted.
“Chuck can take care of himself,” I said, unconcerned with his safety.
“I think she was talking to you,” Chuck observed from the front seat.
“Why, what did I do? He honked the horn first,” I said to defend myself.
Brook just ignored me, so I showed her the video of Bandit. I figured I would make Chuck apologize to Ava, and all would be forgiven. Surely, I was good.
◊◊◊
I’d called a players-only meeting before practice. Coach Hope set it up so we could use the field house. He had the bleachers set up and closed the building so we could have privacy. Jeff Delahey and a cameraman strolled in. I’d gotten used to them being around, but I wasn’t sure I wanted them in this meeting.
“Afternoon,” Jeff greeted me. “Rumor has it that you’re having a players-only meeting.”
“I didn’t expect you’d be here,” I tried.
He just laughed at me. I knew it wasn’t worth the energy to throw him out. Wolf came up behind me and touched my arm.
“It’s time.”
I walked out with Wolf and Tim and found that it wasn’t just the varsity waiting for us. Both the freshman and JV teams were in the stands as well. I could tell the varsity was nervous. I think they expected me to yell at them.
“Can we all just agree that last week was a dumpster fire?”
With that, they relaxed a little, and some smiles appeared. I read the phrase ‘dumpster fire’ on a football message board and felt it fit what had happened.
“I was mainly responsible for it, and I want to apologize to you for letting it happen. Unfortunately, I allowed myself to get distracted. I don’t know if all of you know, but I was attacked by a recruit’s father at Oklahoma. Long story short, he’s going to be okay.
“I also have responsibilities outside of school and football. I own several businesses, not that that’s a bad thing. It’s just that the responsibility of it all finally caught up with me,” I said, and then began to pace.
“I didn’t focus like I should during practice last week, and that’s on me,” I said, and paused. “I guess we all recognized that Lakeview wasn’t the toughest opponent on our schedule. It was the classic trap game, and we all but fell into it.”