That meant that if Cassidy wanted to go on spring break, they would. The best part was that if David had been asked what he wanted to do, skiing would already have been high on his list.
“How come I never get to pick trips?” Lexi asked.
She could probably hear him rolling his eyes at that one. Once he decided something, he put her in charge of it.
“How about I let you pick the sleeping arrangements?” David suggested.
He heard her little intake of air, a dead giveaway when Lexi was either surprised or excited.
“Do you know who else you want to invite?” she asked.
“Fiona,” he said emphatically.
“Trust me when I say that she wouldn’t shack up with a bunch of college kids on spring break.”
Lexi was a fun-sucker when she made sense like that.
“I haven’t seen my brothers since I got back. How about you fly them to LA so they can spend time with my parents, and then we all fly to Canada together?” David suggested.
“Okay. Anyone else on the must-have list?” she asked.
“I’m not sure about when spring break is for some of my friends like Tami, Wolf, and Tim. If it works, I want them to come, too.”
“I’ll call and find out.”
“For now, just assume that we’ll fill the place. As I ask people, I’ll let you know,” David said and then added, “Is there anyone you want to invite?”
“My old friends are people like Christian and Veronica.”
That wasn’t happening.
“How about people you’ve met at UCLA?” David suggested.
“I’ll see.”
“I almost forgot. Greg is dating someone. Be sure to include her,” David said. “Oh, and make sure he brings his kids to Malibu so they can get some grandma time.”
“Your mom will kill you,” Lexi predicted.
“Hire some extra help for the time they’re here. The helpers can use my apartment over the garage if Mom wants to bring someone on-site,” David suggested.
He’d made the mistake of watching all his and Greg’s kids for an evening or three. He was lucky to have survived. Now it would be worse because they were all mobile and tended to go in eight different directions if you didn’t watch them carefully. Their radius of destruction had increased exponentially.
“What about...” Lexi started.
“Slow your roll. You get to decide everything. I want to just pack a bag and enjoy a week of snowboarding, catching up with friends, and having a good time.”
Developmental Editors: XofDallas and Bud Ugly
Line / Copy Editors: Bud Ugly, TheMikeBomb, Zom, and Old Rotorhead
Last One Through: Bud Ugly
Chapter 31
David
The first day of football practice was always a circus at USC because every local sports outlet covered it. As David came up the sidewalk to get to the locker room, he was impressed by the number of TV news vans he saw.
When David arrived at his locker, he found a pleasant surprise. His jersey with no number had been replaced by one with the number 11, which was his old high school number. When David was in on Saturday, the equipment manager had told him that he wouldn’t receive a number until he made the team. Even then, he learned, scholarship players got first pick. He’d resigned himself to getting some number like 98 and winding up sharing it with two or three other walk-ons.
His day got better when he saw his locker was next to Percy Wilkes. David had met Percy when their teams played a game on ESPN. The game had featured two nationally ranked high school teams and was held in St. Louis. ESPN had paired Percy’s team from Texas against David’s because, at the time, Percy had taken David’s number one spot in the recruiting rankings.
David had been injured in a car accident, and the game was going to be his return to football. When interviewed before the game, Percy had basically said that football in Texas was superior to the rest of the country. Furthermore, David’s team wasn’t good enough to rate being a part of such a high-profile game. Percy had actually said that Lincoln High was ‘irrelevant.’
When they’d played, the first snap from scrimmage had made David a believer that Percy might be the best high school football player in the land. Percy was a monster who lined up at defensive end. He was three inches taller than David and outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. On the snap of the ball, Percy had taken one hand and basically tossed Lincoln’s offensive tackle aside.
The play had been designed for Lincoln to triple-team Percy, but he discarded all three opponents with ease. David momentarily froze as he saw his life flash before his eyes. He’d watched plenty of game film where Percy would simply engulf a quarterback and slam him to the turf in spectacular fashion. In most cases, that ended the quarterback’s day, as they had to carry him off.
Percy had zeroed in on David with a glint in his eyes. That ended in a flash as Lincoln’s center had pulled to add a fourth blocker. The center had been able to get up to full speed while Percy had been busy tossing three Lincoln linemen around like rag dolls. The end result was that Percy hadn’t seen him coming, and when the giant defensive end was driven to the turf, David had smiled in satisfaction.
That play set the tone for the game as the boys from Texas learned that the Bulldogs didn’t give up even if they were facing a ‘relevant’ team. David’s team had won 56–28. The game wasn’t really as close as the score indicated, and David had retaken his spot at the top of the recruiting class.
“I’d heard rumors you were on campus. Where have you been?” Percy asked when he saw David.
“The football team claimed they didn’t have any scholarships, so I’m a preferred walk-on. I’ve been playing on the baseball team,” David explained.
“I haven’t seen you in the weight room,” Percy persisted.
“Ridge Townsend and I have been working out together to help him get him ready for the NFL draft. How did you do last year?” David asked to turn the subject to Percy.
“They had me redshirt, which pissed me off at the time. The coaches have assured me that I’ll be getting plenty of playing time this coming year. I decided to look at it as a positive and have been focusing on working out to get ready.”
“You look good. How much weight have you put on?” David asked.
“I’m up to 290. I feel good there, and the trainers think I’m where I need to be.”
At six-seven, the 290 pounds looked to be all lean muscle when Percy took his shirt off to put on his jersey. David had no doubt that Percy would be a star once he got on the field.
One of the coaches interrupted their reunion by calling everyone to the field to start practice.
Today, they were in shorts and t-shirts. They wouldn’t put on the pads until later in the week. Spring football was three weeks long, with spring break mixed in.
After warming up, David was sent to work out with the linebackers, which he discovered was the largest group, with seventeen other players playing the position. David looked across the field where the quarterbacks were gathered. There were five of them.
The coaching session was led by Linebacker Coach Cornetti. He was in his mid-30s and looked like he’d played the position.
It was a typical first day. They lined the linebackers up in two rows of nine each and had them run drills two at a time. That meant that David spent most of his time watching others practice. He could tell that many of the other players were bored because they were talking between turns. David zoned them out, focused on what he would do next, and then gave it his best effort.