“Consider it done. If Tom can’t help you, someone in his firm can. I’m sure he knows who the best is. I’ll call Kendal and tell her to have him just send the bills to her.”
I could tell this meant a lot to him by the way he hugged me. My brother was growing up. Kyle and Angie were good for him, and little Mac was a special little girl. Soon either a little brother or sister would join them all. My brother was living the life.
THE LADIES DID AN EXCELLENT job with dinner. I was stuffed, and thinking about a nap, when Tami’s mom cornered me. I could tell she wanted to talk, so I invited her up to my apartment. I put on some water so we could have a cup of tea.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
I knew what she meant, but I wasn’t ready to tell her yet. I also knew whatever I said would get back to Tami.
“Good. I’m a little anxious about the football game.”
“You’ll win,” she told me.
She sounded so confident that I gave her a look that made her laugh.
“Tami told me you would,” she confessed.
I just shook my head. I figured I had better get to the heart of the matter.
“How’s she doing? Does she like her new school?”
“Yes, she likes it a lot. They have a different system over there. Apparently, not everyone gets to continue their education. They have different levels, and you have to take tests to advance. She also got advanced to Year 12. Normally our sophomore year would be equivalent to Year 11 in secondary school. In the UK secondary school is Year 7 through 11. In the US it would be equivalent to grades 8 through 12. She says what she is doing is called ‘college,’ which is for Years 12 and 13. She only has classes in the morning, and then has her labs in the afternoons.”
“Does she like her host family?”
“Very much, they seem like they’ve accepted her ... and her new boyfriend.”
I suddenly wished I hadn’t eaten so much. Mrs. Glade could tell I was feeling uncomfortable, but she pushed on.
“His name is Simon.”
I wouldn’t meet her eye. I suddenly felt sick. It was almost like déjà vu. It was on Thanksgiving, last year, when Tami had brought a boy home. I’d lost it then, too. I jumped up and just made it to the bathroom before I emptied my stomach.
I came back out and made the tea. I hoped it would settle my stomach.
“I’m sorry, David, but Tami asked me to talk to you about this. She tried to get your mom to tell you.”
I was suddenly mad.
“Why? Why does she always do this? She always has other people do her dirty work. This is one of the reasons we aren’t talking. I’m sad to see nothing has changed. I’m so glad to hear her life is great without me in it. Mine is shit without her. I don’t know why I was holding out hope. It sounds like we really are done. Just tell her I’m happy for her and doing fine. I don’t want to dampen her joy,” I said, and grabbed my keys and a coat.
I got into my Jeep and left because I wanted to be alone. I decided that driving in my mood was probably a bad idea, so I went to a movie. I got lucky because the new Hunger Games movie was playing. It helped me get my mind off Tami and centered again.
When I came out, I had just one message, and it was from Tami. I deleted it without listening to it. I needed to focus on football right now. I didn’t need Tami distracting me with news of her new boyfriend.
WHEN I GOT HOME, GREG had a big grin on his face because the Thanksgiving paper had finally arrived. It was noted for two things: it had all the ads for Black Friday—making it thicker than the normal Sunday paper—and it also had the All-State football team in the sports section.
“Did I make it?” I asked.
“Yep, first team. Bill also was named first team. Wolf, Jim and Tim made honorable mention. Bill was named ‘Player of the Year,’” Greg told me. “It says Bill cracked the top 300 in national recruits, and according to Scouts he’s at number 178. You’re rated in the sophomore class as the number 2 quarterback and number 9 overall.”
My brother wasn’t really into sports, but he was more excited than I was. I did want to know if anyone from our conference made the list. Greg gave me the article and I read through it. The defensive ends from Mt. Carmel and Trinity Catholic had made the first team. A defensive back from Beverly was on the honorable mention team. On offense, the quarterback from Mt. Carmel was second team. Isaac Fellows, the quarterback from Washington, made honorable mention.
MOM CAME UP TO MY ROOM before bedtime. I could tell she wasn’t going to be dissuaded from talking about Tami. I hoped she remembered the only thing we’d fought about in the last three months was Tami.
“Tami said she left you a message to call her,” Mom said.
“Mom, I don’t need the distraction right now. I have a big game to play on Saturday. I don’t need Tami and her love life messing with my focus.”
“Are you going to call her back?”
Sometimes I wonder if my mom even listens to me.
“I will call her back after we win State,” I said with more confidence than I felt right now.
“You really need to get over this jealousy act. It’s getting old.”
I raised my eyebrows. I think that was a direct quote from Tami.
“Tell Tami to kiss my ...”
“DAVID!”
“If you all keep at me, I’ll never call her.”
“Well, it’s not fair ...”
“STOP!” I yelled. “I can’t deal with this right now! And you have to stop taking her side! You’re MY mother! If you continue this trend, it’s going to hurt our relationship. We’ve talked about this before. I would think Tami’s own actions should speak volumes about our future. Think about it: who’s going to be around next year, or the next twenty for that matter, and who won’t be?”
I had never voiced that Tami and I might be done before. It seemed to rock my mom’s worldview. I think she’d always assumed we’d be together in the long run. She just nodded, kissed my cheek, and left. Talk about a terrible way to end the day!
Friday November 28
COACH HOPE SCHEDULED practice for the morning. We got to school and got dressed, and then we were sent out to a bus that took us to State’s indoor facility. The day had heated up, and the snow was melting. The weather for tomorrow was a different matter: another cold front would be coming through.
Coach wanted us to stretch and get the blood pumping. We ran a few plays, and I loosened up my arm. It was mostly about us getting used to artificial turf. The field we’d be playing on tomorrow would not be grass.
I was surprised when a camera crew came in. ESPN was going to make our game their high school game of the week on one of their sister channels. They filmed me passing to different players. I sent Bill long, and the ball must have traveled fifty yards in the air. Bill didn’t break stride and trotted into the end zone.
They soon had enough B footage and then wanted to do some interviews. I refused to do an interview unless they talked to all the other starters first. I wasn’t naïve enough to think they’d use the film, but I wanted all my teammates to get the full experience. Wolf surprised them by telling them some funny stories. He was a natural on camera. I was a little sad Tracy wasn’t here because she would’ve loved this.
“We’re talking to the current number 9 overall recruit and the number 2 quarterback in the sophomore class, David Dawson. David is also currently featured in Eve Holliday’s music video Hometown Hero. If there ever was one, it would be David. He’s taken his Lincoln High team that has only three seniors and brought them to the State Championship Game.
“David, what would it mean to you personally to win the Championship Game?”
I hate these kinds of questions. They make it look like you’re the only one doing anything.