The second option was a straight settlement. Option one was three times more lucrative, and had a signing bonus equivalent to a major shoot, as compared to the lump-sum buyout. Tom had attached a note suggesting I take option one and continue to work with Range Sports.
“What do you think?” I asked my parents.
“Everyone would like you to continue working with Range Sports. It’s three times the money, plus the other companies involved would continue with their relationship with Devin’s company. Sandy got Devin calmed down and she alluded to the fact that their Board of Directors wasn’t happy with just paying you off,” Dad said.
“I’m fine with working with Range Sports. Devin was the one that got upset,” I said.
“We’ll get the new contract signed,” Dad said.
“I think you need to look to invest some of your money. Kendal showed us your current financials. With this settlement, what you’ve made doing the movie so far, Jade and Dakora, we think you need to do something to secure your future,” Mom said.
“I’m sure you and Kendal can come up with some ideas. Maybe get a financial planner to look at it. Harper’s dad owns an investment company. We can talk about it when we get back,” I said. “You told me you had two news items.”
“Devin’s engaged to Cora,” Dad said with a smile.
“Oh, hell! Are her parents ever going to talk to me again?”
“Devin must have made a good impression because they seem to be happy about it,” Mom said.
I just hoped the marriage would last longer than her career as my personal assistant.
WE HAD JUST GOTTEN back from dinner when my cell rang. I almost let it go to voicemail because I didn’t recognize the number.
“David, Coach Trent.”
“What can I do for you, sir?”
“I wanted to call you and personally congratulate you on a fine camp. I know we bent some rules to get you in. I wanted to talk to you and see what you thought,” he said.
“I had a great experience. I found several things I need to work on. I’d love to have Tim’s footwork; he’s so effortless when he moves in the pocket.”
“We saw a lot that we liked from you today. To tell you the truth, you were in final consideration for camp MVP. Then you made the short list for the final twelve spots. The biggest problem we were having was we have only selected incoming seniors in the past. There’s no rule saying we can’t take an incoming junior, but we just never have, until today. Congratulations, you filled the eighteenth and final spot.”
“Thank you, sir, but can I ask one question before I accept?” I asked.
“In all the time I have been doing this, I’ve never had someone not accept right away; but then again, you’re a unique kid. Ask away.”
“If I go to the camp, will I be allowed to compete to become an Elite 11?”
He laughed.
“You make a good point. I hadn’t thought of that, but I promise we’ll take class out of our considerations moving forward. Will that satisfy you?”
“I am a classy guy, so we may have to reword what you just said.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes, sir, I would love to participate.”
I think the whole hotel heard me celebrate!
Chapter 7 – You Carry Your Own Bags
Tuesday June 16
Tami and I drove to Lexington, Kentucky to visit my friend John Phillips in the hospital. He had torn his Achilles tendon stepping off a curb. We decided to take the scenic route so we could drive by horse farms in the area. The windows were down and you could hear the distinctive grumble and whine of the Charger as it ate up the miles. I was amazed Tami hadn’t gotten a ticket yet, but she seemed to have a sixth sense as to where the police were.
I was about to drop off into a nap when Tami hit me with something out of left field.
“Why haven’t you flirted with me?” she asked.
I knew instinctively that this conversation wasn’t going to end well for me.
“Why do you ask?”
It’s always better to find out where you stand before you comment.
“We’ve slept in the same bed for the last two nights and you haven’t even touched me,” she hazarded.
“I’ll take that as a compliment. I’ve shown remarkable restraint as a teenage boy,” I said, hoping this would get me off the hook.
“I don’t know, it’s just different. You used to hold me even if we weren’t doing anything sexual. I get the feeling you don’t even want to touch me.”
“I think that comment is a little extreme. I’ve hugged you on numerous occasions.”
“I guess. What I’m getting at is we’re spending time together, but we don’t seem to be getting back to the way we used to be.”
“I honestly don’t want to go back to the way things were,” I blurted out.
Tami didn’t say a word for the next twenty miles. I was trying to figure out how to explain it to her, but stripped down, what I said was the truth. Keeping Tami at arm’s length seemed to be my best option. I wanted to keep her as a friend.
“I think we need to sleep together,” she announced.
“We did, last night.”
“Don’t play the ‘stupid boy’ with me. You know what I mean. I think if we have sex it will make us closer,” she said.
“And I will be back to claiming you as mine. Tami, that’s a recipe for disaster and we both know it.”
“I don’t know what to do,” she admitted. “I just don’t feel we’re getting to be as close as we used to be. I miss you sharing everything with me and us planning the future together. It used to be us against the world.”
Now it was my turn to think. The easy answer was to have a summer fling with her, but it would never work if we went back to the way we were and added steady sex to it. Simple answer, it wasn’t happening. Losing Tami a second time would absolutely destroy me. I had to stay strong, or this would be an epic catastrophe.
“I’m not the same. We’re not the same. It was hard for me to move on, and I find myself a little guarded when I’m around you. Your leaving forced me to change just to survive. I’ve become more self-reliant and I feel more confident. I also don’t let my emotions get the better of me.
“Harper’s a good example. Before you left, I would’ve been shattered when she chose another guy over me. The unfortunate reality is I would never have been able to handle it as well as I did if you hadn’t chosen Trevor and Simon over me.”
“David, that’s not fair.”
“Fair has nothing to do with it. I’ve always been right here. You’re the one who wouldn’t accept me until I was up to your standards,” I said, and then stopped myself. “Find a place to pull the car over. I need to get out and think before I say things I can never take back.”
“No, we need to get this out in the open or we’ll never get past it.”
“Fine! Our relationship was never a healthy one. You had a need to control me. Looking back, I think that was one of the main reasons I started doing drugs and drinking in middle school.”
“I thought it all began because of your breakup with Jan Duke.”
“It did. You, Alan, and Jeff all warned me not to go out with her. Then when her former boyfriend came back and stole her, I was hurting. My three best friends’ attitude was ‘sorry dude, we told you so.’ Then when Justin slept with Jan, bragged about it, and dumped her, I had no idea what to do.
“To this day I remember what you told me. ‘You were never meant to be with her. She was out of your league and just trying to get Justin to be jealous.’ In that moment, I was convinced I wasn’t good enough. My three best friends were more worried about the ‘I told you so’ than giving comfort to their friend. I also knew I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t good enough to date Jan Duke, my first girlfriend, and I wasn’t good enough to date Tami, my best friend.”