It just showed what a phenomenal talent he was to make their team. Colombia was considered to be an elite team in international play. David had doubts whether Alex would ever come back because the next logical step for him was to play professional soccer. It would become apparent to him that he was wasting his time playing college ball.
Precious greeted David at the back door.
“You plan to be good tonight?” he asked the cat from hell.
She jumped into his arms to get some loving. She was such a woman; you never knew what mood she would be in. He went to the roof, where he found his parents, grandmother, and Lexi being entertained by Tracy, Pam, and Cassidy.
“I told her she had to be nice tonight,” Cassidy said when she saw him with her cat in his arms.
“What did she do this time?” Dad asked.
“She peed in Seamus’s face,” David shared.
“That’s a new low,” Dad deadpanned in a way that made David smile.
His dad could be a master of understatement at times. His mom wanted the story of how it happened. When he’d finished, David’s grandmother got them to the reason they were all here.
“Did you want to talk before or after we eat?” she asked.
“Can’t we do both?” David asked.
“It’ll go faster if he knows he can’t eat until he tells us everything,” Pam advised.
Everyone stared at David. He gave them the new ‘dead eyes’ look he’d been practicing. When it had no effect, he got his phone out and called Uncle John. When his uncle answered, David put him on speaker. After everyone had gotten their hellos out of the way, David told them what was on his mind.
“I think I made a mistake coming to USC,” David said and then went quiet to let everyone absorb what he’d just said.
“Are you having trouble in your classes?” Grandma Dawson asked.
“No. It’s challenging, and I’m learning a lot,” he admitted.
“Are you not making friends?” she asked to continue her interrogation.
Cassidy barked out a laugh that had his mother interested in what that meant, but he was thankful that Mom didn’t interrupt as his grandmother had the floor.
“That’s not the problem. I like my dorm, and after a few initial bumpy missteps, it’s gone pretty well. I’ve been making friends with a lot of my classmates. Baseball is great,” David shared.
“I read in the paper that you were doing well, now that you’re starting,” Grandma Dawson said.
“Once we discarded a few bad apples, the team really started to come together. We currently lead the Pac-12,” David shared.
“So, what’s the problem?” she asked.
“Football,” David said.
It was quiet for a moment, and then Uncle John took over. He and David had a history. Uncle John had been a child psychologist before he’d become a farmer. Before high school, David had spent the summer at his uncle’s farm, and it had transformed David’s life. Whenever David had a big decision to make, he made it a point to touch base with his uncle.
“What happened to make you think USC is a mistake?”
“Last night,” David said, and then he launched into what had happened.
“How do you feel about Matt?” Uncle John asked.
David acted like his finger was a gun as he put it in his mouth and pulled the trigger. His mom and dad both rolled their eyes because Uncle John’s fallback position was to revert to being a psychologist. David hated the ‘how does XYZ make you feel’ questions.
“I wish he was here right now so I could kick his butt,” David shared.
“I’m sure your feelings are valid but is that the most productive thing you could do?” Uncle John asked.
“If you want, I could help make him disappear,” Cassidy offered.
David’s mom glared at both of them when he gave Cassidy a fist bump for having his back. So, he took his uncle’s question seriously.
“I don’t think Matt is someone who will ever be on my Christmas card list,” David said.
“No, I get that. Matt is in direct competition for the job you want. It’s only natural for you to feel some animosity toward him,” Uncle John offered. “Remember when we talked about the circles of trust?”
“Yeah, and Matt is in one of the circles where I don’t trust him at all,” David said.
“Now that you know that, how will you deal with him?” Uncle John asked.
A big part of the circle of trust discussion had been to first identify where people fell into different spheres. With David in the center, the people that were wholly trusted, like family, fell into the closest circle, with those who he considered mortal enemies being in the one the furthest out. The next part of the discussion had been about how he should interact with people in the different circles.
What his uncle was really asking was how David planned to handle Matt moving forward, now that his place in the circles of trust has been established.
“Matt and I were okay with each other until we were up for the same job,” David said.
“If that weren’t the case, could you two get along? Better yet, do you feel this way about the other quarterbacks?” Uncle John asked.
“I honestly don’t know the other ones,” David said and thought about the Matt question before answering. “Until last night, I would probably have continued to be fine with him.”
“I want you to step back and look at this from Matt’s point of view. I’m not saying this is completely right, but I want you to listen to me.”
David sighed.
“I heard that,” Uncle John chastised him. “You know I’m about to give you a life lesson, don’t you?”
David hated those. He tried to put himself in Matt’s shoes.
“He’s got a smart mouth that got his butt kicked by some fraternity guys,” David ventured.
“What was the fight about?” Uncle John asked.
“Drunken shit ... I don’t know,” David admitted.
“If you were to guess?” Uncle John asked and then paused to let David think.
“Probably one of them said something to his girlfriend,” David concluded.
“What’s their relationship like?”
“From Matt’s point of view, she was probably giving him a hard time about not showing up to help her with her fundraiser. I know that they were on shaky ground not too long ago. If I were to describe Crystal, it would be that she’s high maintenance,” David said.
“Let me roll out this theory, and you see if you think it might fit. Matt is insecure because you suddenly announce that you’re coming to USC. Even you would have your interest piqued if the roles were reversed.”
“No, I get that. Matt was a top-four quarterback in my recruiting class, and I suspect that he does do some things better than I do. I would have to be crazy not to consider him serious competition,” David admitted.
“He’s at a party, and his girlfriend is on him, pissing him off. Soon, a couple of frat guys either hit on her or make rude comments. Instead of being able to just shrug it off, it becomes too much for him, and he reacts in kind. Almost before he knows it, he’s getting his butt beat by three guys.
“To add insult to injury, his girlfriend calls you, of all people, to save him. When you do just that, and easily, can you see where he might feel inadequate?” Uncle John asked.
“I get it, but driving off was a dick move,” David said.
“Yeah, he was a pussy,” Uncle John said, which amused everyone until David’s mom and grandmother gave them looks of disapproval.
“John,” Grandma Dawson warned.
David had about twelve witty comments jump into his head, but his father gave him a little head shake to warn him. David decided Uncle John could face his own mother; he didn’t need to jump into the line of fire.
“Okay, maybe I won’t kick his butt,” he conceded.
“I’m just going to say this so we can move on. I don’t think Matt is the real problem you’re having,” Uncle John counseled.
David thought about that for a moment and could see he was right.